The cripple and the shieldmaiden

// 20 //

The streets where empty, it was like everyone stayed inside while their inside was outside. Everywhere laid clothes, crates, personal affects of the vikings who lived in the settlement. Torhild sat crouched aside a wooden pole before the little house. Her eyes gazed the streets, looking for the soldiers who were nowhere to be found. It was quite, except for some noices far of there was nothing, not even a singing bird. The ground was heavily disturbed, leaving mud and hooveprints behind in the silence. Ivar crawled outside, looking down the path that leaded to the center of the settlement. Torhild saw something shiny in the mud and stood up, picking it up from in the middle of the path. It was a bracelet, a vikingbracelet that was giving to all the boys who became men ... and it just laid there. Her fingers stroke away the mud on it while she turned back to Ivar, crouching before him. 'Do you think the gods are punishing us?' She asked, still looking at the bracelet.
'Why would they do that?'
'I don't know. It's way to quiet.' She replied, looking back down the streets.
'Let's find out why.' He suggested. Torhild looked back at him and nodded slowly. Ivar was up all night, keeping her safe from harm. Only she wanted to keep him and this whole settlement safe and that wouldn't work if she go to the King herself.
'I'm staying.' She decided. He looked at her, his bleu eyes almost burning with that unpredictable set of emotions.
'The only way this will work is if you don't show your emotions, you have to be like me, you have to show him you aren't afraid.' Be like him ... Yesterday she was like him, willing to take a irrational decision just by going on her own emotions. She had a taste of what he was struggling with all those years.
'The same goes for you Ivar.'
'Can I kill him at least?' He asked almost to innocent it maked her laugh.
'Yes you can, when the time is right.' But he didn't replied on that, his focus and mind were already on killing that man. She laid a finger under his chin, turning his head back. 'Promise me you won't kill him.'
'I'll try.' He nodded, giving nothing of reassuring with his eyes.
'That's not enough.'
'It's the only thing you get princess.' He smiled that last word, with a cocky flair around it. She stroke her finger away from under his chin and stood up.
'Let's go see.'

A lot of the people stayed inside, the other part stood assembled before the great hall in half a circle. A pile of weapons in the middle, soldiers walking in and out the great hall with even more. Ubbe sat on his knees, a knife against his throat and a eye black from a blow. 'Dediced the princess to finally show up?' Everybody turned towards their heads and maked some room for her and Ivar. 'In the company of that cripple.' He spotted. She didn't need to look down to know how Ivar would look back. 'How is your cheek?'
'Fine, no thanks to you.' She replied neutral, walking over to her brother. But two soldiers prevented her and Ivar from getting further. Torhild knew it was an order they followed so she turned around to him again. 'I never catched you name.' She began. He smiled amused by the confident she showed. Ivar always supported a lot of that just by being besides her.
'Lord Edgar.' He answered her. Now she had at least a name to the man Ivar was going to kill, somwhere between now and forever ... she was pretty sure it wouldn't take him a forever to kill that man. 'Take their weapons.' He commanded some of his men. Torhild looked towards her brother who softly shook his head before she putted her hands up so they could get to her belt. She would get that knife back, one way or another. Ivar was less willing and it took two of them to get in control of him. While they were struggling she looked to the Lord. He looked at Ivar, like he was looking for some weakness in that boy. There wasn't any, she could tell him that. When they handed all their weapons the soldiers stepped away so she could get to Björn, they even released Ubbe. 'As from now on you will do as I ask. Your crops will be part of my property and your houses are. Secrets are no longer secrets if you want to live through the day.' He yelled for the whole crowd to hear. With that last part he looked at Torhild and the brothers. 'Going out of this village is under escort and of course, weapons are only necessary if needed.'
'What about the raids we have to for King Aethelwulf?' Björn asked, his armed crossed before his chest. Lord Edgar turned around and pointed toward the leader of this settlement.
'Yes, offcourse. When I'm getting orders you will know right away, for now you all stay put.' He pointed to the ground. Torhild just looked at him, with a total neutral gaze. The lord walked back to his horse, pulling himself in the saddle again. 'Every mistake, every bit of protest will mean the doom for one of you. If you do as I please there don't gonna be any troubles.' He said with a promesing look towards Torhild. She looked how he drove of, his men assambling the weapons in a chariot before following hem. The other part just stayed to keep an eye on everyone. Torhild relaxed a little and looked to the black eye from Ubbe, he nodded reassuring and she smiled softly.
'I will kill him.' Ivar noticed, like he didn't wanted it to do it before.
'You will do nothing.' Björn warned him. Ivar looked up, his eyes with the misschief he always had around Björn.
'Are you really going to do nothing? You gonna sit her and do as they please, living the happy life? What for a leader are you.' He spitted in reaction on the warning. Björn crouched, wrapping his fingers around Ivar his throat. 'This is your fault Björn Ironside.' He sneered softly, temping Björn in doing things he would regret. But Björn just looked at him, anger all over his face, teeth clenshed together. 'Come on, get it over with.' Ivar laughed.
'Stop it.' Torhild said while laying her hand on Björn his shoulder. 'Ivar is right.'
'What do you say Torhild?' Björn asked before getting up, he spitted before Ivar on the ground. 'You stay away from my sister.' He warned the cripple.
'Where were you when the soldiers came to her house this night, asking the Lord of they have to wake her up? Nowhere, you were pouting on you big throne while I was protecting her.' Ivar hissed in anger.
'Is it true?' Hvitserk asked stunned by the news, Torhild nodded slowly, looking at the ground instead of to one of them.
'And you brother, always saying you love her and want to marry her but where were you? Like, is anyone really give it a thought that the only person truly in danger is Torhild.' He reacted in his torn of anger. Ubbe said nothing, he just listened while Hvitserk started to walk fort and back.
'I'm not the only one,'
'Shut up.' Ivar snapped towards her. She turned around and walked down the path, away from ... that, whatever that was again.

She found Ase on the egde of the village with the other girls. They all just sat there, watching the nature. 'How do you feel?' She asked her friend. Ase lifted her shoulders for a moment, not really caring over how she felt.
'Do we have a plan?' One of them asked. Torhild sat down in the grass and picked a little straw, playing it between her fingers.
'They are arguing, like usual.' She looked in the direction the great hall was.
'About what?'
'Me, like usual. I shouldn't have come here.' She murmured.
'It's not your fault Torhild.' Ase reacted right away. Torhild looked up and smiled softly before she looked towards the way their boats layed.
'I need somebody to get out of this camp.' Torhild whispered in her own thoughts. That little plan immidiatly took all their attention.
'To do what?' Someone asked. Torhild looked around, subtle, looking for some soldiers but the one closed to her was just far away to not hear the conversation.
'Laugh here and there a little, like we talk marrying vikings or something.' She said to the others. Ase immidiatly started to laugh and Torhild didn't know better than laugh with her. On the end of it they were all laughing about really nothing.
'We should laugh more, it's healty, but tell,' Ase laughed, getting a little more serious between that and her words.
'There will somebody watching along the coastline, if we want my mother to sail in unnoticed there has to be somebody of us out there. Kill whoever is watching the sea and rivers and guide my mother back here.' She explained to the others. Björn had said that the messenger would tell Lagertha not to sail to the usual docking point. That meant her boats would lay somewere else.
'I will go.' Ase putted her hand up while another one started to laugh again, just for the fun of it. The soldier looked over his shoulder a couple of times but didn't noticed their plan.
'No, you are far to often by my side, Lord Edgar would notice.' Torhild shook her head.
'We will.' Two others said. Torhild nodded and smiled softly.
'You have to sneak out by night, one first the other two days behind. We have to stretch over the village so they can't tell with how many we still are.' Torhild explained further. She saw the excitment in the girls their eyes and that was a good thing, Ivar was right, they couldn't give up that easy. She was surpriced that Björn did. 'In the time being we train, we make ourselves ready for battle, his or ours.' Torhild ended it. Everybody nodded, laughed again and that soldier never noticed they had maked a plan.