The cripple and the shieldmaiden

// 21 //

The sparring sticks maked a rather hollow sound through the surrounding, the one knock a little louder than the other. It were the only weapons ... and you really couldn't call it a weapon to begin with. But it was enough, Torhild smiled when she felt the strenght that Ase had coming back. She tried to sweep her feet from underneath her body but Ase just jumped over it, smaching Torhild against the back of her head. Her breathing was unsteady, her balance a little lost by the hit so Ase knocked her against the knees and Torhild dropped to the ground. She groaned loudly and rolled over to her back. 'You need to get faster Torhild.' Ivar said from where he sat. Ase gave her a hand and pulled her up, smiling from ear to ear. Torhild turned around facing him.
'Says the one who sit against a tree.' She pointed her stick to the tree he was sitting against. They were alone, the three of them, somewhere on the egde of the settlement and a little out of sight. After a whole week of dramatics everyone found his place. Ivar and Björn stopped fighting, she and her brother talked not that much as usual and everybody still listened to Lord Edgar. Sad situation. Two of her girls had slipped out of camp and nobody asked about it, nobody really knew except for Ivar and the other girls.
'I'm in shape.' He said with that smug grin over his face. Torhild stroke the back of her head a little and the both of them just laughed about it.
'I will be right back, looking for some water.' Ase said. Torhild nodded and walked over to Ivar, putting her stick against his shoulder, giving a little push with it.
'You should train more.'
'To give them the satisfaction of discovering my weak points?' He replied with frowned eyebrown. He pulled the stick away so all of the sudden that she lost her balance. He pulled her on his lap, her knees on each side of his body.
'You have no weakness.' She answered with a smile. She and Ivar ... it was hard to resist him on places like this.
'You are my weakness.' He said before pulling her head towards his, kissing her passionate. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pressing her upper body even closer to his, he groaned and she chuckled a little.
'We shouldn't.' She whispered, looking in those amazing blue eyes. Beside of Ase nobody suspect what was going on between the two of them. Yes, they all knew there was a tight friendship but love ... Björn would kill her. He pulled her aside in a swift turn. Torhild landed on her back in the grass and Ivar hovered over her.
'Why?' He ask, pressing his lips against her throat in desire.
'Because you don't want anybody to find out what your weakness is.'
'You have a point.' He agreed, not pulling back for just another moment.
'Torhild.' She heared Ase saying. Ivar pulled back, with a cocky grin and Torhild gave her friend a innocent smile. 'Björn and lord Edgar are on there way.' She announched. Her face flattened immidiatly, the love in Ivar his eyes turned to coldstone walls in seconds. What did he need now?

'Training?' Lord Edgar asked as soon as he saw Torhild and Ase with their fighting sticks.
'We have to do something.' She replied neutral. Lord Edgar looked towards Ivar who sat against his tree, looking that man like he was planning on killing him right now.
'Lord Edgar had some news.' Björn announched. But it wasn't that what the lord wanted to do, he looked at the fighting sticks and drew his own sword.
'You dare?' He asked her. Torhild looked towards her brother who shook his head, even Ivar shouted out warning with his eyes.
'Don't want to be of any trouble. What was it that you came to say?' She asked polite.
'Hush now, fight me.' He ordered with a rather friendly voice. Torhild didn't trust it but what could she do? His order was final so she had to ... or maybe someone would get hurt because she refused to fight him. She took more grip over her fighting stick and smiled, in concession. He walked towards the middle of their little field and attack with brute force, cutting her stick right in half when she tried to defense herself. She looked at both halves of her stick and turned them around her wrist, knowing that she was a little better with two weapons than with one. His sword was sharp enough that every blow he gave chopped a little part of her sticks. Ivar sat straight, she couldn't see his look but she knew he was ready to do whatever the situation would bring. After more than an hour of training she was exhausted, not giving in to the lord she tried to at least hit him once, what worked, hitting him right in de stomach. But his reaction on that cause his sword against her throat. 'Nice footwork.' He whispered in her ear. Torhild let her sticks fall and putted a warning finger up towards Ivar who crawled already some distant towards them. If he had an axe he would kill the lord already.
'What did you come to say?' She asked him. He let her loose, not without leaving a little bleeding mark in her neck from his sword.
'We are gonna attack a kingdom. Orders from the king.' He announched. Torhild forces a smile on her lips, looked at her brother who just stared back at her.
'When do we leave?'
'Over two days. Assemble your men princess.' He commanded before walking away, leaving Björn with her, Ase and Ivar. When he was out of sight she pressed her fingers against the little cut on her throat.
'Can I kill him now?' Ivar asked impatient.
'Maybe battle will kill him. You heared him, assemble your army brother.' She said to her brother. He nodded and looked towards Ivar for a second or two.
'We need to talk.' He said to Ivar. Ivar rolled his eyes in a reaction but started crawling after her brother, leaving her and Ase behind.

The usual meetings were from now on accompanied by the lord and some of his men. Torhild and her brother stood on opposite sides, he had Ubbe and Hvitserk with him and Torhild had the dangerous part from the settlement, Ivar, King Harald and Halfdan. Ivar wanted to make a point, fight without actually fighting, Björn ... she didn't know what his problem was but he did the bidding from the lord. Torhild asked herself of the Lord threatened him with something, it wasn't for the brothers to give up without a fight. 'We are going to raid again,' Björn began before he got itterupted by lord Edgar.
'Before we began we have o attent a small detail within this settlement.' Torhild tensed a little with those words. 'Somebody is stealing weapons.' He announched. It couldn't be more obvious but everybody looked at Ivar, like he was the one.
'Why is everybody staring at me?' He said bored by the fact everybody always accused him. Torhild knew it wasn't Ivar so she let her eyes go over the other people present in the great hall.
'Did you?' Björn asked.
'No, would you think I risk her life over some weapons.' Ivar hissed, pointing towards Torhild. The lord was amused by the anger that runned between the two brothers.
'There won't be any problems if the person who did it stepped forward.' Lord Edgar suggested. Nobody moved and the lord gave a small nod towards his soldiers who came for her, grabbing her with her arms and pulling her from her seat.
'No!' She protested, trying to slow their pace by putting her feet in front. They pushed Torhild on her knees aside the lord and she immidiatly looked towards Ivar and Ase, she had to keep him on it's place, even Halfdan helped with that.
'Don't punish her for something someone else did.' Hvitserk hissed.
'That's how it goes, I told you, one mistake and she would get punished for it.'
'I'm gonna kill you when I have a change.' She whispered in rage. He pulled her braid, her head jerking on her back so she had to watch him right in the eyes.
'I want to see you try.' He laughed. She wanted to spit on him or something but he already shifted his attention. A week .... It took them a week to do something that would get them caught. 'We Christians put people on a cross who have sinned, if nobody is coming forward she will be nailed to a cross.' He smiled polite. Her eyes turned in fear, she looked from him to her brother.
'Björn!' She yelled in despare. He came forward, eyes warning battle if he didn't release her. But then the real perpetrator came forward, a men she didn't even really knew well.
'It was me.' He said, giving Torhild a concerned look.
'Why you did it?' The lord asked.
'Because I'm not gonna bow for a Christian lord like you, we are viking!' That last one he yelled but nobody dared to join him in roar.
'For that you will die, but not by my hand. Princess Torhild will give you your punishment.' He softly said. Torhild her eyes widened and she looked to the man, than towards her brother.
'I will kill him.' Ivar volunteered.
'Ivar the Boneless, I heard great stories about you.' Lord Edgar began, walking over to Ivar and crouched before him. Torhild closed her eyes, praying that Ivar wouldn't loose his temper in the moment. 'Well you know what they say about great stories, you have to see them before you can believed them.'
'Is that an inventation?' Ivar asked emotionless. And again, the lord just walked away until he stood beside the man again.
'Torhild will kill him, a dead by your chosing, it is that or facing a cross yourself prinsess.' He set a deal. Not really the kind of deal she could do something about. 'You're a viking, dead wouldn't be so hard for you guys, right?' But Torhild didn't look at him, she looked to the man. He gave her a slow nodded, giving her the premission to kill him.
'I rather die on your hand than on his princess. The gods will welcome me in Valhalla, I will be reunited with my family.' He said softly, accepting his dead. Torhild closed her eyes for a moment, tried to find her inner side, a side that had something from Ivar. When she opened them they were distant, cold almost. She pulled out a sword from the soldier and walked over to the man, slitting his throat in one swift motion. Blood soaked in his clothes before he fell on the ground, blood spreading over the wooden floor.
'Is that all?' She asked.
'Thank you Torhild. I hope everybody understands now what it cost. You are outnumbered.' Lord Edgar said for the whole group. Torhild said between Ivar and Ase again, keeping her hands on her back because they were shaking from what she just did. Ase wrapped her fingers through hers, giving a little comfort. Ivar just looked at the lord, thinking of hundered possible ways to kill him. She killed a man, she killed some of her own and that because he wanted to fight for the great heathen army. Torhild looked over her shoulder towards King Harald, he only nodded, knew what she was thinking without using words. And when she looked at her brother she saw the same ... they were viking, they were stronger than this. That man was right, what did they had to fear? If they would die, it was for their own, in battle, fighting for what they loved and not under the threat of a mad man. Björn stood up, facing everybody. 
'Assemble the great heathen Army.' And he didn't say it to please the lord and king in his battle, he said it because it was time to take this place back. They were viking after all and vikings didn't bend, they didn't break, they fight and conquer.