The Skabelse

Tattoos

A/N: Super long chapter, sorry! Also there is a picture of Bjorn's tattoo pictured above. Enjoy!

Rowan slept through both lunch and dinner. When she woke up, Bjorn was seated at the small table staring into the faint fire. She looked down and noticed someone had changed her into her night clothes and hoped it was a fellow Daughter. She would die of embarrassment if a man had seen her inappropriately. As she tried to sit up, she winced in pain. "Bad idea," she said, scolding herself. Bjorn whipped around, unsure what to say to her and surprised that she was awake. His first reaction was to scold her like a child for going into the woods but he stopped himself. He knew that she didn't need that right now so "Good evening" was all he said.

"Is it evening already?" Rowan asked, looking for any signs of light through the tent folds. When she realized the lack of right she grew disappointed that she had slept the day away. "Yes, the moon rose nearly four hours ago. I saved you some dinner," Bjorn said grabbing the plate of food from the iron rack above the fire to keep it warm and handed it to her. The smell of meat and stew invaded her nose and her stomach grumbled. As she bit into the meat, she had a hard time placing where it came from.  As if Bjorn could read her mind he spoke up, "It's bear. The bear I guess I should say. Kind of tough if you ask me but meat is meat I suppose." After Darsa and Rowan had been treated, the menfolk trekked back into the woods and cleaned the bear, harvesting it's meat and fur.

Bjorn let Rowan eat in silence and waited until she was finished eating to continue their conversation, "I don't mean to be gruff  but what were you doing in the woods? Were you not aware of the many dangers that lurk in the Venetian forest?"

Rowan knew she and her cousin had made an unwise decision and let the Rorikman chew her out as she sit silently. On and on he went about how naive she was and how they were lucky that he and Horan came along when they did. As he finished up, Bjorn let out a slow sigh,"You had me worried."

"Careful now, you are coming across as if you actually care for me," Rowan teased. Bjorn smirked at her remark but said nothing. "Darsa and I went into the woods just for a quick walk. We needed a break after our chores and to just get away for a while. I was unaware of bears being located here and I apologize," she said, then took a long sip from her waterskin.

"It isn't just bears out there that you have to worry about Rowan. There are far more dangerous things in the Venetian," Bjorn explained. Bears would be the least of her concern if she went into the forest again. He had heard tales of rabid wolves, cougars, and worst of all rouge men. Men that long ago left their kingdoms to live under their own laws and live life how they pleased. Rorik and the other kingdoms led by menfolk did as best as they could to eradicate them but there were far too many. He didn't want to frighten Rowan by telling her about the men or other dangers so when she asked what he meant by that he told her to leave it alone and trust him.

"You are asking a woman to trust a man?" she teased, mocking him. He chuckled, "Yes I suppose I am."

"Can I ask you something?" Rowan inquired. When Bjorn nodded his head she continued, "How did you know we were in the woods? We were rather deep were we not?" When the bear had opened its large mouth showing its razor sharp teeth, Rowan could have sworn that would be the end of her.

"I heard you laughing," Bjorn said quietly. Rowan nodded once again, "Well I can't thank you enough. You saved my life and I will always be in your debt." With that, she balled her right hand into a fist and brought it over her heart as she would back in her homeland. Bjorn was unfamiliar with the gesture but had a general idea what it meant.  His emerald eyes grew dark and Rowan could tell he was about to tell her something she wouldn't like. Much like when her mother did when she first informed her about the Skabelse. "What's wrong?" she asked inquisitively and slightly tilted her head.