A Whisper to the North

Chapter XIV ✠ Cut to the Bone

Una gazed at herself in her long bronze mirror. After she had bathed, she wanted to see just how badly broken she looked. She has covered in a dozen or more small and large bruises. There was a large blood blister on her neck where Frey attacked a few days ago.

"Ouch!" Una hissed as she touched one of them.

The sides of her thighs and hips got the worst of it. They got slammed first, being the second widest part of her body, but somehow were damaged worse than her breasts and shoulders. The bruises were dark purple with striations of yellow and blue. It was difficult to walk fast and even more to sleep on her side or back.

"Gods, what am I doing?" Una asked herself, moving her wavy mid-thigh length hair out of the way.

She knew she would have to cut it. It was getting too long to braid and wash. Now that Marged was gone, it will be challenging to groom. Una knew that her last battle a month or two ago almost proved fatal to her because of her hair. She had braided it and wrapped it beneath her armor to keep out of the way. Somehow when she was galloping, it became dislodged, and she didn't realize it. That was until one Viking man grabbed the tail of her hair as she spun around and pulled her off of her horse. Una landed flat on her back but couldn't get up soon enough. The Viking man pulled her down, drug her by her hair until Aaron came and slashed his throat open from behind.

"It's for the best." Una laughed as she walked over to her dresser to look for some shears.

After some time, pillaging her room for them, she gave up. She put on her loose, long nightdress and quietly slipped out of her room. She crossed her arms and tiptoed down the long hall. There were no guards in sight. She knew she wouldn't run into Yvar or Aaron. They are usually fast asleep in their chambers by now. It was nearing dawn, and no one was running amuck like Una. She had fallen asleep in the bath earlier. She only woke so early by nearly drowning in her tub. She accidentally slipped down too far in the copper tub, and Marged wasn't there to assist her any longer.

"Damn you, blasted big hooves!" Una violently whispered as she slammed her pinky toe into an entryway bench.

She held on to her toe and blew a bubble in her mouth. There was one thing that hurt Una as much as any arrow or sword, and that was being blunted by a piece of hardwood on the smallest toe. She peered around, still rubbing her toe to see if anyone had awoken. She had hit it so hard that the piece scooted across the ground and made a horrific squeak as it slid forward.

Una knew she should have brought out a candle, but the men would see her candlelight traveling from the gap under their door. These people were trained to wake up to even the slightest disturbance. That is why it takes Una so long to fall asleep, and anything as minute as a mouse scampering across the floor would wake her. Even in a pitch-black room, Una's mind was alert and ready to charge anything from out of the dark.

Una made one more passing glance before she followed the moonlight to the kitchen. She pressed forward and ducked behind the large kettles, taking special care to watch where her feet landed. She could see the utensils hanging freely from hooks spaced across the stone walls. There she could see some deboning shears. They are not the sharpest tool but will do the trick to chop off Una's thick rope of a braid. When the coast was clear, she stood up and trotted over to them.

She reached up on her toes. The cook of the castle was very tall, and he always hung his knives high so the children would not want to swordfight with them. Hanging with the cleavers are the pair of shinny shears, taunting Una. She is taller than most average girls in the kingdom but not as tall as the cook's wife, who assists him. She often would put up the washed dishes if he were not around. Only she would hang up a pair of scissors next to knives. Una then jumped up on the cabinet and crawled up to where she could reach. Suddenly a bright light entered the room as she grabbed the shears in her hand. She darted her head over her shoulder to see Yvar staring up at her.