Stealing the Valkyrie

Swan Maiden

The sun had barely risen when there was a knock at the front door.

"It is time," Haedde said, smiling excitedly. Since yesterday she'd remained with Edithe. Waiting, preparing her for this very moment and, now it was here, Edithe's stomach churned with nerves.

For a brief few seconds, she considered what would happen if she simply ignored the knock and bolted the door. But with Haedde by her side, there was no such option.

"Good luck, child," she said, encouraging Edithe from the chair and squeezing her tightly, before nudging her towards the door.

The knock sounded again and Edithe answered, finding Lagertha standing before her. They'd never been formally introduced but she knew her by reputation alone. Ragnar's wife, a great warrior by all accounts.

"Are you ready?" Lagertha asked solemnly.

"I'm ready." Maybe saying the words would make them so and even if it didn't, there was no other answer to that question. Not if she wanted to return home.

"Then come," Lagertha gestured, stepping aside.

Edithe glanced back to Haedde, who waved her hands, ushering her to leave. "I will see you at the feast, child."

By then it would be all over.

In the street, a group of four women waited, all of them strangers except for Solveig who looked upon her in the way she usually did, with utter disdain. If Edithe were home it would be friends and family who would make up her bridal party. But here she was alone.

She wished it could be Haedde who led her to the bathhouse but as a slave, she was not permitted to partake in such a sacred ceremony. So instead, she followed Lagertha and the others, feeling more of an outsider than ever before.

The bathhouse was made up of one large room, well proportioned for the wooden tub which stood proudly in its centre. Three or four people could have easily fit inside but today it was just for her. A place to cleanse away her maidenhood, a place for rebirth.

"I am Ama," the oldest of the women introduced herself before pointing to the others, "this is Hilde, Tyra, Dagmar and you already know Solveig, yes?"

Edithe nodded, feeling as though the names were already slipping from memory. Feeling as though she could not think of anything but the way her stomach churned. Tonight Rollo's hands would be on her skin, their bodies moving as one and the anticipation of that, consumed her more than anything else.

"Do not look so afraid," Ama said, looking her up and down.

"I'm not afraid," Edithe lied, but Ama's gaze remained shrewd, as was Lagertha's when she caught Edithe's eye.

She wondered briefly what they truly thought of her. If they hated her as much as her people would have hated them. The idea of her brother bringing home a Viking bride to wed was unimaginable and such a woman would not have been as well-received as she was being now.

Dagmar and Hilde moved closer to her, their fingers nimble as they unlaced the fastenings of her clothes. Stripping her, until she wore nothing but firelight and the prickle of their scrutiny.

"She will be pleasing to Rollo," Ama decided after a while, erupting a chorus of giggles from Dagmar and Hilde.

"Is it true, Rollo has never laid with you?" Tyra asked as she began unbraiding her hair.

Edithe couldn't stop the blush which spread along her cheeks and trickled down her chest.

Again the younger women giggled. "She is shy," Hilde teased.