Infinite Sacrifice (18 page)

Chapter 5

Rolf is away for harvest time,
which means that Thora has to take the goods to market. She asks
one of the older thralls to take her into the village. Erna stays
with Una and Hela while we venture in. I haven’t been to Hedeby
since that warrior pulled me by my scruff out of the chest. We take
Army Road that leads right into town but have to pay a good sum in
order to use the new bridge over the Eider River. I can’t remember
what the village looked like, and I’m surprised when I see the huge
hills surrounding the village in a perfect half-circle.

“Those are the ramparts built to
protect the trade center,” Thora explains.

I see the break at the end of the
road where two narrow towers stand menacingly, protecting a
massive, wooden gate. On top of the towers lay two giant shields of
iron, horizontal to the sky.

Thora points. “They light those and
all of the others on the shore and across the hilltops to warn us
of an attack.”

When we draw closer, I see the
towers are carved with pictures of horses, hawks, and warriors
fighting a dragon. Guards stand on the towers with their weapons,
inspecting our wagon, and studying us as we pass through. The road
changes from gravel to wooden-planked streets, and the noise of the
wheels and horseshoes on it sound musical. The village is vast,
stretching from the towers all the way to the sea. We pass houses
with small fenced yards and trading posts with wide windows to prop
up to sell one’s goods. I stare at the different-looking people;
all sorts of people come here to trade from around the world. We
ride by the largest building, the Great Hall, where the chieftain
resides, his bodyguard army meets, and the festivals take place. It
has the most amazing woodcarvings on all of the posts, every animal
you can imagine. Runestones carved with exquisite words and
pictures ornament the streets. I wish we could’ve stopped at each
one so that Thora could’ve told me what they said.

There are people of every
class—rich noblemen and women in bright shimmering silks with gold
embroidery, and others dressed like Thora, with silver brooches on
their pinafores over colorful soft linen shift dresses. Then there
are those who look like me, in dreary, coarse wool. We ride down
near the shore, where the man driving our wagon stops to unload the
goods and Thora has to go negotiate payment. I stand gazing out on
the dark blue water to the different-sized ships bobbing at anchor.
Past the warships and cargo ships, I see the pilings and stakes
sticking up at the end of the long jetties, ever defending us from
a water invasion.

High-pitched horns sound, and all
eyes go to the longest jetty, where a warship is approaching to
unload. Men place long planks of wood across to walk off the ship
onto the jetty. About ten men step off, each dragging two huge
sacks of loot. The last four are struggling, carrying a man tied at
his hands and feet with a sack over his head. I immediately feel
sorry for this kidnapped individual. Everyone, except the thralls,
cheer for the return of the warriors. Rolf, unfortunately, is one
of the first off, and as soon as he sees Thora, he rushes over to
pick her up in a suffocating embrace. She looks like it hurts her,
and when he puts her down, he opens his sack, showing her all he
plundered.

I lose interest in this scene and
focus on the four bringing the unhappy person up to Chieftain
Toke’s house. A crowd gathers, curious to see what they brought
back, and someone calls for Toke. He comes out, looking annoyed by
this disturbance, and fixes his belt around his embroidered
tunic.

He says, “I was in the middle of
enjoying my finest mistress.”

A woman steps out beside him,
closing the front of her silk gown. She has cascading blonde hair
down to her ribs and glowing amber eyes.

I whisper to Thora, “His wife looks
like a goddess.”

“Dalla’s no wife and certainly no
goddess. Dalla’s the town’s mistress: a thrall that’s saved for
man’s enjoyment.”

“But she wears silk and jewels?”
She looks like no thrall I’d seen.

“Men give her gifts for her
beauty.”

“Chieftain,” a warrior with ice
blue eyes says, “we’ve been to Iona and have brought back a gift
for you.”

They remove the linen sack, and the
crowd gasps when they see the tall muscular person is in fact—a
woman. She’s dressed in loose pants and long tunic that hides her
femininity, but her face, with its small features, lack of beard,
and long hair, is in fact female.

The chieftain laughs. “And what am
I to do with the she-man, Konr?”

“It took six warriors to capture
her alive. She fought like a berserker! Held us all off for more
than an hour with only her shovel and axe. All we could do was take
a large piece of linen, corner her, and wrap her up in it. But she
still ripped right through, but not before Orm here tied her
legs.”

He points to a large and dirty
warrior beside him. Orm nods, happy to be mentioned to the
chief.

The chieftain quiets and looks at
the prisoner. “Well then, Orm shall win her. I have no use for
her.”

Orm’s face brightens as Konr says,
“Chief, she’s a fighter. No man will tame her.”

Orm jumps in. “I can tame this
he-woman! Poke her until she gives way to her sex!” The warriors
cheer him on as he grunts. “Just need to loosen her leg ropes a bit
to get the job done.” He begins to untie his belt and lets out a
reverberating belch.

The warriors laugh, and the
chieftain nods in approval, his slate eyes twinkling at such
unexpected entertainment. Orm motions for the men to drop her, then
grabs her tunic from behind and drags the strong girl on the
ground. Straining with each pull, he tries to look every bit of the
man he boasted about. He takes her into a small trading store. Once
inside, he gives a snide smile to the warriors, then knocks the
stick holding up the window, shutting it with a slam.

The chieftain asks, “Tell me the
status of the settlement on Iona?”

Konr begins, “We have secured
the—”

A great crashing in the post
interrupts the report as Orm runs out, holding his groin and bloody
head. He comes out screaming toward the warriors as the she-man
charges out after him. Her wrists are still tied, but she has the
shop stick in her grasp, swinging it around dangerously. She chases
after him, her muscular legs now free from ropes.

Orm shrieks as he runs for cover.
“She bucked like a wild mare! She’s out to kill me!”

The warriors drop their sacks and
raise up their swords. Her indigo eyes blaze with careless fury,
and she grunts as she swings at anyone who challenges her. All
villagers seek refuge in stores or houses as I find safety with
Thora behind the wagon. Warriors stand to hold their positions, yet
none brave going against her.

The chieftain brings his hands up
in the air and says, “What thrall here is from Iona?”

The thrall who drove Thora’s wagon
stands up.

The chieftain nods to him.
“Translate for me.” He looks at the she-man with his jaw clenched
and speaks. “I greatly misjudged you, shield-girl. You’re not
destined to be a thrall. The valkyries, Goddesses of War and
Choosers of the Slain, have sent you. You will fight beside me and
bring us great victory!”

The thrall translates to her, and
she seems surprised to hear her own tongue. She calms slightly and
looks around her at the village, then says something
back.

The thrall repeats, “Does she have
a choice?”

“Everyone has a choice.” The
chieftain smiles. “There is always death for all of us.”

The she-man rests her stick down,
takes a deep breath, and the thrall translates. “She will fight,
but bed no man.”

He laughs. “After
nearly castrating Orm, I can promise
no
man
will ever try.” The whole village
laughs and she nods. “Tie her feet, then, and give her my small
house in town for her own.”

When a few scared men hold up ropes
and start to approach her, she yells, “I thought I was no
slave!”

Toke replies, “No slave, but you
will have to remain tied until you have shown your loyalty in
battle. I cannot turn my back on you yet.”

She looks angry but allows the
nervous men to approach and tie her legs. As she shuffles away to
the house, Toke yells, “I will give you the name Gunhilda:
shield-girl.” He points to his blacksmith and says, “Make her the
finest armor and weaponry.”

Dalla seems upset
and turns on Toke. “
She
will get her own house and the finest things and
not have to share her bed?”

The chieftain chuckles. “Do not be
jealous Dalla; you get to have all the pleasure.”

He dives into the space between her
neck and shoulders and grunts away as her eyes stare blankly up to
the sky. He pulls her back into the house with him and shuts the
door.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Next week Thora has me take the
reins and bring the team into Hedeby. It’s Saturday, the day the
whole village takes a bath. Thora has Erna on her lap, flapping her
chubby little arms in excitement of being on the wagon for the
first time. I try not to get distracted by her since I’m trying my
best not to hit the side of the road and throw a wheel. Erna
gurgles up a storm and makes us both laugh at the troll sounds
she’s making.

Once in the village, we make our
way down the large bathhouse by the shore. The thralls are already
busy, coming in and out with steaming buckets of water. The noble
class stands in line first, and Thora knows to wait until her class
is allowed to line up. By the time Thora can go, I help her in and
hold Erna. As she undresses, I stare into the murky water. I turn
my eyes while she gets in and look only when her chin is sitting on
top of the water.

“
That
is clean water?” I scrunch my nose, happy that
thralls are not allowed in.

“At least it’s
warm. I’m not going to
drink
it.” She smiles as she swims her hands through
the deep water. The tub is constructed like a giant barrel and
looks as if you can fit a whole family in it.

“Hand me Erna.” She puts her arms
up, and I step on the last ladder rung to hand the naked, fat baby
to her.

Erna squeals in delight at being
submerged, and I say, “She’s going to get sick from being in
there.” I’m happy with my rag baths in the morning after Hela warms
up a pot of water for us. “You will need to wash off after you get
home.”

I turn away as she stands up and
hold the linen cloth out for her with my eyes closed.

“From now on you will take the team
in on Saturdays. I don’t like the way the other thrall watches me.”
Thora shivers. “Gives me goose skin just thinking of
it.”

I help her and Erna up into the
wagon as another warship comes in. The warriors get off with great
noise. This time Toke’s first off the ship. He motions for the four
men behind him to carry his things to the bathhouse. As soon as he
comes up, he claps and shouts, “Empty the whole bath for your
chieftain!”

Thralls go running as a huge whoosh
of water comes flooding out of the raised foundation of the
bathhouse. I try to think of what they must have done to empty it
so quickly, and then I remember seeing that large iron cap at the
bottom. The thralls immediately go shuffling about with steaming
buckets again.

“Good you were not in there when he
came home,” I say quietly to Thora.

A great stir comes from the jetty,
and again we see four men carry Gunhilda like a roped pig. As soon
as they pass Chieftain Toke, he stops them with his hand out, and
they lay her on the ground.

She looks up, half-interested, as
he says, “You have honored me in battle and out-killed all my other
warriors. If you had returned to your chieftain’s side and not gone
off, slashing your way across the countryside where my men had to
hunt you down again, well then, you would not have to come like a
slayed stag.”

She picks her head up. “Where’s my
sack of loot?”

He motions the
men to take her to her house. “You show me that you’re a
Viking,
and I will let
you keep your riches.”

She begins kicking and squirming,
causing the four men to stumble and hit the ground. One man kicks
her hard, making her still again, and they carry her out of sight.
Toke commands his servants to take his plunder away and begins to
disrobe even before reaching the privacy of the
bathhouse.

Thora turns to me, laughing
slightly, and says, “Let’s get home.”

We are both happy that Rolf did not
return on that ship.