Page 15 of A Shield Maiden's Earl
And of course, plenty of ale.
“’Tis truly stunning,” Freya said at one point, admiring the ring I had made for her to match the wolf on the hilt of her new blade. Her gaze rose to me. “Did you have it forged at the sametime as the sword? And did your mother truly have the foresight to have such an impressive blade made for today’s ceremony?” Her voice softened. “I now know how she cared for me when I was ill, and I’m truly grateful.” She shook her head. “I had no idea because the memories were lost with my sickness. Nor did my parents ever tell me.”
When I glanced at my aunt, she merely lowered her eyes, telling me she hadn’t had a chance to share everything with Freya, and in all honesty, that was all right because I would prefer to share when we were alone.
“We will speak more when we retire for the evening, my new wife,” I replied, liking the feel of that on my tongue very much. “Yet I can tell you now thatja, my mother was gifted in the ways of seers just as you are. Though yours is a warrior’s soul and hers was as a healer, you are kindred.”
“Then she saw me wedding you.” She searched my eyes. “And you knew…you always knew.”
“I always hoped,” I clarified. “Whilst talented, Mother was not as strong in the ways of the gods as ’tis told you and your sisters are, butja, she had great hope.” I rested my hand over hers on the table, never meaning anything so much. “As did I from the moment I first saw you.”
“’Twas a long time ago,” she murmured,reminded. “And we but children.”
“Even so.” Wrapping my fingers with hers, I gazed into her luminous eyes. “I took one look, and I knew.” I shook my head. “’Twas not your sisters I wanted by my side, but you, Freya. Always you. And ’twill never change.”
“Your family,you, asked for my hand in marriage years ago, did you not?” she wondered softly, her gaze lingering on our joined hands before her lovely, if not soulful, amber gaze returned to my face. “And my father rejected it?”
“We,I, did,” I admitted. “Andja, I was not suitable enough for you yet, so I made sure I someday would be.”
“Yet you took a wife in the meantime.”
“I did, at my father’s request as ’twas told your father intended to promise you to another before he was injured,” I revealed, wondering if she knew. “So, I did as my father asked for the sake of our tribe.”
“I didn’t know my father denied you,” she said, confirming what I had suspected, her gaze never leaving my face. “’Twas difficult for you, then?” She tilted her head in question. “Yet mayhap you found a good union with your wife, regardless? Mayhap even love?”
“’Twas…” How to phrase it delicately? Respectfully? “An admirable companionship. We were very different from each other, and our marriage, whilst advantageous to our parents, was not what she would have wished if she’d been able to choose her own husband.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She considered what I had shared before she gave me more than I anticipated. “I would think you, a Dahl, and the son of the earl at the time, would have made her a good match indeed.”
“No doubt I did.” I thought back on those days and the truths that had always lain between me and my late wife, whether we spoke of them or not. “But our hearts always lay elsewhere, and that, no matter how hard we tried, would always divide us.”
I could tell by the flash of surprise and perhaps sadness in her eyes that there was no need to elaborate. My wife had loved another before we married, just as I’d loved Freya. We had tried to move past it and find love together, but our hearts were already tied to someone else, and we were never able to move much beyond a mild friendship. Yet I mourned her death because it came too soon. She dined with the gods now, though, offering those who had cared for her comfort.
We had little time to talk after that as my bard sang tales of the Dahls and our incredible feats to impress Freya and to remind our people that our ancestors were always with us, even as they were with our All Father. He sang of my accomplishments and Freya’s shield-maiden prowess, painting an impressive picture of those who now led them.
As the evening wore on, we even danced and laughed, our friendship picking up where it had left off years before, then we bid everyone farewell for the night, eager to spend time alone and talk. Or so we tried until someone called out, wondering which six witnesses would follow us to our bedchamber to ensure we consummated our marriage.
This was where things would become tricky, and I could only hope, for Freya’s sake, that my idea to see through her request worked. Otherwise, she would have no choice but to spread her lovely thighs for me this very eve.
Chapter Seven
Freya
Where I hadthought I would feel nothing but trepidation when I met Soren on the shores of his village to marry, I instead felt a strange sense of relief and even elation when I laid eyes on him once more. It almost felt like coming home despite the distance between me and my people.
He was as handsome as ever in his black fur cloak, only now he had woven small braids into his hair with dark blue beads, the same color of the stone around my neck.
Every moment after that seemed etched in my mind and heart in a way I hadn’t anticipated, as he gifted me with his mother’s shield, we exchanged blades and rings, and I learned how much his late mother had foreseen. As I felt her once more stirring in my memory, like I had when speaking with Brynhild earlier.
Yet nothing stirred me more than when Soren pulled me into his arms and kissed me after we were married. I hadn’t expected it and had no idea how to fight it until I felt the warmth of his lips against mine, and realized there was no fight to be had but something else. Something more profound than the heat he invoked in me when warmth turned into a searing blaze and I returned his kiss. If that were not enough, I wanted more and nearly groaned with need had he not ended the exchange first.
After that, the evening was truly enjoyable, despite the sad revelation that my father had, in fact, rejected my marriage toSoren years ago. Brynhild spent ample time with me, smiling and friendly, when Soren was otherwise preoccupied, but his second-in-command and friend, Ivar, mostly scowled if not outright ignored me. Though I didn’t understand his dislike of me, I refused to let it ruin my night getting to know my new tribe.
Eventually, however, after much unexpected laughter and even dancing, Soren declared it was time for us to retire. Yet, it seemed things might not go as I had hoped when his people wondered at the witnesses who would oversee our consummation. Having forgotten that some tribes still honored this age-old tradition, I tensed, wondering if Soren would be able to keep his promise to me after all.
“My people,” he called out, pulling me against his side and wrapping his fingers with mine in a way I had come to like in little time. His gaze swept over everyone as the room quieted, eager for his next word, reflecting the respect and command he had over his people. “’Tis the bear and the wolf coming together and that, as my mother and our beloved queen in her own right, Aslaug Dahl, once said, is sacred and blessed and should be for their eyes alone lest the gods be offended.”
Before anyone could respond, he lowered his head in prayer, prompting all to follow, and squeezed my hand ever-so-slightly. “So now I asked the gods, before all of you, if ’tis still her wish, might they send us a sign from Valhalla.”
