Page 19 of Ulf's Destiny
Ylva by his side, Ulf watched everything with keen eyes.
The harbor was not a place he would have chosen to take her had he any choice and he could tell she wished herself well away from here as well. But it had to be done, and as luck would have it, this morning, a group of merchants about to board their ship had come to the trader in search of the perfect slave to take home. If all went well, it would not be long before Mildred was gone for good.
A stocky man in his fifth decade, who introduced himself as Lars Gormsson, soon approached.
“This is my lucky day, it seems. I was looking for a sturdy female to take back home,” he said, eyeing Mildred up with interest. Though they had taken her gag off after stepping down from the cart, she was silent, as if too terrified to even protest. “Someone to tend to the animals by day and see to my needs by night. I think this one will do nicely.”
“He seems interested. What is he saying?” Ylva whispered in Ulf’s ear. Of course, like Mildred, she would not have understood the Norse words, even if the man’s intention was clear.
“He was looking to take a slave back to his farm. He might well take her.” He chose to leave out the part about being madeto service him at night. The lust in the man’s eyes had probably told her all she needed to know about his plans.
“Oh.”
He knew what she meant. Being sold to a rough-looking man, with whom she would be unable to communicate and who would take her all the way to his home overseas and have her way with her night after night would be a frightening proposition. But he did not feel an ounce of pity for the woman who had made Ylva and Judith’s lives a misery and preyed on countless young boys. She only got what she deserved.
The slave trader accepted the purse Lars handed him, then the Dane took Mildred by the elbow and nodded to the boat. This seemed to shake her out of her immobility.
“Wait! You cannot send me all the way to… God knows where this boat is going. I never agreed to this!”
“No. Just like all the innocent children you sent to their masters without a backward glance,” Ulf growled. It struck him that, in that moment, he sounded, and probably looked, just like his gruff father. Well, how else was he supposed to look when faced with such a woman? “Be grateful we did not first hand you over to the men eager for a last tumble before their long voyage.”
“I can’t even understand what he’s saying!”
“You’ll understand soon enough.” The trader cackled. “When he lets the goats out in the morning, you go milk them. When he gets his cock out at night, you do the same. Easy enough, I’d say.”
Laughs answered this sally. Ulf felt Ylva inch even closer to him. His arm was around her shoulders before he’d taken the decision to hold her.
After one last, hatred-filled glare, Mildred disappeared into the crowd, allowing him to breathe at last.
It was over. Ylva was free.
Ulf turned to look at her. She appeared dazed and unable to grasp the enormity of what had just happened. He understoodthe feeling. It would take a moment for reality to sink in, to realize that she never had to worry about seeing her tormentor ever again.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. But I… I need to go see Judith,” she mumbled, barely meeting his eyes. “I need to tell her it’s over. And then… Then I think I need to sleep.”
Judith was sittingon the pallet and sipping broth from a wooden cup when Ylva entered Helga’s hut. It was good to see her doing something as normal as eating soup, making it clear that she was well on the way to recovery.
“How do you feel today?” Ylva asked. Unfortunately, though her body might be on the mend, her mind might not be quite as at peace as it could be.
“Better.” She nodded at the cup in her hand. “Helga has been giving me a potion to ensure there would be no consequences from the—the other night. Knowing that Walstan’s seed will never take root in my womb helps keeping me sane.”
Lord, of course. This was not broth, but a brew destined to ensure that no child was born from the monstrous coupling. How had Ylva not thought of that? Her friend would have gone mad, had she been forced to carry the child of her abuser.
“Thank God for the woman’s forethought,” she murmured, kneeling by the pallet. The healer really knew what she was doing.
“Yes. She has been wonderful with me, which, unfortunately, makes me think she has dealt with many an abused woman in her life.”
Yes, quite possibly, if she worked in Wolf’s village. Ulf had told her on the way back from the harbor that his grandfather had helped dozens of abused women since he’d taken on the role of village leader.
She sat down next to Judith and drew her into her arms.
“Well, I came to tell you that it is done. This morning, Mildred was bought by a Dane merchant on his way home. She’s gone. For good.” Her throat tightened with emotion and she felt Judith take in a deep inhale. “This time, we really are free. We will not have to hide, ever again. We can live the life we want.”
They would not forget, that would never happen, but they could at least start to find a way to live a normal life.
The two women stayed silent for a bit, absorbing the importance of the moment. Then, like a sigh from the heavens, a sun ray shot through the hut.
