"The Lost Vikings" (closed to AmyRoberts)

[TimTimTyner]

"The Lost Vikings"

(closed for AmyRoberts)​

It had been 13 days since Hagan had last seen either land or the rest of his Kinsmen. His longboat had been just one of 14 that had left their home on the southwest coast of Norway to head south along the coast of Denmark and then west across the open sea to the coast of the Isles of England. But just two days out, they were caught in a storm that raged for five days. When the skies cleared and the seas calmed, there was neither land nor other boats to be seen from horizon to horizon.

As concerning as it was to be alone on the sea, the greatest concern, of course, was not knowing where on the sea they were. Hagan did not possess the navigational tools that had made reaching, raiding, and later settling the Isles of England possible. Alone and lost, they had only two choices: head east by sail and oar until they found land, then continue northward and return home, defeated; or head southwest and hope that the Gods would deliver them either to the Isles of England or to the rest of whatever remained of the battered fleet.

They had chosen the latter, and finally today, as the sun rose behind them, the 22 men, women, and children aboard the longboat were looking at a long, rugged coastline to the west. Hagan had been to England twice before to raid the coastal villages and towns, and he wouldn't have expected to recognize the coastline as it was so very long and he'd seen so little of it, so it didn't surprise him that this place was unknown to him.

As they continued westward, they located the mouth to a river and rowed the longboat over the rough waves where it met the sea. Tall, thick forests flanked them on both shores, and for what seemed like forever but was actually less than two miles, they found no safe place to land. Eventually, though, as the sun passed its midday position, the trees on the southern bank began pulling back, opening to reveal a large, open meadow sprawled across gentle rolling hills.

"We'll camp here," Hagan announced, directing those at the oars to steer left. He went to his wife, who had been ill even before they left and looked near death now. He smiled compassionately, telling her, "We're here, my love. We are in England."

Then kissing her softly, he whispered, "We're home."

 

[AmyRoberts]

As she pulled on her oar and helped direct the longboat toward the shore, Ingrid watched Hagan with his wife. Conflict raged through her. Torild had been her friend since they were little girls, and Ingrid certainly didn't want to see the woman die. But she had yearned to be Hagan's wife and lover since she'd first come to understand the meanings of being either one of them.

"Row, row!" the Viking at the helm called as he aimed them toward a bit of the shoreline upon which the boat's bow would gently rise once it struck bottom. "Row you heathens!"

There was laughter amongst those who had the energy to show humor. Most of the Warriors and Shieldmaidens, including Ingrid, had been to England once if not twice. They knew how the English thought of them; it wasn't without reason, of course. Ironically, Hagan's Clan thought the same of some of the Peoples who lived to the east of them in Sweden, Finland, and the Germanic and Rus territories.

Ingrid felt the boat hit bottom, rising up in the bow just enough to lodge it for the initial unloading. Within seconds, a half dozen men and women with their swords and axes in hand leaped onto the muddy shore or into the shallow water. Ingrid met Hagan's eyes, smiled, and told him with delight and relief both, "We're here."

 

[TimTimTyner]

Hagan knew of Ingrid's feelings for him, of course. She hadn't hidden them from him despite his marriage, nor had he hid his desire to put his cock inside her over the years of their acquaintance. He'd very nearly given into those desires on multiple occasions, but as the yearning for her had been increasing, his wife's illness -- and Hagan's guilt for wanting other women -- had only continued to worsen.

"Eirik, Wyborn!" he called to his most trusted and battle tested warriors. "Take a man each and scout the shore each direction. Kindra!"

The shieldmaiden archer was already ashore scanning the meadow and the tree line. When she acknowledged Hagan's call, he told her, "Take Viringa over that rise. I want to know who and what is here to endanger us before that who or what knows we are here."

The Vikings -- males and females, swordsmen and archers -- acknowledged their orders and headed out. As they did, four others were using a heavy line to pull the stern of the boat toward shore. Within just a couple of minutes, the planks that were the floor of the longboat when on the water were connecting the railing to the bank, allowing the eight remaining Northmen -- most of whom were children -- to unload the boat of goods and animals.

The four warriors had disappeared into the woods upstream and downstream already when Hagan saw both of the shieldmaidens reach the rise to the south that hid the terrain beyond and drop to the ground. One signaled to their leader, who called to the only two adults remaining at the river, "Arm yourselves, and come with me!"

He pulled his own sword and ran for the rise, crouching as he neared the women there. He'd had a fair idea what to expect, either Christians on the move doing one thing or another or a village full of Christians. Looking south through the tall grass, he found himself both disappointed that it was the latter and relieved that the village was very small, just 10 huts and a similar number of outbuildings.

"Find the others," Hagan ordered. "Circle the village, look for other Christians, then send someone back to me. We will wait here. Kindra, you are the fastest runner."

Kindra and one of the men backed down the hill toward the river, then ran. The man, Canute, got only halfway to where the men had disappeared to the west before one of them -- Haaken -- emerged, also running. The two met and spoke a moment before Canute continued on to the forest and Haaken came up the hill to report to Hagan.

"We found animal traps in the forest and crayfish traps in the water," he said. "There is a beaten path through the forest, from the water to there, apparently."

He nodded toward the village that he only now realized existed. He continued, "We saw no one, however."

Hagan considered the new information, then ordered, "Haaken, you will remain here to watch the village. Viringa, you and your bow stay with him. Do not be seen. The rest of us will return to the river and work our way around through the forest. We will attack after dark, unless we are seen."

"Are we killing these people?"

Hagan turned in surprise to find his wife -- supported by her servant, Mingsu. Angrily but in barely more than a whisper, he chastised, "What are you doing here?"

"We did not leave our homes and brave the sea," she chastised in return, "to come to England and kill Christians. That is the old way. You promised me the new way. You promised us the new way."

"I wasn't planning on killing them," Hagan said, not entirely being truthful. He could see that Torild didn't believe him, though. He softened his tone, telling her, "We will not draw first blood, my love. I promise." Torild coughed painfully, then gestured Mingsu to take her back to the river. Hagan called out to her, trying to be quiet while also being heard, "I will not draw first blood, my love."

He looked among his cohort of Vikings, shrugged, and murmured, "I fucking hate the new way, but, so be it. We will wait for dark and surround the village, and we will not be the first to draw blood, is that understood?" All around him acknowledged the command, but he could see in many of their eyes that they didn't think he -- they -- could keep that promise.

Hagan and his people went off to fulfill their tasks, waiting for dark or for reports from the Vikings moving through the woods.

 

[AmyRoberts]

Kirstin was on her knees using an old, dull knife to pry a penny bun mushroom from the ground when she heard the crunch of brush beneath a foot. She instinctive knew it wasn't a fox or a deer, which meant it was a human. She smiled, thinking it was her little brother trying to sneak up on her.

She rose slowly to her feet, bent her knees, then leaped out from behind the tree and called out, "Boo!"

Her eyes and mouth opened wide at the most frightening sight she'd seen in her life. The female warrior half turned, raised a bow, and drew back an arrow. But she didn't fire.

Kirstin for her part screamed, dropped her basket, turned, and ran as fast as she could back home to the village which the rest of the heathens were slowly encircling. Holding the front of her dress up to escape snagging by the undergrowth and downed timber, she moved as quickly as she could. She looked back over her shoulder for the woman -- or Ghost or Demon or whatever it was -- but saw nothing. But she heard fast moving footsteps to her left, then many steps later seemingly to her right, then after another several dozen yards to her left again.

She looked left and right often and sometimes slowed to peek back over her shoulders, but she still saw nothing. Finally, realizing she was hearing nothing anymore, Kirstin stopped and spun, searching the forest. The vision that had so startled her wasn't there. Had it ever been? Had she imagined her? It? She scanned left, right, left again.

Then, she heard steps behind her again and spun, just in time to find herself face to face with an even more horrific creature. She opened her mouth to scream again, but never got the chance; the male before her punched her in the face and she was unconscious from the blow before she ever reached the ground.

Ingrid jogged up from the direction in which she'd been herding the fleeing girl toward Eirik. The Christian lay oddly, having dropped almost straight down; her knees were bent before her to one side while her upper body was bent toward the other.

"I think you broke her," Ingrid said, laughing. They ripped off pieces of the girl's undergarment to make a gag and bindings for her hands and feet, then Ingrid looked off in the direction of the village. "I'll carry her back. You go that way. See if anyone heard her. She might now have been alone."

After Eirik helped toss the young woman over Ingrid's shoulder, the two of them went their separate directions. The girl was still out cold when the Shieldmaiden dropped her onto the grass near the unloaded supplies. She said with a playful tone of victory, "I captured our first Christian. What is my prize?"

One of the motherly types, Felda, was at the English woman's side quickly, looking at her wound. She asked what had happened and was told, then called for some cold water and a cloth. She removed the gag and cooled the girl's face, and a bit later Kirstin regained consciousness and immediately screamed again.

Ingrid was right there, though, quickly pressing a hand over the young woman's mouth while displaying a dagger before her in a threatening manner. Felda lifted a finger to her mouth and urged, "Shhhh! Be quiet. Do not scream. We don't want to hurt you."

Kirstin spoke into the covering hand, and Ingrid cautiously lifted it from the woman's mouth. The English woman spoke with obvious fear, but as only Hagan and Kindra spoke any of the Christian language, no one here currently understood her.

"Shhhh," Felda repeated again, seeing that that seemed to work regardless of the language barrier. "You will not be hurt if you remain quiet."

Ingrid flashed the gag again and asked, "Do I have to put this back on again?"

Even though the words meant nothing to Kirstin, the meaning of the gesture was clear. She shook her head animatedly and laid back into the grass, determined to do whatever was necessary not to have her mouth stuffed full of cloth again.

 

[TimTimTyner]

Hagan stood over Kirstin like a towering oak, his ax clutched tightly in his fingers, conspicuously just before the trembling girl. One of the children had been sent to the rise between the river and the village to fetch him; the boy had told him that Ingrid had captured a Christian and wanted a prize.

"Maybe we'll let her keep the girl as her prize, what do you think?" he joked with the boy as they walked back toward the still forming camp together. Standing over her now, he glared at her with a serious expression, intentionally doing his best to frighten the daylights out of her. He looked for and called to his wife's servant, "Something to drink for our guest."

Mingsu hurriedly filled a wooden cup with honey wine, a drink that was a bit lighter in alcohol and far sweeter than the ale they typically made and consumed in vast quantities.

Hagan moved closer to the woman and crouched, saying in her language, "Do not be afraid. We are not going to hurt you, so long as you are truthful in answering my questions about your village."

He lifted the wooden mug to his own mouth and took a big swig, then offered it out to the young woman; if she was hesitant to take it, he would essentially force it upon her, telling her to drink. After she'd taken a drink, he took the container back, finished it off, and gave it to Mingsu to be refilled again.

"How many people live in your village?" Hagan began his questioning. If, again, she was hesitant, he would put the fear of the Gods in her by casually raising his ax to ensure she took note of it. "How many men? Warriors, who now how to use a sword or ax?"

He was very surprised by her answer. He would have been suspicious as to its accuracy if she hadn't been so obviously fearful for her life. "We are going to go visit your village. My warriors and archers. We will walk up that hill and cross to your village. And if I find out that you have lied to me, we will kill everyone in that village before your eyes, but not until after we have raped all the women before the eyes of their husbands, brothers, and sons. We will rape them, kill them. And then I will rape you."

He looked up to Eirik, then back. "And then he will rape you, and each of my men will rape you, and then I will make you my slave and rape you every night until there simply isn't enough left of you to call a woman. And then I will kill you finally. Maybe."

Hagan raised an eyebrow as he studied her and asked, "So. Are you telling me the truth about what we will find when we go into your village?"

 

[AmyRoberts]

The man who stood over Kirstin was like no man she'd ever seen before. He was a tall as a tree and as strong looking as an ox, dressed in expensive, extravagantly fashioned leather and furs from animals she'd only ever heard lived in far away places like Frankia, the German States, and the North, from where she had finally decided these visitors originated.

Northmen. She'd heard the name before, of course. Who hadn't? The pagan heathens had been raiding villages and towns throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland for more than a decade. Kirstin had never seen one, though. She didn't know anyone who had as far as that went. For reasons of which no one was aware, the Northmen had never set foot in this region.

After fully intimidating her simply with his presence and stare, he crouched down and handed her a cup after drinking from it himself. Was he trying to show her that it wasn't poisoned? Did he have a reason to poison her? No. If he wanted her dead, he could just strike her with that frightening ax he was brandishing just a foot or so before her face.

Then, he shocked her by speaking in words she understood, "Do not be afraid. We are not going to hurt you, so long as you are truthful in answering my questions about your village."

Of all the things that had happened to her thus far, learning that this pagan heathen understood and could speak her language was a sincere shock. He accepted a cup from a girl who looked nothing like the rest of them, drank from it, and then offered it to Kirstin.

She didn't take the cup at first, and even when he thrusted it at her, she only shook her head. But then that ax was raised, and without hesitation she took the cup and tipped it to her mouth. It was sweet and strong, and after taking too big of a gulp, Kirstin coughed a couple of times before being urged to take another gulp of the honey flavored drink.

The man who seemed to be the group's leader finished the cup off and had it filled again. After drinking more and then pushing it to her, Kirstin forced herself to swallow more of the strong drink as he began asking his questions about the village's security.

"How many people live in your village?" he asked. "How many men? Warriors, who now how to use a sword or ax?"

Kirstin didn't see any reason not to answer. These Northmen were going to attack her village whether she told them they had no warriors or fifty of them.

"We have no warriors," she told him truthfully. "We have no swords or bows or axes, except for hunting and chopping wood."

Then, obviously not believing her, the man graphically described what the punishment for lying would be, ending with. "And then I will kill you finally. Maybe. So. Are you telling me the truth about what we will find when we go into your village?"

"Yes!" Kirstin told the man with a desperate tone. "We are just farmers. We are not warriors. We have no swords or other weapons. Please, do not kill my people. We are peaceful. They will not resist you."

 

[TimTimTyner]

Hagan forced the honey wine on the girl again, then asked, "What is your name?" She told him, then -- nodding toward his people as he spoke of them -- he introduced, "I am Hagan. This is Ingrid. That over there is Eirik. I understand you have already met the two of them."

The Viking who had punched Kirstin in the face had returned to report that there was no sign her screams had given away the Northmen's presence. Hagan reached out slowly to the woman's chin and turned her head to examine the damage to her pretty face. She was already beginning to swell and turn a darker shade. He continued, "That is my wife, Torild, and her girl Mingsu."

Hagan stood shared another drink with Kirstin, then stood tall and left to speak with some of the other warriors and shieldmaidens. Most of them hurried off to the west and east again, while Hagan himself returned to the gentle ridge hiding the Viking camp from the village. When he returned almost an hour later, he knelt at Kirstin's side and began untying her bindings.

"You and I are going to your village," he told her. He rose again and stood her up tall, which meant not nearly as tall as him, of course. Looking down into her face, Hagan said with a firm tone, "If you are telling me the truth, no one will be harmed, but if you are not..."

He let the threat die off, looked to the handful of armed Northmen who were not already in the woods surrounding the village, and told them, "Follow behind. I want her people to understand I want to talk first, fight second."

Grasping Kirstin by an upper arm, Hagan leaned close to her and whispered, "If you scream, I will cut your throat. If you run, Ingrid will put an arrow in your back. Do you understand?" And with that, they headed for the village: Hagan led the way, still holding the young woman's arm tightly in his left hand while his right hand held his ax; Ingrid, Eirik, and four others -- swords, axes, and bows ready -- followed in an arc about a hundred feet behind, a gap which would narrow once Hagan and Kirstin had come to a stop at or near the village; and from the forest around the village, the other Viking heathens would emerge and make their presence known once the villagers understood that they were about to have visitors.

 

[AmyRoberts]

The heathen continued to foist the wooden mug of honey wine on Kirstin, but honestly, she was beginning to enjoy it. He asked, "What is your name?"

"Kirstin," she said, and after another gulp, added, "My name is Kirstin. Of Riverwalk. My village. It is called Riverwalk.

"I am Hagan," he said, beginning the introductions.

Kirstin looked to each of the people as he introduced them. Ingrid she knew, of course; she'd been the first apparition Kirstin had seen in the forest. Eirik was the monster who'd punched her in the face. Kirstin would never forget him. She flinched as Hagan reached out to her, then allowed him to turn her head and inspect the damage. Her skull hurt. Not just her face, but her actual skull. She actually thought the scary Northman had broken her head.

"That is my wife, Torild," Hagan continued, "and her girl Mingsu."

Kirstin looked to the two woman, the first of whom was laying in a blanket arranged over bags of goods for comfort. She was obviously ill; sickly. The other woman, who looked to still be in her teens, didn't look anything like the rest of the visitors. Ignorant of the facts, Kirstin asked, "How can she be your daughter? She looks nothing like either of you."

Ingrid answered the question with a harsh tone, "Mingsu is not their child, she is their slave."

The Christian woman's face tied up in an expression of disbelief as she murmured mostly to herself, "Slave?"

Hagan pushed another drink on Kirstin, which she easily accepted. Then he stood and departed. Kirstin took the opportunity to look around the camp. It was busy with activity as the amazing but also frightening boat -- it had a dragon head on the bow -- was continuing to be unloaded. Most of the Northmen Kirstin could see here -- after so many had gone off to encircle the village -- were very young or very old.

"Are they slaves, too?" she asked Ingrid regarding the children. "They work so hard. And they look exhausted."

"No, they are not slaves," Ingrid informed Kirstin. "But there is work to be done, and our children are hard, proud workers."

Kirstin looked to Mingsu and -- not knowing whether or not she would understand the words -- asked, "Where are you from? You look different from these people."

Mingsu surprised Kirstin, Ingrid, and the others by answering in broken English, "China my home."

"How the hell?" Ingrid asked in her own Northern language with obvious shock. "How do you know the Christian language?"

"Learn from priest in Rome," Mingsu continued in Ingrid's first language, "before come Paris, then to North."

Whispering to Torild that she wanted to help the Christian girl, Mingsu brought a rag and a bowl of cool river water to Kirstin and asked to wash her wound, telling her she had a cut that needed to be cleaned. She said softly in English, "Not fight with masters. Be safe. Will treat you good if not fight."

When Hagan returned, he untied Kirstin and pulled her to her feet, saying, "You and I are going to your village."

He warned her again about being truthful, and off toward her home they went. They passed over the slight ridge and covered about half the nearly 200 yards between it and the village when one of the women working in a grain field saw them approaching. A moment later, she understood the danger and ran off toward the huts, calling out.

"Please don't hurt them," Kirstin again pleaded with Hagan. "They will be frightened, and they will arm themselves with whatever they can find. But they are not a threat. Please, let me talk to them."

Hagan didn't respond verbally, but Kirstin had a good feeling that he was going to let this play out without bloodshed if possible. Soon enough, men began appearing wielding pitchforks, axes, sharpened poles that could be called spears, and anything else that might serve as a weapon. They gathered in a spread out line along the space between the huts and the corrals and fields and waited and watched.

"Don't fight them!" Kirstin called out. "Please! Put down your weapons! Their leader has promised that if you don't fight them, they will not kill you. Kill us!"

The village's defenders looked nervous; none of them had ever fought in a battle, and only a few of them had ever fought another person, and that had usually been against raiders and thieves attempting to steal their stock animals. They became even more nervous when, from all directions, more of the Northmen began appearing in all directions, having exited the forest on cue.

"Where's my father?" Kirstin called out. "Please, someone find my father."

To Hagan, she said, "My father does not walk well. He was injured. But he will tell the others not to fight, to protect me."

 

[TimTimTyner]

Hagan realized that Kirstin had been truthful when she said there were no real warriors in Riverwalk. A couple of dozen men from their early teens to their graying years slowly emerged from the huts or from work areas, armed with a wide assortment of what were little more than tools of their trades.

"Don't fight them!" Kirstin called out, telling her people to disarm, that the visitors would not hurt them if they did not resist. "Where's my father? Please, someone find my father." She told Hagan about her father's reduced mobility, adding, "...he will tell the others not to fight, to protect me."

"That is good," Hagan said, still grasping Kirstin's elbow tightly. He wasn't trying to hurt her, but tomorrow she would have bruises on her arm to match the one growing on her eye. He clarified, "Good for you. Good for your people." He studied the 20 some odd men and handful of women facing off with his own people and saw far more fear in their faces than anger. Hagan wanted to honor his wife by not shedding blood, and if Kirstin's father could keep his people calm, he thought there was a chance of pleasing his wife.

But then one of the younger men standing closer to the huts spun at the sound of boots behind him and found two of the Vikings coming into view. Out of fear or anger or simple instinct, he charged the pair with a wooden pitchfork out before him like a spear. Wyborn slid away from the charge and swept his sword in a circle; the sharpened points of what was little more than a forked branch water-heated into a useful shape struck the ground, and the young man -- grasping the weapon tightly in both hands -- essentially vaulted off the ground a few inches before falling hard to the ground on his back. Looking up, winded, he found and then felt the point of the heathen's sword against his chest.

All about the line of villagers, the fear ramped up as they were certain an attack was coming. But Hagan called out for his warriors and shieldmaidens to stand firm. Wyborn called over his shoulder to Hagan in their mutual language, "Do you want me to keep this man alive?"

To let both Wyborn and the Christians know his answer, Hagan said, "Ja. Ikke drep ham. Do not kill him."

Wyborn studied the trembling young man a moment, then -- for kicks -- jabbed the sword just hard enough against his rib cage to cut through the village's shirt and draw blood. The man yelped, but as Wyborn backed away and the second heathen helped the man to his feet and kicked him in the butt toward the others, his fellow villagers could see that he had not been seriously injured.

A new voice joined the conversation, calling out from behind the line of alert English, "Who are you? What do you want here, from us?" A moment later, Henry of Riverwalk pushed through the line of his countrymen and found his daughter in the hands of -- hand of? -- one of the invaders. "Kirstin, my daughter. Are you alright? Have they harmed you?"

She answered her father, and as they were conversing Hagan interrupted by repeating what Kirstin had said, "We will not harm any of you, if you disarm. Now!"

Henry studied Hagan and looked to his daughter with concern. Then, looking about at the number of swords, axes, and bows that were deployed and ready to annihilate his people, he stepped out before the line of villagers and called out, "Drop your weapons. Please! Drop them. We have no hope of defending ourselves, so there is no sense in trying to do so." He turned to look directly at Hagan as he continued, "We must hope and pray to God that this man is speaking the truth."

Hagan couldn't help but smile at the mention of the Christian God while the villagers were facing a horde of pagans who didn't believe it such a deity. But then, one by one, Henry's people began dropping their pitchforks and axes and spears and butchering knifes. When the last of them had disarmed, Henry took a couple of more steps toward Hagan, begging, "We have done as you asked. Please, release my daughter."

The Viking leader did just that, letting his grip on her arm go as he said, "Go back to your father." She did, and as he gestured to his own people to remain calm but vigilant, Hagan told Henry, "We must sit together and drink and talk."

Henry wrapped his arms around his daughter, embracing her as a frightened father would. Then, sniffing at her, he laughed and looked to Hagan, saying with some humor in his tone, "It would appear that someone's already been drinking." Henry's wife had appeared and hurried to take her daughter from her husband's arms. Henry took another step closer to the visitor; he lifted his cane and pointed back toward the middle of the village. "Please, come. Join me in the square. We will drink and eat and speak of why you are here."

Hagan agreed, then spoke to one of the younger warriors, who turned and hurried back toward the river. Hagan called out to his armed friends and family to sheath their swords and un-notch their bows, but again told them to remain vigilant, presuming that no one in the village understood his words in Norwegian. Then, he started forward, following behind Henry as the man led him into the village.

Hagan was surprised by the condition of the village as he studied its architecture. There was far less solid wood construction than in his own village in southwest Norway, with far more reeds, limbs, and saplings holding the huts together. He thought they looked ready to fall down in the first fierce storm. But many of them appeared old, so perhaps he was wrong.

The only building amongst the 10 human-occupied structures to appear solidly built at all was what Hagan instantly knew was the Christians' house of worship to their one God. Still, it wasn't much, being only perhaps 15 feet wide and a bit more than that long, with a steep roof atop which was a tall lumber-built cross.

In the middle of the village was a community building about thirty feet by thirty that had a peaked roof made of bundled reeds but no real walls; weaved fiber barriers surrounded much of it, more as a wind break for the fire pit in the middle than anything else. Flames were rising from the pit, and food and water both were already being heated in or upon a variety of iron pots and skillets.

Henry had turned his head several times to look back to Hagan, and now as they neared what Hagan would learn the villagers called the Square, Henry again gestured for the Viking to join him, saying, "Sit, sit. Join me." He called to his wife to bring ale and food, while he himself took a seat on one side of the fire and gestured Hagan to take a seat not too close but not too far either.

Hagan walked about the fire pit, the Square, and the village surrounding him, trying to be inconspicuous in his study for the danger of treachery. He told his own people yet again to be alert, then sat on a log stool, facing Henry. He and Kirstin's father said nothing until the first pitcher of English ale arrived and glasses were poured for both leaders. Henry toasted, "To new friends."

"To new friends," Hagan repeated before taste testing the ale first, then -- smiling appreciatively -- downing the entire contents of the wooden mug. He held it out to the woman holding the pitcher; she looked to Henry, got a nod, and refilled the glass. Hagan downed half of it again, then said, "Good. Very good."

"I'm happy you like it," Henry said, before taking a big gulp of the ale and telling his visitor, "We make this right here in the village. It is my wife's recipe. We sell it at the marketplace in the neighboring town."

Henry mentioned the town in the hopes that the Viking would understand that his people were not alone in a vast wilderness with no one to come to their rescue or to their revenge, depending upon what came next. In truth, though, the next real town was a four day walk, and Henry's community really had very few dealings with the people there except to pay a semi-annual tribute to the town's Lord for protection that, thus far, he had never had to afford them.

"Now, what should we talk about?" Henry asked in his most diplomatic tone. "Perhaps we should begin with why you have come from so far away to our little village. I've had heard tales of warriors from afar raiding our coastline." He gestured to the village surrounding him, speaking the obvious, "As you can see, we have nothing of value for you to pillage. If it is food you want, furs even, you may take all you wish without resistance from my people."

"We are not raiders," Hagan stated, words that caused an eyebrow on Henry's face to rise questioningly. The Viking continued, "We came to the Isles of England, to the land of the Christians, to farm and raise animals and care and feed for our children."

Henry's expression altered significantly, and he asked with obvious surprise, "You wish to stay in Northumbria?"

Hagan's expression changed as well. "What is Northumbria? Is this not England?"

Henry laughed, then gave a waving gesture meant to express that he wasn't laughing at the Viking. "Yes, yes, these are the English Isles, but where you are now, this place in those isles, this is the Kingdom of Northumbria, which is only a part of England. This land, this kingdom, is ruled by Eanred."

Hagan understood Henry's explanation, which returned to conversation to Henry asking again, "You want to remain in England, in Northumbria. You want to settle here. Permanently?"

"Yes," Hagan said simply.

Henry drank from his mug again, and as he was about to speak the young Viking who had hurried back to the river reappeared; he and a second man had a small keg of honey wine between them, tied to a pole. Hagan applauded them for their timeliness, and after they had released the four gallon container and removed the cork, Hagan drained what remained of Henry's wife's ale and refilled it with his own wife's mead. He offered the mug to Henry, took Henry's own container, once again drained it of the English drink, and filled it before sitting down.

"To new friends," Hagan toasted, waiting for Henry to repeat his words before taking another big gulp. He laughed at the other man's reaction to the very differently tasting drink, then returned to the conversation, "Yes, we will to settle in Northumbria, permanently."

Henry sipped at the drink again, more to delay having to respond than anything else, then pointed out, "You are sea people. People of the sea. You have boats and have crossed vast distances of ocean. Perhaps you would be happier nearer the sea. Perhaps near the mouth of the River Tyne or more north, on the River Tay in the land of the Scots--"

"Right here," Hagan said, pointing a finger toward the dirt at his feet. He saw Henry's eyes widen with concern. Hagan took another big gulp of his familiar mead, looked around himself at the Vikings, the Christians, and the village surrounding the lot of them, and clarified, "We will settle here, in Riverwalk." He raised his mug and toasted again, "To new friends!"

With a tentative tone, Henry asked, "You want to settle here, in Riverwalk?"

"Yes!" Hagan answered simply.

Henry studied the man and the warriors surrounding the Square. He was quickly coming to realize that the Northmen -- the pagan heathens -- had no intention of leaving his village, in the short term and possibly in the long term. He tried to suggest some other local areas that might be more suitable -- some of which Henry knew already had populations -- but Hagan stood firm. Henry spoke of how the two peoples were so different, and while he didn't actually mention religion, he could see and hear in Hagan's reaction that the Northman understood what he meant.

"You will build a separate village nearer to the water, yes?" Henry asked, trying to be diplomatic about at least keeping the Vikings out of Riverwalk itself. Seeing that Hagan understood his effort, Henry added, "You can fish the river and farm the land between your village and our village."

One of the Riverwalk villagers, feeling brave and recognizing the threat, called out, "That is our land! You have no right to--"

But the man went quiet when Henry raised a hand and called out, "Silence!" He looked at the objector, then back to Hagan. He explained, "I am not the leader of my village. Riverwalk does not have a Chief or a Lord or whatever you call yourself."

"I am not a Chief or Earl or Lord either," Hagan admitted. "I lead my people, though, as do you." Hagan glared at the man who'd spoken up, then stood. Loud enough for all to hear, he announced, "My people will settle along the banks of your river and will farm the land your leader has generously offered us. We will live peacefully with you." He looked to Henry, recalling the man's concerns, and said, "And we will keep our Gods and honor them, and you will keep your God and honor him, and we will live in harmony, side by side. Yes?"

Henry didn't see that he and his people had much of a choice. If it came to a fight, the English villagers would be wiped out and, in the end, they would lose all of their land and not just part of it. He stood and offered out his hand, saying, "Agreed."

Hagan grasped Henry at the forearm, not hand, and gripped him tightly, confirming, "Agreed!" There was a cheer from the Northmen, more to support their leader that to support the negotiation itself; there were some among them who would have preferred wiping out the English and having Riverwalk and its surrounding pasturelands, forests, and waters solely to themselves.

While still clutching the man's arm, Hagan looked about himself with a big smile and announced, "And I will take a wife from the people of Riverwalk!" There was another cheer from his people and his people only; the Christians all looked as if they'd just been told their God didn't exist. Hagan looked to Henry again and said with a happy tone, "I will marry your daughter. Kirstin. I will marry Kirstin and our two people's will become one with the birth of our first son!"

There was yet another cheer from the Vikings.

 

[AmyRoberts]

Kirstin couldn't help but notice the varying levels of panic and fear amongst her people as they faced off with the Northmen. During her lifetime, the people of Riverwalk had never found themselves in such a dangerous situation before. Oh, there were thieves and raiders in the forest at times, but they were rarely if ever murderous; Kirstin had a friend who had once been raped by a trio of men who had then disappeared back into the dark of the woods, but other than that, she herself had never experienced extreme violence short of a dispute between two Riverwalk villagers that had turned deadly with one man's use of a tool handle as a club.

When her friend Adrian suddenly attacked a pair of Northmen and was easily put down, Kirstin panicked, begging Hagan again, "Please, m'lord, please don't hurt him."

Hagan heeded her plea, telling the two men, "Ja. Ikke drep ham. Do not kill him."

Her father arrived, questioning the Northmen's motives and checking on his daughter's safety. After convincing the people of Riverwalk to disarm, Kirstin found herself free and ran quickly into her father's arms. To his repeated questions about her safety, she reassure him, "I'm fine, father."

He checked her face and saw the bruising swell, but she only smiled and -- not wanting to implicate the heathens -- told him, "I fell while running. It is of my own doing."

When Hagan suggested they all sit together and drink and talk, Kirstin laughed at her father's notice that she already smelled very much like a brewery. "Sorry, father. They made me drink. But, it's good. You would like it."

She found herself in her mother's arms a moment later, repeating the reassurances she'd given her mother. As the two peoples made their way toward the Square, Kirstin insisted that she stay close to her father, wanting desperately to listen in on the conversation.

She, like her father, was shocked to hear that the Northmen were not only going to settle in Northumbria but wanted to settle right here in Riverwalk, side by side with Kirstin's Christian community.

The biggest shock to come, obviously, was when Hagan announced, "And I will take a wife from the people of Riverwalk! I will marry your daughter. Kirstin. I will marry Kirstin and our two people's will become one with the birth of our first son!"

Her eyed got wide and her mouth literally fell open. And the shock only deepened when she failed to hear what she expected: her father's denial of the heathen's demands. Henry just stood there, staring at Hagan as the Viking and his men and women cheered. She pushed through the mixed crowd of Northmen and English to clutch Henry's arm, growling, "Father! Tell him no. Tell him I will not marry him. I can't! He's, he's--"

She didn't know how to say he's a dirty, filthy, murderous, pagan heathen without obviously offending Hagan, so she instead only whispered, "He's so different, father. How can he expect me to marry him?"

Her father wasn't about to just hand his only daughter over to this Northman whose people had just imposed themselves upon his own community, so he instead said with a polite smile, "We can speak of such things later. For now, let us plan to feast tonight, together, our two peoples. We will slaughter a lamb or two and roast them here over the fire, and we will drink and we will talk about our future as two peoples, living together in peace and harmony."

Henry had been looking about himself, mostly at his own people to gauge their reaction, but now he looked back to Hagar, holding his mug up before him as he yet again repeated, "To new friends."

 

[TimTimTyner]

Hagan wasn't at all surprised by the young Christian woman's reaction to his proposal that become his wife. Who would have been surprised?

"Father! Tell him no. Tell him I will not marry him. I can't! He's, he's--"

Hagan smiled at her, tilted his mug to his mouth, and drained the rest of the brew. He listened to her speak of him being different and laughed. That was one way to put it. But he plowed on, telling Henry, "I will be a good husband, and I will keep your daughter happy and healthy and safe, and she will birth you many strong grandsons and beautiful granddaughters."

Henry tried to delay any decision of the proposal by proposing a feast later that night, then toasted to the new friendship. Hagan had nothing left in his mug but had it filled once again before draining it once more, laughing, and turning to leave. He gestured Henry to join him, and when the two of them were out from beneath the building and a bit more apart from Henry's people, Hagan began his warning.

"My people will need food for the days to come. We are fishermen and farmers, but we are hunters as well. My hunters will be in the forest this evening, seeking prey, but as it will be dark and as they do not know your forest, the woods could be a very dangerous place for your own people to be."

Hagan looked into Henry's eyes, and he could tell that the man was beginning to understand the unspoken threat: if you send men for help, they will be killed. "We understand each other, yes?"

Henry nodded, answering, "I will keep my people in the village, Hagan. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to warn my people of the dangers that might be found in the forest this night. I assume that once your hunters are more ... comfortable in the woods, once we -- you and I -- are more comfortable with one another, that my people will once again be allowed into the forest, to hunt and to forage."

Hagan reached over and patted the other man on the back. "Yes. Once we are more comfortable with each other, yes." Hagan was the one to offer a shake again, and this time Henry took the other man's hand as opposed to his forearm. They shared a smile and laughed after they almost simultaneously said, "To new friends."

As Hagan began meeting with his warriors and shieldmaidens, walking toward the river, Henry turned back toward the village's center again, seeking out his daughter.

 

[AmyRoberts]

Kirstin couldn't believe her father, and when he returned toward the village she essentially accosted him with her questions about how he hadn't simply told the heathen up front that he couldn't simply claim her as his bride to be. Henry tried to convince her that they'd figure some way out of this, but he wasn't entirely convinced that Kirstin believed him.

She went to her mother next, pleading with her to speak with Henry. But Kirstin found herself shocked yet again when her mother, Bethany, said with a matter of fact tone, "You will marry this Pagan, and you will birth your father grandsons and me granddaughters, and you will play your part in keeping peace between us and these heathens."

Again, Kirstin's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "Moth-er! What are you saying? I am to be wedded off to some stranger, some heathen from a foreign land?"

Bethany only took her daughter's hands into her own, squeezed them lovingly, and informed her, "You were already going to be married off to a stranger. The agreement was made. He might not be a heathen, but--"

"Who?" Kirstin bellowed. She looked to her father. "You betrothed me to some man without telling me? Who is this man?"

Henry explained that he had made a pact with a comparatively wealthy man from another village, a man Kirstin had met only twice, once when she was 13 -- when the deal was sealed -- and once again just after her 18th birthday, when the man returned to ensure she had become the beautiful woman he'd hoped she would be.

"What did you get for me?" Kirstin asked with an accusing tone. "How much am I worth?"

When she learned that her parents were gaining an ox, a bag of wheat seed, a plow, and a small purse of silver coins, Kirstin became livid, screaming at her parents for essentially selling her off to a stranger. But as she went on, she realized that the new marriage proposal was even worse. She was being traded away to a Pagan in return for an agreement of peace between the two peoples.

"No longer am I even worth an ox and a bag of seed?" she chastised. "Now, you give me away for a promise and a prayer."

She stomped away from the pair, ignoring the looks she was receiving from many of the villagers who had either heard the offer being made first hand or who'd by now heard it all through the grapevine. In a village as small as Riverwalk, it didn't take long for news to get from one end of the community to the other.

Kirstin returned to the family's hut and dropped onto her bed, where a moment later she burst into sobs and tears. Ironically, though, after she had a chance to think about why she was crying, she realized it was more about having been sold her off to a stranger in a nearby village than it was about now being betrothed to a pagan heathen.

Why was that? How could that be? It was simple, actually, although Kirstin didn't want to believe it: the Northman Hagan was a hell of an impressive example of manliness, and -- despite him being a pagan heathen -- she couldn't stop herself from imagining him laying on his back beneath her as she rocked her body back and forth upon his presumably massive cock.

Despite the sinfulness of it, Kirstin had a rather active sex life, albeit with her own fingers while she was deep in the woods, presumable hunting for mushrooms and other edibles. She often considered sneaking off into those woods with Adrian and -- in violation to the teachings of God -- giving up her virginity and becoming a woman in physical form, as she already considered herself in other ways. But one thing or another had prevented it, and she remained pure of body to this day when the workings of her fingers between her thighs were discounted.

She rolled to her back and stared at the hut's roof, recalling the handful of times that she'd surreptitiously watched others partaking of sex. It had been sinful of her to peek, of course, but she'd been intrigued by the passion and cries and moans of it all. She'd watched her parents on three occasions; she'd watched a friend of hers roll about in the woods with one of the Tax Collector's escorts.

The most erotic -- and sinful -- thing Kirstin had ever witnesses was when her father took her on her one and only trip to that distant town about which he had spoken to Hagan. They had been there to negotiate the purchase of -- ironically -- an ox and a plow, a negotiation that had been fruitless and a waste of time. But while her father was downstairs in the Inn's tavern, Kirstin had peeked through a crack in the wall between their room and the neighboring one and watched with wide eyes as two naked women pleasured each other with their mouths and fingers.

It was that event above and beyond any of the others that had led to Kirstin discovering the pleasures of touching her own self. And yet, as erotic as it had been to watch, Kirstin knew that her future sexual joy with another would take place with a man. Would it now be with the heathen, Hagan? Kirstin couldn't help but feel as though that was better than it taking place with some local farmer who had a spare ox, a plow, a bag of grain, and a handful of coins.

Kirstin could hear her parents arguing out behind their hut. She slipped out the door and -- not knowing about Hagan's warning regarding the forest -- hurried through the huts and animal buildings, over the corral fence, and off into the woods. She continued onward through the thick undergrowth until she arrived at one of her secret places.

Pulling her dress up such that she could kneel down and not be upon its front, she listened for any signs of movement. There were none, leading her to part her knees a bit farther, pull her dress up a bit farther as well, and reach in between her thighs until she found the warm, wet folds of her pussy. Her breathing became more labored, her heart began pounding, and her breathing became quicker and more audible. She had, of course, become very good at this, and it wasn't long before her soft moans had become light cries and, ultimately, she drew a deep breath, held it, then released it in a gasp of ecstasy.

The entire time, Kirstin had been fantasizing that Hagan was beneath her, grasping her hips and he had her elbow earlier.

The entire time, Ingrid had been watching silently from the shadows after having silently tracked the young woman through the woods.

 

[TimTimTyner]

Henry was as surprised as his daughter was when Bethany told Kirstin that she would marry the Northman. He was a bit disappointed as well when Bethany confessed about him having betrothed their daughter more than 5 years earlier. When Kirstin glared at him, he literally shrugged with nothing more to add. Kirstin stormed off, and Henry was almost immediately set upon by his fellow villagers, wanting to know: first, how did he think that allowing these heathens to live next door to them was a good idea; and second, how he thought that he had the right to make such a decision.

It had been a long tradition in Riverwalk -- which had no residing Nobleman -- for the community to be leaderless. There wasn't even a Council of Elders, as was common in a great many small villages that did have such a Lord. Decisions were made by majority rule, and very often decisions that did not have a vast majority of yes or no votes were delayed until negotiations and side deals were made to create a very popular opinion on the subject.

"Tell me what other choice we had," Henry argued to the group of thirty some odd men and women who'd assailed him in the Square. "You see who we are dealing with. You see their weapons. These are violent, vicious, pagan heathens. Who are we? What are we? There isn't a warrior amongst us. There isn't a weapon of war amongst us. To resist them would have meant many if not most of being killed and the rest of us enslaved, just as has happened in so many other coastal towns to the south, to the north, in Scotland, Ireland, Wales. We would have been decimated, and the Northmen still would have gotten land in Riverwalk, only this time, they would have gotten all of it, and we would have worked it for them while in bondage."

"What about your daughter?" someone called out. "How can you just give her over to that pagan?"

"Would I rather that pagan kill me and Kirstin's mother," Henry responded, "and then he and who knows how many more of them rape Kirstin to death, as they would all your wives and daughters?"

There was a moment of silence, then someone said, "We send for help. Send runners to the town, to the King's Lords."

There was general agreement to that, but Henry calmed them down and warned, "Hagan has told me that he will have his men in the woods, watching for just that. He has told me that anyone seen in the forest will be killed on sight without question or warning."

That wasn't exactly what the Viking had told Henry, but it was close enough to frighten the others. They argued on for a few minutes before Henry quieted them again. "Please, go about your business. There is nothing more to be done. We must continue to be friendly with these pagans until another solution is found. We will indeed have a feast tonight, to welcome the Northmen into our community. Please, cooperate. They have promised that no harm will come to us if we present them with no harm in return."

There was more discussion, but Henry and his wife left to continue the conversation closer to home. They didn't see their daughter sneak out, nor did they see her return later, although they did realize that she was missing when they went into the house to find her. They both went out searching for her and were relieved to find her on the village's perimeter, safe and sound though looking somewhat nervous; they thought it concerned the Viking, of course, and not any fears she might have had about having been caught pleasuring herself to fantasies of big, heathen pagans.

<> <> <> <> <>​

At the river's edge, Hagan found his tent set up and his wife laying comfortably inside with her servant close at hand. He excused Mingsu, then sat with Torild. He told her about the negotiations regarding the Vikings settling in Riverwalk, then told her, "I will take the Christian leader's daughter as a wife."

Torild didn't immediately react. They had often spoken about his need to sire an heir, a son, and his attempts to do so with her had failed on three previous occasions. She reached out for his hand, squeezed it as she smiled weakly, and said only, "Good."

He told her about the feast, saying with a loving tone, "You will come with me. I wish for the Christians to know you."

"Before I am gone," she clarified, knowing that Hagan wouldn't say the words. She could see in his face that she was right. She pulled him to her, kissed him softly, and said, "I would be honored to meet the Christians, and your new wife." She smiled and chuckled, then coughed. She asked with humor, "Will you carry me up the hill?"

"Yes," he said without hesition. "I will carry you, today, tomorrow, and all the rest of the days of my life."

"Of my life," she corrected.

<> <> <> <> <>​

Two hours later, Hagan reentered Riverwalk, and as he'd promised his wife, he'd carried her in his arms the entire distance of more than 300 yards, the first third of it up hill. Ingrid and another shieldmaiden had carried the chair that had been brought from their home in Norway; it wasn't that spectacular, yet in their people's minds, it was the sitting place of a great woman.

With the chair place near enough to the fire to keep Torild warm while keeping her back enough to see most everyone in the Square, Hagan lowered her to her feet and began the introductions. "This is Henry. He represents the people of Riverwalk, and his wife, whose name I reluctantly must admit I don't know."

"Bethany," Henry said, looking between the two Vikings with a smile. He looked for Kirstin, wanting to introduce her again, too. Was she there? He told Torild, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Torild."

Torild didn't correct the man on the use of the title, but Hagan did smile with a bit of delight at it. Over the last couple of hours, there had been a great deal of talk down at the river as to the political future of the Viking Clan. When they'd left Norway, Hagan was but the Chief of his village. Now, with only the 22 of them seeming to remain and the community on the way to becoming established with permanency without an Overlord, the more appropriate title for him would be Earl. But no decision had yet been made.

Torild took her seat, and Hagan sat on the edge of the nearest table. As the introductions had been taking place, the Vikings had been carting into the Square their contribution to the feast: a deer on a metal pole that they'd been roasting on a fire at the river and a dozen smaller animals that had been shot or trapped and similarly cooked. Hagan would have loved to include some traditional Norwegian delicacies, but after 15 days on the ocean, they'd eaten virtually everything available to them except some of the grains.

 

[AmyRoberts]

(OOC: I took that liberty you said I could take and had Hagan translate for Torild.)


Kirstin was watching the second approach of the Northmen from just inside the door of her family's hut. She was impressed by the show of Hagan's obvious strength in his carrying with apparent ease his sickly wife the full distance from the river to the Square. Only after the Viking leader was within the crowd of people did Kirstin leave the home and head inconspicuously that direction.

Hagan introduced Henry to his wife, and Henry in turn introduced his wife to both Hagan and Torild. Kirstin could see her father looking in the crowd for her, but she remained out of his view. The two couples representing their respective peoples sat such that each of the four could see the others, with the women closer to the warmth of the fire. Throughout the Square, the more important people of both peoples also took seats. Kirstin couldn't help but notice that some of the Northman warriors inconspicuously took up what she considered guard, enabling them the protect their leader in an instant and, if necessary, strike from good positions if the villagers were hiding weapons and planning a betrayal.

"It is my understanding that you wish to marry my daughter, Hagan," Kirstin's mother suddenly blurted out in the middle of a casual conversation about the dinner that was being prepared. Bethany looked directly at Torild as she continued speaking to the woman's husband, "I am curious as to how your current wife feels about that?"

Hagan spoke to his wife in their own language. After Torild smiled politely and responded, Hagan translated, "My wife wishes you to know that she has blessed my marriage to your daughter."

"Really?" Bethany asked with a dubious tone.

Despite not understanding the other woman's words -- or in this case word -- Torild had a sense of what she'd said and went on. She took her husband's hand in her own, clutching it as a sign of affection, respect, and agreement on the subject as she spoke and Hagan -- at appropriate moments -- translated for her.

"My wife regrets that she has not been able to provide me with sons," he told the other married pair. He spoke more of her words but added his own opinion at the end when he continued, "She believes that the Gods have forsaken her for refusing to marry me when we were younger. I do not believe this is so. I believe sometimes the Gods put us on a different path than that which we choose for ourselves."

Torild knew the English word for God and Gods, and she couldn't help but notice Bethany's reaction -- and some of the other Christians -- when her husband used the plural version of the word . She ignored their reaction and continued, with Hagan still translating, "If the Gods see fit that your daughter should provide me strong sons or beautiful daughters -- like yourself, Bethany, my wife's words, not mine -- then she is happy for me."

There was a moment of silence, broken only by the popping of the nearby fire. Bethany looked to her husband for some sort of support in what he knew she wanted to say, but she didn't see it. She decided to go it alone, looked to Hagan again, and began to hesitantly explain that she simply could not condone this arrangement.

But she had barely gotten started when Kirstin called out, "I agree to be your wife, Hagan."

Every head -- Christian and Pagan -- turned to find her standing at the fringe of the Square. She was dressed in her Church dress -- which was the best of the only two gowns she owned -- and her hair was pulled up in an intricate braid with simple but pretty flowers decorating it. As she strode into the building, those standing in her way cleared a path like Moses parting the Red Sea.

"I will be your wife," Kirstin repeated when she stopped a few feet from Hagan on her left and her father on the right. She looked to each of the four people discussing her future and said with a firm voice, "But I have conditions."

She hesitated to see if anyone was going to ask her what those conditions were, but whether anyone did or not, she continued, "First, I respect your wife too much to replace her while she lives."

Kirstin looked to Torild, nodded her head respectfully, and -- knowing that Hagan would have to translate -- said, "I will marry your husband, yes. But I will not consummate our marriage until you are no longer with us. It is my hope that you will not leave this Earth for many more years, that you will live a long, healthy life, and to that end--"

She looked to her mother, who was Riverwalk's Healer, Midwife, and Herbalist all wrapped up in one. "My mother will use her knowledge to both care for Torild, to keep her alive and well, and -- if that is not what God sees ahead for her -- to provide her with pain relief as best she can."

Kirstin waited for Hagan to finish his translation, then continued, "Second, while I respect your beliefs in your Gods and would never ask you to convert to our religion, Hagan, our children will be raised as Christians. This is not negotiable."

She waited to see if the Viking would translate that to his wife, deny her the stipulation outright, or both. When the time was right, she continued, "And third but not at all least in importance--"

She looked to the Chinese woman standing behind Torild and said, "Mingsu will be freed from her enslavement, as will all of your slaves."

There was a reaction to this from both peoples, with the Christians murmuring or nodding their agreement and the Pagans snorting derisively or speaking outright against the idea, even though none of the people sitting behind Henry and Bethany could understand them.

"I will not be a party to slavery," Kirstin declared. "If you wish to have me as your wife and bed me and make sons, you may do so one of two ways: with my consent, after you have released from bondage those who exist in that state now, or without my consent, in which case..."

Kirstin went silent, suddenly realizing that she didn't know how to end that statement. She looked between the two couples for their reactions, then looked specifically at Hagan as she asked, "Do you agree?"

 

[TimTimTyner]

(OOC: Regarding your OOC above, you did that perfectly.)


"I agree to be your wife, Hagan."

Just as with everyone else in attendance, Hagan's head turned toward the unexpected voice and its even more unexpected words. His gaze moved down Kirstin's body, then up again. She was stunning, so very different than she had appeared in her simple, plain, Earth-tone foraging dress that -- by the time Hagan had seen her -- was covered in dirt and mud following the flight from Ingrid and Eirik.

"I will be your wife," she before beginning to list her conditions.

Hagan wasn't at all surprised that Kirstin would have requests regarding her betrothal to him. It was, after all, a political negotiation, as was his marriage to Torild, as were many of the marriages between Chiefs, Earls, and Kings of Norway and much of the remaining world.

He was, however, surprised with the first condition. Hagan leaned toward his wife and translated Kirstin's demand that the consummation of their marriage not take place until after Torild's death. He told his wife about the offer of healing from Kirstin's mother, to which Torild smiled, leaned in as he had, and whispered to him.

"My wife thanks you and your mother for your generous offer," Hagan told Kirstin before looking to Bethany and nodding his respect to her. He looked back to the younger of the two women and continued, "However -- and with respect -- my wife doesn't believe that if even one of our many Gods had no interest in saving her life, that your oneGod will show any either."

Torild was whispering to Hagan again, and when she finished, he whispered back to her for clarification. She gestured him to say as she's spoken, and he reluctantly translated, "My wife respects the respect that you have shown regarding not wanting to come to my bed before she herself has ceased sleeping in it herself. But she wishes to see you and I wed before she has left this Earth. Torild wishes to see me married to the woman who will birth me children."

Kirstin's second request -- that their children be raised as Christians -- caused a murmur to roll through the assembled Pagans. Hagan had considered this topic even as he was walking back to the river after demanding that Henry give over his only daughter to him.

The young woman stressed, "This is not negotiable."

Hagan contemplated the demand a moment, then nodded his head in agreement. "If we are to live in the land of Christians, I will allow my children to be raised as Christians..."

But then he raised an extended index finger and added with a firm voice, "All except one. My first born son will be raised with the belief of his people's Gods. This is not negotiable."

There was, as expected, a mixed reaction amongst not just the Pagans but the Christians, too. Ironically, both Hagan and Henry looked about their respective people with hard glares, and the uproar quickly died down in time for Kirstin's third demand.

"Mingsu will be freed from her enslavement, as will all of your slaves."

Hagan expected the reaction from the Northmen that swiftly arrived to this condition. Slavery was a tradition amongst his people, with bound servants coming to them as spoils of war, punishment for crimes, and simple purchases at the slave market. Much of the menial labor in Norway's villages, towns, mines, and logging camps was performed by slave labor.

But this was a new world and a new way of life, and Hagan was quick to respond to Kirstin. "Done." He leaned to his wife and translated Kirstin's request, telling her also that he had agreed without regret. Torild didn't speak in response immediately, but Mingsu did.

"I will not abandon my mistress," the slave from China said. She looked to Hagan and begged, "Do not make me leave my mistress's side."

"I will not," he reassured her, adding, "But if you stay with Torild, you will do so as a free woman. Understand?"

"I understand," Mingsu said with a respectful bow.

Hagan turned to look at Kirstin again, stood, and asked, "Do you agree to my counter offer?"

 

[AmyRoberts]

Kirstin didn't now how to react to Hagan's belief that if his Gods cared not for his wife then why would Kirstin's God, so she simply kept her lips shut to that topic. When Hagan informed her that Torild wanted to see the two of them wed with her own eyes, though, Kirstin nodded.

"It would be my honor to grant this to your wife," she said, adding, "but I would in return ask that Torild stand with me, as my Maid of Honor."

Hagan translated, and his wife smiled; Kirstin believed that in the light of the fire, she could see Torild's eyes glazing over, but were these threatening tears of joy or loss? She nodded to the future wife of her husband and said one of the only English words she knew, "Yes."

When Hagan demanded that his first son be raised in his pagan beliefs, Kirstin reminded him, "I said this is not negotiable."

But Hagan made it clear that denying him this would make the entire conversation moot, and if that was to happen, the safety and thus the future of the Christian population of Riverwalk was in peril. To the shock of Kirstin, Henry, and many of the other villagers, it was Bethany who spoke up, saying, "This is acceptable."

Her husband looked to her with an expression of shock, and her daughter's glare was one nearly of as much surprise. But Bethany stressed, "Hagan's heir should be of the Northman faith. It is logical, and it will be so."

Then, she waved a hand dismissively at them all and said, "Continue, daughter."

Kirstin actually smiled and chuckled softly, surprised by her mother. She made the request regarding Mingsu, and Hagan and Torild agreed easily without any counter offer. The slave, however, had her own demand, to which Kirstin said, "I would never deprive Lady Torild of you, Mingsu."

Hagan asked, "Do you agree to my counter offer?"

Just as quickly as the Viking had agreed to free his people's slaves, Kirstin responded to the counter with, "Done. Yes. I agree."

There were mixed emotions again from both sides, but Kirstin ignored them. Her only concern now was with Torild. She walked over to the woman, knelt before her, and looked up to the English-speaking Mingsu to ask, "Is Lady Torild happy with this? I simply could not go on if she isn't perfectly happy with--"

As Kirstin had been speaking, Mingsu had already begun translating, and before Kirstin could finish, Torild reached down for the younger woman's hands and squeezed them in her own. She spoke, and the Chinese girl translated, "My mistress very happy. You not have fear."

Torild was speaking again and once finished, she gestured to the pair of shieldmaidens who had been responsible for getting her chair to the village. They helped her to her feet, and as she turned to depart, Mingsu explained, "My mistress is very tired and must return to her tent, but she wishes for you to visit her for breakfast."

Kirstin had stood, too, and she nodded and spoke her acceptance of the invitation. Torild stopped, looked back at her chair, and spoke again. Mingsu smiled, seemingly pleased with what she'd heard. She told Kirstin, "My mistress asks that you sit with her husband. With your betrothed."

Mingsu then bowed respectfully and turned back to Torild. Two large Northmen flanked the ailing woman, knelt down, and linked their arms together, creating a seat in which Torild sat. Putting her arms around their backs, she rode their arms away from the Square and into the dark as Kirstin sat in her empty chair next to her future husband.

 

[TimTimTyner]

"Done. Yes. I agree."

And with that, the negotiations regarding Hagan's marriage to the young Christian were settled. He smiled broadly, then looked to his current wife and asked, "This pleases you?"

Torild smiled as well, responding, "Yes, very happy." Kirstin approached and, coincidentally, asked the same question. Hagan was pleased to hear Torild's answer again. Her watched his wife rise and depart, then watched his betrothed take her place at his side.

Hagan was all smiles after that, often taking long glances at the young beauty between conversations with her parents. They spoke of many things, from farming and fishing to the Northmen's lives back in Norway and how it differed from the life here in Northumbria.

At one point, Ingrid engaged Henry in a conversation about the lack of defenses around Riverwalk, to which Henry explained that they had never had a reason to build such fortifications. Hagan was listening, of course, but his eyes had moved to Kirstin again.

When she met his gaze, he smiled and leaned in closer, whispering, "After we are married, if you should wish to consummate secretly, I can assure you, Kirstin, you would not be sorry."

His tone was suggestive of a man feeling lust for a young woman, and Hagan could see in Kirstin's reaction that she understood that his promise of a good time was not simply about formalizing their union for political reasons.

He smiled flirtatiously before being draw back into the conversation about defenses by Henry's question, "Lord Hagan--"

"Chief," the Viking leader corrected. He explained, "My people have not selected me to be Earl yet. They may not do so at all. We have not given up hope that our Earl survived the storm that separated our boat from the others and left us here alone. He is still Earl until then. For now, I am simply Chief Hagan"

In all honesty, Hagan was secretly going that the Earl had drowned in the storm. Hagan had never liked the Earl, and he had been disappointed when he learned that the man would be accompanying the settlers to the Isles of England. The 21 Vikings with Hagan here in Northumbria didn't constitute a population that was typically ruled over by an Earl. But Hagan hoped he would be afforded the title, particularly if other longboats full of Vikings arrived here in the days, months, or years to come.

Henry continued, "It is my understanding of more boats filled with Northmen than Berg's mmt question. Other regions of the British Isles have suffered raids by murderous Pagans over the years. My question to you is this: now that our two peoples are to be united by your marriage to my daughter--"

Hagan had been expecting the question and interrupted with his answer, "You need not fear my fellow Northmen. If more of them survived the storm and arrive here in the days to come, they will peacefully join our new community."

"And if they wish to raid instead?" Henry asked dubiously. "If they do not wish to live in peace and harmony with Christians, as you have committed to doing?"

Hagan drained his mug of the local ale to which he had switched to drinking out of respect for his hosts. He swore to Henry, "They will not disrupt my new life here. I promise you that."

He looked to Kirstin again as the conversation continued without him. Smiling, Hagan leaned in close to her and whispered, "How about we sneak off into the woods and get naked and fuck?"

 

[AmyRoberts]

Kirstin was enjoying her time near Hagan. She shifted her gaze all about the assemblage of people to appear as if she wasn't actually wishing to just stare upon him the entire evening. He was like no man she'd ever seen before, and she was going to soon be married to him. She was overwhelmed with emotions, thoughts, and -- a bit surprising, a bit not -- lust for the most incredible male she'd ever known.

He leaned in close to her while the conversation continued between others and suggested, "After we are married, if you should wish to consummate secretly, I can assure you, Kirstin, you would not be sorry."

She had to look away as a smile spread her lips and a blush filled her face. Kirstin had insisted that they not consummate their marriage until after the death of Torild, but deep down inside, Kirstin wanted so badly to slip away with Hagan right now, strip off her clothes, and let the man claim her virginity.

She wasn't sure how to respond to the lewd suggestion, but her father saved the moment by calling out, "Lord Hagan--"

"Chief," Hagan corrected.

As she listened to the explanation about other Northmen and a greater leader as well, Kirstin couldn't help but think about the fact that she wasn't marrying just any old Pagan Northman, she was marrying the leader of his people. Sure, the number of those people currently stood at less than two dozen, but nonetheless, Hagan was their top man, and Kirstin was going to be his wife. What would that make her in the eyes of his people? Did they even have a title for the wife of their leader, their Chief, their Earl?

Her father asked about the as-of-yet absent Vikings, "And if they wish to raid instead? If they do not wish to live in peace and harmony with Christians, as you have committed to doing?"

"Then his marriage to me will be annulled, father," Kirstin interrupted with a confident voice. She looked to Hagan as she said firmly, "I will not be married to a man who leads heathens in murderous raids against my own people. And I will not bear a son for such a man."

Hagan seemed to understand how detrimental raiding other villages and towns would be to the life he was attempting to begin here, because he swore to Kirstin's father, "They will not disrupt my new life here. I promise you that."

Kirstin was burning up with a desire to touch Hagan in very intimate ways and have him touch her in similar fashions, but she had put her food down on that subject already. She did, however, take this opportunity to reach a hand out and lay it upon his arm as she told him, "Thank you for that, Hagan."

When he leaned in and whispered that they should sneak off to the woods and have sex -- fuck was his word -- Kirstin's eyes bulged in disbelief, then she laughed, embarrassed. She looked across at her parents and instantly turned such a deep shade of red that her mother asked, "Are you alright, daughter?"

"Yes, yes, of course," she said nervously as she stood and took a small step away from Hagan. She didn't immediately turn to face him, but when she finally did, she gave him a respective curtsey and informed him, "It's late, and I should retire for the night. Please express my joy to your wife for her kindness and understanding, and please tell her that I will meet her for breakfast as she requested."

She turned to her mother, suggested that perhaps she should retire, too, and the pair of them headed away; Kirstin wanted Hagan to understand that she wasn't slipping away with the intentions of having him follow, so she took a chaperone with her in the form of her mother.

Ingrid, who had been engaged in the conversation regarding the security of both Riverwalk and the Viking encampment on the river bank, had also been watching the interactions between Hagan and the Christian girl. When the girl popped up with a red face, she was pretty sure that Hagan had made a lewd suggestion and Kirstin in turn had turned him down.

The conversation continued for many more minutes, with a number of topics being included. Several times, Hagan had looked up to find the leader of the Shieldmaidens staring at him. Finally, Ingrid casually made her way over to stand behind Hagan, leaned down, and whispered to him, "Now that you have made the decision to get your cock wet in a woman other than your wife, perhaps you should finally -- after all these years -- do so between my thighs."

Then, Ingrid stood tall again, thanked Henry and Bethany for their food, drink, and conversation, and excused herself, saying she needed to deal with security situations. She turned and headed for the river, but she would only go as far as was necessary to be away from the light of the fire and village torches. She would wait until the cold of the night told her to continue onward to the Viking camp. There was no way of knowing whether or not Hagan would come to her or -- even if he did -- whether it would be to tell her again that they shouldn't be lovers or, hopefully, to begin pulling clothes aside to expose the respective parts on each of their bodies to finally fulfill one of her longest held dreams.

 

[TimTimTyner]

Hagan's eyes widened at Ingrid suggestion that the two of them finally fuck. They each had wanted the other for so many years. His marriage to Torild had dissuaded him from partaking of Ingrid initially. Later, when he simply couldn't resist the Shieldmaiden any longer and was about to give in to his lust, Torild had become ill and so highly dependent upon Hagar's attention and company.

So, what had changed? Torild was even more ill that before. The change, of course, was that his wife had made it clear that she cared not whether he was slipping his cock into another woman's pussy. If Kirstin had not shown her respect for Torild by delaying the sex between the two of them until after his wife's death, Hagan would likely be in between Kirstin's thighs at this very moment.

So, Torild was no longer preventing him from finding pleasure with another woman. Hagan visited with Henry a bit more regarding the future of the Christians and Pagans living together, then politely rose and excused himself. "Tomorrow is a big day, Lord Henry."

Hagan noticed the bristling suffered by some of the villager's at the Viking's self imposed promotion of Henry to noble status. He ignored it, continuing, "Tomorrow, we begin preparations for a wedding."

Henry stood, shook hands with Hagan, and wished him a good night. Hagan headed for the river bank, followed by his makeshift entourage of armed warriors. Seeing a familiar shadowy figure a couple of dozen yards off to one side, though, caused him to tell the others to go ahead. They were hesitant, but he told them he wanted to enjoy the stars out here in the darkness, away from the multiple fires and burning torches.

Hagan waited until the last of the men had disappeared over the rise separating the Riverwalk from the river, then turned and strode meaningfully toward the figure, who of course turned out to be Ingrid. He took her by the hand and led her forcefully toward the forest, having every intention of finding an isolated place to finally fuck her to his heart's content.

 

[AmyRoberts]

Ingrid's hope that Hagan would see her standing alone halfway to the wood's edge was realized when she saw him stop cold while telling the others to continue. A forever seemed to pass while he simply stood there, watching the others disappear or watching the sky for unknown reasons. Ingrid's lust was beginning to overwhelm her, and she very nearly started his way. But then, he turned on a heel and strode her way, grasping her hand and pulling her toward the forest.

No sooner had they penetrated the forest's edge then Ingrid pulled Hagan to face her and began shedding him of his fur, his weapons belt, and then his armor.

"I want you naked, Hagan," she growled, tugging at buckles and leather thong ties. "I want to be naked with you."

 

[TimTimTyner]

Hagan didn't know whether to be surprised at Ingrid's rush to undress him or not. This moment had been coming for a long time, and the urgency between them was great.

"I want you naked, Hagan," she growled, loosing him of his clothes and accessories. His sword fell, as did his dagger; he'd left his war ax at the river for the dinner with his future wife's people. Layer by layer he became less and less dressed, with Ingrid telling him, "I want to be naked with you."

Hagan interrupted her undressing of him by beginning the same for her. Very quickly, she was standing before him in only her boots and a hungry smile. He dropped to his knees, spread out his cape, and pulled her down upon it. Some tugs at her boot laces released them, and she was laying in the woods before him naked.

He quickly loosed his own boots, shed his trousers and undershirt, and in a flash he was between Ingrid's thighs, grasping his cock and directing it at the wetness between her thighs. Already breathing hard with excitement, Hagan told her, "I've wanted you for so long, Ingrid. So long."

 

[AmyRoberts]

Earlier, during the dinner:

Clara had been frightened by the heathen warriors when they'd first surrounded Riverwalk, just as nearly every member of the community had been. But when they'd entered the village at the invitation of Kirstin's father, she'd found herself studying them with the same hunger that her friend Kirstin had for Hagan and the Viking Shieldmaiden Ingrid had -- ironically -- for Hagan as well.

Clara had moved about the village, taking a moment to study each of the half dozen warriors one after another. She's imagined herself on her hands and knees in the forest with each of them pounding hard at her back end, sinking their cock deep inside her yearning pussy and depositing their seed with the magnificent roar of the fabled Britain Isle Bear. Sometimes the warriors had caught Clara studying them, and she'd smiled wide at them, often giggling. Some of them may have thought her mad; all of them likely had had the same thought about her as she was having about them.

When they returned with their Lord to negotiate his marriage to Kirstin, Clara wandered about the Northmen slowly, weaving in and out of the Square and all about their sitting and standing positions. None of her fellow Christians seemed to take note of her meandering; they were all simply too fascinated with Hagan, his wife, and his negotiations for a second wife, Clara's own childhood friend.

One of the men of whom she'd taken particular notice, a Viking named Hafdan, was standing outside the Square, paying more attention to the village beyond the gathering under cover. He met and maintained Clara's gaze as she came before him, then circled around him, crept away, then returned.

"Do you fuck like a heathen?" she whispered to him as she moved up close to him, adding for good measure, "Heathen."

Clara creeped like a cat stalking a prey in the darkness. She giggled again; it appeared that he'd recognized the English word heathen, and yet instead of showing offense, he only smiled to her. Maybe he'd recognized the word fuck, too. She moved up so close she was almost touching him, then circled around him again, still on the prowl, still stalking him, maybe hunting him.

Then, standing between him and the Square, Clara turned her back to him and backed up until she felt her ass press against his groin. She writhed her buttocks against him, thinking she was feeling his partially or maybe even fully erect cock through their respective layers of clothing. She turned her upper body enough to look into his eyes, then reached back to clutch his cock and give it a squeeze.

"I want you to fuck me, heathen," she whispered, adding, "like an animal."

Then, after looking about for prying eyes -- of which she saw none -- she grasped Hafdan's hand and turned for the privacy of the darkness beyond the Square and the village huts. If he didn't stop her, she would take him to the forest's edge and fulfill the fantasy that had been burning her up all day.

 

[AmyRoberts]

Hagan and Ingrid

Ingrid was quite surprised at how quickly Hagan had her stripped down to nothing but her boots. He pulled her onto his fur on the ground and shed her of even those, and after removing the last of his clothes moved in between her thighs and began putting himself inside her, saying, "I've wanted you for so long, Ingrid. So long."

"I've wanted you for so long, Hagan," she purred back to him as she felt his cock pressing at her hole. She cried out at the pain of the swollen head of his above average sized cock forcing its way into her. Her entire body tensed, and her fingertips dug into the flesh of his ass after she'd reached down to encourage him to penetrate her. She pleaded, "Gentle, Hagan. Gentle. I have not had a man inside me for some time."

He did as she asked, and after a few more soft cries, the pain was very quickly replaced by pleasure. Ingrid only now reached up to pull Hagan's head to her own, kissing him hard and long before telling him, "Now, fuck me!"

 

[TimTimTyner]

Hafdan and Clara

During the feast

Hafdan had, of course, taken note of Clara, both earlier in the day and now during the feast. How could he not? She prowled around like a lynx tracking a snow hare, eager for a meal. Her recognized both of the English words fuck and heathen, and while she could have been saying something akin to go fuck yourself, Heathen, Halfdan had a feeling her line had been something more along the lines of I want you to fuck me, Heathen.

He was beginning to wonder if maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part until suddenly she was rubbing her ass against his already hardening cock and then grabbing it in tightening fingers. He smiled and laughed, unsure of what else to say or do as he'd never before had a woman -- let alone a Christian woman -- do something like this to him.

Again she used those words fuck and heathen, and then she was dragging him away from the others. Hafdan didn't resist, following her into the darkness with only a single look over his shoulder for prying eyes. He wasn't a fool, though, so as they passed between two of the huts and continued onward toward the forest, his head was on a swivel, looking for signs of a murderous ambush.

But violence never came, and before he realized what was happening, the girl was pulling her dress up past her knees, then kneeling down to the ground. She put her hands on the ground before her and said something he didn't understand. He wasn't interested in talking, of course, and was instead unbuckling his belt and untying his trousers and dropping down behind the young woman.

He pushed Clara's dress up beyond her ass, exposing her fair skinned flesh. He growled in delight as she parted her knees to make herself more accessible. A moment later, he was holding her hips tightly as he began ramming his cock in and out of her.

 

[TimTimTyner]

Hagan and Ingrid

"Gentle, Hagan," Ingrid warned as he pushed too hard, too deeply, too quickly. "Gentle. I have not had a man inside me for some time."

That surprised Hagan to be honest. Ingrid was a beautiful woman who was not claimed by any man, and Hagan knew at least two men who had enjoyed the pleasures of the shieldmaiden in the past. Nevertheless, it pleased him to now know that she hadn't been jumping in and out of beds back in their village.

He took his time moving his length in and out of her tightness, letting her fluids bathe his cock in slickness. When he was finally fully inside her, Hagan felt his mouth being pulled to Ingrid's. He engaged her in a passionate kiss, moaning into her mouth as their tongues played with one another.

"Now, fuck me!" she said after she was ready.

Hagan instead reached a hand under the small of Ingrid's back and rolled to his own, sweeping her up onto his groin. He smiled, saying, "No. You fuck me!"