Married to The Jarl of Dragons

Four

        I do...

       Brynjar still had those words in his head. Eira's voice, the way she said those two words, made his heart beat hard in his chest like a drum. Compared to what he was feeling an hour ago before the wedding began. 

       Eira sat beside her new husband, still nervous about everything. She watched as the Dragon Clan enjoyed their night of booze and loud chattering. 

       "My lady." Brynjar said to her.

      Breaking from thought, Eira turned her attention to Brynjar. 

      "I will be departing with my clan and I need to hunt for food for the trip. Will you be okay without my presence for a few hours?"

     Eira did not want him to leave. She wanted to spend time with her husband for the night. However, she remembered what Ceidra's words were, so she gave him the slightest nod ever. Brynjar got off the chair and he walked over to his wife. He kneeled on one of his knees and they stared at each other for the longest time. 

      Brynjar, then pressed his forehead against hers before his lips crashed onto hers. Not knowing how to even kiss a man, Eira pulled away fast. He gave her a small smile and got up. He walked towards the door and the men of the clan followed behind him. Leaving only the women and children behind. 

       "Ladies, we must prepare for the trip." Eydis told the women. "Put the children to rest and meet Alva and I at the house."

        The rest of the people got up. Everyone, except Eira. She sat in the chair and looked around the dining hall. She could not believe she had gotten married to Brynjar. 

        "Eira?" Eydis called her name, bringing her out of thought. "Will you be kind to help us with the stuff? We need to be prepared by tomorrow morning."

        "Yes, of course." Eira got off the chair and walked over to Alva and Eydis. 

        She could feel Alva's glare burning a hole through her head as she approached the two.

         "I can't believe he married you." Alva huffed. 

         "I should say the same for Sigurd." Eydis stated. "I questioned him when he married your ass."

         Alva rolled her eyes and walked off, leaving Eydis and Eira alone. Eira sighed and looked down at the ground.

         "Married to the Jarl and still an outcast." Eira said. "Should've stayed to myself back in Ejoll."

          Eydis stood in front of Eira and crossed her arms.

          "My brother married you." She said to Eira. "Don't worry about the jealous women in this area."

          "How could I not? He wants me here, but I will never be able to make any friends or hang out with the women that I would spend the rest of my life with."

          Eydis placed her hand on Eira's shoulder.

        "It will take some time." Eydis said. "Be patient. You aren't the only one who had to go through this."

        Eira looked up at Eydis, who guided her to the front door. They left the dining hall and headed to the women's area. There were a lot of women and children walked inside the walls of Drangar. One child stopped in front of Eira and smiled.

        "Goodnight, Lady Brynjar." A little girl said to Eira before running off to follow her mother.

        "See." Eydis said. 

        Eira gave her a small smile before turning back to the front of her. 

        "Are you thinking about my brother?" Eydis asked. "I already know he's thinking of you."

         Eira could not understand why Brynjar was on her mind 24/7. It was a part of her that was missing at that moment.

         "Is this normal?" Eira asked her. 

         "Well it should be since you married him."

       Eira nodded and they headed off to the house. Meanwhile, Brynjar and the rest of the men headed towards their local hunting ground. Gunbrand walked on the side of his three sons, keeping a close eye out for a deer or an Bull-horn Elk. 

         "How does it feel to be married?" Brynjar's cousin, Hildun asked as he walked next to Brynjar. 

         "Nothing special." Brynjar told him as he kept his eyes out for the animals. 

         A twig snapped a few miles away and Brynjar held his hand out, waving two fingers at his men. Everybody stopped walking and waited for Brynjar to say something. 

       "They're close." Brynjar told them. "Men, grab as much as you can for we will be leaving on a two week journey beginning tomorrow morning."

         The men scattered, looking for meat to bring back to their houses. Brynjar left towards the snapped twig. Once it got to the location, he realized he was right as he recognized the big hooves that headed off go the North of his location. However, the hoof prints were visible for his eyes to see. With his vision being higher than his clan, he was able to tell what animal he came across. 

         "Where'd you go?" Brynjar whispered to himself.

        Using his vision, he was able to follow the tracks that the Elk had left. As he proceeded to walk, he heard the Elk's calling. He stopped moving when the Elk called out once more. The voice was closer than before. So, he stayed away from its view and prepared the final blow. With his fist balled up and placed over his mouth, Brynjar blew out a small dart at fast spees. The dart pierced the Elk in the neck, causing it to die instantly by an artery. Brynjar licked his lips before he whistled to his fellow clan members. Without hesitation, the clan rushed to their Jarl's side. Sigurd, Destin and Gunbrand appeared to be location first. 

       "Perfect kill, son." Gunbrand told his son. "Is this the target you wanted for everyone?"

        Trees rustled as the others appeared, surrounding their Jarl. 

        "Those are hard to kill." Sigurd stated.

        "But animals with a lot of meat are going to be harder to find." Brynjar said. "We need this animal if we're going to survive this long trip."

         "They're very dangerous for us to kill alone!" Hildun shouted at his cousin. "Why have us go through battle when we should save our energy for the raid to come?"

          Brynjar glared at his cousin. Hildun always complained about s**t. Brynjar wondered why he was even with them in the first place. He was supposed to be with his father back in Fjoll with the other clan of Dragons. 

        "I understand you're frustrated." Destin said. "But, how many are we planning on killing?"

        Brynjar walked over to the Elk and whistled for his clan to come to him. Gunbrand rushed over and checked out the Elk that was killed by his son. 

        "Neck shot?" Gunbrand asked. "You're getting better with it."

       Patting his son on his back, he glanced over at the clan and nodded his head.

        "Every person here must have an Elk killed by them in two hours." Brynjar told them. "If not, then you don't raid with us and you are kicked from the clan."

         Majority of the men understood, but Hildun, he had a lot to say. He scoffed, causing Brynjar to question his cousin in front of his clan.

         "Problem, my dear cousin?" Brynjar asked him.

          Hildun looked down at his hands, removing the dirt that collected underneath his nails. Once he was finished, he turned his attention to his cousin. 

         "I just said it." Hildun said. "You're working us and we have plans tomorrow."

         "We have women and children who need to eat." Destin said. "So, you can shut the f**k up?"

         "How about you shut the f**k up!" Hildun shouted back. "You should be the last person worried about a woman or a child since you can't seem to have neither!"

         Sigurd and Brynjar joined up next to Destin. They never liked their cousin in the first place. He was always complaining and never did anything around the area. That's why no woman paid attention to him. He was the opposite of what they looked for. Tall, fat, hairy and walked with a limp was what you could describe him in. Hildun was always jealous of Gunbrand's sons because of them being attractive and strong.

        "If you're apart of this clan, you must follow my orders." Brynjar told Hildun. "Lately, you haven't been doing that at all."

        Hildun chuckled as he looked between the three brothers. He knew that he would not be able to fight Brynjar alone because his brothers were not going to tolerate that.

        "What's going on, Hildun?" Gunbrand asked his only nephew. "What's gotten you bothered?"

        The four men glared at each other with anger. If Gunbrand was nowhere around, there was going to be a fight. Hildun rolled his eyes and headed off in another direction. The rest of the men stood there, waiting for Brynjar's instructions.

        "Let's go." Brynjar told his men. "We need to kill as much Bull-horns as we can!"

       With that being said, everybody went back to hunting for the night.