The Ice Dragon King & The Slave-Queen

Chapter 16 - Being A Slave

King Einar sat leaning against the wall of his hidden interrogation cave under the hill. He had not had a good night’s sleep last night and was cursing the gods for not interfering during his short encounter with his ex-lover. He was blindsided, thinking that if he allowed Tove the courtesy to speak to him, it would be some sort of closure for her. He only planned to convey to her that he would appreciate this obsession she had for him to stop. He did not think she would once again try to persuade him to take her as his lover again. He especially didn’t expect his wife to see their interaction from inside the castle.

“Orla,” King Einar had called his wife’s name that night when she came down for dinner, thinking that it would be much more intimate if he called her by her given name before he explained what happened outside.

He was wrong, however. His wife’s face fell when he called her by her given name and, furthermore, he thought he saw her roll her eyes at him as well. He was stumped after that. How was he to approach his wife, who was seething with anger from the moment she saw his ex-lover cling to his arm? How was he to diffuse her outrage when she wouldn’t even let him come close to her?

“My lady, I can explain,” King Einar began, his husky voice low and soothing.

King Einar thought he saw his wife close her eyes as her face contorted very briefly. But when she opened those beautiful blue eyes next, she looked calm. Too calm. That look frightened him more than being faced with two dozen armed men at the same time.

“My lady,” King Einar called out to his wife once again, but she didn’t turn to look at him the way she always would when he called out for her.

Taryn did not know what made her turn her back to her husband, but she did. She had lost her appetite the minute she saw the woman her husband had bedded before her. She knew it was beyond her control that he had lived in that way before her, but it was definitely within her control to not allow her husband to continue any physical or intimate relations with his ex-lover anymore.

Ever since she first learned that Varangian women have as much power over their husbands as men had over their spouses, she decided she would exercise those rights — even if she wasn’t his real wife. In the eyes of his people, she was his wife and that's what mattered. She had been living with the king as his true wife, learning the ways of his people, and immersing herself in the Varangian culture. If not all, she should at least have the rights of a Varangian woman over her own husband, right?

Taryn walked up the stairs from the dining room straight to her bedroom. She locked her bedroom door and even the adjoining door that connects her room to her husband’s. I don’t want to see his face tonight, she thought. She was afraid she might do or say something that she would regret if she saw her husband then. She could feel the jealousy blooming intensely in her heart even though she tried very hard to push it away.

As if on cue, King Einar knocked on Taryn’s bedroom door to try to speak to her again but she lay still in her bed like a rock, unmoving, unwilling. King Einar understood the silent treatment she was giving him that night, decided to leave her alone, and let her anger simmer down without him getting in her way. He regretted that he had to sleep alone that night, feeling a sort of emptiness as he lay in bed by himself, the side of the bed that she claimed as hers vacant. This was the first time she had not slept next to him since a couple of weeks of wedded bliss. He listened to the crackling and popping of burning wood on his hearth, his arms behind his head, staring at his ceiling in disappointment.

After a while of tossing and turning in bed, King Einar decided the only way he could tame the conflicted thoughts in his mind was to get out of the castle and be close to Draki. He was quite sure that if he stayed in his bedroom with his wife in the adjacent room for much longer, he would either tear down the door that connected their rooms to show his authority or just crawl up to her on his knees because of his overwhelming need for her. He would do neither.

Taryn heard the door of King Einar’s bedroom slammed shut before listening to his receding footsteps in the corridor. She knows he is leaving and that cut through her heart. Was he leaving for his ex-lover tonight because she had denied him her affection? Was it a mistake for her to turn away from him before he could explain the truth? Would she have accepted his explanation anyhow? All of a sudden, she felt exhausted with all the mixed emotions running through her mind and heart. She turned to her side and ended up crying herself to sleep.

King Einar did not go to the bosom of his ex-lover that night. In fact, he regretted allowing Tove to even speak to him that evening. He should’ve told his general and first commander to stand near him instead of agreeing to speak to her alone. Maybe Tove meant to make a spectacle of them by touching him or maybe she didn’t, but the misunderstanding that came after that was something he wished he could take back with all his heart.

King Einar stopped in his tracks. Did his wife’s feelings truly matter to him? He had never cared about the feelings of his women before, but right then, as he realized how affected he was by his wife’s change of mood, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was now having a change of heart. What are these strong emotions that he's feeling for his wife?

“Your Grace, are you leaving the castle in this bad weather?” Stig and Vali were chatting together near the castle’s large door when Stig saw King Einar heading towards them. “It is pouring out,” Vali cautioned, his eyes looking at the dark sky above, the heavy rain splashing on the pavement, and the wind ruffling the thick furs on their long capes.

“Yes, I need to think,” King Einar answered simply.

“It’s very cold out, Your Grace. You should at least wear something more,” Vali argued.

King Einar just shook his head in response. He didn’t slow down his steps and just gave them an occupied smile.

Stig and Vali exchanged glances but they didn’t dare to speak anymore. They both bowed their heads a little when the king walked past them, their eyes following the king’s back. They saw the king walk into the open courtyard, the rain quickly drenching his thin clothes and body, but again, he did not stop. He took long strides away from the castle.

Stig watched his king and best friend’s retreating back, slowly disappearing from view. He recalled what happened earlier, the moment he saw the queen standing at the window watching all three of them. King Einar followed his line of sight and so did Tove. King Einar's face changed when he realised how the situation might have looked to his wife overlooking all three of them out there. He rushed to the castle at the same moment his wife turned on her heel, thinking he could explain, not knowing that the sudden thunder and lightning behind him was an indication of tumultuous emotions coming from his own wife. Stig turned to look at Tove. Her facial expression was calm, as if she had expected that scene to happen.

“I wonder where he’s going,” Vali said, snapping Stig out of his reverie. “Not to that crazy woman, hopefully. Even if he is planning to choke her to death,” Vali whispered the last sentence, concern for his king evident on his face.

“He wouldn’t. He knows that woman is bad news now. I don’t think he would stand even twenty feet away from her,” Stig replied, his face full of mirth. “Plus, I suspect that the king had begun to fall in love with his own wife. He has only yet to realize it,” Stig continued, his eyes twinkling.

Vali scoffed and turned to look at Stig. “Are you sure? Einar is not the type to ever fall in love,” Vali said.

“You could be right. But if you recall, he is also not the type to ever walk hand in hand with a woman in plain view before, either. There’s always a first time for something, Vali. Maybe even for you,” Stig joked, poking his best friend’s side with his elbow. Vali grinned and walked away with Stig to the kitchens. A rainy day is a good day for a hearty meal with thick, juicy meat.

At first, King Einar thought he would like to go to the bay and check on his warship, which was yet to be finished. In his heart, he prayed to Thor to take the rain and thunder down a few notches. The storm and high tides would slow down the building of his warship, something that he would prefer to be otherwise. He didn't like to be in a vulnerable position. At the moment, he only had two large warships left, now that his Skadi was already gone. He needed a new warship, one larger than any he or his ancestors had ever built before. He needed this in case war did end up on his shores, even though he prayed nothing of that sort would happen to him and his people. Yet, he knows the importance of always being prepared.

But, as King Einar emptied his mind of stressful thoughts, he found his legs walking toward the other side of the hill instead, onto the path that not many had taken. He thought he had been coming to the cave cell more times in the past month than he ever had done in his entire life. He walked with grace, easily crossing over felled trees and paths that were covered by dead leaves. He knew where his feet would touch solid ground and where he might fall into sharp bamboo and fallen trees sticking out from the ground, a very steep fall for anyone. Even though it was like walking blindly in between the thick overgrowth and large trees, he was confident with each step that he took.

Since there were tall trees with thick leaves next to the pathway that he was walking on, they acted as a canopy to protect him from the heavy rain. Sometimes, flashes of lightning would light up his path, allowing him to see crawling critters on the ground or the tree trunks. At one point, he saw a giant centipede hanging low from a thick branch above his head, only a hair’s breadth away from stinging him. King Einar was unfazed and continued on.

Now, as he sat outside the dark-skinned prisoner’s cell by himself, the cave quiet except for the sound of wax dripping from a torch near him, he sighed loudly. There was no one else in the cave except him. He was glad that the air was humid in this part of the cave, allowing his wet clothes to dry quicker.

He didn’t know why he came here in the first place. He went through the storm and strong wind only to sit outside the dark-skinned prisoner’s cell. The prisoner had made it his goal to stay mute for the past couple of weeks. King Einar still had not managed to get any information from the tall prisoner, even though he teased him with delicious food or coaxed him with sweet promises. Yet, even after so many days of failed attempts, King Einar was still patient. His instincts told him not to hurt the prisoner and so he didn’t. He did, however, almost starve the man.

King Einar brought his knees up to his chest. He crossed his arms on his knees and used his arms as support for his forehead. After a while, he sighed again.

“Not faring so well, I see,” the Alkebulan Moor whispered in his language as he sat upright in his cell.

King Einar raised his head and turned to look at the prisoner, his body blanketed by shadows due to the very limited lighting.

King Einar grunted in agreement and said, “Apparently not my best day.”

“Do you not have anything to eat?” The prisoner asked, his voice low since he was so parched.

King Einar had not thought of bringing anything for the man. In fact, he hadn’t even had his dinner, running after his wife when she decided to turn around and walk to her room as he called out her name. He had lost his appetite then, but come to think of it, he was a little hungry now.

“Sorry, man. I haven’t eaten myself. I came here alone, through the storm. Too many things on my mind,” King Einar replied.

The king leaned his back straight against the wall of the cave, feeling some of the jutting parts of the cave wall poking at his back. An echo of the thunder outside carried its way into the cave, surprising them both. All of a sudden, King Einar felt overwhelmed by weariness.

“Where I come from, my lord, we would show our women with actions as well as words that she is the only one we love and that she may not have to worry about others,” the prisoner said in the Alkebulan language after a while.

King Einar quickly turned to look at the prisoner, both his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“What do you mean?” King Einar asked, wondering how he knew what was going on in his life at the moment. Can the prisoner read minds?

“I mean, if your past decides to return and causes you to have trouble with the missus, then you need a new strategy. One that involves making her feel sure of your love for her and her alone,” the prisoner chuckled as he replied.

“No, wait. Not that. What I meant was, how did you know about me having trouble with my wife? Are you psychic?” King Einar asked, slightly disturbed. He would be damned if the prisoner had been reading his mind these past weeks.

“No, my lord, I am not. I cannot read minds,” the prisoner answered slowly.

“Then how did you do that?” King Einar asked again.

“It is just who I am. I was born with the ability to see some things, even though I didn’t want to,” the prisoner replied.

“You are a soothsayer?” King Einar prompted.

“No.”

“A seer?”

“I'm not sure I know what that means,” the prisoner replied slowly again before he coughed, his throat dry.

“A soothsayer is someone who can predict the future or an event. Someone like a prophet of sorts. A seer, on the other hand, is someone who has the ability to see visions of the future. Someone who can see something specific, a wise person if you want,” King Einar explained.

“Oh, I am not a wise man, nor am I a prophet, my lord. I am just a slave, traded for the use of others,” the prisoner said.

Then, King Einar saw the outline of his body shifting position before he lay down on the uneven cave floor. The man sighed softly. A few seconds later, King Einar thought he heard a growl — indicating a very hungry stomach. King Einar felt embarrassed that he had come to the cave without any food for the prisoner. His initial plan for coming to the cave was to run away from the issues that began to arise in his castle, but now that the prisoner had decided to at least talk, he should at least offer something — especially food — in return.

“In my kingdom, there are no more slaves. When my great-grandfather arrived on these lands, he made sure that there would never be Thralls amongst the Varangians anymore. Everyone has achieved independence since a hundred years ago,” King Einar began, trying to get the prisoner to talk again.

“Did you think so?” The prisoner asked.

“Think what?” King Einar was confused.

“Did you think that there were no slaves in your kingdom? Did you truly believe that?” The prisoner asked again, causing King Einar to pause.

But it was true, there were no more slaves in his kingdom. That is if he excluded the dark-skinned prisoner that was talking to him right now. He knows that every single person on his land has been treated fairly for many decades, if not extravagantly.

“There are those who may hide their true identity behind beautiful clothes. There are those who may hide their true feelings behind a smile. Many of us are slaves, my lord, if not in actions, then in our minds. Not all of us are bound with iron shackles, but we are still bound,” the prisoner said.

King Einar squinted at the man who was still lying on the cave floor. He said, “You are too smart to be a slave. How did you become one?”

The prisoner snickered before he replied, “It was none of my volition, I can assure you that, my lord. I was kidn*pped outside my family home when I was twelve years old. Although it might be hard to imagine for some, I actually came from a happy family. I had parents who loved me, and two younger sisters who wouldn’t stop teasing me but would always come to me for help or for comfort. My family may not be rich, but we were content,” the prisoner said, his voice filled with longing and sorrow.

“My only fault was that I was a boy. Boys are valuable to kidnappers in my country. We were sold at a high price because we are strong and big. We grew quickly, you see. There was something in our blood, they said. We toil without complaint. That’s why they liked us very much. That’s why they kidnap us from our homes and sell us off,” he continued.

“I had a quarrel with one of my sisters that day. Her name was Bahjat. It meant happiness, did you know? She asked me to carry a pail of water from the well for her. But I had only awakened from an unsettling sleep, so I scolded her, grumbling about how my sisters were always bothering me, asking me to do this and that,” he chuckled.

“I always wondered, if I had left my house the moment my sister asked me to get her that pail of water instead of loitering for hours before going to the well, might the kidnappers have missed me? Or would fate still find a way to catch me in its net, blindfold me and take me miles and miles away from home?”

King Einar was engrossed with the prisoner’s story. He pitied the man, knowing that it must be hard to share his past with him, but the king also wanted to know more.

“What happened next?” King Einar asked.

The prisoner took a deep breath and exhaled. “I was shipped off to one of the pirate harbours. The place was swarming not only with pirates but every other corrupt character known to men. I was sold there, to a Saxon, who wanted to use me for my strength. I was sold at a very cheap price, cheaper than a sheep in the market,” he recalled.

“At the Saxon’s estate, I was tortured and defiled in every way. I was left to fend for myself most of the time until the cook on the Saxon’s estate took pity on me and fed me. She was like the aunt I never had, loud and boisterous. She always smelled of bacon,” he laughed lightly.

“How did you get from the Saxon’s estate to the ship?” King Einar asked, curious.

“The owner of the estate, Lord Cuthbert, died six months ago after a long painful sickness in the lungs. After his passing, his son took over the estate. His son had never liked me, always had been my antagonist since my teenage years. One day, he told me to pack my things and ship me off with a group of other dark-skinned people like me. I was sold to the port where the pirates found me. They planned to sell me off for double the price they bought me for somewhere beyond the Mediterranean Sea,” he answered.

“Were you involved with the fight between the pirates and my men?”

“No, my lord. I was below deck when they attacked your ship. I heard a commotion above, but before I could do anything, I was thrown off to a crate full of food when the ship made a sharp turn. By the time I gained consciousness and went above deck, one of the pirates was dead and two more injured,” he paused, then continued, “I didn’t even know they were going to attack your ship for the second time. I didn’t know because I didn’t speak their language. They didn’t talk in Alkebulan or the Anglo-Saxon, so I didn’t understand anything they said.”

King Einar sighed, wondering that maybe this was why his instincts had told him to spare the dark-skinned prisoner. For his fate was pathetic and sad. How could he kill such a man?

“My men saw you and Tar’mach, the pirate, floating a few miles from the Twin Peaks. What happened before that?” King Einar continued with his questions.

“We were on our way to the Mediterranean Sea, the man who called himself 'Captain' was talking loudly and laughing with the other pirates. I didn't know what they were saying to each other but from the way they slapped behind each other's backs and the way they drank the malt, I assumed it was a celebration,” the prisoner stopped and visibly shivered. “I didn’t know what it was, my lord, but the sky was clear and the waters were calm that morning. I hadn’t been seasick like the other days. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the ship tilted at the prow, causing us all to fall back. Everyone was shocked but before any of us could recover our footing, the ship tilted to the side next, throwing two of the pirates overboard.”

“At first I thought it was a whale because I saw something black swimming close to the surface of the water. I thought my eyes were deceiving me as I held on to one of the masts, fearful for my life. But then, what looked like a tail, a very long one, reared out of the water and slammed across the main deck. It broke the ship in half. Everything was chaos after that. Everyone tried to run but there was nowhere to run. I held on to a broken piece of the main deck and prayed to God, any god, to spare me. I didn’t know what happened to the other pirates. I don’t even remember how I got washed up here. I just knew I was on land when I woke up in this cell,” he finished.

“I have a final question,” King Einar stated.

“Yes, my lord?” The prisoner sat up once more, turning to look at the king.

“What is your name?” King Einar asked.

The prisoner stared at King Einar for a while before he answered shortly, “My name is Affan.”

After a long moment of silence, King Einar stood up from where he sat. In his heart, he knew that every single word coming out of the prisoner’s mouth was the truth. He walked to the cell, looked into the man’s grey eyes, and said, “Well then Affan. Let’s get you something to eat.”