The Ice Dragon King & The Slave-Queen

Chapter 18 - Skadi or Freyja?

Only three nights away from his queen and King Einar was missing her very much. It was not the first time that he had been away from his wife this long, but this time, he didn't like how he felt being away from her this long. He remembered how she turned away from him that last night, making him feel like something heavy had just settled in his chest. He had sat in the cave cell with the dark-skinned prisoner, Affan, for two days and one night, learning from the man about his life before he was kidn*pped and about his life as a slave. But most importantly, he had also learned about his enemies, who he now knows are out there, unnamed, trying to get at him and his people — and even possibly, kill him.

The other two nights after that, King Einar had spent his time with his ice dragon. He relished being in the company of his beast, one who always seemed to understand his mood, which was self-explanatory, since they shared a bond since birth that cannot be explained with words. For two days and nights, he swam with his ice dragon in the ice-cold waters of the cave and even clung to Draki as the ice dragon dived deeper underwater, into the clear blue lake, weaving in and out of many large and tall crystal formations under the lake.

King Einar is better at diving underwater with Draki now compared to when he was younger. He could stay underwater for as long as forty minutes to one hour at most. As always, he would lose track of time when he was in the ice cave and what he thought was only one night, ended up being two nights away from his wife. He resurfaced onto land to find that the rain and storm no longer poured but the sky was still dark and everything still looked gloomy.

“Your Grace!” General Stig called out to King Einar as he walked toward the castle, his clothes plastered to his body and his damp hair ruffled. Vali, who was nearby, jogged quietly toward the king as well.

“Yes, Stig?” King Einar turned to look at two of his best friends, glad to see them.

“You are not going into the castle looking like that, are you, my lord?” Stig asked, his face appalled. King Einar had never known Stig to be one concerned about how he looked, so he asked, “Why? What's wrong with the way I look?”

“Your Grace, you look like you have just spent three nights of naked splendour with half of the women in this kingdom. That look does not look good on you,” Vali answered Stig, his mouth curling into a laugh.

King Einar looked down and saw that Vali was right. The cold, the excitement of being in the cave with Draki, and his trousers plastered to his skin made King Einar’s bulging c**k like a beacon that could be seen from miles away. It didn’t help that he was thinking about his wife as he was walking from the shore toward the castle, wondering if he would be able to entice her to a night of love-making tonight. But first, he needed to explain to her what actually happened between him and Tove the day she saw them together. He told himself that if she tried to turn away from him again, he would definitely drag her into his bedroom and force her to listen to his side of the story. He would even pin her on his bed if he had to.

Then, he can proceed to making love to her.

“Forgive me for the display of my c**k in front of you gentlemen. Maybe you find it too distracting?” King Einar joked, causing Vali to make a choking sound and Stig to laugh out loud.

“But yes, I shall take heed of your advice. Maybe I can dry myself off at one of your houses first instead?” King Einar looked from Vali to Stig and back at Vali again.

Stig was the one who offered his home for the king’s temporary comfort before all three of them walked to Stig’s home. Located not too far from the castle, since Stig’s status as General and First Commander requires him to be closer to his king, Stig’s home was a small, comfortable house that could fit four adults at one time, at most. However, since Stig was unmarried and only lived alone without his parents, the house was more than cozy for him alone. As they stepped into Stig’s house, King Einar noticed the fire was already burning in the hearth. He took off his damp tunic and hung it near the fireplace before he made himself comfortable sitting with his back to the fire.

“I know we’re already in winter but this rain is beginning to make me quite depressed. When will the snow start to fall?” Vali whined a little as he took a stool closer to the king so that he too could get some warmth from the fire. At the same time, Stig took out a bottle of malt beer and tankards from his shelf to them.

After they enjoyed the malt beer in silence for a while, Stig was the first to speak. “Your Grace, I have had news from my third cousin in Breidrheim about the man who called himself Harald Helgason,” Stig said.

“Very good, Stig. Any useful news from Breidrheim?” King Einar replied as he drank from his tankard and looked at Stig.

“I’m not sure if this was good news or bad, Your Grace. As you know, my third cousin is a blacksmith in Bredrheim, an occupation he inherited from his father. It is very common for blacksmiths to know everybody living in the village since they are in charge of making weapons, especially axes for every male — and even some of the females living in the village. Blacksmiths made axes for every boy who had turned into adulthood. This was our tradition,” Stig said, clearing his throat.

“Yet the problem is, my cousin told me that there has never been a Harald Helgason in Breidrheim. Not currently, nor for the past twenty to thirty years,” Stig replied.

King Einar frowned. The young man who was Taryn’s opponent on the field the other day already seemed suspicious from the way he spoke and behaved. The suspicion was further enhanced now that his identity was said to be false by Stig’s cousin, a man who had been living in Breidrheim for the past three generations. This news made King Einar’s reservation about the man stronger. It certainly doesn’t help that his behaviour is bordering on bizarre. But, could all of these only be a misunderstanding?

“There are no misunderstandings, however, Your Grace,” Stig said, almost as if he read King Einar’s mind. “My cousin said there are only seventeen Harald’s in the small village of Breidrheim and all of them are currently living safe and sound in their own homes. None of the Harald he knew in his village was like the young man I described,” he continued.

King Einar looked at Stig and suggested, “So the young man lied about his name and where he came from?”

“For now, it appears so, Your Grace,” Stig replied.

“Is the young man still training with you?” King Einar asked.

“He does not train with us as often as when the queen joined us on the training field. I noticed that he would be there if the queen was there, but if she was not, he would sometimes come, but more often than not, he would not be at the training field,” Stig answered.

“How was he with other training warriors?” King Einar asked.

“What I’ve observed so far is that most of the time, he would just keep things to himself. He doesn’t speak to the other warriors very much. In fact, he doesn’t speak with the queen much either. But, I have noticed that his eyes would always train on her whenever she was around and yet not on the other warriors,” Stig answered.

“That sounds very suspicious. Does the young man have his own designs on the queen?” Vali chirped in.

King Einar was thinking the same thing even though he didn’t voice it out loud. According to what Stig had just said and what he had seen with his own eyes, the man’s behaviour was dubious. He certainly didn’t like it that the young man was giving extra attention to his wife. As King Einar sat quietly in his chair, he realised he didn’t like it, even if the young man merely had a natural attraction to his beautiful wife. Apart from that, he is also worried if this was something more. After the information he received from Tar’mach and Affan, he knows he must never be too comfortable with his reign at the moment. It seemed that he now had a target behind his back and he'd be damned if his wife was thrown into the same danger and he didn't do anything about it.

Maybe he should also ask his wife and see what she thinks of the man.

“I want to meet him one of these days. Maybe we can question him further about his past in Breidrheim or about his living arrangements here. I would like to hear what he has to say or if there are any inconsistencies in his story. The other day, after the scene on the training field, I had let him go too soon because he was getting on my nerves. This time, we shall have a longer chat with him,” King Einar suggested.

“I agree, Your Grace,” Stig said.

“Why don’t we just go grab him and interrogate him now?” Vali asked, his face serious.

King Einar grinned. “Leave it to you to incite unnecessary chaos. I do not want to look like a hot-blooded fool, Vali. Especially not toward a man who had done nothing except make my queen fall on her back during training. From what Stig said earlier, even though I wouldn’t call his unconventional behaviour exemplary, he had not done anything wrong up until this moment,” King Einar replied.

“I want to be a better king, Vali. A just king. I do not want to be reminded of my chaotic younger years anymore,” King Einar continued.

“Well… We are lacking some excitement here, Your Grace. I wish there were some conflict that could get us back into action. I miss some action,” Vali whined once more.

“You know, this is why you are second-in-command after me,” Stig said, slapping his best friend’s arm hard.

King Einar chuckled. “Be careful what you wish for, Vali. Oftentimes the gods will hear and sometimes, if you're very lucky, they might just make your wish come true,” the king said.

“Oh yes! Odin, I beseech you, make my wish come true please! Send me a wife that is as beautiful as Einar Asgerson’s queen!” Vali said, pressing his palms together, his eyes raised to the heavens, looking as reverent as he could muster at whatever it was he was praying for.

King Einar and Stig laughed at their best friend’s playful antics. Only Vali would be able to make such jokes in front of King Einar and Stig. A few moments after their laughter died down, King Einar refilled his tankard with more malt beer and announced to his friends, “I have received news from Ambassador Canute. He announced that he would be returning in a week’s time.”

Stig and Vali both turned to look at King Einar with renewed interest.

“Did he include any good news regarding the Saxons?” Vali asked, his face now grave.

“Nothing specific is included in his latest missive, which is understandable, of course. He might not want any sensitive news to be intercepted, in case we do have enemies lurking around and trying to steal information from us,” King Einar replied.

“It seems that we are quite popular these days. Picking up enemies from left and right. Now we not only have to think of our old enemy, the Saxons, but also mercenaries from southern countries paid by unknown men or women out of nowhere,” Vali observed.

“And worse. If it was true what the prisoner Tar’mach said, that the Khazars were hired to do this unknown's dirty job — which is to kill me and end my bloodline, then who's to say that there are no other Khazars who have also been paid to come to my lands? And what if those Khazars have also infiltrated other races in other kingdoms? What if they had indoctrinated their beliefs of our ‘tainted Varangian blood’ into others and are only waiting to attack us from forces other than the Saxons?” King Einar voiced his thoughts out loud.

“I understand the Khazars’ hatred towards the Rus’ for destroying their empire and dispersing their people, but why must they attack us personally? We have long broken off the branch from the Rus’. We are our own people now, living in our own way of life, separate from the Rus’. We do not equate ourselves with the Rus’ since your great-grandfather’s generation,” Stig then said, pointing at King Einar when he spoke of King Einar’s great-grandfather.

“From what the prisoner told me, this hatred had been brewing for many years and had burrowed deeply. I don’t think they cared if we were Rus’ or Varangians. It only took a few bags of gold for the pirates to try to destroy my property and my people. For pirates, of course, gold is important. But what if there are other Khazars who had the same hate and anger yet did not care for gold to destroy me or my people? How are we to beat those types of men?” King Einar asked, frowning.

King Einar knew Stig’s questions bore some weight because he had asked himself the same question too. Although King Einar himself had not directly destroyed the Khazar Empire, even during those years when he went on the ‘rampage’ with his men after his father’s ill-timed death, he had never come across any Khazars or cut any of them down — well, at least none that he knew of.

“Have you ever thought of the possibility that the Celtic king was the one who hired those pirates? Maybe it wasn’t the warship Skadi that they wanted to burn, but maybe it was a different ship?” Vali voiced out.

King Einar stared at him for a while, recalling what the prisoner Tar’mach said before he was torn to pieces by Draki.

“Hmm.. The prisoner, Tar’mach, did say they were given coordinates to where they would find a Varangian ship but the ship did not come on the day that was promised. They only saw Skadi the next day. The thing was, Skadi was supposed to arrive at our shores a week before that incident, which was a week before my wedding. We didn't even know that they were stalled due to bad weather and the rough seas. Maybe the unknown person who hired the pirates didn't know that Skadi was stalled too?” King Einar said.

All three of them returned to silence once again, staring into space as they thought of every other possibility. Then, Stig snapped his fingers loudly.

“Your Grace, there are only two possibilities that I see here. Before your wedding, there were only two of our ships that were away from our waters. One was for work and the other was for safety purposes. The first was the Skadi, doing its yearly rounds to keep pirates or any other unwanted visitors in our waters. The second would be the longship that Ambassador Canute sailed in to go to the Celtic kingdom and also to England," Stig paused. "Didn't Tar'mach say that the pirates only knew the Skadi was a Varangian ship because of the figurehead at the bow? The longship Ambassador Canute sailed in also has a figurehead, Your Grace. It may not be the Skadi, but it also has a female figurehead, Freyja. Could it be that the unknown man or woman who schemed an attack on our Varangian ship targeted Freyja instead of Skadi?” Stig asked.

King Einar processed that information quickly. It was true that Freyja was supposed to return home on the night before his wedding or at least, on the morning of the wedding. The idea was so that Ambassador Canute, the man who had planned and brought the treaty between the Varangian and the Celtic kings to fruition, would be one of the witnesses present as the wedding took place. The only problem was, instead of returning home, Ambassador Canute had sent news to King Einar as he left the Celtic kingdom that he would leave for England instead. It was because he was needed as a negotiator in another part of England where the Saxons had had huge disagreements with some of the Varangian settlers there. So, his trip home right before King Einar's wedding was delayed. Only now did King Einar receive another news from the ambassador informing him that he would be coming home — more than a month after the Varangian king's union with the Celtic princess.

“That is a good theory, Stig. One that I shall look into deeper. It would be a hard accusation for the Celtic king if it were true, which might also link back to my queen. I must admit, the latter part is not something I wish to be true. Whatever it is though, we must investigate thoroughly if the Freyja was the one connected to the pirates and the unknown person who employed them,” King Einar said as he rubbed his fingers on his close-shaven beard.

King Einar stood up and looked at Vali and Stig, a sheepish look on his face.

“My friends, I think I should make my way to the castle and to my wife now. I had been absent for longer than I had planned. I can only hope that she doesn’t bar me from her bedroom tonight,” King Einar joked as he took the already dried tunic near the fire and put it on.

Vali and Stig exchanged glances, trying to hide the mischievous look in their eyes.

“Yes, of course, Your Grace,” Stig replied, as both he and Vali stood up.

Stig and Vali both bowed to the king when King Einar walked to the door. Before he left, he turned to look at his friends and said, “Let’s gather the council and meet tomorrow morning, Stig. I would like to share all the information we have with the rest of my trusted men. Maybe we can get a better idea and think of a better solution from whatever’s going on right now.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Stig bowed.

After the king left, Stig and Vali looked at each other. Stig raised his eyebrows at Vali and said, “Brother, it looks like you are getting closer to losing your wager. Judging from the way he said it, King Einar is about as in love with his wife as you are with your axe. The only thing is that he sleeps with a living woman and you sleep with cold, hard, steel.”

Vali narrowed his eyes at Stig. He tapped the large man’s back a few times and said, “We shall see, brother. We shall see."