The Ice Dragon King & The Slave-Queen

Chapter 6 - The Floaters

King Einar was already in the waiting room waiting for Taryn when he saw her descending the stairs even before she realised he was there. He watched her quietly, intently, wondering what this attraction he had to her, a young woman he had never met since yesterday, and wondering about the weird responses his body was feeling whenever she was near. He felt it on their wedding day yesterday morning, even before she appeared next to him at the altar. He felt it when he was walking toward his own bedroom last night, even before he opened the door and looked at her sitting on his bed. He felt it only a few moments ago, even before he heard the sound of the creaking floorboards on the top floor corridor, indicating that she was walking to the stairs. He couldn’t explain the feelings that were churning inside him in relation to her — a feeling unlike any he had ever experienced before.

“My lady,” King Einar called out to Taryn right before she stepped off the landing, especially when he saw her turning her head to the left and right, looking a little hesitant of where she was supposed to go next.

Taryn turned at the sound of his husky voice, the hair at the back of her nape standing up even before she saw him. The king looked fresh and tidy, standing next to a tall vase in the middle of the small waiting room on his left side. He wore a light brown tunic tucked into light brown trousers. She could see his muscles straining at the thin material. He had his shoulder-length golden hair slicked back and tied neatly into a ponytail. His beard was close-shaven, unlike most of the Varangian men that she had seen who kept their beards thick and long. Some of those men even braided their beards, like their long hair.

As Taryn approached him, the king bowed his head to her and she returned it with a small curtsey. Then, he offered his right hand and after she took it, he guided her to the private dining room that was a little hidden from the view of others.

“Please, be seated, my lady,” King Einar offered, as he pulled out her chair next to the head of the table, waiting patiently for her to take her seat.

Taryn liked the sound of his voice and accent when he spoke to her using her language. She thought he spoke her language quite fluently, wondering if he had been bilingual for a long time. She liked how the phrase “my lady” spoken in Gaelic rolled smoothly on his tongue. It sounded calming to her ear.

“Thank you,” she replied to him in his own language, a phrase she learned when she first came to this kingdom. She hoped that by using it on the womenfolk or the local people, they might someday see her in a good light, not just a pawn used by the Celtic king over the Varangians. In her mind, Taryn had already made plans to learn the Varangian language soon, especially if she was to live in this kingdom for the rest of her life.

King Einar smiled and bowed his head once more at Taryn as a reward for trying to speak his language. Before he took his own seat, however, he inhaled deeply and smelled wild lilies again, the intoxicating smell that was uniquely hers.

“I gather you’ve slept well?” King Einar tried to start the conversation with a much lighter topic after he took a seat at the head of the table, to her immediate left.

“Very well, thank you, my lord,” Taryn replied.

Taryn was a little confused as to why the king sat very close to her. Back in the Celtic king’s castle, she was taught etiquette at the dining table and one of the things that stood out for her was that the king and the queen must sit on opposite sides of the table, no matter how long the table is. Back then, the princess would have to sit near the queen, because women must always sit near each other. Maybe the Varangian customs are different, she thought.

Taryn turned her head a little to look around. There was nobody else in the dining room except the two of them, no butlers, no maids, just them. There were covered trays on the table in front of them, their empty plates and glasses, and a bottle of unopened wine next to the king.

“I do not have servers in my castle. Not for eating in this private room, at any rate. I usually serve myself. It is better this way, in my opinion,” King Einar explained when he saw her looking around, his fingers moved deftly as he uncovered the tray covers one by one.

“I could serve you if you'd like,” King Einar offered.

“Oh no, my lord. It's all right. I could do it myself,” Taryn smiled.

Taryn found it refreshing that the Varangian king did not depend on servants and maids to do his bidding in comparison to the Celtic king. Back in the Celtic king’s castle, servants hustle and bustle about daily, sometimes running into each other in their hurry because they needed to do whatever the king commanded on top of what the queen ordered and what the princess instructed. Since the royals wanted everything to be done quickly, everyone would hasten about. There was no time for a break.

It was no surprise that the castle was chaotic even before dawn — the cook and kitchenmaids dashing to prepare food for breakfast, the parlormaids arranging the table before their masters are awake and the chambermaids emptying chamber pots and bringing water in jugs for the royals so that they could wash their faces when they wake up.

After all that, the maids’ daily duty would be to dust and clean every nook and cranny of the castle. There is a head servant that would check that all the work is done right. If not, the head servant would scream his head off at whoever made the mistake. No one would want to make a mistake in the castle because you only get one more chance to redeem yourself before you are fired. In the Celtic castle, you can only make mistakes twice in your lifetime. If you did more than that, you would be kicked off to the curb, with no letter of recommendation and your final pay cut would be gone. Many of the servants in the Celtic castle complained about the unsympathetic treatment of the royals, but most of them continued working because they needed the money. Oftentimes, Taryn would think them lucky because, as a slave herself, she never got paid and was often bullied into doing worse things than the castle staff.

Both Taryn and King Einar ate in silence, except when Taryn would sometimes sigh in delight when she bit into a delicious morsel. The sounds she made were distracting the king and oftentimes his eyes would flick at her face, tracing the contours of her high cheekbones, her lips, her neck. King Einar tried to hide his smile behind his hand once in a while, but as he watched her, he wondered, was she just pretending, or was her reaction genuine? He was sure that a born princess such as herself would have eaten food as delicious as the food prepared by his cook that morning, if not more. In fact, she probably ate in abundance too, taking into consideration the type of man her father was. Nevertheless, he pushed his thoughts aside, enjoying the look of bliss on her face as she dipped a freshly baked bread into a hot meat stew and put it into her mouth. He made a mental note to tell the cook how happy his new wife looked whilst eating her breakfast.

“Your Grace,” a deep booming voice called out to King Einar at the door of the dining room.

Both King Einar and Taryn turned to look at who it was and realized it was the king’s general and first commander, Stig.

“Yes, come in, General,” King Einar waved at General Stig to come in to the dining room, noting the seriousness on his face.

After General Stig bowed to the king, the king turned to Taryn and said, “My lady, I didn’t think I had introduced you two before. This is my general and first commander. His name is Stig. General Stig, you know the Queen.”

General Stig looked at Taryn for a while, his eyes assessing her, his lips set in a straight line, his face unfriendly. He was the same man who walked Taryn and Lady Riona to the wedding venue the day before and was the same man who called out to the king with such urgency outside his bedroom last night. General Stig bowed low to Taryn before he turned to look at the king again. The king nodded and General Stig approached him to whisper in his ear.

Taryn watched the large, bulky man bend down to whisper to the king. As she continued dipping the bread in the stew, Taryn noticed that the king’s general and first commander was wearing full Varangian armor. There were metal plates covering his broad shoulders, thick animal skin on the front and back of his tunic, and trousers that were cinched with a thick metal belt. He wore animal skin shoes as well with metal plates tied over his shins. The thick clothing made him look so much bigger and scarier than he already was, and it didn’t help that his big axe was always hanging low near his waist. He looked like a man ready for battle.

The general tried to whisper to the king but Taryn could still hear a few phrases of words coming from him from where she sat. It was a good thing for both General Stig and the king that she didn’t understand their Norse language, because, for the love of the Norse gods, General Stig could not whisper. Yet, she noticed the king was smiling as the general spoke because the general had brought him some good news.

“We found two floaters near the coast, Your Grace. They were located only a mile from the Twin Peaks. They were clinging to what looked like floorboards from a broken ship. They both looked like the men Captain Bjørn described last night. We didn’t know anything yet, since we had just pulled them out of the water and they were too weak to even move. It might just be a coincidence but we have brought them both to the interrogating hole so that nobody else knew they were here,” General Stig said.

King Einar looked at General Stig and gave a lopsided smile to his general, patting him hard on his arm, and thanking the man for bringing him the news.

“How many men are with them now?” King Einar asked.

“Right now, four of our men. One of them is Commander Vali,” General Stig replied.

“Good,” King Einar said, nodding. “Tell the men to give them food and warm water to drink. Fill up their bellies so they have energy. Treat them nicely. Make them think they have nothing to fear. In a few hours' time, I shall get down there to question them about, well, things,” the king drummed his fingers on the table as he instructed General Stig on what to do.

In his mind, King Einar imagined doing the things he was accustomed to in order to fish out truths from his enemies. He smiled. There is no rush. I shall take all the time I need, he thought.

“I will be down there soon,” King Einar promised.

“Yes, Your Grace,” General Stig said, straightening up and then bowing to the king. He turned to look at Taryn and bowed to her too before leaving the room.

Taryn watched the giant of a man walk out of the dining room before she glanced at the king. The king had a small smile lingering at the edge of his lips, one of his hands clenching and unclenching the stem of his glass, his thoughts seemed far away.

Taryn turned her body slightly so that she could look at the king better before she could speak. Taryn was about to ask if everything was all right, but she paused. She narrowed her eyes because she thought she saw the king’s eye color was different. She remembered distinctly — especially since his eyes and face had been only inches away from her own last night — that the king’s eye color was hazel with a tinge of gold. But right at this moment, both his irises were the color of solid gold.

“My lord?” Taryn called out to him, concerned. The king did not respond.

“My lord, is everything all right?” Taryn asked him again, her voice alarmed, the bread in her hand forgotten.

King Einar’s eyes snapped at Taryn’s face, his eyes immediately focusing on her face. He had let slip from his mind that his new wife was in the same room as him. He was very happy to know that they had found two floaters and immediately reached out to his ice dragon through their mind-link, seeing his beast's whereabouts through his eyes, and had forgotten that his wife was sitting right next to him. In his mind's eye he could see that his Draki was back in the ice cave again and the king would very much like to meet his best friend soon.

King Einar gave Taryn a small reassuring smile and nodded slowly, “Everything is fine, my lady. There is nothing to worry about.”

Taryn looked at the king’s eyes that were focused on her now. They were back to their hazel color. She gave herself a mental shake. Maybe it was the sunlight penetrating the windows that made her think his eyes changed color. She scoffed at herself internally. How would he be able to change his eye color like a reindeer? King Einar may be a Varangian, but he was still human. Even so, a reindeer’s eye color only changes when the seasons change, not in the blink of an eye like just now. Taryn thought maybe she was too stressed out that she was imagining things now.

“My lady, in truth, something just came up and there are things that I will have to do with my men a little later. I apologize that I can not accompany you for much longer. I think I will have to leave you in the company of your ladies for the rest of the day instead,” King Einar said as he finished his dessert and downed it with a few gulps of wine.

“Yes, of course, my lord. Don’t mind me. I shall find some things to do to pass the time,” Taryn replied, her voice soft.

King Einar turned his head to look squarely at Taryn. Her soft voice made his ears tingle and his mind returned to the night before. He regretted that they weren’t able to consummate on their wedding night but thought that it would be best for him to deal with the floaters first before he suggested to his beautiful wife that they resume where they left off last night. He would like to take his time with her, to enjoy her. Her scent, her eyes and her voice were teasing his control. King Einar would like to see if she was as experienced in bed as the reports said she was.

King Einar stood up from his seat abruptly. The action startled Taryn and she looked up at him, a small piece of cake in her hand. King Einar thought she looked like a very pretty fairy sitting like that, looking up at him — albeit a hungry one. He chuckled and went to stand closer to her.

Her face upturned, he said, “If you would like to walk around the castle compound, you should ask your governess or maid to accompany you. Just make sure you wear thick clothes. It can get quite cold this time of year.”

“I have some things to deal with at the moment. I shall take my leave. You can continue eating, my lady. I’m glad to see you appreciating our food,” the king said, his eyes looking at most of the empty plates of dishes on the table. Then, almost tenderly, King Einar chucked her under her chin and gave her a small smiled.

Before the king walked through the large double doors of the dining room, he turned back to look at Taryn who was watching him quietly. Taryn quickly darted her eyes away in embarrassment but not fast enough that the king caught her doing it. He smiled wider.

“I shall like to continue where we left off last night, my lady. Please wait for me in my room tonight,” he said, his voice deeper than before. Then, the king turned and left.

Taryn blushed as memories of last night sprung to her mind. He wanted to continue where they left off, she thought, her heart racing at the idea. In truth, a part of her would like the same too. It felt good to be wanted, even by a stranger. But then again, he is her husband now, so maybe he would be more than just another stranger to her.

Yet, Tayrn knew that she was still treading on thin ice. It is something she must never allow herself to forget.

***

King Einar walked next to General Stig and his second commander, Vali. King Einar had been best friends with both General Stig and Commander Vali since they were young children. The three of them were practically brothers, especially because they were born only a few weeks apart from each other. King Einar never had any siblings, so his father thought it was a very good idea that he would become friends with boys his same age to grow up with, to train with, and even to do silly things with. His father was right.

“Have any of you managed to get their names?” King Einar asked the two men who were walking quietly next to him.

“Not yet, Your Grace. It seemed like they did not speak our language. They only reacted when we spoke to them in the Gaelic language, but even so, only a sentence or two,” Commander Vali replied. General Stig nodded in agreement.

“We have fed and given them water just as you instructed, Your Grace. However, from the looks of things, they are not naive. These men looked like this was not their first time being questioned. They seemed to know that we were only being kind because we wanted to get something out of them. None of them wanted to be the first to speak. They just laid there in their cells,” General Stig continued.

“I did not expect anything more or less,” King Einar said.

The three of them walked towards the other side of the hill, the steep side where nobody else goes to, except King Einar and some of his most experienced warriors. There was a small path here, one that was not taken or treaded often. This path had been restricted to his own people for many years because of its perilous conditions. There are overgrown bushes in this part of the hill, and the climb and slope to their secret interrogation place are incredibly dangerous. Only a number of his trusted advisors and warriors knew about this place. The cave and "interrogation hole" is located in a narrow passageway under the hill where a number of secret rooms of some sort were carved out by the very first Varangian settlers.

The trees here are old, probably aged hundreds of years. They have large trunks and very crowded leaves. The trees grow from the side of the hill but the leaves mask the deep ravines that exist at almost every turn. To the untrained man, it would be easy for them to slip right outside the entrance of the cave and fall to their deaths. The slopes here can deceive anyone. Only men who have been trained from a young age on the twists and turns of the pathway can be sure to arrive at the secret place in one piece. Sometimes it looked like there was a path to walk on but would end up being overgrown with plants instead. A misstep would make a man fall almost fifty feet onto sharp rocks below.

Some of the elders said there are elves protecting this place from people with bad intentions. According to them, enchantments were placed on the paths even before the first Varangian settlers came here. Maybe that was true, maybe not. The Varangians have always believed in elves, something akin to the fairies. They believed in the Light Elves that lived in Alfheim, a place ruled by the Vanir god, Freyr. The elders used to tell stories about how the Light Elves protected this path from bad people so that it could be used to keep secrets of the kingdom. Right now, King Einar hoped the Light Elves would shine a light on helping them find out who was responsible for destroying his warship and why.

As King Einar and his two companions approached the mouth of the cave, they heard some of the king’s men chatting about the prisoners.

“What should we do with these prisoners? They just wouldn't talk. They both looked like they knew something but it is very hard to pry information out of their mouths,” one of the men said in exasperation.

“Our king will know what to do. He is known to dig out the darkest, deepest secrets from the worst of our enemies,” the other man replied.

King Einar stepped into the cave and both the men stood up to attention and quickly bowed, slightly embarrassed that they were talking about their king openly and he had caught them in the act. The king nodded to them both and quickly went into business, “Tell me about the prisoners.”

“Your Grace, there are two men being held in the cells right now. One of them is a fair-skinned man and the other is a dark-skinned man. We first tried to ask them basic questions like their origin, how they ended up in the sea, and what they were doing before we found them floating. We noticed that they would look at each other and exchange glances before turning away and acting like they didn’t know each other. We suspect that they are actually together but we have not managed to get any direct information from either of them,” the first man said.

“Have there been any interrogation?” King Einar asked.

“We have only questioned them after they were fully fed, Your Grace. No interrogation. We were waiting for you to do the interrogation,” the second man answered.

King Einar nodded. “Do you have anything else to add?”

The two men looked at each other before the first man added, “After the general and the second commander left to get you, we acted like we were leaving too, except that we hid behind the second cell. We heard them speak to each other but not in a language that we know. Or in fact, we heard one of them speaking to the other, although we weren't very sure which one. However, we think we distinctly heard the man say the name 'King Náel Sechnail' twice in the Gaelic language.” The second man nodded in agreement.

King Einar frowned a little. Why would two foreigners talk about the Celtic king? And what does the Celtic king have to do with these two foreigners, the same two men that King Einar suspected had attacked his warship? His men might not know these were the pirates that attacked his Skadi, but he knew his Draki would never be wrong.

The thing is, the Celtic king had offered a truce with his Varangian men and to seal it off, he offered marriage to his daughter for the sole reason that he didn’t want chaos in his lands. If the Celtic king worked together with pirates, there would be more chaos and disaster than his Varangian men could ever cause on his lands.

“Take me to them now,” King Einar said.

The cave that was carved under the hill by the first Varangian settlers was strong and deep. When King Einar’s father came into power, he made his men carve more of the cave, making it larger before he told them to install prison cells. His father made sure that the cells were at the deepest and at the end of the cave where it was darkest and had less air. The stagnant and warm air made the prisoners feel like they could not breathe. After mere hours, they would usually give in and allow their fear of death to take over. Most of the time, they would start talking in exchange for a promise that they would be spared. For the stubborn ones, the feeling that there was not enough oxygen would sometimes make them feel like they were choking and, more than once, prisoners ended up dying due to their fearful state of mind.

King Einar, General Stig, and Commander Vali followed the two men to the back of the cave slowly, their pathway lighted up by burning flambeaus placed along the walls. The wax dripping on the floor of the cave could be heard clearly because of the stillness in the air. Then, the king’s men stopped in front of two cells, where the lights were very limited. King Einar stepped forward, followed closely by General Stig and Commander Vali.

King Einar took a burning torch from one of his men's outstretched hands and crouched down. He saw a figure, sitting on the uneven cave floor, the person's back against the wall. As the king held his torch higher to get a better look at the prisoner, the prisoner turned his head and looked at the king. King Einar narrowed his eyes. The prisoner was strikingly handsome. He had light brown hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. He stared at King Einar blankly before he turned his head away.

The other prisoner, whom everyone guessed was a companion to the first, was kept in a cell next to the first. As the king held his torch high to see the second prisoner, for a split second, he thought the prisoner had managed to run away. In reality, the prisoner was lying flat on the dark cave floor, unmoving. The only way a person knew he was there was that his short and torn trousers were brown in color, the lighter color making a contrast between his skin and the cave floor. The prisoner looked like he was sleeping as King Einar stood outside his cell observing him. King Einar lowered the torch, trying to get a clearer view of the man's face when, all of a sudden, he opened his eyes and his pupils focused directly on King Einar. His eyes were grey in color and the sclera very white, as white as his teeth that were now showing as he grinned a most sinister smile at the king.