Chapter 11

Wisdom is Welcome, Wherever it Comes from

H e lifted me across the threshold and placed me neatly on the floor. Every crevice on the wall seemed to house a candle, making it look as though he’d captured the stars just for me. At the furthest point were two huge chairs and before them a huge fire that licked orange flames towards a circular opening in the ceiling.

Before us, row upon row of long tables were laden with all manner of roasted meats, fish the likes of which I had never seen and most sumptuous butter root vegetables. It was a feast for the eyes.

‘Do you know who won?’ I asked curiously.

At Halldora’s wedding, Estrid and I made sure there was no chance of us losing. When her wedding finished and a hush fell, we positioned our feet to run but this time, we wore men’s breeches. When we arrived first at the heavy doors to the Mead Hall, we laughed until our sides ached, happy in the knowledge we would not be the ones to wait hand and foot on the rest of the wedding party.

Before Sigurd could answer, the rest of the congregation spilled in after us, like bees from a smoking skept. Pawing over food, sucking the greased meat greedily from bones like wild dogs. No prayers. No thanks. I looked on, my mouth agape.

`Sigurd weaved between them, pulling me with him and taking his seat at the head of the room. Two chairs carved so ornately that they might almost be thrones. Mine was draped with beautiful pelts of buck, bear and wolf. All I could think of was how much I could have sold them for. Their price would have seen Donada and I over the winter.

Not three days ago, I had been hunting in the woods with Elpin trying to scrape enough together to buy a gift for Donada. Now, here I was sat in a Mead Hall, in a place I scarcely knew, married to a man who knew nothing but savagery and pagan customs.

Back home, the Danes had put on rich fabrics. They had been courteous and attentive, but here amongst the longhouses and their women, they kept to their old ways. Men and women alike, with eyes painted in black and outfits trimmed with furs, jested with each other. The women wore dresses of autumn colours and thick belts cinched their waists. Their hair was as wild as they were. Neither braided nor combed. Just as I wear mine now. They all gorged themselves on the roasted meats and the ales and mead that the Jarl had provided.

Sigurd held up a drinking horn, with small brass feet like a tiny imp. A young woman, with fair and a stout waist began to pour the thick syrupy liquid into the ivory vessel. He took a sip and then passed it to me, just like my father’s Mether.

‘You must drink the wedding ale,’ he said.

‘I do not wish to,’ I said hotly. His tone somehow always managed to anger me.

‘It is customary, the bride must drink.’

I huffed and accepted the horn. His eyes did not leave my lips as I took the smallest of sips, feeling as sick as I had on our rough crossing. I regretted what I had consumed in the bathhouse. I forced a thin smile.

‘It is good?’

I nodded.

‘It is done.’ He slapped his thigh. ‘It is a shame that your sisters could not be here to see it, but we will try and attend the wedding in autumntide.’

‘Wedding? Whose wedding?’

‘Your sister.’

‘Which sister?’

‘The one your father intended me to marry.’

My father had still planned to marry her. After I had sacrificed myself to save her. I stared at Sigurd in shocked amazement. ‘Who will she marry?’ I barked.

‘The Earl of Moray. Your father is a clever man, giving each of his daughters like that to the men that threaten his borders. Anyone would think he was a Dane.’ He turned to me. ‘Do not look so worried.’

Worried? I felt betrayed. But for me to feel betrayed there needed to be trust between my father and I and trust had never been a part of our relationship.

‘It is a good match.’ He smiled. ‘We shall attend the wedding if it will make you smile?’

I did not want to attend the wedding. I wanted to stop it. To fill my father’s fortress with kindling and set it on fire and burn it to the ground with them all in it. I could barely contain my fury. I knew then that at the very first opportunity, I would sail home. With or without my husband.

‘I am not worried, Jarl,’ I snapped. ‘I just want to make sure I attend is all, she is my youngest sister after all.’

He waved another hand as if he were bored with my company. This time someone brought a plate of hot salted meat. ‘Eat, eat,’ he urged. ‘You have a long night ahead of you.’

‘But we are married now?’ I said blankly.

‘It is not legally binding.’ He took my hand and kissed it. ‘It must be consummated; they are all waiting.’

He turned to the bench of six men on his left.

I felt the hotness of my cheeks as I blushed from my collarbone to the tips of my ears. How could I have been so naive? To think that our union would not be consummated. I felt a thrill of panic rise in my chest. I had heard stories of spectators in the marital bed chamber so that there would be no uncertainty in the union. I stiffened.

‘You do not need to be afraid,’ he said softly. ‘I will be gentle.’

It was not his gentleness that worried me. It was their inspection of me and whether their searching looks would see into the depths of my soul and know that I was impure.

‘What of those men?’ I said, eyeing them, stiff and terrified. ‘Will they be with us?’

He gave a deep laugh. ‘It is to be consummated with no uncertainty, how else would you have them check?’

‘I do not know, but surely the marital bed chamber is for a wife and husband alone?’ I tried to steady my rising anger.

He stared at me unblinking, which infuriated me more. ‘Do not worry about it.’ He patted my hand dismissively. ‘First, you must see the Volva,’ he searched around for the right word. ‘The seeress.’

He clapped his hands and Halldora appeared.

‘Come, Lady Olith.’ She smiled holding out a hand. ‘It is time.’

Outside it was beginning to grow dark. My wedding gown was inadequate for the weather on the isles. I shivered and pulled my furs tighter. Two ravens sailed against the dusk, eyes fixed on us in silent contemplation.

‘Huggin and Muninn,’ Halldora pointed. ‘They are taking messages to the All-Father, he is watching over you.’ She pulled up her hood against the draft. ‘It is a good omen.’

I wasn’t so sure.

The small dwelling looked as though it had been carved from the granite of the earth, twisted and gnarled and slick with rain. Halldora pushed open the door and waited.

‘She is expecting you.’

The Volva wanders our world connecting our lives with the will of the gods. My life has been connected to the gods for as far back as I can remember.

‘Will you not come?’ I pleaded with her, terrified.

‘It is for you, and you alone. I will be there to interpret.’

I ducked inside, pushing through drapes of heavy material that engulfed the entrance. The air was thick with a heavy musk of coltsfoot and marsh marigolds. The volva sat before me draped in a cloak of black. I could not make out her face. She held a long staff of elm, that twisted and contorted to a fine point. She had surrounded herself with a group of young women. The only light came from two candles, sat high up on the wall. It was not of God. It was something much darker.

She spoke evenly and deliberately.

‘You want to know what the future holds.’

I nodded.

The drums began to beat an ethereal tattoo. It did not seem real, that these girls could make such a beautiful and unholy noise. The seeress became dazed by their reverie. The drums became louder. Beating faster and harder to the rhythm of my frightened heart.

With the last thump, it went deathly silent.

She scattered a handful of bones before her.

‘Lady Olith, your name will be spoken for as long as men have tongues.’ Her fingers moved slowly over the sticks. ‘You and your only son.’

I inhaled sharply.

‘One son?’ Surely, she must be mistaken.

‘Only one and his father will die before he sees the child.’

Then, I did not know how right she would be. Then, it was no more than a lie. A trick. A slight. I did not believe in anything but the one true God. To believe in anything else was blasphemous.

Her hand uncurled again, hovering. Try as I might, I could still not see his face.’

‘You will rule as Jarl until your son comes of age. All this and more I have foreseen.’

All lies. I was sure that I would never rule a Kingdom. I would never be a Jarl. I would go to Alba and I would stop my sister’s marriage or die trying. I did not need a seeress to tell me of these things.

I rose from my seat to leave.

‘You ask no questions, Lady Olith.’

‘No, I must go.’ I bowed. ‘My new husband is waiting.’