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Post by KD on Jul 18, 2014 1:31:11 GMT -5
There was an odd smell on the wind, carried down the mountains. It was burning evergreens, a deeper smell than normal woodsmoke.
Eira's people didn't put the same kind of importance on the solstices and equinoxes. Except the one in winter. Not only did it mark the day she'd made it nearly halfway through the winter. It was the time of the darkest midnight and while she couldn't throw a feast in honor of it, she had lit a fire of special branches, giving praise to the ancestors. It was a day the veil between worlds was lifted. Down the mountain, it wasn't anything special, but up in the ruins...
Both the white stag and the raven watched as Eira let the rest of the bonfire die. She was singing as she did, though her voice was a bit hoarse, as she'd been singing all night.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 18, 2014 1:43:32 GMT -5
Ulfr had brought a cloak with him and draped it over a branch so that it did not get wet. He would need it after his work out. He wore thick hide gloves so that he could climb, now being back to his full strength, not allowing the cold of winter to keep him by the fireside, and besides that, he needed to clear his head. He rubbed his hands together and put his foot on a stone, reaching up to begin. About half way up the face, he noticed the pungent smell of burning pine, and he looked about for smoke, a tingle of alarm rising that perhaps the forest had caught fire. He swiveled around and saw no smoke from his position. He looked up and climbed more swiftly, wishing to get to the top of the cliff so that he could get a better view.
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Post by KD on Jul 18, 2014 2:12:22 GMT -5
There was just a thin line of it coming from high up the mountain, a sign the Celtic woman was still alive at least, despite the cold and snows.
Eira looked over at the stag. "The veil is lowered once again but ancestors watch over us." She could feel it in the air of the ruins, the feel it had been touched in ways far beyond the physical.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 18, 2014 2:25:35 GMT -5
He pulled himself up upon the rock face, his fingers gripping into crevices beneath the snow, knowing them by memory even after a fresh snow fall. He was warm enough now to go on. He turned about in a circle, his eyes roaming the woods. Seeing nothing there, he looked up above him, his eyes trailed up the mountain pass.
It was she, the Celtic woman, who was burning the pine. It was an odd act, possibly some heathen way to celebrate the Winter Solstice. The Yule feast would go on for 12 days, an occasion he had looked forward to when Asger had decided to stay the winter in his homeland. But the Yule was forever marred to him now, on the day of Winter Solstice, having married a woman he did not love. A time of celebration was now masked in duty, but still, he had his own spiritual beliefs. The boar would be sacrificed to Frey and feasted upon, the Sunwheel would be burned in hopes for a quick Spring. The children would delight in the Yule gifts they would receive in the eventide, and run for the toys and nuts tied to the winter pines in the village.
He wanted spring to come so that he could leave this life behind, one that had held so much pleasure for him. As soon as the ice broke, he would take Sækonungar out of port and onto the high seas, visiting the places Asger had spoken of in tales, places he wanted to see with his own eyes.
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Post by KD on Jul 18, 2014 2:53:28 GMT -5
As if to confirm his thoughts, the Celtic woman herself appeared in the woods within his view for a bit, walking slowly beside the white stag, her wolfskin hood drawn up over her hair.
He wasn't the only one thinking of escape during the spring. Brittany and the others had been bringing her information whenever they could. Trying to get on a ship from the ports here was next to impossible but she didn't mind traveling on foot. If not to make it back to her homeland, she had little hope of that ever happening, at least somewhere far, far away from any settlements in the untamed wilderness.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 18, 2014 2:58:10 GMT -5
Ulfr crouched down on the cliff face when he saw the white stag and the Celtic woman, wearing the furs that she had skinned, walking in the forest. He squatted, watching her for as long as she was in view and shifted a little to continue to watch, changing his vantage point.
She had survived out here beyond his expectations. He had known that she was a wild thing, and untamable, but he had no former understanding of her resilience. That bought his respect. When she trailed out of view again he shifted back, but he could not last long, not with the cold wind and not moving his body. He began to shiver and sighed and then turned about so he could make his way back down to his cloak.
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Post by KD on Jul 18, 2014 3:51:25 GMT -5
Eira definitely looked thinner and more well worn than she had been at the beginning of winter, but she was happy. There was a light in her eyes. She could walk free whenever she wanted and live or fight or die on her own terms and her wondrous companion made her feel like her family watched over her. She was happy. She smiled as she stroked his back and the stag shook snow off his fur, making his ears flap and Eira laugh, the sound echoing off the trees.
Astrid's lady's maid was an older woman named Hilda who had been with her for a long time, a tall woman with heavy blond hair who was fiercely loyal to her dear mistress. She had no say in the marriage, of course, but she wasn't entirely fooled by Ulfr's act and honestly didn't believe he was good for Astrid and she certainly didn't think Ulfr was working hard enough to make her happy. When Astrid mentioned the scar Ulfr had, Hilda nodded as she dressed her hair and replied that she had overheard servants talking about it, how the games earlier in the year had been ruined by a slave rebellion. "They claim the lord had a slave, another Celt who killed the leader. Took his head clean off with a sword. Some of the stablemen claim that she summoned the snake that bit Asger, have you ever heard anything so ridiculous in your life?" Hilda rolled her eyes.
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