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Post by KD on Jul 3, 2014 23:33:39 GMT -5
Eira did not.
What the Jarl or Ulfr were doing at the moment was a matter of complete indifference to her. She'd seen all she needed to see of the Jarl and heard all she needed to hear from Ulfr earlier in the day. Neither of them had anything to say that was worth hearing. The Jarl perhaps had some wisdom buried beneath that arrogant manner but as far as Eira was concerned, Ulfr was nothing but the man who would take her life in a few months' time unless he did the world a favor and died. The only thing she considered in regards to him was how she could manage to kill him when he killed her.
Or castrate him. Oh, she liked that idea. She smiled in the darkness. The Jarl was likely too old whelp himself another piglet, if he could get it up at all. The chances of killing Ulfr were slim to none but with the right angle, if she had a chance, she could tip her nails with the right kind of herb. The right angle, the right kind of force and she could ensure at least this fetid line of men wouldn't curse the earth with more of their line.
Even if she failed, it would be worth the effort just for that.
Cheered by such thoughts, she stood at the end of the chain's length. The guards had loosened it enough she could move around earlier and she did now, embracing the darkness, murmuring into its depths for those spirits of the night to drift through the Jarl's house and give everyone in it uneasy dreams. She wasn't sure if they could hear her but the prayer gave her comfort.
Eira tipped her head back, her nostrils flaring as she caught rain on the air and the rumble of distant thunder came through the sky as an autumn storm rolled in. The air sweeping through the door turned cold and she welcomed it with a low sigh, arching her back to welcome it for once they put the door back up, she wouldn't be able to taste the air at all. She watched the rain start to fall, swaying softly, wishing she could go out and dance among the thunder. Wishing she could see the lightning crack across the sky and the clouds roil. She couldn't, could only see a slight line of clouds through the doorway, but she soaked it all in as best she could, relishing the rain drops that managed to come in through the door.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 3, 2014 23:55:23 GMT -5
The Jarl, though he was well into his sixties, was still a virile man, though he did not care to take servants into his bed as his son was when it suited him. Perhaps he was still grieving for his late life, perhaps he was too involved in the matters of the state, the responsibility not yet falling on Ulfr’s shoulders, or perhaps he truly was a tired man who did not care to plant his seed with inferior women or whores. There were times that others tried to make the Jarl take a second wife, but he had not yet the tolerance for the thought of a stepmother for his son. But he did desire to have grandchildren, though he supposed that Ulfr, in the prime of his life, was not yet content to settle down. Surely there were many bastards that he had sired, perhaps even through the house servants he was inclined to bed from time to time, for the servants kept their intimacy private, other than to speak of the pleasure they received from the son of the Jarl, their eyes shining as they spoke of his manly virtues, and certainly did not discuss who might have fathered the child that they may carry in their bellies.
The head matron was at least willing to allow them a time of seclusion for the months after they showed too much to keep the fact under wraps, if they were to be in the presence of noblemen and women, or to the Jarl or his son. The only one that might begrudge them were the “competition,” the other common lovers who shared Ulfr’s bed for a time before he tired of them, or the fact that they had to temporarily assume the pregnant women’s duties such as heavy lifting, or for those few months between being large of belly from the child in their bellies and the time that the mewling infant was to be nursed. They would never, ever, dare to confront the Jarl’s son with the bastard child, for if they were to do such a thing, they would be tossed out for their brazenness.
It was also likely that Eira would never have the chance to gather wild herbs, unless there was a sympathizer among the servants, or the rarity that the doctor actually had what medicine or poison she desired, but after the eve was through and into the morning the servants dared not violate the Jarl’s commandments. Under the hawk-eyed stare of the headmatron, they kept their heads down and put their energies to work, even the kind-hearted servant woman who had secretly visited Eira that very morning. If Ulfr was foolish enough to get close enough for poison… or castration… perhaps in a way he deserved it for it would be suicidal not to burn this day’s wounding into his mind.
When Asger came to visit his younger friend as the rain storms raged against the manor, Ulfr was glad to adjourn to the mead hall to attempt once again to drink Asger under the table. Just as he had promised, Asger, he did not bring up the slave woman again that eve and instead distracted him with the notion of holding another sporting competition between his kinsmen and the soldiers that housed in the fortress atop the mountain rise. Ulfr’s eyes sparkled at the thought of it.
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By morning, Ulfr was nursing quite the hangover, his head pounding and the light that streamed in the window hurting his eyes. He groaned and rolled over. How he came to be in his room he could not remember, But Asger had indeed, once again, drunk him under the table, a contest the two men were happy to share with good beer and good mead. Perhaps he had lost consciousness in the mead hall, of which would be an embarrassing prospect, or perhaps somehow he had made it to his room before passing out, but he was still in the clothes he had worn the eve before.
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Post by KD on Jul 4, 2014 0:08:09 GMT -5
She expected to fail. That didn't mean she wouldn't try.
Eira rode the storm as long as it lasted, standing still in the center of the granary and letting the wind whip her matted hair around her as best it could. She finally settled back against the pillar and dozed off, waking well before morning...she didn't sleep well under those kinds of circumstances, after all. She knelt on the straw, her hands in her lap, watching the dawn creep over the ground as she'd watched the dusk creep over it the day before. Movement caught her eye and she turned her head to regard a large brown rat scurrying near her. It paused and cocked its head, looking at her. It moved on to feed on the stores but eventually returned to her when its belly was full. She smiled as it scurried up onto her hands. "Hello, little one..."
The rat twitched its whiskers, looking up at her with its bright black eyes. She stroked it with a finger and it let her. "Look at you, taking advantage while the door is still down. You'd better hide soon. They'll kill you if they see you. Nevermind that you and your kind will be around long after this building is nothing but dust, eh? You and the insects scurrying through the ruins of their empire...and mine too." The rat twitched its whiskers again. It might not understand what she was saying but it was listening, which was perhaps enough. It scurried off not long after, hiding somewhere she didn't know.
She settled back into a kneeling position in front of the pillar, her hands resting on her lap once again, closing her eyes and letting her mind sink into a quiet state. She was still in pain, aching all over, her body weary and worn down by neglect and hunger, but it all faded into the background. It was easier to reach that state with the door open so again, she was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
Most of the servants considered the order to have nothing to do with the Celtic woman to be a relief. Others saw it as an opportunity.
Her first indication something was wrong came when several guards came in to bind her, three of them, two of which had been in the granary the day before, trying to help Ulfr. She rose to her feet but with the chains, the three of them easily backed her against the pillar. Supposedly, they were making sure she didn't bother the workers putting the new door up. They drew her head back viciously, wrapping the chain around her neck around the pillar tightly so she couldn't do anything more than turn her head from left to right. Two of them worked on her arms and legs, adjusting the chains and shackles until her arms were wrapped around the pillar behind her and her legs were bound tightly against it, set apart. They wrapped more chains around her upper body and Eira felt a thrill of alarm go through her as she realized they'd bound her legs tightly so they didn't have to chain her lower body. The guard watching her smiled unpleasantly and forced a gag into her mouth. "Did you think you could defy and harm the Jarl's son and get away with it?" he hissed.
The guardsmen filed out and the men working to repair the door lifted the door up halfway and waited until the guardsmen helped a servant sneak inside. The workers set the door into its frame, trapping the servant inside, any noise from within hidden as they pounded the iron bars back on and set the hinges.
Eira took in the frozen grin and feverish eyes and knew what he was here to do. She closed her eyes, remembering Ulfr's words on the docks the first time he'd seen her: I might advise you to pass her around 'twixt your sailors for a tumble for reward of their long absence from their wives and consorts, but perhaps that might bring her some pleasure, wild beast as she is.
She'd wondered how long it would take before the Jarl's son decided to try and break her this way.
He wouldn't sully himself or his guardsmen on her but some servant needing a reward...
She was right on one count. Ulfr hadn't been the one to send them, the guardsmen had planned this out the night before, seizing on an opportunity while the door was being installed. But they had quietly sent out word to some of the elite male servants- ones not quite high enough that sleeping with a thrall was too far beneath them -who had drawn lots, and this man had won. He certainly had no qualms about sullying himself, especially since no one else would ever know about it. She was so beautiful and considered so fierce...yet here she was, bound and spread and gagged just for him. He'd managed something even the Jarl and his son had not managed. He gritted his teeth at the thought of Ulfr. Ulfr, the Jarl's precious, arrogant, spoiled son. The one all of the servant girls who wouldn't give him the time of day swooned over and dreamed about and whispered about how virile he was, how wonderful he was in bed.
Well, now he would have this slave girl who even great Ulfr couldn't get into bed. The thrill of that was even better and more arousing than the act itself.
Eira sighed and closed her eyes. She fought this whenever she could, but sometimes, like this, she ended up pinned down or knocked out or even drugged one time on the ship. A faint grimace of disgust curled her lip and she just prayed he got it over with quickly.
"Look at me," the servant crooned, touching her cheek. When her eyes remained closed, he slapped her. "Look at me!"
She wouldn't, keeping her eyes closed and looking faintly disgusted.
Furious, the servant swore, hitting her again before backing off. She heard the rustle of cloth as he freed himself from his breeches, and then his hands were on her thighs, shoving the torn skirt of her shift up over the chains. By that point, it was little more than tatters that left nothing real to the imagination. He poked at the still healing wound on her shoulder as he shoved into her roughly and she couldn't keep a soft sound of pain back. He grinned triumphantly. "Whore. You can close your eyes all you like, I know you want this. It's what your kind always wants." He drove himself into her hard, dissolving into savage grunts.
Outside, two of the guardsmen watched the men work on the door, confident none of the servants would dare question what they were doing, nor, surely would the Jarl or his son care. "If Ulfr doesn't want much else to do with her, we could sell her out this way," one of them commented thoughtfully. "We could get a fair price."
"That's not a half bad idea...that's a safe way to break her without putting Ulfr at risk. We might have to clean her up a bit, make sure no one roughs her up too much it damages her too much," the other one said. "We should run it by Ulfr, surely he'd welcome it. Easy way to break her down. The Jarl would surely approve."
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Post by Jenny on Jul 5, 2014 0:22:26 GMT -5
Early in the morn, when Ulfr was still abed with his hangover, Ulfr’s hunting dogs were let lose daily for a time to get their exercise. They could run about freely and catch the random rodent to eat if they could catch it, or mark their territory, or whatever they wished. A call would gather them back when they were to be fed and brought into the house again. The granary promised an easy catch for the pests that tried to get inside. One of the dogs made it a habit to check that part of the grounds. Seeing the door completely gone had piqued its curiosity. It sniffed the doorframe and peeked inside, seeing a human woman inside. It cared not that she was chained, it simply wanted to be sociable. It trotted inside, tail wagging, up to the woman who was inside, first snuffling her scent, the straw around her and then at last up into her face. It was a friendly mutt and it cared not for personal space. After he had been satisfied that he had memorized her scent, and he had been thoroughly coddled, he turned his attention to vermin, who may be scurrying about and would be an easy catch. He snuffled about the trail in which the rat had taken, and pawed slightly at the corner in which the rat had disappeared, but when it had figured out there was no prey to be had it made it’s way out of the granary to search the outer walls, leaving Eira alone. Loyalty was fleeting.
If Ulfr knew what was happening inside the granary store room at that very moment he would not approve, for this woman was his property as far as both he and his father was concerned, and he would not wish for the Celtic woman, whore as she may be, to become sullied while on his own property. The fact that the deed in which the servant inside the store room had been successful may have made the guardsman bold, but to actually go about communicating their plan with the son of the Jarl would be quite unwise. A part of them knew this to, but for now they felt the thrill of misbehavior… and it was a good feeling indeed.
It was almost to midday when Ulfr left his room, having pulled on a fresh shirt but wearing the same leggings he had worn the eve before, walking down the stairs to find some food to satisfy his growling belly. A servant on her way to change his linens was stopped midway up the stairs when he blearily asked for a meal to be taken in the mead hall. She set down the linens to one side of the hall and scurried down the stairs to obey his orders, for every last one of them knew when the Jarl’s son was suffering from tipping the cups far too many the night before he was not only brusque but touchy as well. If a hot and satisfying meal had not been set before him in fifteen minutes time from when he sat down he would fly into a rage. This could be quelled only by topping off his flagon, which helped take the edge off the pain.
After having filled his belly with mead and a satisfying meal he went upstairs to change into something more appropriate, then barreled down the stairs two at a time desiring fresh air and exercise. Curiously, he found himself steered towards the granary where his gift was now properly chained. The door had been replaced and there was no sign of the workers. He inspected the work carefully, running his fingers along the fittings for gaps in the iron bars or faulty nails. He pulled open the door slightly to see if the hinges were sound, for this store house now held a prisoner that he wished, above all, to not have access to the outside world. There was no telling what the vixen could do, even bound by chains as she was. The door could be bolted from the outside, but he did not want a repeat performance of the day before.
At last he pulled the door open in order to walk inside, his eyes seeking out the prisoner that was housed inside.
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Post by KD on Jul 5, 2014 2:02:30 GMT -5
The guardsmen had left her bound and gagged, seeing no reason not to, her upper body and her legs swathed in chains, her arms drawn back around the pillar. The tattered shift was bloody around her thighs and the servant's seed had dried to scales on her legs. Her hair fell in matted tangles around her face as she hung her head. Eira was swaying in and out of consciousness, not far enough to go fully out, unfortunately for her. She forced herself upright as much as she could, hanging on to that tiny shred of pride she had left desperately. She wouldn't look up even when she figured out who it was, and not out of fear. She didn't think she could hide the pain, misery, and humiliation churning through her and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing it.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 5, 2014 2:14:37 GMT -5
When he found her, he looked up and down her body, as if he could not believe what he was seeing, his forehead wrinkled in perplexity, his mouth open as if he wanted to speak. She was chained quite cruelly, far worse than he could have imagined. He had not been present when she had been chained… did the guardsman chain her so? He saw the state of her body, running his eyes over her slowly to take everything in. She had been sexually molested, it was quite clear, and forcefully, for what he could see. The blood on her shift cried out the truth, the wrinkled folds about her middle where hands had gripped her tightly for some time. He looked lastly at her face and though she did not lift her eyes to his face he could see the complexity of the emotions she was trying to repress. If she could sink into the wood and disappear like a phantom he was sure she would do it now.
His body began to quiver despite his attempt to control his rage, his fists clenching so tight the knuckles went white.
“Who has done this to you?”
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Post by KD on Jul 5, 2014 2:20:28 GMT -5
The question had rage and hate spitting through her, driving back the rest of it for a moment. She lifted her head, revealing the rag stuffed deep into her mouth, her eyes burning with rage and pain and accusation now. He already knew, surely. She didn't know why he was pretending ignorance.
Eira wasn't broken, not quite, but at that moment probably more than had ever been apparent before, she looked very young. She wasn't quite twenty yet and it showed.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 5, 2014 2:31:35 GMT -5
He strode forward and reached out cautiously and ripped the gag from her mouth. Before she could say a thing he went around the back of the pillar to unwind the long chain that trapped her body. Even if she hated him, despised him above all things, he felt like this was his fault, for she was a woman and therefore vulnerable. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw set and teeth grinding, walking around the pillar again and again to free her body. When he was finished he stepped back away from range, quickly as if he expected her to bite him.
“This will never happen again…”
With that, he kicked open the store room door. It slammed on it’s new hinges, startling the guards who were posted in front of it. They saw his black rage and shrunk away from him, standing tall and alert.
“Who has done this to that woman?”
He spoke low, a warning deep in his throat as he pointed to the granary door that led into the store room.
One guard managed to stammer a reply.
“There has been no one. We changed guard not one hour ago, my Lord.”
“You,” Ulfr pointed to the guard that had spoken. “Find them and bring them to me… immediately.”
He did not have to speak twice. The Viking man bowed, looking quite awkward in response to his wrath. He darted off to find those he had relieved.
Ulfr stalked back in forth before the granary, his look ever darkening the longer he waited, the more his rage tingled inside him.
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Post by KD on Jul 5, 2014 2:38:54 GMT -5
She might have but she was too weak to try and when she was loosed from the chains she collapsed bonelessly to the floor, her limbs tingling as life came back to them slowly. She wanted to curl up into a ball, wanted to scratch at herself until the servant's foul touch was gone from her, but she didn't have the energy to do either of those things. She leaned against the pillar, closing her eyes and swallowing convulsively to clear her throat after the gag had been torn out.
The two men who had been with him during Eira's stunt walked up the hill, looking cautious but feigning ignorance for what he was so angry about, even though they knew full well. He was outside the granary in a towering rage, there wasn't much else that could be the cause of it.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 5, 2014 2:53:09 GMT -5
When the two guardsmen came up to stand before him, they said in unison. "My Lord?"
Ulfr had been pacing with his hands behind his back. When they had addressed him he wheeled about and stalked towards them, stopping so that his face was mere inches from their own. His eyes went from one to the other. If they knew his rage, they would be quivering in their boots.
Every word he uttered had the tone as if he was a snake waiting to strike, slow and deliberate. “The slave woman had a visitor this day.” He stopped and looked into one’s man’s eyes, his own eyes narrowed into slits. “My father has given an order that no visitor be permitted to see the slave. I gave no order to the contrary…” He strode to the other, looking into his eyes. “Yet you allowed someone to pass through that door. Why is this?”
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Post by KD on Jul 5, 2014 3:22:46 GMT -5
They did indeed know and both of them were quivering in their boots. They'd suspected he might not approve but neither of them had expected him to be so angry over it. Careful not to look at the other guardsmen, he feigned confusion, furrowing his brows. "Visitor? No, my lord. Though in the confusion putting the door up..."
The other guard threw the servant to the wolves without a single hint of guilt. "Wasn't that sly looking man who tends to the horses skulking around earlier? We told him to go away but he might have snuck back in again. What's wrong, my lord?"
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Post by Jenny on Jul 5, 2014 3:31:11 GMT -5
Ulfr would find out what he wanted to know, no matter what cost. He turned his eyes on the second guard and walked up to him as he spoke. “You have seen him skulking about? Tell me the truth or by Odin, I will tear off that jerkin and strip you of your post!”
He would do it too, and the guardsman would not only be removed from the honor of soldier to the Jarl, but, if Ulfr had the mind to he could be stripped of title and of land and live in dishonor for the rest of his days.
“I need not explain myself to you, guardsman. I seek only the truth. Did this stableman enter the granary for a time or did he not?”
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Post by KD on Jul 5, 2014 4:33:26 GMT -5
The guard's eyes widened and he held his hands up. He might be stripped of his post now but if Ulfr found out what they had done... "I meant no disrespect, my lord! I truly didn't see him after that first time!"
"There was the moment the door fell." The other guard was much more clever than his friend. He looked over at him. "Remember? When they were bringing the door up the hill, one of the hounds accidentally got in the way and it started to fall and you grabbed it before it could hurt one of the workers. There's still glass and such in the grass from yesterday when she broke all those jars so they were worried about getting cut. It took a minute to get the door safely back up the hill again and there was nothing blocking the doorway then." The lie was spun smoothly because it wasn't really a lie at all. All of that had happened exactly as he said. The only lie was both the guards and the workers had known about the stableman. The guard's expression turned sorrowful. He was a good actor. "We didn't see him but at that moment it was possible for someone to sneak in without us seeing and he could have gotten out later. The door isn't barred from the inside. If that's the case, we failed you, my lord." He knelt before him, head bowed in shame.
Inside, Eira had lifted her head to listen to the exchange, her brow furrowed slightly. She was baffled by Ulfr's rage which she now believed to be genuine. He truly hadn't sent those men.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 5, 2014 17:55:53 GMT -5
“There should not have been a first time,” he said flatly, his anger uncurbed despite the guard’s attempts to placate him with mere words. “No one is to enter except me, or those under my orders. Do you understand?”
He gave a glance back to the two guardsmen at their posts, who were looking horrified at the exchange. They knew their Lord could be wrathful, but this calmness about him was even more frightening. At their Lord’s glance, the two stood a little straighter at attention, doing everything to avoid looking into Ulfr’s eyes. When Ulfr had turned his attention at the guardsman who added additional witness, one of the guardsmen at the post mouthed Tell the truth to those being interrogated.
Again Ulfr stalked up and down as the man gave his account of what had happened that day, his eyes never leaving the guards face. He stopped pacing when the guardsman knelt before him, standing right before his half-prone form. “I care not for your account, guardsman. If you were doing your service you would have seen a person weasel their way into the granary… nay, you would have heard. Those chains that bind the slave women are heavy and make much noise. There was a disturbance within, perhaps a struggle… and you knew not of an intruder within the store room?”
Ulfr let in and out a breath of air through his nose, scowling down at the guardsman, who bowed his head. “And if you were doing your duty…” Ulfr looked up at the other. “If both of you were doing your duty surely you would have seen this visitor, this interloper leave through the very doorway you were to guard?!” His words increased in pitch as he motioned towards the door. He stopped and closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Nay, it matters not. What has been done has been done. However, because of your incompetence as guardsmen you are relieved of duty until such time as I see fit to deal with your transgression. Go,” he waved them off with a look of disgust. “Get you gone. Out of my sight, both of you.”
As the two guardsmen prostrated themselves, taking their leave to adjourn to the soldier’s hall where they were to await certain punishment, the Jarl’s son turned to walk towards the store room. The two guardsmen on duty stood at attention and stepped away a few paces to allow the Lord entrance inside.
When Ulfr opened the door he did so slowly, concentrating on its weight and resistance, listening to the creaks in the wood bound by iron, trying to determine for himself just how it would sound when opened. The door was hewn from fresh logs and the iron that had bound the previous door had been reforged, wrought, and shaped to the specifics of shape and size. As was always with new wood added to the old, when hinges shifted, one side against the old wood of the door frame and the other to the door itself there would be audible pops and creaks as the new wood learned to relax so that the more the door was opened, and would age, the smoother the jointing would be. But there was no mistaking the sound of the opening and closing of the door, the heavy clank of the iron bars that locked into place when one used the latch.
There had been no mistaking it. No excuse.
And now he would have to interrogate the accused, this stableman said to tend to his horses. He cared not to look into the storeroom and simply closed the door, making sure that the door was latched tightly. Ulfr did not want to see the shame in that woman’s eyes, even if only that day before he would have been glad to see it. It disgusted him, this business.
Someone had touched his slave. Someone had sullied her. And that man was going to pay dearly for it.
The guards at their post instantly stood ramrod straight when Ulfr turned around. He looked from one to the other, scowling. “I will send a woman in with water and cloth to tend to the slave. Allow her entrance, but no one else.”
Ulfr strode away briskly, heading for the stables. Having mentioned that the stableman had “skulked” about by both guardsman was his only lead. Seeing a woman kneeling while tending to the vegetable garden on his way he paused. She dropped her spade as her hand went lax in surprise , stranding up and blinking at him. The son of the Jarl did not often address the kitchen servants. Her apron was stained with the black soil she tilled, her basket full of that day’s harvest.
“Woman,” he jerked his chin at her. “Bring a bucket of water and a cloth to the granary storehouse so that the slave may wash herself. Simply place it in her arm’s reach and leave immediately. Do not try speaking to the slave, do not assist her in any way. In one hours time you will retrieve it. Again, say nothing and do not stare.” His orders finished, he headed straightaway to the stables.
“Yes, m’Lord.” She curtseyed and bent to pick up the basket of vegetables and promptly crossed the grounds to the basin near the kitchen. She pumped water from the spigot, filling a tin bucket full of water, then retrieved toweling in order to bring it to the granary. She mumbled her pardon to the guards as she went inside. Not making eye contact, she placed the bucket as close to the slave girl as she could and darted away, not wishing to do anything that might upset Ulfr.
The whinnying of the horses and the earthy smell of them greeted him as he pushed open the barn door that led inside, careful to skit around so that he would not be seen by the man inside. It was sweaty and laborious work, tending to the horses, some being meant for the plow, others the wagon, and a few beautiful mares and geldings with sleek and shining coats used for the Jarl’s and Ulfr’s personal use for riding.
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Post by KD on Jul 5, 2014 18:41:01 GMT -5
Eira glanced up as the young woman entered, watching her silently. She was angry at herself for being so relieved to see the water, but she wanted the stableman's seed off of her. She scooped up several handfuls of water and drank slowly, for it was the first water she'd had for a while, drinking it while it was still clean.
Then she dipped the towel into the water, scrubbing between her legs and over her thighs until the blood and semen were gone and her skin was rubbed raw from the force of it. Her lips trembled as she did it, then firmed. She prayed as she cleaned herself, prayed to Brighd not to quicken, that the man's seed would not take hold in her womb. When she'd taken pity on Moera she'd prayed for the goddess to give Eira's own fertility to her, for Moera desperately wanted a child and Eira didn't. Not here.
The thought made her unbearably sad, because she had wanted children. She wanted a brood of them. Before she'd been captured, she had been planning to go to rites in the spring and ask the goddess to open the gates of her womb so she could bear children. Eira's tuath was a small one and isolated in the wilds, they had little to do with the bigger tribes of the rest of the Celts and held more to the old ways. Marriage was a concept Eira had heard of but hadn't paid much attention to. Not that a man and woman couldn't be together exclusively, they just had few rituals and no laws regarding it. That, Eira understood, and using marriage to bind two different tribes, was a more common practice when there was land and trade to be owned. Her parents had been close, their affection for each other bound them closer than anyone else, but they both had children with other people besides each other and her father actually leaned more toward men as lovers. It didn't matter to Eira, she loved all her brothers and sisters equally. Eira herself had been planning to have her first child with the druid who had taught her about sex and coached her through some of the sexual rites of their people. It was the practical thing to do. Children with her gifts were getting more and more rare and the druid was getting older. A kind, stern man, her mentor. She would have been proud to bear and raise a child from his seed. She thought of Maecon, then. Proud, strong Maecon the hunter with his flowing red hair and laughter sparkling in his eyes. He'd let her father and Eira know he would have been glad to act as a father to her children and her father had approved, as had she. She knew Maecon had survived, the Vikings hadn't managed to take the village. She wondered if he was with someone else now...Siobhan, maybe, she would be a good match for him.
But oh, they would have made such beautiful babies together, she and Maecon. And she thought she could have loved him the same way her mother loved her father. He would have been a wonderful father, she prayed he would get the chance to prove it.
It was cruel irony. Now she prayed every time some filthy Viking took her for her womb to stay closed.
She forced those thoughts away used the rest of the water to clean her wound and the rest of her body as best she could, even pulling the bucket close and dipping her hair in it, wringing out the worst of the things sticking it together before she dumped the water over her, even soiled it made her feel a bit cleaner. She wrung the towel out, folded it neatly, and draped it over the edge of the bucket before setting the bucket back where it had been. The act startled the servant when she came to retrieve the bucket, as did Eira politely thanking her. She'd already guessed the servants weren't going to say anything to her, but it was the principle of the thing.
Most of the stable lads were young, the sons of the man who had served the Jarl faithfully for many years, but it was sometimes served by house servants who had been demoted from serving the Jarl directly. There was one such man, older than the others, mucking out a couple of the stables. He seemed suspiciously cheerful for such a task.
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