Kirstie

Kirstie poke softly to the others. “Let’s keep all talk of the Kairos, instant changing into armor and weapons, Danna, Elgar, Mother Greta, and the rest of it, including talk of the New World between us. Remember, we caught Ulfsson in Iceland. Engel Bronson and Bieger don’t need the evidence they are looking for, and it is not that I don’t trust the king, but you never know.”

With nods of agreement, the four stepped to the dock where a delegation waited. Captain Olaf saw the local elders and leaned back. “Thomas,” he called to the man in charge of Olaf’s ship after Wilam. “Best not to let anyone on board until I get back.”

“Sir,” Thomas responded.

They crossed the dock and boarded the king’s ship being expected, though Kirstie being pregnant was not expected. They found the king seated at a table with several men hovering over his shoulders. “Olaf,” the king acknowledged the man, but his eyes never left the woman. Kirstie understood that Olaf the merchant was not only in the business of exceeding expectations, but he was also talented at getting to know people and being known while hopefully leaving those people with a good impression. She remembered Olaf, Wilam, and Brant went first to the king’s town of Kaupang when they came in search of her.

Olaf took the opening to introduce his crew. “Brant Svenson, my Skipari you may remember from our visit to Kaupang. This is Wilam Halfdansson from Northumberland, husband of the lovely Lady Kristina of Strindlos of whom you may have heard some stories.”

“Majesty,” Kirstie curtseyed as well as she could, and smiled.

“You hardly look like the maiden who held off five hundred men on Lindisfarne,” the king quipped.

“I was not exactly in this shape at that time, and dressed a bit differently,” Kirstie admitted. “But despite what you heard, it was closer to three hundred men and all I really did was explain how stupid they were being.”

The king nodded before he said, “Explain.”

“Lord. It occurred to me that Lindisfarne had been sacked several times over the last hundred years. There is not anything remaining. No gold, silver, or jewels of any kind. There is only a strong attachment to the place by the people of Northumbria, which includes Wessex, and the people of Danelaw that have converted to this Christian faith. Any attack on Lindisfarne at this point will be like an attack on the heart of the people. It occurred to me my king does not need to trigger a war with Wessex, which is Saxony, or Danelaw, which is Denmark, or both. But that is what such an attack by Norwegians might do. I explained how stupid the men were being, and fortunately convinced enough to come over to my side to prevent the attack. I only had to kill one man.”

“Stupid,” the king said. “That is exactly what I was thinking when I heard about it. I might have taken Ulf’s head if you did not save me the trouble. But now tell me, how is it a young woman like you got involved in fighting in the first place?”

“My father,” Kirstie answered. “He had no son. He was Arne the Navigator and sailed with Captain Sten Troelsson with Captain Birger and Captain Kerga out of Strindlos under Hakon Grjotgardsson. They fought for you, my father Arne and his two companions Haken and Thorbald.”

The king held up his hand for quiet. He had to think, to remember. “I vaguely recall a Captain Birger out of Trondelag. He was wounded in the battle, but he refused to stop fighting. There were real men in those days. He must be my age now. How is he?”

Kirstie shook her head. “Sadly, he died in the invasion of the Jamts. He fought bravely to the end. Captain Kerga is now Chief in Strindlos. He was wounded in the battle against the Jamts.”

“You were there?”

Kirstie nodded. “They killed my family and I got angry. I was just ten years old, but my father taught be how to shoot a bow and hold a knife and shield. He also taught me how to navigate, which is why I sailed on several trading expeditions, down the Danish coast to Frisia, Normandy, and to Northumbria. In the end, I married a navigator. Wilam Halfdansson.”

Olaf stepped forward and ratted on Wilam. “Wilam is the last son of Halfdan Ragnarsson. He was conceived just before the chief went off to Ireland and got himself killed.”

The king looked closely at Wilam before he spoke. “A fitting husband for the maid of Lindisfarne.” he said, before he had another thought. “You show remarkable courage and sense for a woman, and your husband certainly has the blood in his veins. How would you like me to make him the Jarl of Trondelag?” A man tapped the king on his shoulder, but the king waved him off.

“Oh, no, please, your majesty,” Kirstie spoke right up. “That would involve headaches and trouble such as I cannot imagine. With all due respect, I sometimes feel sorry for you and all the headaches you must put up with. If it is all the same, I have some property, a couple of tenants, a couple of thralls. We hope to raise a family and live a nice, quiet, peaceful life.”

“Like I said, remarkable good sense for a woman. Anyway, I promised to make Sigurd Hakonsson Jarl when he comes of age.”

“And I hope Sigurd and I may one day become friends.”

“I hope that as well. Meanwhile, I fully expect you to stir up some men and ships for the effort against the Geats and Danes. They are taking more and more land which is not theirs to take.”

“Why not make an alliance with the Swedes?” Kirstie asked. “My mother was Swedish. I may have some relatives there I might cultivate and see if they are in a position to support the idea of an alliance.”

The king waved off her idea, but then spoke to the point. “I have considered giving them Jamtaland for their cooperation.”

“Oh, no. Pain though they are, you might save the Jamts for a bigger need. Right now, I know the Swedes have their own complaints against the Geats, and maybe the Danes as well. If presented in the right way, they might ask you to make an alliance with them against their enemies. Let the Swedes know how unhappy you are with the Geats and Danes and how you are thinking you may have to go to war against them. Let them think about it, and they may ask you to ally with them against a common enemy, or at least they might ask if they can join you in the effort.”

The king smiled. “Thank you for the visit,” he said. “Lady Kristina of Strindlos. So you know, I am not disappointed.”

Kirstie curtseyed as well as she could again. “Majesty.” And she hustled the men away from there while the king stood and yelled.

“Why didn’t one of you think of that? Stupid. I’m surrounded by stupid.” He continued to yell in a most colorful way, but Kirstie chose not to listen. Besides, Olaf was already headed toward the town elders. He would trade for the other half of Birdla’s portion and point out they had said they would not be back for two years, but they had a bit this trip if Borgund was interested. This time, the big jerk who wanted everything for nothing was not around, so Olaf managed a fair trade. The elder’s looked like they dare not try to cheat the man right under the king’s nose, and especially since he and the king seemed to be on good relations.

~~~*~~~

Two days later, the ship pulled into Husatadlr where they made a good trade in the past. Kirstie was surprised to see a longship in port. This close to the Trondelag, Kirstie wondered if she might know where the ship hailed from. She felt even more surprised when she found out.

“Liv?”

“You started it,” Liv said. “I’m sailing out of Varnes, but it is the same thing.”

“Not the same,” Kirstie insisted. “I was trained to be a navigator like my father. Your father was a middle rower. No offense, but not something to aspire to.”

“I don’t care about my father,” she said. “Besides, I never row. This is my ship. I captain and all these men work for me.”

Kirstie raised her eyebrows. Liv was not that good looking. “How did you manage that?” Owning a ship was an expensive proposition. Sometimes men had to pool their money to be able to buy a ship.

“That isn’t important,” Liv said. “Now, I have to talk to the chiefs.” she began to walk off, four big men surrounding her like she was some queen or something. “It was good seeing you.”

Olaf had to wait. Brant asked a question as he and Wilam came to her side.

“What was that all about?”

“I’m not sure,” Kirstie said. “But there is something wrong about the whole thing.”

Yrsa spoke up as she joined them, holding Soren’s hand. “I felt it too. Something is not right there.”

Kirstie shrugged. “Liv was always a bit strange, even from the beginning.”

Wilam smiled. “Says the woman who in her own way is the strangest person on earth.”

Kirstie slipped her arm around Wilam’s waist. “So, I know what I am talking about.,” she said, looked him in the eye, and stuck her tongue out at him.

When Olaf finally got a chance to talk to the village elders, even as Liv’s longship sailed off, he found them very different from the time he came before. They looked for every flaw they could find in his tools and even pointed to things that were not necessarily flaws. They offered half of what Olaf expected. He said that was not a good way to do business if they expected him to return. He showed them a crate of glass goblets bound for Strindlos, and some of the bolts of died linen. A couple of the more sensible elders agreed to double the offer if he threw in a few bolts of linen. A deal was struck, but Olaf was not entirely happy.

“Something changed,” he said.

“Liv,” Kirstie answered, but did not explain.

************************

MONDAY

The trouble with success is it breeds high expectations. Kirstie gets roped into raising an army while Yasmina is raising some fighters of her own. Monday. Happy Reading.

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