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Medieval 5: K and Y 15 The Norman Hag, part 3 of 3

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Yasmina

Al-Rahim found an out of the way farm in Petra that he could rent for some work in the fields. As he explained to the princess, “It just would not be safe staying in territory that was controlled by your father.” Yasmina said she understood.

Al-Rahim bought a few older slaves for the bulk of the work and hoped to come out about even by the end of their time there, however long that might be. Two men worked in the fields, and the guards helped. One old woman took responsibility to cook and clean for the house. Aisha planted a garden and helped keep the house as well. Al-Rahim spent much of his time cultivating spies among the old Nabataeans and Ghassanids that populated the province. He did not want events to catch him by surprise.

They all told the princess that she did not have to do anything, but Yasmina got bored very quickly. She helped Aisha in the garden and did not kill all the plants. She learned something about cooking, cleaning, and even learned to sew, though she was not very good at any of it. At least she rode about every other day, and Aisha and one of the guards always rode with her. She also practiced her swordplay and her archery skills when she was not riding, so both she and her horse got plenty of exercise. Mostly it was something to do.

After some months, when the Caliph appointed Sharif of the territory heard about the strangers in the old lingering town of Petra, they were called to an audience to give account for themselves. Al-Rahim made them pack everything like they might permanently leave that place. “I hope we will be able to return here, but we cannot count on that,” he said.

“Maybe the Sharif will provide a better living arrangement,” Aisha suggested.

Yasmina thought, Maybe the Sharif will throw us in jail, but she did not say that out loud.

On the way, al-Rahim explained.

“Petra used to be a great city, a trade center for the whole region.”

“Honestly?” Yasmina asked.

“That was maybe five or six hundred years ago.”

“It looks like it fell apart five hundred years ago,” Aisha said.

“Our house looks like it was built six hundred years ago,” Yasmina agreed.

“The fall apart happened slowly over the years,” al-Rahim continued. “Palmyra in the Syrian desert eventually took over the land trade from the east. Caravans met in Palmyra as the only safe way across the Syrian desert to go to the coastal cities like Antioch or in Lebanon. Meanwhile, trade from Arabia, the Hejaz, the coasts of India and Africa began to come up the red sea, to Aqaba, if they were headed into Palestine or the port of Gaza, or to Suez if they were headed into Egypt or to Egyptian ports. Petra slowly died to the point where it is hardly a town, and one struggling at that.”

“Why did you bring us here?” Yasmina asked, honestly curious.

“I thought we could hide and not be disturbed. No one cares these days what goes on in Petra. People are leaving here, not coming here.”

“But now you are not so sure,” Aisha suggested.

Al-Rahim shook his head. “I did not expect the Sharif to notice, much less summon us to an audience.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Aisha said.

“As do I,” al-Rahim agreed.

“Me too,” Yasmina said, and they both looked at her wondering when she began to pay that much attention to anything. But then, Aisha knew the Kairos had resources even al-Rahim would not believe.

Al-Rahim spoke when they arrived for the audience. He gave his name, Muhammad al-Rahim and so on. Yasmina really did not listen until he introduced her as the Princess of Mecca and Medina and Aisha as her maid servant.

The old Sharif looked at them carefully before he spoke. “I understand why you came here. The Qarmatians sacked Mecca and Medina even as they despoiled Syria and Mesopotamia some years ago. They are mad men, fanatics. But they will not come here. We are too strong for them.”

“As you say. We must wait until the Caliph can raise enough men and arms to retake the Holy Cities. Then we can return home, but not before.”

“I heard they took the black stone from Mecca.”

“No…” Yasmina could not believe it. “My father would never let them despoil the holy relics.”

The Sharif looked sympathetically at Yasmina, but al-Rahim waved off whatever the Sharif was about to say. The Sharif said instead, “Child. You have nothing to fear. You will be married and have plenty of wonderful children, I am sure.” The Sharif waved and several men came from behind a curtain. “It is a small price to pay for peace in this territory.”

“Qarmatians,” al-Rahim yelled. He and his guards all drew their swords, but two of the six men already went down from Aisha’s arrows. Al-Rahim and his guards made quick work of three more Qarmatians who were not prepared for any real resistance, like maybe they expected the Sharif to disarm his guests before holding audience. The last man grabbed at Yasmina, but she called defender which appeared in her hand, and she stabbed the man in the arm. Then she called for her armor. as the angry man tried to hit her. He hit chain mail and probably broke his hand, though he knocked Yasmina to the floor. Aisha stabbed that man in the back and Yasmina called for Defender. The long knife vacated the man’s arm and flew back to her hand.

One guard had a cut in his hand. The other had a cut in his thigh. Al-Rahim and Aisha were untouched. Yasmina only had a sore butt. She landed hard. Al-Rahim spoke to the Sharif. “You did your job. Too bad the Qarmatians sent such incompetent men.” Al-Rahim gave slight bow and turned them all to the door. The Sharif played with his beard. He said nothing. His own guards around the room did not move and did not try to stop them. They ran to their horses which were still in the courtyard. They rode off into the west. No telling what the Sharif told the Qarmatians, or if he would remain Sharif for long.

“A bit slow on calling to your armor,” Aisha pointed out.

“Don’t rub it in,” Yasmina said and rubbed her hurting behind. She took that moment to get a great idea. She traded places with Greta, the wise woman and healer from Dacia.

Aisha asked with her eyes.

Al-Rahim, who noticed everything, and also happened to be glancing back in case of pursuit saw the blonde hair and said, “Kirstie?” He did not blink or raise his voice or anything, like he already figured something like this was inevitable.

‘Greta.” she gave her name. “I know how to ride, and I am a healer. When we stop, I have a couple of guardsmen to look at. Besides, Yasmina hurt her butt.”

“Greta,” Al-Rahim said. “Even more complicated than I thought.” Greta and Aisha both nodded but said nothing as they all concentrated on getting out of town.

It was not until after they stopped, and Greta fixed up the wounded as well as she could, that Yasmina came back and added everything up in her mind. She got teary eyed and looked at al-Rahim. “My mother and father are dead?” she asked, but it was said like a statement.

“I’m sorry Princess,” al-Rahim responded softly. Then he hugged her and let her cry.

Kirstie

Jarl was not happy with Kirstie, to say the least. He had some good silver, so the crew had no complaints on that score, but they grieved heavily for the loss of their friends. Kirstie and Yrsa were right there grieving with them, and while she was at it, Kirstie cried for Yasmina and the loss of her parents.

“Now she is an orphan like me,” Kirstie said, and Yrsa cried with her.

As close as Jarl and Kirstie came to an understanding after that was just before they docked in Bremerhaven.

“What?” Kirstie asked. “You knew going after a hag would be dangerous. I am as upset as you are. They were my friends too.”

“I think I became too obsessed with the amber and the ivory and getting rich.”

“In the end, they are only commodities like anything else we carry, and they are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them. Sir Waldo, and Bremerhaven have farm tools and only offer a bit of silver. Honestly, the farm tools are worth much more than some walrus tusks and tree resin.”

Jarl sighed and mostly nodded.

Captain Otto hugged Kirstie. Sir Waldo also hugged her and said, “I believe Lady Kristina is determined to make me rich.”

Tulip, the fairy queen who appeared in her big size said, “Rich is nice, but better is living a life worth living.”

Tulip and Sir Waldo hit it off and Tulip asked if Kirstie would mind if she visited the man from time to time.”

Kirstie just hugged her and told her to follow her heart.

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

MONDAY

Kirstie need to pay attention to her home but soon enough she will need to sail to Northumbria to confront Abraxas himself. Until next week, Happy Reading

*

Medieval 5: K and Y 14 Side Steps, part 2 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Kirstie

While the men rowed, Kirstie and Yrsa disguised themselves as well as they could. Yrsa simply changed her glamour, so she looked like a young boy instead of a girl. “Cheater,” Kirstie said, and immediately traded places through time with Elgar, the Saxon. Most of the men knew Elgar from years earlier. Leif even complained.

“You don’t look like you have aged one day since then.”

“I do try to keep in shape,” Elgar smiled and called for a different suit he knew he had on Avalon. It was mostly leather, it replaced his armor, and with some minor adjustments, he looked like one of the crew.

“Elgar,” Jarl said. “I thought you might show up.”

They bumped the dock softly and men jumped out to fasten the ship. Six men stood on the dock waiting to board. The speaker from the longboat stood in front. Two soldier types, though they may have been mercenaries stood behind him. Three clerks with tenth century versions of clipboards, velum, and something to write with followed.

“I am Captain Jarl Hagenson of Strindlos. My skipari is Leif. Old Man Skarde is our scald and with Elgar and Yerser, they will accompany your clerks and answer any questions you may have.” He smiled as the speaker from the longboat frowned. That told Jarl, and at least Elgar, that the clerks and probably all six of them had sticky fingers and needed to be watched.

Jarl stayed with the longboat speaker. Leif grabbed another member of the crew to stand with the two mercenaries and pass pleasantries while they waited. The whole center aisle of the ship was filled with bags, boxes, and bundles to trade, and Yrsa and Skarde watched their clerks closely, though there was not much they could pocket. Elgar helped his clerk step over the rowing benches to get to the front of the ship where Kirstie kept the most valuable items.

He let the man taste the honey with his finger, but it was an especially big jug, and the wax could hardly be snitched. The man was impressed by the polar bear skin, and his eyes got big looking at the ivory. Then he counted and asked why there were only five tusks.

“Walruses,” Elgar said. “They fight, you know. They fight for dominance, and sometimes one breaks a tusk. My supplier said one must have broken completely off, probably by the water where the tide took it out to sea. Such a shame.”

The clerk nodded. It was a good story. He looked at the basket of amber, and counted, but Elgar never let go of it.

“Half empty?” the man asked.

“We got caught in that storm a week ago. Do you recall? It was terrible at sea.”

“You don’t mean some washed overboard,” the clerk looked horrified.

“One crew member did,” Elgar said. “But no. We had to stop in a village on the Eider River in Saxon territory to make repairs.” he showed the man Kirstie’s railing. “You can see the new wood. It is not the same color and hardly weathered. We had repairs all over the ship and even needed a new mast. They were good people, though. The Lord of the Castle gave us a keg of wine, but all of it cost us some amber. Even if we had silver to pay, which we don’t, he would only take amber. I guess there is a good market here on the continent for the stuff. It is hard to come by as Captain Hagenson said.” He brought the clerk back up front and away from their special items. “Are we all done?”

“Not yet,” the speaker from the longboat said. “I only need to know where you have hidden the rest of the things.”

“Why would we hide things?” Elgar asked. “You have a list of all of our things, so if anything gets stolen, we will know, and more importantly, you will know and hopefully help us catch the thief.”

The speaker eyed Elgar like he was not supposed to think of that, but he said something different. “You speak with an accent.”

Elgar looked down like a man ashamed. “My mother was a Saxon, but polite people kindly don’t notice.”

All this while, Skarde kept trying to draw attention to himself by trying hard not to draw attention to himself. Finally, Yrsa could not stand it. She lowered her voice as she had with the clerk, though she still sounded like a young man whose voice had not yet changed, and she said, “Skarde, what are you hiding?”

Skarde quickly pulled his half open shirt together and said, “Nothing. Nothing.”

That finally provoked a reaction. The speaker from the longboat stepped to face Skarde. He put his hand out and frowned again. Skarde shook his head and turned away without actually moving away.

Jarl spoke. “Give it up, man,” he said, and Skarde reluctantly pulled out a piece of amber. The speaker from the longboat took it but kept his hand out. Skarde pulled out the other piece with a word.

“There. That is all of it.” He opened his shirt and showed his fat belly. He turned around and showed there was nothing down his pants. The speaker from the longboat decided he did not need to look there, and he spoke.

“Since these are not on the inventory, it is my duty to confiscate them. This man is not allowed to come into town, but the rest of you are welcome to come to the tavern on the water while your captain negotiates his sales.” The man gave Jarl a smile that looked sickly, and he left.

Jarl waited until the man was out of earshot before he laid down the rules. Same as before. No one gets drunk and don’t provoke anything. No stealing and no fighting. Leave your swords and axes here but take your knives. Keep the knives hidden. I don’t want the locals to know you have knives on you. Remember. We are trying to make some good money, but there is reported to be a hag in town, so keep your eyes open and be prepared to fight if needed.

“Skarde, Yrsa and Elgar need to stay here and guard the treasure.” Jarl held up his hand to forestall the protests. “The hag does not need to know you are here looking for her. I will send word when I find her, meanwhile, we are trying to make some money here.”

Elgar growled at him and traded back to Kirstie in her own armor who still made the growl, though a whole pitch higher.

Jarl, Leif, and the men all vacated the ship, the men to the tavern, and Jarl, Leif, and three others to the guild hall. Kirstie turned straight to Yrsa.

“What resources have you got?”

“Like you don’t know?” Yrsa said.

“Yes, but you are here, and I have a headache.”

Yrsa nodded and shut her eyes for a moment. “There are not many around here right now,” she said. “All the fighting not to mention the hag is scary. The land is rather torn up. Let’s see. There is an elf troop in the glens on the hillside, a fairy camp on the shore toward Dieppe, dwarf homes in the hills of Talou, and dark elves in the swamps around Lillebonne, this side of Rouen. As you know, there are always some here and there, but those are the closest that feel available to manifest in the face of the humans.” Yrsa turned to Skarde. “Facing human can be scary. Humans are so mean and unpredictable.”

“Exactly as I think,” Skarde said.

Suddenly, Kirstie felt guilty. Margueritte reminded her that she used to travel with a fairy from the Frisian shore named Tulip. Kirstie checked. Tulip was getting up in years, having passed eight hundred. But she had a daughter, Anemone, who was only two hundred and three, a good age for a fairy. Kirstie decided if she survived this encounter with the hag, she would urge Jarl to stop where she could see Sir Waldo and maybe Captain Otto and visit with Tulip and her daughter.

Kirstie called to her blue dress. Yrsa immediately changed into her green dress and removed the glamour of the boy, so she looked like Yrsa again, albeit still covered to look like a human woman, and she said, “So where are we going?”

“I thought you two were going to stay and keep me company,” Skarde said.

Kirstie shook her head. “You need to come with us. I have a bad feeling about this. I expect since he got the whole crew to go to the tavern, Longboat Bigmouth will be back with a bunch of soldiers to kill you and take everything.”

“They wouldn’t,” Skarde said.

“And where are the Danes? Not even a guard left on their ship.”

“No movement on the ships anchored in the port, either.” Yrsa pointed out.

“I said a brace is only as good as the glue that holds the wood in place when I showed my clerk the repair to the railing. He heard “a brace is” and looked up, like he expected a different word.”

“I use the word abrasive, and mentioned pirates’ ambushes, and I think both times he looked for the word Abraxas.” Yrsa looked pensive. “The clerks and soldiers did not seem entirely focused,”

“Enchanted by the hag,” Kirstie said.

“I would guess the same,” Yrsa agreed. “They will be back now that the ship is deserted.”

“I think this hag is greedy, or she is working on the crews to turn them to Abraxas so when the time comes, they can sail home and spread the word.”

“Or both,” Yrsa added.

“Kind of like spreading a disease.” Kirstie said, and Yrsa nodded.

“Shall we?” Yrsa asked and took one of Skarde’s arms.

“We shall,” Kirstie said and took the other arm.

They walked the dock to town looking like a grandfather and his two granddaughters. They made it to the main street just in time as sure enough, Longboat Bigmouth and twenty soldiers scooted past them, not giving them a second look, other than the young soldiers who might have looked twice at the girls. The soldiers headed straight for their boat and Bigmouth even called out. “Old man, come out and show yourself.”

Old Man Skarde watched for a minute before he said, “How did I get so lucky.”

Kirstie answered. “Blame the elf.”

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

MONDAY

Things in Normandy don’t go as expected, and there is the hag. Until Monday, Happy Reading.

*

Medieval 5: K and Y 14 Side Steps, part 1 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Kirstie

They sailed passed the Frisian shore without trouble. Leif mentioned that pirates sometimes congregated in the lowlands and the inland waterways. He explained that the inland waters in Frisia were not like the fjords in Norway which were shadowed by great hills and mountains. “These inland waterways are more like flatland swamps in a way. What looks like good land being covered in green grasses and flowers may turn out to be water underneath, and possibly deep water. The pirates know the ways through and around the wetlands so no one can ever catch them.”

“That is twice mention of pirates,” Yrsa said, and Kirstie agreed.

“Third time is the charm. Get your arrows ready.”

“Third time?” Old Man Skarde listened in as usual.

“Just the story of my life,” Kirstie told him. “Don’t worry about it.” She checked her weapons beneath her seat.

Captain Jarl Hagenson gathered everyone’s attention. “Leif has seen a ship in the distance. Our lady Yrsa has confirmed the same with her good eyes. Right now, they appear to be just following us, but Kirstie has suggested they may be waiting for others to join them, and I agree. We are coming to the narrow place between Flanders and Kent. and it is one place pirates like. There is room to maneuver, but not much room to escape. So, keep your eyes open and be ready to row on short command.”

Men felt anxious all morning, but midday passed without incident. It turned roughly two o’clock before the first man shouted, “Ships. There, ahead of us, and they have their oars out. It looks like they were expecting us.”

“The ship behind has lowered their sail. They have their oars out,” Yrsa yelled.

“How can you see that?” Leif asked quietly.

“Wait. To your oars. Wait.” Captain Jarl yelled to the men. They waited, but not very patiently. “I want both ships in front of us moving to push us to the shore of Flanders. I want them committed so it will be hard to back stroke and take time to turn around. Wait. Now!” He shouted. “Oars out. Regular strokes. Not too deep. I don’t want any panic. Hard right. Get that sail down. Regular strokes.”

Old Man Skarde started singing, and the rest of the crew slowly picked it up. The song was an old sailor’s chant such as mothers sing to their babies, but the roots of the song were much older. It kept the rowing rhythm perfectly, and the men smiled at memories of mother and home and relaxed, which relieved their panic and got them synchronized. They flew.

The bottom pirate ship that blocked their straight path struggled to turn around. The top ship that would have pushed them and chased them to the shore tried to reverse stroke so they could back up. They had to come to a complete stop first before they could start moving the wrong way. Longships were able to move in either direction with the oars, but they still had to stop their forward motion to start in reverse.

The ship that followed them did not appear to get any closer, and Leif pointed out, “They will tire, having rowed much further than us to get here.”

The men, some chanting and some singing could be heard by the other ship just fine as Captain Jarl steered the ship just around the backside of the top pirate ship. One man later said he could have spit and hit the deck of the other ship. They were that close. But with their speed, they got past the blockade and out into the open waters of the channel. And they did not stop. The enemy could turn well enough and be after them, and with three ships to their one, woe if they got caught.

Kirstie had a thought and slid up her oar so she would not tangle the others. “Vingevourt,” she called. The sprite jumped up to the railing right away, and another sprite came with him. It seemed like Vingevourt followed them all the way from Strindlos. “Can you stop the other ships from following?” she asked.

Vingevourt shook his little head. “I have no authority in the channel. These waters belong to my cousin here.”

“Svartelbin, it is lovely to meet you. Might you be able to help us out?”

“She has a land elf with her,” Vingevourt interrupted and pointed at Yrsa.

“Hello,” Yrsa said. It was all she could manage through her sweat. She was a light elf and did not have rock hard muscles like a dwarf, but she would do her duty.

“I would be grateful if you could help us out,” Kirstie added.

Svartelbin nodded for Vingevourt as much as for Kirstie. “We can’t stop them, but we can maybe slow them a bit. We can press up against the front end and cling to their oars to make them heavy and tire them.” Svartelbin seemed to have a revelation. “I wish I could do more. I honestly wish it.”

Jarl saw Kirstie stopped rowing and got half-way down the center aisle before he saw and turned around. Leif, who watched whenever the captain moved, asked what was going on. Jarl looked at the man and said, “Just something that will make you shriek.” He went back to join the helmsman at the steering board.

“Oh,” Leif thought about it between strokes. “Oh!” he said, considerably louder.

“How about rocking the boat,” Yrsa managed.

“Yes,” Kirstie grasped the idea. “Can you get your wave makers to come alongside the boats and rock them back and forth to make the men… sick to their stomachs?” She almost said seasick, but the sprites would not understand that and might have been offended at the suggestion.

“Sick to their stomachs?” Svartelbin was not sure.

“You know,” Vingevourt said. “When they eject filth from their mouths and can’t do much more than sit and make whining noises.”

“Dirty my channel? Well, some bottom dwellers find that tasteful. Rock the boat?” Kirstie showed with her hands.

“That and pushing against the front and making their oars heavy should stop them pretty quick, especially if they are afraid that they might tip over.”

“It is really hard to make them tip over.”

“I’m not asking to tip them over, just rock them so they are afraid that they might tip over. Will you do this?”

Svartelbin looked at Vingevourt and Vingevourt spoke. “It will be our pleasure, Lady.” He bowed and Svartelbin also bowed before the two of them popped and splashed back into the sea.

“Good thing,” Old man Skarde said. “My old arms are not up for rowing all day.”

“Me neither,” Yrsa said.

“Yes, but at least your elf arms are not as old as mine.”

“My arms are a hundred and fifty years old, just a smidgen older than my hair.”

Old Man Skarde did not miss a stroke, but said simply, “Learn something new every day.”

When they got well out of range, and for all they knew the pirates gave up the chase, Jarl turned them due south. They followed within sight of the shoreline all the way to Fiscannum.

~~~*~~~

Fiscannum already had three ships in the dock when they arrived. Two were Saxon merchant ships from Wessex, or Cornwall or maybe Brittany anchored off the harbor. They were fat and lazy ships, but they had a hold that could carry a large amount of goods. The third ship was a longship not much different from their own. One crew member identified it as a Danish ship.

Jarl wisely chose to anchor off the port and prepared to send a longboat to see if they might be welcome to trade, and to scope out the area. Kirstie wanted to go in the longboat, but Jarl vetoed that idea. He whispered in her ear. “If the hag is in the dock, I assume you don’t want to give yourself away.”

Kirstie growled at him, but he was right.

It turned out they did not have to go anywhere. The port sent a longboat to talk with them. “Where are you from?” The first question came well before the longboat reached the ship. It was said in the old Norse language so communication would not be a problem.

Jarl answered. “We are merchants from Strindlos in the Trondelag and wonder if this is a place where we may engage in honest trade.”

“That depends. What have you brought to trade?”

“Furs, fine hides, and grain,” Jarl answered. “I heard the north shore is full of too much fighting and too little farming.”

The speaker in the longboat paused to turn his head to one of the passengers before he shouted again to the ship. “Where is Trondelag?”

“Northern Norway. Cold country.”

“The land of Harald Finehair?”

“Fairhair,” Leif shouted back.

“He may be blonde, but from what I hear he is losing his hair.” The speaker smiled at the thought, but only for a second. “I see you have a full crew. You can’t have much grain and furs.”

“There are pirates,” Jarl answered in all honesty. “We were chased through the narrow place that comes into the channel and would not have escaped without a full crew.”

The man paused to listen to his passenger again. “Do you have anything else worth trading?”

Jarl paused this time and appeared to look around at the crew. He actually looked at Kirstie. She nodded and said, “Amber,” pinching her fingers to say a small amount.

“Yes,” Jarl shouted as the longboat stopped moving closer. “We have a jug of fine honey and beeswax from the cold north. We have some ivory. And we have a small bit of amber to trade, but we would expect to get a good return, especially on the amber which is very hard to come by.”

The speaker in the boat had to get his instructions before he shouted. “The harbor master says you may anchor opposite the Danish ship. He will send men aboard to inventory your goods, and after you are approved, you may visit the guild hall to bargain.” The longboat turned and headed back to shore.

Jarl figured he had a couple of minutes. He talked to Leif, Kirstie, and the leaders of the crew. “Bring the amber over here.” he said and bent down to the deck beside the steering oar. He pulled up a plank over the pole that connected to the bottom of the steering board. The hole had been expanded there, either by wear and tear, weathering, or on purpose. He slipped almost half of the amber in the hole. Before he replaced the plank, Kirstie took two fine pieces and handed them to Old Man Skarde to hide in his tunic.

“They will expect us to try and hide some. This way they can find some.”

Jarl nodded and grabbed a piece of ivory. He put it in the hole, really a dent made for the anchor. That hole was also bigger than it needed to be. “Get the men to the oars. Up the anchor. Let’s fit it on top.” They did. The anchor did not fit perfectly but it got covered and looked acceptable and wet. The men rowed and the steersman put the ship alongside the dock.

Medieval 5: K and Y 9 Hiccups, part 3 of 3

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Kirstie

When they returned to Strindlos, Kirstie told Mariwood to vacate the sack of grain he had lived in for the past month while they made their way home. He made a hole in the sack where he could slip out to exercise his wings flying around the outside of the ship beneath the rail so he could stay hidden from the crew. Some crew members swore they saw something flying around from time to time, but they all assumed it was a seabird of some sort and Kirstie did not tell them otherwise. Of course, she knew he was there, but she did not bother him. Yrsa also knew he was there and slipped him a bit of fish or herring now and then when the crew ate. Yrsa did not need a full man’s portion, and Mariwood was small enough not to need much at all. It worked out.

“How did you know?” Mariwood asked, and then corrected himself. “Of course, you knew.” Kirstie just nodded and let him come to her shoulder where he could hide in her hair while they went ashore.

Inga stood on the dock waiting for her, Buttercup hiding in Inga’s hair. Surprisingly, Hilda also stood there beside a young man. Hilda knew nothing about the fairies and elves, but she was Kirstie’s old friend, her best friend, and Kirstie felt curious. Hilda was sixteen, and Kirstie imagined she wanted to introduce her boyfriend. She found out differently. Hilda married the nineteen-year-old Troels, and the girl was already pregnant.

“Married?” Kirstie shouted and hugged the girl. Kirstie was nearly fifteen, but she could not imagine herself getting married. No one but Kare showed any interest, and he was not an option in her mind. She imagined she did not have time for a boyfriend, though she also admitted the Vanlil invasion and her part in it may have scared off some of the boys. Her proclaiming herself a shield maiden and sailing off with a shipload of men did not help either. Though she also wondered if maybe Kare threatened others to stay away. That would not have surprised her. He did have some sway over the fifteen to twenty-five age group of young men. That was not necessarily a good thing for those young men.

“You must come and see our home,” Hilda said with a smile for her husband.

“I will. I promise,” Kirstie said. “But first I have to go to the big house for the dividing of the loot, and then I need to check my own house. You cannot imagine how tired I am. How about tomorrow morning? I can come for a visit tomorrow, and we can spend the whole day if you don’t mind shopping a bit. It could be just like the old days, you know, sweet sausages and all.”

“She likes to shop,” Troels said about Hilda in a noncommittal way.

Hilda looked a bit disappointed that Kirstie did not want to run and see her house right away, but she really did understand. They hugged, and Hilda took her husband off before Kirstie turned to Inga and whispered. “Married?”

Inga shrugged. “It is in the air,” she said, and as they began to walk, she added, “Buttercup wants to know who your friend is.”

“Mariwood. He came all the way from the Frisian shore,” Kirstie said. “I made the mistake of mentioning Buttercup and he said she sounded nice, and he would like to meet her,”

Inga nodded slightly so she would not knock the fairy off her shoulder. “It is in the air,” she said without explanation.

When it came to dividing up the loot, Captain Stenson said Kirstie deserved the lion’s share since it was her honey, ivory, and amber that made them rich. Kirstie insisted that she get her fair share, like any other crew member, and no more. Yrsa also got a share which she later gave to Kirstie because she said elves did not use coins or care about such things.

First, after they all marched to the big house, Captain Stenson offered a share to Chief Kerga on behalf of the village. He also set aside four shares for the four families who lost men in the battle of Bremerhaven. Finally, Captain Stenson took a share for his ship, which he paid for out of his own pocket. The rest got evenly divided under the watchful eye of the village elders. They had four pieces of silver left over at the end and gave one to Kirstie. Captain Stenson kept one and gave one to Frode.

“And the last one,” he said, and handed it to Inga. “For the Witcher Women. A contribution.”

“Here,” Kirstie said. “You can have my extra too.” She handed it to Inga and looked at Frode. Frode handed over his extra without a word, and they all looked at Captain Stenson. He gave them all a hard stare before he raised his eyebrows and sighed, an expression that became all too familiar around Kirstie. He handed Inga his extra and declared the division of the goods to be over, though it was not exactly over.

Most of the men left the big house, happy, even as Mother Vrya came in, followed by several strangers. A few men stuck around to pay Captain Stenson for the plows and farm implements they got in Frisia. Captain Stenson felt it only fair to give Kirstie another ten pieces of silver, since it was her amber, but Kirstie had another thing in mind. She divided her ten pieces in half and gave five to Frode and the other five back to Captain Stenson. “This is payment for a dozen sheep from each of you, and they better be good breeding stock, not just the old and the lame.”

Frode looked at her and could not resist asking, “So what do you have in mind for the rest of your money?”

Kirstie paused before she answered. “I need to hire a couple of men,” she said, and changed it to something understandable in her culture. “I need to buy a couple of thralls. I’m thinking there is no telling what condition my house and property are in right now since I have been away. I am going to need some help I can depend on to keep the land when I go off on the next voyage.”

“You plan to sail again?” Inga asked, though she did not really sound surprised.

Kirstie looked at Inga and glanced at Mother Vrya. “It is inevitable.”

Mother Vrya nodded, stood between the strangers and Kirstie, and turned to introduce Engel Bronson, the king’s representative, to Chief Kerga. The others with him were Bieger, Lind, and Gruden. Engel started right in.

“Since talking to you, we have spoken with the men of Varnes, Oglo, and on the Frosta Peninsula. All have said they gathered here in this meeting house, and Elgar the Saxon came here to draw up the plans to defeat the exiles and their allies.”

Kerga nodded. “We are the closest to Hladir, the king’s house, and the Nid River. We attacked the enemy from here.”

“Yet you say you do not even know where he came from.”

“I do not recall, exactly,” Kerga said, and tried hard not to look at Kirstie who stood with Inga beside Mother Vrya. Yrsa stood behind the others.

“Wessex,” Mother Vrya spoke up. “From the big island in the west. That was where he said he was from.”

Lind quickly spoke to the women. “There was a girl as well, a young blonde. She and Elgar were never seen together at the same time.”

“The child,” Mother Vrya nodded. “She traveled with Elgar. She was just a young child.”

“Her name?” Lind asked, demanding an answer. “Did she have a name?”

Kirstie interrupted and lied a bit. “Her Christian name was Katherine, why?” Everyone stopped to look at Kirstie who wore her armor with all her weapons. They glanced at Inga and Yrsa, what they could see of her, but Kirstie clearly stood out, dressed as she was, like one ready for battle. Engel Bronson stepped forward with another question.

“Several women went with the army, did they not?”

“I went with the army, with one of the Witcher Women,” Mother Vrya said. “We cared for the young child and healed what men we could. When men fight there is always so much blood.” The king’s men nodded, but Engle kept staring at Kirstie until she spoke.

“Don’t look at me. I went to fight. I am the daughter of Arne Carlson, the Navigator. Perhaps you heard of him? He died in Normandy, but you see, the sea is in my blood. In fact, I just returned from guiding my ship to the Frisian shore. We had a successful journey.” She lifted her bag of coins and rattled it. “And, yes,” she added. “I killed a man.”

“Do you remember the girl?”

“Katherine?” Kirstie appeared to think. “I remember Chief Birger and Captain Kerga here. I remember my captain Rune Stenson and Frode, his skipari. I remember being scared. It was my first battle. I’m not scared anymore.” Kirstie smiled and said, “Come on Yrsa. Let’s go home.” And they left the big house.

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

MONDAY

Kirstie need to build her home to have a home, and she needs to get help around the house for when she hears of another hag and has to go away again. Until then…

 

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Medieval 5: K and Y 9 Hiccups, part 2 of 3

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Kirstie

Kirstie said, “Wait.” and put her hand up and called. “Mariwood.” The fairy came with a half dozen others. Aldean was the fairy negotiator, and after asking and receiving permission, he settled down on Frode’s shoulder. Kirstie tapped her shoulder for Mariwood while she turned on Aldean. “Sir Waldo is a friend. We are not here to beggar him. A reasonable exchange for the amber is fine, and North Sea prices, not what the amber is worth in Rome.”

“Yes, Lady.”

Kirstie turned to Count Duko. “Do you see? My king of a thousand ships and ten thousand men would know in a heartbeat what is happening on this distant shore. But as long as we can work things out fairly, I see no reason to send him word. I expect you will have no trouble selling our goods in the south. You will probably become rich, fat, and lazy.”

The count smiled, a crooked smile. “That is my hope.” He offered a slight bow.

Kirstie nodded. “Just so we understand each other.” She turned to Mariwood. “Would you mind sending your crew to the ship to fetch the remaining amber? Captain Stenson and Sir Waldo will need to look at it, and I am sure Count Duko will want to drool over it as well. If the crew gives you any trouble, tell Thorsten I sent you.”

“Yes, Lady,” Mariwood sounded like Aldean.

Some good deals were made that day, Count Duko got his amber at a reasonably small price in silver and Sir Waldo felt gregarious. He feasted all forty crew members, though in two shifts so half could stay aboard the ship in case Count Duko’s men decided to see if there was any more amber, ivory, or other precious items on board. Kirstie hugged Sir Waldo again before they left, thinking she may have made a friend, and he hugged her right back.

Yasmina

Yasmina was fourteen before she talked her mother into letting her go to the marketplace by herself. Of course, by herself meant having a bevy of young servant girls walk along behind the litter, and al-Rahim, Ahmed and a half-dozen guards surrounding the whole group. The guards mostly stayed back and watched, but still… Mother spent almost an hour just making sure Yasmina was properly dressed, heavy veil and all. Fortunately, it was a veil Yasmina, and Aisha could take down in the litter so they could breathe. They temporarily dropped it a couple of times in the market as well and hoped no one would tell on them.

With Aisha by her side, Yasmina led the procession of girls to the things she wanted to look at. Sadly, it meant having to put up with the prattle.

“Princess, look at this silk.”

“That yellow is the loveliest color.”

“Princess, that is a beautiful dress.”

“Look, these flowers are fresh picked.”

Aisha ignored the girls. She wore fairy weave which she could shape, color, and freshen with a thought. The material even repelled dirt so it always looked clean. As an elf, she did not honestly want anything the human world had to offer. It was mostly a time to share with Yasmina and hopefully keep her out of trouble.

Yasmina wondered what the girls might think or do if she went into the blacksmith shop to look at weapons.

Aisha and Yasmina eventually got to the jewelers in the open-air market. One old man in his booth had trinkets within reach. He kept the real and expensive items behind him on something like a pegboard that backed up almost to the wall. The center piece was a pendant. The stone looked orange, polished, and it was surrounded by red chips in a gold setting. Yasmina lowered her veil for a minute so she could breathe and figure out what she was looking at.

“Princess,” the old man said, knowing who she was. He turned his face away and put his hand up so he might not look at her.

Yasmina felt miffed. “I’m not that hard to look at.”

“Oh, no,” the old man said. “You are as beautiful as I have heard. More beautiful, but it is unseemly that a poor man such as I should see your radiant countenance with my eyes.”

Yasmina huffed and pointed. “I wish to see that pendant, the one with the orange stone in the center.” Yasmina put her veil back in place as the man smiled and turned all the way to reach for the piece.

“This is the most rare of all stones, and most expensive because of it. The stone is called amber, and it is surrounded with rubies.”

“Chips,” Aisha said. “Red emeralds.”

“Sort of all in the family for you,” Yasmina said and smiled at Aisha.

Even as the old man reached for the piece, an arm came over the board from behind and a hand grabbed the pendant. Somehow, a skinny young man squeezed between the pegboard and the wall.

The old man shouted. Two of the girls shouted. Someone yelled, “Thief,” as the young man squirted out from the back. Aisha had whipped her bow from her slip and had an arrow ready before the young man could take three steps. She fired and pinned the young man’s shirt to the wall, even as Ahmed and the guards moved to intercept him. Al-Rahim came straight to his princess as Yasmina walked the few feet to the thief where he was grabbed by the guard before he could set himself free from the arrow. She put her hand out.

The young man sheepishly put the pendant in her outstretched hand. She looked in the young man’s eyes and shook her head. “We are not playing out that story. Let him go,” she ordered. The guards looked at al-Rahim and he nodded, so they let him go. “If you are hungry, the food is in that direction,” Yasmina pointed.

The young man said nothing. He looked at al-Rahim and ran off.

She asked the jeweler how much. He gave her a price and she only bargained a little because she really wanted it.

“Lady,” Aisha said. “We did not bring enough money with us.”

“Father will make up the difference,” she responded while she slipped the gold chain around her neck so the pendant could hang between her young breasts. “One thing about being neglected by your father is he feels guilty. He gives me things to make himself feel better, like jewels and horses.” She turned on al-Rahim. “I want a real horse.” Al-Rahim said nothing.

When Yasmina and Aisha got back in the litter, they immediately lowered their veils and Yasmina couched her pendant. “Now I feel as if I have a piece of Kirstie with me,” she said. “She just got back from a real adventure.” Yasmina smiled for a moment before she turned a teary-eyes face toward her companion. “She had to kill a man,” Yasmina said and began to cry. Aisha, being an empathetic elf cried with her.

Medieval 5: K and Y 9 Hiccups, part 1 of 3

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Kirstie

After Bremerhaven, the crew treated Kirstie like one of their own. On the way to the Weser, they were not sure how to treat her, and by extension, Yrsa. These women felt like intruders on their male bonding. They were not treated badly, knowing what Kirstie had done at the king’s house, but they did not treat her well, except the three young men who wanted to get to know Yrsa better. Kirstie was fourteen and still skinny. Yrsa looked eighteen and beautiful. Fortunately, for Kirstie, Yrsa was not interested in any of the men. That was a complication Kirstie did not need, and to that end, she only had to threaten one of the young men once.

On the way back down the Weser, Kirstie told some jokes she gathered from Giovanni, a life she had not even lived yet. They were jokes Giovanni taught Leonora, the harlequin in his circus. A couple of them were bawdy enough to embarrass Yrsa, but the men liked them.

Captain Stenson and Frode spent the day they took to sail back down the river counting all the silver they got in Bremerhaven. The guild masters had to get together and pool their money. With the fairy Aldean on Frode’s shoulder, the guilds did not have enough for all the amber, but they got a fair share of it along with all the ivory, honey and wax, furs, and leather. Only the grain remained unsold, and a bit of the amber.

At the mouth of the river, they found the same fishing boats turned out to block their way. Kirstie felt miffed at first before she thought to say, “I wonder what he wants.” Yrsa and Kirstie dressed in their dresses and waited for the longboat to be lowered. This time, there appeared to be a delegation on the shore, complete with some tents and real looking soldiers. Captain Stenson steered the longboat directly there.

When they landed, Kirstie got out of the boat and shouted, “Where’s Waldo?” She confessed to Yrsa, “I always wanted to say that, but Genevieve did it first.” Yrsa frowned, not exactly knowing what Kirstie was talking about. Kirstie just figured out that Sir Waldo showed the piece of amber to someone who knew its actually worth, and he could not let them go without seeing if they had any more.

One man on the shore looked better dressed than the soldiers around him. He stepped forward and talked to Captain Stenson and Frode by introducing himself. “I am Count Duko come from the king’s court in Utrecht. It has come to my attention that you have obtained some amber. I would like you to consider a trade if such may be arranged.” He looked back at his soldiers as if to suggest they better agree to give up the amber, one way or another, or he might just take it.

Captain Stenson put on his shrewd face, which was not very shrewd. “We only have a little left, but I think something may be arranged. Where is Sir Waldo? He seemed a reasonable fellow.”

The count shook his head. “This is the king’s business.”

Kirstie heard from Mariwood and the local elf king that they were present and available if they should be needed. Despite the implied threat of the count, she hoped they would not be needed.

“I am sure something equitable can be arranged,” Captain Stenson said.

Frode interrupted this time. “How fortunate. Since the Lady Kristina may represent the King of Norway in certain matters, having come home from the king’s house not that long ago. It is fortunate to be able to speak with a representative of the King of Frisia. Perhaps you two can share notes on the disposition of various kings.” Frode wrapped up the lies in his friendliest smile, and Yrsa, being an elf, translated the lies with a perfectly serious and unflinching face.

Kirstie played along with a kind smile and a slight curtsey, which she imagined she did a bit better than the last time. “Harald Fairhair, my king of a thousand ships and ten thousand men at arms sends greetings to the King of Frisia in the hopes that we may establish an equitable relationship for mutual benefit.”

Count Duko hesitated. He had not expected this, but he did not hesitate for long. “But your king is far away and not able to know what transpires on a foreign shore. Yours is a trade mission, not a diplomatic one.”

“A simple ruse to see if our two peoples may share in fair economic benefit for both of our peoples. Who, but the king would have access to such precious commodities as amber and ivory? Alas, we only have a small bit of amber to test the waters, so to speak, but we might be willing to fairly trade it for some of the things we need. We have resources to make us rich, but we lack some of the common commodities that make life better.”

“This is nonsense,” Count Duko decided.

“I perceive that you have no light saber,” Kirstie whispered as a handful of men rode up to the shore and dismounted right away to march to the meeting. Kirstie scooted past Count Duko, Yrsa following, and Kirstie hugged the big man. “Sir Waldo. I found you. I was beginning to be afraid you would leave me in the hands of the wretched Count Duko.” She let go and took Sir Waldo’s arm, and he patted her hand like a doting grandfather.

“Waldo. The king will have the amber these people carry, and it is none of your business,” Count Duko spoke sternly.

“This is my business,” Sir Waldo shot right back. “This is my land by the king’s decree. I am here to defend the sea and the river delta against all who would disrupt the peace. You have no right to come to my land and interfere with legitimate merchants and trading ships that I have allowed to proceed.”

The count steamed, but before he could erupt, Kirstie spoke.

“We would be glad to trade what little amber we have left if Sir Waldo is able to procure from his people the things we seek. Then I imagine Sir Waldo might sell the amber to the king to recoup his expenses and maybe a bit extra for his trouble, and it would still be far below what the amber may be worth in some markets. I am sure the lords of Lotharingie, Austrasie, Alemagne, and Burgogne would pay handsomely for the rare jewels since they have no access to northern ports to buy it directly. What say you, Sir Waldo.”

Count Duko looked at the man. Indeed, everyone looked at the man who appeared to be thinking. “What is it you seek?” Eyes turned to Kirstie who felt glad Count Duko did not outright object like a man who maybe wanted the amber for practically nothing.

Kirstie pointed to her people. “Captain Stenson, a fine captain, and his number one Frode are shepherds back home. Their families are well known for the fine wool they produce. We had some carded wool from the captain and his skipari among the furs and leather we brought, but that went to the people of Bremerhaven.” She pointed out to the ship. “As you can see, we have plenty of lumber to build fine sea faring ships. And you see the crew? They can fight like berserkers when they must, but do not be fooled by their appearance. The secret of the Norsemen is they are mostly just farmers and fishermen as well. What we would like is some quality plows and farm implements, some good quality tools, and the like such as farmers and fishermen need and use. That should not be a problem for you, though we would like to get a fair number of things for the amber we have left. We may bargain some, but we wish to make a fair deal so we may come again knowing we have an honest trading partner. I cannot say how much more amber we may be able to bring on a future visit, but you never know.”

Kirstie took a breath and looked at Count Duko. Clearly, he had not considered the idea that this might be more than a one-time event. If Waldo could get the amber for the price of some farm implements, and if he could buy it all at a modest price and sell it at a high price as the girl suggested, he could become rich, legitimately, and not have to kill anyone to do it.

Sir Waldo smiled as he thought about it. He said a couple of good plows and tools would not be a problem. Captain Stenson and Frode also smiled. It was what they mostly wanted, and it would save them the silver it would cost in the Danish or Norwegian trading centers to purchase the same things.

“I am sure something equitable can be arranged,” Captain Stenson repeated himself.

Medieval 5: K and Y 8 The Saxon Hag, part 2 of 2

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Kirstie

“But wait…” Captain Otto started to object but got interrupted when a half dozen fairies flew up in front of him. They immediately got big and bowed to the girl.

“Lady,” the head fairy said, and Yrsa still translated for Otto and his men. “The hag is on the road bringing forty families and forty more men to Bremerhaven. I suspect they will attack the town to take control. I have no doubt they intend to invite Abraxas to cross over the channel and come to the continent.”

Kirstie paused and flipped to a totally different subject. “You look familiar,” she said to the fairy. “Why is that?”

The fairy smiled. “My father was Maywood and my mother Marigold, if you remember them.”

Kirstie smiled more as if to say she remembered. That was back in the days of Margueritte, and Genevieve. She stopped smiling when the fairy’s words penetrated. She called to her armor and weapons, and that shut everyone’s mouths. She quickly picked ten of the crew and told them to stay and guard the treasure,

“But wait…” Captain Otto said the words again, but he did not appear to know what else to say.

Kirstie grabbed the man’s hand. “Christian Otto. You better come and bring your twenty soldiers. The rest of you men follow me.” The men were typical Vikings, not inclined to listen to any woman other than their wife or mother, though they might give Mother Vrya and the Witcher Women a hearing. Kirstie, however, they knew in a different way. They followed her in the battle against the Vanlil, and they were dramatically reminded of just how special she was when the fairies came and bowed to her.

“Mariwood.” She named the fairy. “Please lead the way.” The fairy bowed again, got small with his companions, and flew in front. After a short way, Kirstie tapped her shoulder and Mariwood gladly came to rest there and ride where he could whisper the directions in her ear.

“I can tell you have done this before,” Mariwood said. “I would have thought you were still too young, no offence.” he pulled a little on her hair to get comfortable.

“Buttercup stays mostly with my friend Inga, but she rides on my shoulder sometimes.”

Mariwood thought for a minute before he added. “Buttercup sounds nice.”

“I don’t know,” Kirstie said. “She is what some call a frost fairy. It gets pretty cold where I live.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Mariwood said and got silent for a time to think about it. They had gotten to the Bremen Road that the hag and her people were coming up, so there were no more directions to give. It was just as well because Captain Otto finally had some questions he thought to ask.

“Are you a Valkyrie?”

Kirstie thought before she answered. “No. I’m a Shield Maiden. That is a female warrior among my people. Apart from that, I am a Christian as I confessed, and you should be the same. The old gods have gone away, and the new way has come. Do not doubt that. The hag we go to face, the servant of Abraxas who calls himself a god, is a terrible creature that has a whole town of people enchanted under her evil spell. Any doubt or confusion on your part and she will attack your mind.” Kirstie took a deep breath and said softly, “Although the Valkyrie used to work for me in the old days, or rather, they worked for themselves. I’m just the one who got blamed when they screwed up.” She remembered one time in particular before she quickly threw her hand over Yrsa’s mouth, so she did not translate that last part about the Valkyrie.

In a short way, they ran into the hag and her followers. The numbers were about even, and though the old lady hag looked surprised that the Vikings and townspeople appeared to be working together. Even so, much like the hag in Norway, this old lady hag anticipated their arrival. Her men came out from the trees and bushes and Kirstie’s and Captain Otto’s men barely had time to defend themselves.

Kirstie managed to get her shield to the front in time to block a spear. She stepped forward, making the long spear useless and swung her battleaxe, practically taking the man’s head off. Yrsa shot the man to her left. Mariwood got down and got big to stab the man to her right. It seemed they were ganging up on her position, but her Vikings pushed forward and pushed the enemy back, while Captain Otto and his soldiers kept the men away from her flank.

Kirstie, who stood by the river, had a moment to focus on the hag. Apparently, Kirstie noticed she picked up some elves during her march through town. The hag, reverted to a big, hairy monster, had taken several elf arrows. The arrows stuck, not being made by men. Yrsa managed a perfect shot in the hag’s eye. but while the hag roared from the pain, it pulled the arrows out, including the one from her eye, and she healed over. She instantly grew a new eye once the arrow was removed.

Kirstie did not know what to do. The road ran along the river, but the hag stayed on the far edge of the road, far away from the water. Someone shot a flaming arrow. It got followed by several flaming arrows, and like the last time, the hag roared in delight. It grew bigger as it became covered in flames, and it looked far stronger as its roar deepened. Kirstie panicked. She felt sure no convenient ogre would tackle the hag and shove the hag into the river.

She thought of Njord. It should be enough. Grandfather Njord said it would be enough, but before she could do anything, the burning, monstrous hag rushed to attack her. Kirstie screamed and backed up, only to trip over a rock by the river and fall on her backside. The hag was not so lucky as she reached her claws out to rip Kirstie to shreds, only to paw at the air. Kirstie proved to be a stumbling block. The hag’s forward motion caused it to trip over Kirstie and arms flailing, land smack in the river. Kirstie heard the hag yell.

“No. Abraxas, help me.” Then came the scream, and the hag quickly reverted to the old woman and melted to a puddle on the surface of the slow-moving water.

Captain Otto and his soldiers stopped fighting first when the enemy turned away, went to their knees, threw down their weapons, held their heads and moaned. Not to their credit, Kirstie’s Viking shipmates stopped last and killed a few of the enemy even when they were in no position to fight back.

The women and children under control of the hag that kept back during the fighting came up weeping. The men also wept. Kirstie thought it best to shout and Yrsa also shouted the translation. “Shipmates, back to the ship. Help the wounded.” She yelled at seven men to stay with her to help clean up the battlefield. and to the rest to remind them that they have a treasure to guard until we can sell it. “Captain Otto, sorry to leave you with the surviving men, women, and children. You can practice some Christian compassion. Remember, they were enchanted and could not help themselves. You might also find some converts among them.”

Kirstie stopped suddenly when she realized she killed a man. It all happened so fast. She just responded. It was reflex, like Bjorn the Bear said. She felt like throwing up. She did not want to do that in front of her shipmates. She looked at Yrsa and saw tears forming in the elf’s eyes. Thorsten, the big man who rowed behind her must have recognized the signs of distress. He hugged her with a soft word.

“You are one of us now.” He added a softer thought. “This is a terrible world we live in.” Kirstie did let out a few tears as Thorsten turned to the task at hand. They had three dead that needed to be buried. Captain Otto lost five. Kirstie had one shipmate who was so badly wounded he would probably not live the night. The enemy lost twelve and many were wounded. They did not fight well in their enchanted state. Fortunately, now that they were out from under the hag’s influence, they were more than willing to carry the dead into town where they could be properly buried.

Kirstie pulled herself together and called to Captain Otto. She grabbed Thorsten’s hand and one from the captain. “Don’t let go,” she insisted, but that was all she said as she went away, and Mother Greta came to take her place. Captain Otto let go, but at least he did not shriek. Thorsten surprisingly held on. In fact, he smiled and lifted his chain and leather to show the scar where he had been cut in the side.

“From the king’s house,” Thorsten said, and Greta returned the smile. She recognized her own work, but she did not dwell. She turned to Captain Otto and asked a question.

“How is your Latin?” She asked in Latin.

That question seemed to bring the man back to reality. He shook his head. “Not good.”

“Yrsa,” she called. “You will still have to translate.” Then she had a thought. “Mariwood.” he was right there. “You need to send a couple of your people to Rune and Frode in the guild hall or wherever they are. They may need help driving a good and fair bargain, so one of your people needs to be good at bargaining. We don’t want to beggar the people of Bremerhaven, but we want a fair return for the value of the goods we carry.”

“Right,” Mariwood said and reverted to fairy form. That got the shriek out of Captain Otto, and Greta could not help commenting.

“What? I still have blonde hair.” Greta knew Kirstie’s hair was more of a dirty blonde where hers was more platinum, almost white blonde, but still, it was not dark brown like Margueritte’s hair.

“But who are you?” Captain Otto asked. “You are older than the girl, and more…”

“More round?” Greta admitted. “I am Mother Greta, and the nearest you have to a healer in this place. Doctor Mishka is not authorized to come and help. Come. Let us see who we can help, even if my skills are seven hundred and fifty years out-of-date.” Greta already looked around and knew where she wanted to go first. Many of these men could be saved if they were careful to not let their wounds get infected. There was honestly nothing she could do about the worst.

“Valkyrie,” Captain Otto mumbled as he, Thorsten, and Yrsa followed Greta all afternoon.

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MONDAY

The ship still needs to return home which is difficult when they get stopped again in the delta. Until Monday, Happy Reading

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Medieval 5: K and Y 7 Buying a Ride, part 2 of 2

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Kirstie

Kirstie sat, so the men sat. She dressed in slacks and a simple tunic that covered the shape she was developing at her young age. The men came dressed in what may have been their best. They bathed and maybe even washed their hair. They wanted something from her and were willing to make the effort of a good appearance. Kirstie smiled at the thought of them making the effort.

“So, tell me,” she began. “How did your voyage work out?”

Captain Stenson looked at Frode before he began the story. “On our first trip, we followed the land south, thinking the men needed a good beginning and we did not want to get lost at sea,” Captain Stenson explained. “We had furs, grain, mostly wheat, and several bundles of down and feathers. We should have made a good return on all that. We visited Kupang, our own main trading center, but we lost most of our grain in the king’s tax. We gained some silver for the feathers but could not find an interest in our furs and hides, which was mostly what we had. We thought to try the Danish center of Ribe. Back when I sailed with Captain Birger, I recalled they were interested in the fur trade.”

“We headed for Jutland,” Frode interrupted. “We sailed two days down the wrong side of the peninsula before we turned around.”

“One day,” Rune insisted. “We figured it out after the first day.”

Frode shrugged. “We backtracked and went around.”

“Anyway,” Captain Stenson continued. “We found Ribe was willing to take our goods, but we hardly got their worth. We did not fail on the trip, but we hardly made any profit.”

Frode looked like he was going to complain so Kirstie interrupted. “What did you take on your second trip? I am guessing the men contributed all the furs and feathers they had for the first trip.”

“No,” Captain Stenson said. “We have brothers and sons who continued to get furs and hides over the year we were away. Trade is very much a family business. We had some grain again, though this time mostly barley, but most of what we had was bundles of carded wool from my family and Frode’s family. We thought to visit the Oyskjeggs thinking the island must have very cold winters.”

“Orkney and Shetland Islands,” Frode explained.

Captain Stenson frowned. “We landed in Danelaw, in Northumbria where they have flocks of sheep covering every hillside.” Kirstie nodded. She understood why so many of her people turned from honest trade to taking what they wanted. They simply did not have the trade goods for a good exchange.

Frode groused. “We unloaded our wool in East Anglia for practically nothing.”

“We crossed straight over the sea,” Captain Stenson said with a hard look at Frode. “We thought to hit the Danish coast but landed in Frisia near Utrecht. They came out armed against us, and we ran. Eventually we found a Frisian fishing village and the men all but rebelled. We went into the village and took a few things. A couple of good plows and farm implements, and some glassware.”

“They paid us off to go away.”

“We left our leftover wool, fur and hides there. Some good leather, so we did not actually steal their things,” Captain Stenson said. “At least I like to think of it as a trade.”

“I understand in Iberia and North Africa, quality furs like beaver, ermine, and fox pelts go for a premium price,” Kirstie said.

“But that is so far away,” Captain Stenson countered.

Frode looked at the ground. “I honestly would not know how to get there.”

“So, what do you have this time?” Kirstie asked. “Obviously, you came to me because you are getting ready for the next trip. I know right where to go if you have the right goods to trade.”

Rune and Frode looked at each other again, and Frode spoke softly. “We were wondering if you could maybe teach me what your father taught you… What?”

Kirstie simply shook her head. “I am going. I would not be the first maiden to go on a trading expedition. Besides, you will need the goods I bring to trade. Did you forget?” Kirstie called, and her slacks and tunic became instantly replaced by the armor of the Kairos with her sword at her side, her battleaxe and shield at her back, and her long knife across the small of her back. “Yrsa,” she called while Captain Stenson and Frode got over their shock.

“Lady?” Yrsa came from the other room dressed in fine leather with two knives at her side and her bow and arrows at her back. She looked ready for war. She also appeared as the elf she was, having neglected her glamour of humanity.

“You need to dress,” Kirstie said.

“Sorry,” Yrsa said and applied her glamour to appear human. Yrsa and Kirstie worked this out in advance to remind the men without frightening them too badly.

Captain Stenson started to think. “We need to take both of you?”

Kirstie stood and got the men to stand. She said little as she and Yrsa took them to the barn. She showed them what she gathered in preparation for this day. “Three large jugs of the finest honey, compliments of the Fairies of the Glen.” She unscrewed the lid of one jug and let them stick a finger in to taste the sweetness before she carefully closed it tight again. She showed them the beeswax to go with the honey before she pulled back a horse blanket and spoke. “Three pairs, six walrus tusks of good ivory, a gift of the dwarfs of the mountains. They said there is plenty more, but I would not let them kill any of the beasts. These are from walruses that died of natural causes. They are from older beasts, and you can see where a couple of them are chipped and this one is missing the tip end. Walruses, you know. They fight each other like men fight each other.”

“This is worth a fortune,” Frode mumbled, but Kirstie was not finished.

“And last,” she said and removed another blanket to reveal a basket of amber. “From Lord Amber and the elves of the woods. This is a one-time deal, but these things go with Yrsa and I, and they go where we need to go.” She paused to let the men calculate how much silver they could get for what they were looking at. “Yrsa and I will be sailing with you, and Frode, I will teach you what I can while we are on the way.”

Captain Stenson did not ponder long. “So, where are we going?” he asked, though he looked at Yrsa and wondered how such a good-looking eighteen-year-old girl might do on a voyage.

“Bremen, in Saxony,” Kirstie answered, and when they got on the ship, she made Yrsa sit in front of her where she could keep an eye on the elf maiden and wondered much the same thing as the captain.