The Viking's Gift by Anna Markland

Author:Anna Markland
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Medieval
Published: 2019-05-30T16:00:00+00:00

Wherever You Go

WULFRAM HAD PREVIOUSLY met all the Jomsviking families they lodged with.

Roswitha was clearly surprised by the warm welcome and hearty sustenance they received every night of their journey. His heart swelled with pride that he hailed from a people who helped one another, no matter where they found themselves in the world. It was a Christian ideal that Jomsvikings had followed for hundreds of years before the coming of Christianity to the northern reaches.

He hoped Roswitha was beginning to understand she would be welcomed as his bride when he brought her home. He resolved to start teaching her a few words of his language during the voyage to the Baltic.

She didn’t need to tell him she was apprehensive about boarding a boat. He sensed it in her nervous laughter after he inhaled deeply and told her he could smell the sea as they neared the coast.

As they rode up to the docks at Sandwich, she tightened her grip around his waist and leaned her face against his back.

He refrained from urging her to look at the two longboats, though he was overwhelmed with joy at the sight of them, still safe and sound, the crews milling about the decks.

Several sailors looked up as they approached. Word spread quickly and raucous cheers soon broke out. The men realized the advent of their masters meant they were going home.

Evidently unable to resist, the ever-curious Roswitha leaned to one side and looked at the boats thronged with cheering men. “Wondrous,” she said hoarsely.

*

AFTER SIX DAYS of retching, Roswitha had lost sight of the reasons she thought longboats were wondrous. The sheer terror of being tossed about on dark waves with no land in sight and her inability to find any kind of balance combined to befog her brain and bedevil her belly.

She was sure Wulfram regretted bringing her along, yet he tended her patiently as she lay all day beneath the canvas shelter, bundled up in furs. Only Banki received as much attention.

“A wife is supposed to see to her husband’s needs,” she rasped, her throat raw.

He wiped her fevered brow with a blessedly cool linen. “You will, but I’m a seasoned sailor who’s had the good fortune never to suffer from søsyge. It’s my pleasurable duty to take care of you.”

She’d tried without success to memorize some of the words he’d taught her, but she would never forget the word for seasickness.

Every night, he gathered her into his arms. She stared up at the stars, gobsmacked at how little she’d known of the world beyond Pershore’s wretched retting ponds. Who knew there were vast expanses of deep water and that men plied boats with as much skill as Kennald wove nettle-cloth. Even the bustling town of Worcester seemed insignificant when compared to the star-spangled heavens and a sea that took days and nights to cross.

“On the morrow, we’ll be home,” Wulfram promised on the last night.

Frantic though she was to set her feet on dry land again, the prospect of meeting his parents in her current state couldn’t be borne.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.