22: YNGVILD COMES TO SOGN
When the spring-weather was warm enough to make sailing safe, Yngvild left Siv in the care of a kindly neighbour (who was training to be a healer, and was awed by Siv's fame in that art). Yngvild got onto a trading-ship for Sogndal.
Except for two armed slaves (middle-aged men with families in Eid) for protection from violence, she was alone. As mentioned earlier, Halfdan had sent messengers to Eid and Os asking his loved ones to visit him in his conquered kingdom. Uncle Harald's leg was aching too much to let him sail so far; Aunt Anna had not wanted to leave her husband behind, alone in the house; Halfdan's foster-brothers and foster-sisters (who were also his cousins) were all too busy with farms and children; and Uncle Gunnar and Aunt Ragnhild were very angry at Halfdan, blaming him for recklessly causing the death of their son, Fisk, at the battle of the beacon.
Yngvild had spent an anxious winter. Until the messenger arrived -- weeks after Halfdan and his army had sneaked away without her -- she had had no way of knowing if he was still alive or not. Her relief at hearing the good war-news had been mixed with still-smouldering anger over how he had left without telling her. It had been very rude. After all, he knew that Yngvild had been abandoned by her husband, two years ago, and Halfdan should know better than do anything that might make her worry about him doing the same. Her mother had agreed that Halfdan should have told her that he was leaving Eid, but Siv had then surprised Yngvild by defending Halfdan -- the first time she had ever done that -- by saying, "He did not do it to hurt you. He needed to keep his plans secret from Njal, and he thought it safest if he told nobody, with no exceptions, even you." By the spring thaw, when sunlight finally came back, Yngvild's fury had mostly melted away, replaced by excited anticipation to see him again.
Yngvild had heard that Halfdan was in a position to make himself king of Fjordane and/or Sogn. She daydreamed about being a queen -- powerful, finely-dressed and respected by all. Married to a famous king.
The trading-ship's deck was piled with bundles of beast-furs collected in the winter forests. The furs were covered for protection with butter-smeared tarps (the butter made the cloth waterproof). The furs would be traded in southern lands for luxury goods like gems and silk and wine.
It took two days of sailing west along the fjord to reach the Endless Ocean. The ship was beached at night, and Yngvild slept in a little tent near the tent of her bodyguards, far from the tents of the sailors. At the Endless Ocean -- known to be infested by ice-bergs even in the summer -- the ship sailed south for two days through heavier waves, approaching Sogn-fjord. As the trading-ship started to turn east into the fjord, those on board could see that three war-ships had recently left the fjord. The three war-ships were heading to the south-west -- away from the Norse shore, into open sea.
The trading-ship Yngvild had hired took three days to sail east along Sogn-fjord to Sogndal. Yngvild stepped onto the dock of the capital of the conquered kingdom, heart beating harder at the thought that Halfdan would soon be in her arms. But she was disappointed. Halfdan was not in Sogndal. He had been in one of those three ships that had left the fjord just before Yngvild's ship had reached it.
Atli was in charge of the government until Halfdan returned.
Yngvild spoke to him inside the hall. "Where did he go?"
Atli said, "This is secret, so don't tell anybody. We were having problems with our fighters. Because we didn't let them loot the town, or any of the other towns in Sogn. And we executed a couple of men for rape. There was a lot of grumbling about that, and some in the army were talking about mutiny if they didn't get rewarded for their bravery at the frozen river and for all the hard work they did after."
"So?"
"So Halfdan decided to take the complainers on an outland raid, for some action and a chance for loot."
"Where are they going?"
Atli said, "There is an old retired pirate around here who was working for King Njal when we took over. He had told Njal about some islands to the far west -- where folk have lots of wealth, but also weak men and slow ships, apparently. No Norse folk have raided over there before, but it sounds very promising. The idea of this raid was one of the reasons why Njal and Gunvald killed Lambi, because Lambi wouldn't join."
"What are these islands called?"
"Most of the folk who live in the islands are called Picts, and call their islands Pictland. But the pirate we talked with said that the Pict-ruled islands are part of a larger chain of islands, called England, that goes far to the south."
"So Halfdan is going to raid the Picts, then come back here?"
"No. After the raid, he will sail to Eid. Halfdan needs to show everybody that he still rules Fjordane's government, after being away for so much of the winter."
Yngvild wailed, "He is sailing back to Eid afterwards?"
"That's the plan."
"Freya's lop-sided tits!"
Yngvild arranged a ride on a trading-ship heading north. Because it made many stops at shore-towns on the way, the trip back to Eid took eleven days.
Siv heard familiar footsteps entering her home, then the sound of boots being kicked off. Siv put down her wool-weaving.
"Yngvild? Are you back already?"
Yngvild yelled, "That man will drive me crazy! What a waste of time! He's off on a pointless raid, just for fun! Fool!"
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