Treachery
“Their ugly, brown faces peered at them with black eyes. These skraelings, ugly men, brutally attacked the Vikings in Wineland, the land they had themselves claimed when they sailed their ships to this mystical land. Halvor the Red headed the dangerous expedition after being banned from Frostland for manslaughter. He established Bratthild estate with the men and women—”
Ailia sat in the back row on the benches listening to the storyteller’s gripping tale of the Viking excursion to Vinland and beyond. Looking through the crowd, Ailia didn’t see Lucia or Soren anywhere. “Be here before the storyteller starts,” she had told Lucia. How could she have misunderstood her? Perhaps they got lost? But, she knew that now she was just making excuses for her sister.
“—finally, they were victorious over the devil-faced skraelings. It was even Guro, Halvor’s half-sister, who was eight months pregnant with her firstborn, who overcame them! She had fallen behind the others, pleading for their help, but she could not keep up. She grabbed a sword from a man’s deceased body and plunged it into her own breast, frightening the others in—”
Ailia couldn’t concentrate on the story. She was too nervous, anxiously awaiting Soren and what was to be one of the most significant moments of the rest of their lives. Tonight, he would see her for the first time in the light of the truth. And tonight, they would start their journey together to defeat Eiess.
“—and that is why the Norse always win their battles.” The storyteller finished, rising to her feet in a glorious crescendo. Her braided blond hair looked lovely tonight, glowing like gold in the light of the lanterns.
The eighty or so people who sat and listened applauded warmly, roaring and whistling in delight. The merry crowd trickled out of the massive tent in anticipation of attending another event at the festival. Ailia didn’t see any of her former friends here and she was glad they hadn’t come to the storytelling.
As people passed by, they were putting their masks on: some sheep, some cows or goats, even cats or dogs. Ailia would normally participate at the masked dance and would wear the sheep mask Unni had made for her, but her thoughts were not at all focused on the dance as they normally would be. She could not bear to tear herself away from the tent in case she would miss Soren.
Outside she heard the fiddlers walking around the streets, spreading their merry tunes. The frightening memory of the Nukkern flashed through her mind and she cringed. I won’t be dancing to his tunes anymore. Ever since that day, she had hated the sound of any instrument that sounded like a fiddle.
“Why, there you are!” Silya exclaimed. “I have been looking for you everywhere! Something has happened. You must come with me immediately back to Brandersgaard.” She took Ailia’s hand and hauled her along with her.
“What’s wrong?” Ailia asked, while trying to keep up with Silya’s increasing pace.
“We cannot talk about it until we are back home, but yes, something is very wrong,” Silya said, panting as she ran.
“Is anyone hurt?” Ailia asked.
“No. Stop asking questions and focus on your pace. Every second we wait is wasted, another second gone, another second to recover what is lost,” Silya said.
“Lost?” Ailia tried her very best to keep up with Silya, picking up her pace, moving her legs faster and lighter. Then, something unexpected happened. As she was thinking about what could have possibly occurred, the answer came to her. Ailia knew exactly what had transpired down to the smallest detail. She stopped abruptly, letting go of Silya’s hand.
Turning around, Silya looked at her. “What?” Silya said, impatiently.
“They left,” Ailia said, looking into Silya’s eyes for confirmation.
“Did you know?” Silya gasped surprised. “How did you know? Unni just discovered that all of their things are gone!”
“Just now,” Ailia revealed, the images and feelings still entering her mind. “I’m having a vision,” she said, her eyes wandering as clear impressions flowed into her thoughts. “Lucia has told Soren that I’m in love with him and that I’m trying to deceive him into believing that I’m the Great Sentinor. She convinced him to leave early, so it wouldn’t be as hard on me or embarrassing to him.” First irritation, and then anger welled up in Ailia. “But why?” she questioned. “She’s going to ruin any chance I have of defeating Eiess. Doesn’t she realize that?” Ailia agonized as her heart was breaking, breaking for her sister’s betrayal and breaking for Soren.
“Let us not waste time here. Come with me back to your family, so we can make a plan. They probably left four to five hours ago, so they do have a head start, but we can still catch up with them if we hurry.” Silya gently took Ailia’s elbow in hers and started moving again.
* * *
Unni ran toward Ailia as soon as she entered the longhouse. “That deceitful young girl! She’s going to get it from me!” she blurted. “Did you know about this?” She turned to Nora, who had also just returned from searching for Ailia.
“No, my lady.” Nora was able to maintain her composure. No one was going to ruffle her feathers. “This is completely unlike her. There is a perfectly suitable explanation for all of this,” she said.
“Suitable? There would be no suitable explanation in all the nine realms of Yggdrasil that would suffice! We must do something quickly before we lose them forever. Who knows what Lucia will do to keep Soren away from Ailia? They may never return again.” Unni sighed as she paced around the hearth.
“Ailia said she had a vision. We may want to take heed in that,” Silya interrupted. “Did you see in which direction they were heading?”
“No, just that they were packing and getting ready. Lucia had convinced him to leave and he had agreed.” Ailia had also seen them embracing and kissing, but she was too devastated, too embarrassed, to share that information in front of everyone. Now, she started second-guessing herself. She had thought Soren felt something for her too, and she had sensed the strong connection between him and her. Maybe I have just been fooling myself.
“I will ride after them. Most likely, they are heading to Trollsoe as they planned,” Silya figured.
“They could have headed in any direction,” Nora pitched in. “If Lucia truly does not want Soren to be reunited with Ailia, she could have changed their travel plans. She is a smart girl, but this surprises me. I am shocked to say the least. She is young and seemingly innocent that girl, but she does have a stubborn head on her shoulders, especially lately.”
“Only three main roads lead out of Bergendal: the northern, the southern and the western. We should send someone in each direction,” Brander said.
“I’m almost certain that they are heading to Trollsoe,” Ailia said.
Silya answered, “I agree, but to be on the safe side, we should send one rider in each direction. I will take the southern route toward Trollsoe. I am used to traveling alone and it will be faster for me that way.”
“I will come with you,” Ailia said.
“No,” Brander said firmly. “You must stay here. It will be safest for you.”
Ailia’s heart fell. “I’m not in need of protection!” she said, her voice shaking and angry. The last thing she wanted to do was sit here and wait for her fate to unfold.
Nora interjected. “Yes, Ailia, you are in need of protection from every source you can get. The first time you were killed by the hands of Eiess was when Soren was away. She drowned you in the fjord along with all your friends. The second time she captured you was also after Soren had left for a short trip. He had carefully planned everything out, so you would be safe, but Eiess’ powers had grown stronger than before and she had trained her Surtorians to track you down. They found you despite all your efforts and drowned you again. And today, Eiess is even stronger than before and we must all be at our guard at all times. When Soren finds out that you, and not Lucia, are his Spiritus Amor, we will need to increase the level of protection surrounding you tenfold. If you fail, Ailia, none of us will be safe and we will all suffer under the rule of Eiess. We cannot afford to let that happen, would not you agree?”
Ailia closed her eyes for a moment. “All right.”
“I will head west,” Brander said. “Toward Asker. I will ask Ivar to head north toward Hammerburg. He’s familiar with the territory.”
“Great, we have a plan. Now let us go before more time is wasted,” Silya said.
“May you all be safe in your travels,” Ailia said. “And thank you for your courage and willingness to support me. May we together conquer the destroyer.”