Chapter 7 - Lost in the Dark

Chapter 7

“Come, come, you two.” Idun pointed ahead, trudging through the mud. “We are short in working men, but I assume you are of good use for some house works too. The rest of the men are gonna get rid of the remaining bodies, but since the two of you are almost inseparable… well, if Mylady doesn’t choose to sit on Yori’s lap for a bit and get herself some good old Norwegian hump.” Grinning she raised her eyebrows, miming a few very obscene gestures. Even though she knew that he didn’t understand her, she gloated over the look on Samu’s face. When I looked up at him he almost had his emotions under control again, but the muscles on his neck were visible when he gritted his teeth. “You know what you’re doing.” He said, and I could tell that he had a hard time sounding careless. “If it takes a shag, then that’s the way things are.”

“She loves to tease you.” I grabbed hold of his hand again. “Don’t give her the pleasure and react to it.”

He nodded with a small grin. “From saint to whore in less than an hour.” He observed and put his arm around me.

Idun was obviously irritated by the gesture and turned away from us with a short mumble. “You two go check the houses for anything eatable.” She commanded, handing me a sack made of linen and a huge basket. “We are short in supply and there is not much to pick or crop at the moment, so we need everything you find, any stored food is good. I anticipate that the men will be back within a few days or at least send a messenger for us to join them at the fortress.” She nodded at the houses around the small heart of the town. “Valgaror will have an eye on you. Bring everything over to the hall, the women there shall sort it and pack it all for our journey.” Idun grabbed one of the younger men by the scruff of his neck. “Watch them.” She demanded before she stormed of.

“This woman has serious anger management issues.” Samu lifted the large basket and pointed at the houses. “Where shall we start?”

The limping and obviously grumpy soldier that had been left behind to take care of us, simply sat down on a small bench outside the first house we entered. He was huge-grown but young, maybe only 18 and I saw the blood on his left leg, where his pants were torn. It looked severe and I couldn’t refrain from asking: “You want me to have a look at your leg?”

But he only fobbed me off with another grunt. “Come again when you have finished this house or maybe as soon as you are willing to give me a little look between your legs.”

I frowned in disgust, giving him a wide berth to follow Samu over the still blood-spilled threshold of the tiny house.

We had finished four of the former homes and I could by now feel every muscle in my body. Even though I was well trained, the whole climbing, ducking, handing over and collecting seemed to be exercises I wasn’t used to.

There had been stored grain, sacks and boxes of carrots, cabbage and white turnip. We even found dried meat and bread in some of the storage rooms under the kitchen floors. Samu didn’t talk much, but it gave me relief to have him with me, because whenever I was alone for more than a minute I felt just how much this whole situation got under my skin. Seeing a crib or baby’s clothing somewhere almost broke my heart. Only thinking about the brutal ways these poor people had been robbed, raped and murdered made me wanna throw up right there and then.

Being with Samu somehow soothed me and gave me comfort even in this dark place.

I was standing on a kitchen cabinet, checking a few shelves on the wall, when I heard his steps return. “There are some more dried herbs.” I informed him, reaching out for the small pouches.

Suddenly there was a hand on my back and I felt the room spinning when I was pulled down from the cupboard.

“Finally he’s occupied elsewhere.” Valgaror had taken off his coat and breastplate and grinned at me. With relish he pushed up my dress, slipping his fingers into the waistband of my tights while pressing me to the cupboard in my back. “I thought he’d never leave.”

My outcry was muffled by his other hand that was pressed to my mouth. I grabbed his arm to remove his fingers from under my dress but he only chuckled, groaning with pleasure when he found access.

“You must indeed be sacred, little Alfur. No mortal woman I ever touched felt thus smooth and soft.” He whispered and turned me over with one swift movement. Instantaneously his arm was wrapped around me again and he shut me up by putting a dirty cloth from the sideboard into my mouth. It made me gag and I felt tears burning in my eyes when he positioned himself right behind me. This was definitely not the first time this bastard was raping a woman. Furiously I started kicking and tried to squirm free of his strong arms. He laughed at my efforts, grabbing my hair with his free hand.

“The more you fight the more I will enjoy it.”

I felt his lips on the back of my neck, his teeth grazing along my skin before he widened my legs with his knee.

Gritting my teeth and biting down on the disgusting cloth in my mouth, I put my head against the wall, trying to brace myself and accept the fact, that this bastard would now rape me. I had no chance of escape, he was too strong and he held me down so professionally that it made my guts churn. This was it. I closed my eyes and tried not to vomit when I felt his arousal on my lower back.

Suddenly there were hurried steps behind us and Valgaror was pushed against me.

“Let go of her!” I heard Samu’s voice. It sounded deep and dark and his accent had become quite strong. “Let go of her right now or I will dash your brains out!”

Again Valgaror was hit by something and finally he let go of me, pushing me aside with an angry bellow. Gasping and gaging I fell to the floor and crawled away from the two men that were now circling each other slowly.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Valgaror pulled up his pants and grinned breathlessly.

“Leave her alone!” Samu bawled at him, swinging a broken chair from his left hand to his right. “Elida, go!” his eyes narrowed and he nodded at me but Valgaror was quick to bent down and grab my hair to pull me in an upright position.

“I believe he wants to watch.” He said mockingly, his large hand grasping my neck. “Maybe he wants to see how it’s done properly.” Grinning he pushed me up against a nearby table and bent over me. “I’ll have you begging for more in less than a minute, little Alfur.” His hand grabbed the upper part of my dress and he simply tore it apart.

When he spread my legs once more and shoved up my dress, I suddenly saw Samu moving from the corner of my eye. I couldn’t even say how he was doing it so quickly, but in the fraction of a second he jumped on the table, raising the broken chair. It hit Valgaror fair in the face and I heard the abominable noise of breaking bones. The huge Viking was thrusted aside forcefully. He fell to the floor and remained on his back motionlessly.

Samu circled the table and grabbed my arms to pull me along and into the middle of the room. I was shaking like a leaf. His voice only came through in distorted waves and he shook me slightly before he simply lifted me up and carried me outside.

In complete shock I stared up at him, feeling his hand on my face. I sat on the rim of the well in the middle of the little town square. Suddenly Idun was there as well. She yelled at me and yelled at Samu, shaking my arm. With an angry scream she stormed off and yelled at another man nearby. It felt like a mist in front of my eyes, when I watched them dragging Valgaror’s unmoving body out of the little house. The sight of him made me physically sick and I turned my head, throwing up everything I had inside of me.

Samu held me steady, taking me up on his arm again. As far as I could tell he was talking sweet nonsense to soothe me while he carried me over to the main hut. Inside the house he yelled something at the working women and climbed the stairs without stopping.

Soon I was sat down by the open fireplace in our upstairs bedroom. Samu wrapped a blanket around my shivering body and fanned the flame after putting a few logs into the dying embers.

Then he suddenly kneeled down right in front of me, putting his hands on my face. “It’s fine, you’re fine!” I heard him whisper over and over again.

I tried to nod, tried to move my arms because I wanted to pat his cheek and tell him that I wasn’t hurt but I was still completely paralyzed with horror.

Almost. This young man, this boy, had almost succeeded in raping me. Shivering I stared into Samu's eyes. He had almost succeeded!

Fighting down the acid that was rising in my throat, I closed my eyes. Suddenly there was a hand on my back and I squirmed with shock.

Idun had a scrutinizing look on her face. She even looked conscious-stricken when she rubbed my arm. “Did he hurt you badly? Are you injured?” she asked carefully, softly shoving Samu aside to kneel down in front of me. “I can bring you some herbal ointment, it helps the healing.” Unexpectedly her hands had my dress pushed up again and she motioned at Samu. “Hold her. Go over there and hold her so I can have a look.” He gestured a few times and he was quick on the uptake, sitting down on the small bench with me on his lap.

“Idun!” I managed to enunciate and tried to close my legs. “I… It’s fine, he… he didn’t…”

Surprised she lifted her head and gave Samu a look. “So he was fast enough then?”

I nodded, holding on to Samu’s arms. “He was.” I mumbled and closed my eyes, cuddling closer to Samu’s warm chest.

Idun got up with a smile, patting Samu’s shoulder. “Good man.” She said, leaving us as quietly as she had turned up.

“How bad is it?” he suddenly whispered after holding me for a few minutes by the warm fire.

I had a hard time opening my eyes, feeling tired like never before in my life. “It’s fine.” I heard myself croak. “He didn’t … he didn’t manage to …”

With a sigh of relief, Samu wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to my forehead. “Thank God.” He whispered and I could feel his heart beating against his ribs. “When I found you with him I thought… God, I prayed that I wasn’t late already.” Running his hand through my messy hair, he suddenly grabbed my neck and kissed my lips very softly. “I will never again let you out of my sight for more than a second.” He promised earnestly with his lips still rested on mine.

I felt tears welling up, wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him closer. With our lips locked and my body engulfed in his embrace, we simply remained sitting.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered after a while and lifted his head.

“Don’t be.” I put my hand on his cheek and sat up, to kiss him on my part. “You saved me.”

The last light of the dull afternoon sun shone though the curtains when a woman entered our room with a heavy bucket in both hands.

“You asked for water before?” carefully she put the steaming bucket down.

Samu nodded. “Can you get a small tub for us?” he rubbed my back. “We might as well heat some more water over the fire up here, if you help us.”

She nodded immediately, slowly stepping back without taking her eyes of him. “How come that you don’t speak their tongue but ours?” she asked cautiously.

Samu exchanged a quick look with me and I sat up on his lap, rubbing my eyes. “We still don’t know.” I answered in his stead and gave the servant a small smile. “Thank you for the water.”

The woman bowed her head in my direction but I could tell from the look on her face that she wasn’t satisfied with my answer.

Slowly I got up from Samu’s lap, reluctantly letting go of his hand as well. How long had we been sitting like this? One hour, maybe two? With a low sigh, Samu got up, stretching his back.

I watched him walking over to the bucket of water, carrying it to the open fireplace.

“You asked for this?” Idun had returned with a wooden tub up on her arm. Samu took it from her and put it down on the floor to fill it with the hot water from the huge bucket.

“Thank you.” He hunkered down by the tub, quickly washing his hands and face. “Come on.” Waving at me he got up, drying his face on his shirt. “Get cleaned up, refresh a little. I’ll stay close.” Pointing at the curtain that separated our room from the one Idun shared with her husband, he touched my arm before turning around to leave me alone by the fire.

Idun suddenly clicked her tongue. “He shouldn’t leave you now.” She stated in a very low voice. “You stay.” She addressed Samu directly, gesturing with her hands.

“She tells you to stay.” I translated with a throaty voice and he let his eyes travel between the two of us.

Idun nodded insistently. “He has to stay and you have to let him into your bed as soon as possible.” She urged and I let out a shaky laughter.

“Of course! I am dying to have a good shag now!”

“You should!” she shot back. “It is the only way to stay sane. When you fall off a horse and don’t climb right up again, you are gonna lose it forever. Trust me!” she nodded emphatically. “I have been there and if Aevarr had not been with me right afterwards, it would have broken my soul. Ask him for it and let him help you out of this. I will make sure you won’t be disturbed for the rest of the night. We will hold trial right away, the punishment will be hard.” Patting Samu’s back, she shoved him in my direction before she left us alone again, closing the thick curtains between the two rooms.

Samu looked doubtfully at me without coming any closer. “Are you sure you want me to stay?” he asked carefully and I nodded with a lump in my throat. I had vanquished the first wave of complete shock in his arms, maybe Idun was right after all.

“I want you to stay.” I answered truthfully, needing to hear it in my own voice. It felt right and I even managed to give him a smile.

“You don’t have to wash me, but it would be nice to have you near.” I tried to joke and he chuckled nervously.

“She told you to sleep with me, didn’t she?” he asked straightforwardly and I merely nodded.

“She said it was the best way to get over it. Some kind of PTSD-turbo-triumph.”

Again he chuckled lightly, shoving his hands into his messy hair. Then he looked at me with his gorgeous eyes and suddenly stepped around the tub to take me in his arms.

“Anything you want.” He whispered in my hair and fell silent for a few moments. Then he suddenly ran his fingertips over my naked shoulder. “It is more than fascinating to observe the changes I underwent since you came into my life.” Looking down at me, he touched my lips and slowly shook his head. “If I had met you back home, I would have tried to get to know you, I’d asked you out, tried everything to get your attention. I would have used my status to impress you, but here …” again he shook his head and rested his chin on my forehead. “Everything is different in this place. From the first second I saw you, I didn’t want to get you in my bed, I wanted to keep you safe, be there for you. Everything else felt profane all of a sudden. Irrelevant. Everything but you.” Softly he kissed my hair and I cuddled closer to his warm chest again. “I’d do anything for you, Elida. Anything to keep you safe. From the first moment I saw your face, I knew that I would kill for you if necessary.” He paused and drew a deep breath, shivering all of a sudden. “I guess, I might need you as well as you need me tonight.” He whispered hoarsely. “It had never crossed my mind that I was actually capable of killing another man.”

“You didn’t kill him.” I tried to talk him down a little, but he simply shook his head.

“I have no idea. It sounded horrifying but I didn’t even care.” He ran his thumb over my lips again. “You were the only thing on my mind.” Sighing he closed his eyes. “This place changed me drastically. You did.” Very carefully he let his hand travel down my back. “I am scared spitless but I think that this woman has a point.” He watched me thoughtfully and I only nodded, putting my hands on his face.

“Thank you.” I whispered and got up on my tiptoes to meet his lips in a soft kiss. Without even thinking about it, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

He was out of breath when we broke the kiss and scrutinized my face once more. Without breaking eye contact, he pulled down the remains of my torn up dress and I didn’t hesitate to step out of it and grab the bottoms of his previously light blue outdoor shirt to pull it over his head. Running my fingers over the smooth skin of his chest I tilted my head back and came up to meet his lips again.

Carefully he picked me up all of a sudden, carrying me over to our rumpled bed. He put me down on the blankets and furs and bent over me without taking his lips off mine.

Even though I had only met him, I could relate to every word he had told me just before. Somehow we were both captives of unsettling circumstances. But we were together. We belonged together.

And it didn’t feel awkward or wrong when Samu slipped off his pants and crawled over to me on all fours. He kissed me once more, deeper this time, and I felt his hips carefully spreading my legs apart. When he hesitated for a second, I softly wrapped my thighs around him. With my hand I guided him, silencing him with a kiss. We needed each other.

Feeling him slowly entering me, I ran my fingers through his hair and tugged him down playfully to meet his lips.

I had never in my life been in more need of a man and I had never felt a connection like the one that had all of a sudden been there between me and Samu. I wanted him. Needed him. Without any second thought. I couldn’t stop letting my gaze and my hands travel over his body, couldn’t look my fill. Having him on top of me, moving deep inside of me and with his lips on mine, I knew one thing for sure: Even if it weren’t the Gods that had sent us, we were meant to be together. Maybe we would have met in our time as well. We would have met, would have fallen for each other.

And in this unfamiliar and strange world we even depended on each other, but it didn’t feel odd.

Looking deep into his dazzlingly beautiful eyes, I felt his body shiver. Breathlessly he slowed down his pace, gazing at me questioningly. Without waiting for me to actually answer, he pulled out of me, slowly kissing his way down between my now trembling legs. A low moan escaped my lips and I grabbed his hair when I felt his skilful tongue playing around my most private parts quite expertly. I didn’t even think about asking him to stop because I hadn’t showered. I didn’t think about the curtain that separated our room from the others insufficiently. I didn’t think about all the people that were gathered under the same roof. And I didn’t waste another thought on the young man that had almost succeeded in raping me. I didn’t even care anymore whether he was alive or dead. Everything but Samu and I and the moment we shared became less important.

Pulling him up to lie on top of me again, I wrapped my arms and legs around Samu. I guided him back inside of me and moved my hips against his. His grip tightened. Burying his face to my neck, he moaned lowly, trying to slow down my pace but I couldn’t wait any longer. I slipped my fingers between our bodies and helped him to push me over the edge as well with his last few thrusts.

Without letting go of him, I only cuddled my face to his chest again and fell asleep almost instantly. He pulled up a blanket and I felt his lips still placing little kisses all over my face. Then he sighed and his warm body moved closer to me.

I was safe. Safe with him.