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Chapter 9

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Dara realized Lothar was teasing her.  He wasn’t going to tell her any more.  She growled at him, her lips pursed together in frustration as she watched him race up the steps. With the remaining candlelight, she inventoried the number of stored bottles.

The candle was near the end of its wick when Dara finished, and trudged back up the stairs, her mind feverishly trying to put together the bits of conversation they’d had.  It was maddening.  Why was he doing this to her?  She wouldn’t ask. That would make question six.  She searched for something else to do with her hands, deciding on gardening.

Dara opened the door, glanced around the outside of her home for Lothar. He was nowhere in sight.  She plodded to her garden, suddenly halting in her tracks as she spied two brown rabbits, scratching around in her freshly tilled soil.

“Arg!” she yelled, and dashed toward them.  She watched each rabbit bolt in a different direction.  She lunged after the one closest, but it fled into the forest.

Turning, she spied the other one sitting, its nose twitching while it kept an eye on her movements.  Slowly, she crept towards it; the animal turned, watching her, then it scampered off past the sheep corral.

Glimpsing the hatchet out of the corner of her eye, Dara strode over and snatched it from the side of the barrel and raised it over her head to throw, when a hand grabbed the weapon from her fingers.

“I caught dinner already.  We will not need rabbit tonight,” Lothar assured her while he tucked the hatchet in his belt.

Dara turned and spotted several brown trout hanging on the rope.  “You don’t want rabbit for dinner?”

“Question number six,” he teased.

“You’re impossible,” she huffed.

“Yes, I enjoy rabbit, but fresh fish is a nice change.”

“Fine, you take care of them then.”

“The fish or the rabbits?”

“Is that a question?” she retorted, and pointed at the small furry-footed beasts in the distance.

“Never mind, I see you learn quickly.”

“I’ll figure out your answer yet, Lothar of the North.” she taunted back.  Turning, she strode inside to prepare the fire for dinner.

“You may find out more than you want, Valkyrie,” Lothar whispered to himself as he followed her, leaving the rabbits to forage for the night.

“Tell me about the Stones you carry.”

Lifting his eyebrow, he smirked.  She did not ask this time.  “These are called Rune Stones; they tell me about the present.” 

He crossed the room and straddled the stool he’d made. He observed how Dara splayed the trout on two iron stakes, placed two more stakes over it, and tied the ends together with rope.

“Come, I’ll show you how they work.”

When she nodded, he opened the pouch and spread the small stones on the table before him.  He waited while she placed the fish high above the open flame to cook, then sank onto her stool.

He watched her pick one from the table, rubs the smooth river stone between her fingers, her thumb grazing over the etched symbol. She peered up at him and smiled.

“The Runes were a gift from a Seiðr in my village.  In order to interpret the stones correctly, Magda revealed to me, not to ask a question, but to state the matter, stand before the Gods as a true warrior.  The Runes are used as a confirmation for the path I choose,” he explained.

“So, there is no wrong direction in your journey through life, the choices you make now become reflections of the challenges you will face.  The experiences from those choices make you strong, as a warrior.”

“You understand the Runes very well,” he congratulated warmly.

“I had a lot of choices to make today, and I rose up to the challenges and faced them.”

“Like a true Valkyrie.”  His hand lightly caressed hers. Dara shivered at his touch.  He gave her hand a squeeze and grinned when he heard her inhale deeply.

Watching her eyes open wide, Lothar knew something was wrong, and then he smelled the smoke.  He rose as Dara flew off the stool and bolted towards the fish on the cook fire.  He quickly opened the door, then pulled the woven wool cover away from the window to let the cross breeze carry the smoke out of the hut.  He turned back to see her scraping the charred remains of the trout off the stakes.  She placed three small portions of what was left onto a plate. Lothar’s eyebrows rose when she placed the plate before him.

“Remember, I was set on having rabbit for dinner.  Fish was your choice.”

He watched as she righted the stool and sat down.

“I leave the challenge of eating what is left of the fish to you.  I'm eating the vegetables,” she stated firmly.

Lothar scowled.  “Enough lessons for tonight.”  He took a piece of the burnt fish into his mouth and chewed.  He knew this experience would be hard to swallow, and he decided not to disturb her in the future while she was cooking.