CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 

Odin pierce him with his spear, Donna was right.

The combined forces of everyone in the village allowed them to make progress like never before. After just a week, the palisade at the beachfront rose, and the scent of hewn wood enveloped the village. They left a gap for a gate in the middle. The first defensive tower had been finished completely. The second one was well underway, and the third one just started. Southern wind brought the scent of the sea, and with it, the reminder of Fuldarr’s threat.

Working together as a team with a woman made Sigurd feel strangely balanced. He was starting to get used to her. Seeing her so close during the day, as she mixed clay or carried logs with other women, spread the sensation of peace in his core. He caught himself many times admiring the way her breasts bounced ever so slightly under the fabric of her dress as she walked. The way her hips swayed. He was looking forward to the short nights, when she gave herself so eagerly to him, and her body sang in his arms.

The Norn was a good matchmaker. Had Donna been born in his age, he’d turn the world upside down to marry her and make her his forever. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Smart, willful, and outspoken, she was a worthy wife to a jarl.

This must have been how Freyr, the god of sun and fertility, felt when he first laid eyes on the beautiful Gerðr and was ready to give up his invincible sword to marry her.

Sigurd was ready to sacrifice such a sword, too, had he possessed one.

Yet the decision to give up something was not his.

It was hers.

And the odds were not in Sigurd’s favor.

He chased the thoughts away like a horde of rodents. He avoided even looking in the direction of the finished arch and immersed himself in work. As the days had gone by, he’d begun to notice that a group of men openly disapproved of the women working by their sides. Sigurd himself was not quite at peace with the solution, but the work was done, and it was done well.

Mostly.

By the end of the first week, the group at the beachfront site steamed with anger. Geirr, the biggest opponent, bossed the women around and scolded them if they did something amiss, or if a woman had to pause to take a breath.

That morning, the towers boiled with activity as workers continued construction. Then Sigurd heard arguing, and his gut clenched as he saw Donna’s figure right in the middle of a small gathering of people who gesticulated and talked in heated tones.

“What is this?” Sigurd barked as he approached them.

Donna’s head shot to him. Relief relaxed her features, and he breathed easier. “Sigurd, thank God you’re here. You must stop this nonsense.”

“Women should not be allowed to do skilled work, jarl!” Geirr interrupted. “Brama came up the tower, took my hammer and started nailing the planks together while I was away for a minute—”

“And what did you do, Geirr?” Brama, a younger woman, held her left shoulder with her right hand. “He pushed me away, jarl, and I fell down the ramp.”

“I did not mean for her to fall! Who told her to do anything on the tower?”

Sigurd’s nostrils flared. A female should not do work that required construction skill, but harming a woman was shameful for a man.

Before he could say anything, his beautiful maiden of justice spoke again: “You know what, that’s it. This is not the first time the women have been shoved, pushed, and threatened on this construction. I think it’s time for you ladies to learn to defend yourselves against that and any threats to come.” She eyed Geirr up and down. “Especially if someone assumes they have the right to touch you.”

Geirr bared his teeth, and Sigurd’s fists clenched. He made a step towards the man, but Donna continued, and everyone’s attention was drawn back to her. “The enemy is coming. Wouldn’t it be sensible for the women to know how to protect themselves?”

The women nodded. Sigurd watched her full lips moving and could not believe his ears. Women fighting? Simple women, not shield-maidens? Loki must have clouded Donna’s mind.

“There will be none of that.”

Donna glared at him, her cheeks starting to redden. “It makes sense, Sigurd. The fortress is progressing well. Instead of watching such idiots as Geirr picking fights with the women, allow at least some of them to learn self-defense. If we helped with the construction, we might help with the fighting.”

Geirr laughed. “Jarl, am I hearing her right? I might have seaweed in my ears—”

Sigurd’s hand rose to shut him up. “Not a word more, Geirr.” He turned to Donna and to the women who watched him with frowns. “Combat is brutal. Axes, swords, and shields. Gore, broken bones, and spilled guts. Rare women learn to fight well and become shield-maidens. But combat needs lengthy training. Time we don’t have.”

“They could at least learn the basics to protect against rape.” Donna glanced sideways at Geirr, and he glared at her.

“Elbows and knees will do nothing against a warrior armed with steel and burning for a woman.”

Donna pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest, making the fabric stretch and hug her breasts. The urge to touch her sent a bolt of heat through Sigurd’s groin. Loki’s mischief. How could he still react to her like that, in the middle of a construction site?

Sigurd gritted his teeth and looked at the people around him.

“Self-defense will do nothing for you,” he said. “When the enemy comes, and the women are fighting on the battlefield, the warriors will have to split their attention to protect them and fight their own battle at the same time. We’ll lose.”

He did not believe what he was about to say. His men would protest. The women might think a spirit had taken over his body. “But there’s still something the women can do to protect the village from a distance. Archery.”

Donna’s eyes brightened. “Yes! Brilliant, Sigurd.” She gripped his hand with both of hers, sending a pleasant buzzing through his skin. Seeing her approval, her happiness, made warmth radiate throughout his body and his heart drum in his chest. He wanted to make her feel like that every day of her life.

If they survived.

He continued, “It does not mean that you will be out of danger. Enemy archers will aim at you, too. But you will be in the watchtowers.”

The women did not seem to be frightened. They watched him with something that resembled pride, and his own chest thrust out slightly with pride for his women. Asa spoke, and he knew she expressed the voices of many.

“Jarl, you should have asked us long ago.”

Sigurd nodded. “Halfdan is the best archer. He’ll teach you. Gather by the stone arch.” Stone arch… His eyes shot to Donna’s and he immediately glanced somewhere else. Anywhere else. “It’s far enough away so that you don’t hurt anyone while you train.”

Geirr made a step towards Sigurd. “Jarl, is this wise?”

“It is, Geirr. It is wise to do anything to protect you and your family and everyone in this village.”

Donna raised her chin. “I will learn, too.”

The muscles of Sigurd’s stomach quivered. His pulse sped. “Not you.”

“You can’t tell me what to do—”

Sigurd felt the eyes of his people on him. He gripped Donna’s elbow and led her away.

“Do not dare undermine my authority in front of my people,” he growled.

“But—”

“There will be no archery training for you.”

They stood now behind a building, shielded from prying eyes, and he wrapped his arms around her—something he itched to do the whole day long. The feeling of being home enveloped him. “I can’t risk your life.”

“And I can’t just stand by and watch everyone else die.”

He planted a kiss on her lips, and their softness kindled a fire in his groin. “Have you ever been in a battle?”

She blushed. “No.”

“Have you ever seen death?”

“No.”

“Then you have no idea what awaits you.”

Donna paled a little, her skin almost translucent. Then stubbornness hardened her eyes, and they became as blue as the deep sea in summer. “You’re right. I have no clue. But, Sigurd, I am going to learn to shoot a bow with the women of your village. And if you think you can stop me, you don’t have the slightest idea who I am. And if that’s the case, maybe it’s better we stop this…whatever it is between us.”

Sigurd swallowed, and panic shot through him like a lightning bolt. He did not want to end this, especially not now as she melted in his arms, soft and delicious.

But Donna was right. He knew she was a warrior at heart. Seeing her risk her life made him want to cut his own heart out, just to shield her from harm. But even worse would be to have her completely unprepared and see her killed because of his mistrust.

He had to trust her to learn to fight and protect herself as he trusted his warriors.

“I do know you, Donna. I knew you from the moment I saw you. Through time, through the hundreds of years. You are a shield-maiden, your weapons are words and arguments, but it is time you learn to fight with steel and wood.”