Destiny Enslaved (editing)

Part 32

I bathed in the pool – though it wasn't very relaxing as turbulent thoughts raced through my head.

What did this mean- could I count on Bjorn? or would he just let me down...

They were difficult questions I couldn't yet grasp the answers to. My heart swayed left and my mind right... but I could even be sure which one wanted to lead me where.

Apart from Bjorn, I was also preoccupied with the possibility of a peeping ghost- every natural stirring in the wood made my hackles rise as I looked around for danger or a perverted ghost who might be accompanied by a God.

Why had Ragnar apparently led me to this? Or had he tried to lead me away from this path? And why wouldn't he allow me to tell Bjorn the truth? Why on earth was I complying with his wishes?

Ragnar was dead- surely he didn't have hidden motives and agendas- then again the gods did and I don't think they're alive or dead. I would have to ask Floki.

And there was another problem. He was like a cunning jackal. Did he know –or was he waiting for me to reveal myself?

I sunk deeper into the water venturing out from the surprisingly smooth stepping stones that the protruding rock formed. I dared to float over the abyss my heart stirring again as it had when I kissed Bjorn a mix of excitement and calm. There I looked at the blue as faint wisps of cloud drifted passed. I felt an absence of reality- as if the world would stop for a moment to let me catch my breath. Maybe this didn't have to be the end of my world- I was freer here than I had been at any time in my life.

A twig snapped and a black raven suddenly erupted into flight from a nearby tree.

Maybe I wasn't so free... the gods still seemed to have their plans for me- though I didn't understand how it was I was being passed from God to God to work their will. I suppose I never would.

I returned to the side a watchful eye on the periphery. I set to actually washing- I had no soap so I made do with some herbs picked from the waterside. As I rinsed away the herb residue my hand grazed across my skin. My scars.

There were so many. Pictographs of spells, in many different languages, were engraved into my skin; up each arm joining over my collarbone to rise and fall over my shoulders, down my back, then continuously till it wrapped around my legs and the tops of my feet. My hands were not spared with threads of words scrawled along the shadow of each bone and up the fingers. I was only painted yesterday so the gold, even after my vigorous rub, was shining through the water.

I wondered for a moment if I could share this part of myself with Bjorn.

Ugh. Who was I... I only met him a day and a bit ago. But here I was sat in a wood thinking on if I could trust the man whom I had just had one hell of a kiss with... I didn't expect any of it- and for an oracle to say that it is something.

So far the hilm had stayed away despite the voices of the fich fich being almost ever-present. They had muttered and whispered, it seemed amongst themselves, since Ragnar. I was getting a headache- too many things were in the air and I didn't like it.

But I couldn't stay in the water and hide forever. I rose from the water and since I had no towel, nor fresh clothing, I stood for a few minutes completely vulnerable to the elements; the slight breeze I had enjoyed now bit my bare skin.

A twig snapped. I spun around to search for the bird I hoped to see. But none appeared. I forced myself to noticeably relax and began calmly putting my dirty clothes back on. All the while my eyes swung in circles scanning the edges of my vision for the intruder. I almost gave up and believed it a peeping tom now sated.

Snap. Snap. They were moving- and they wanted me to know. I had my clothes on already aside from my binding which I had foregone so that I could breathe properly. I bolted from beside the water to the direction Bjorn had disappeared to. I ran feeling the litter cutting my feet. The person also began running, though a second or two after me. The woodland sounded furious as their body clashed against branches- I seemed to cut through the wood leaving little trace.

They were gaining it I could hear it; I could feel the rumble of their feet on the ground; I smelt them. They smelled like Bjorn had last night a sweet-sour smell mixed with the earth of the grove. They smelt remarkably like Bjorn- too much. But I doubted Bjorn would be drunk so soon acting like some animal. Was this how they courted- literally chasing down their paramour.

No- it wasn't Bjorn. I stopped and the person stopped too. I looked back and found dark eyes surrounded by white trying to pin me down. A breeze fluttered my hair and I watched as a shaft of light cut through their face.

Hvitserk's face.

He must have known that I saw him, but he did nothing. I stared in confusion and fear. A sharp smirk crept across his lips.

''boo''

I didn't wait for him to say anything else. I ran until I broke through the tree line coming out close to where I went in. I continued running with my eyes fixed on the relative safety of the tent. I heard yelling at me and spared a brief glance to see Fell chasing after me. But I didn't stop. I couldn't.

His eyes. They had such strangeness in them; twisted with hate and lust. They were hungry eyes that wanted to devour and own. They wanted to break me. See me shattered on the floor at his feet. Only a few seconds but in that time I knew I had to be careful- I already had enemies in this new world.