The tide turns

Chapter 21 / Support

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"Gudrid?!" The name was shouted loudly, and even those outside could hear the surprised and exasperated shout. The shout was not directed at the woman that the name belonged to; no, she was standing outside, blushing as she heard her brother-in-law shout her name at Thorfinn. She knew exactly what Thorfinn had told him.

They had discussed it, saying that it would be best if the crew each knew about the relationship Gudrid and Thorfinn had developed. Einar had already known, of course; Hild had barely reacted; she had only raised an eyebrow; and Bug's eyes had gagged dramatically, which earned him a stack over the head from Gudrid. Thorfinn didn't even scold her or look disapproving, which led her to believe that he thought Bug Eyes deserved it as well.

"Gudrid of all people, Thorfinn..." Leif grumbled and pinched the brink of his nose. Thorfinn reminded him of a child sitting in front of him, looking so awkward and intimidated by the old man. He had definitely known that Leif's would be the strongest reaction. "She is a married woman."

"I'm not courting her."

"You could have fooled me!"

Thorfinn deflated on the edge of his bed with a deep sigh. He brought a hand to his forehead, wiping the hairs away. "Gudrid and I are still just friends." Suddenly, that word left a bad taste in his mouth, but he continued. "The only thing that has changed between us is that we have agreed to be honest about our feelings for each other and to see where it might lead one day.

"One d-? Thorfinn, as I said, "She is married.

"Do you believe that Sigurd would still want her as his wife even after she stabbed him and ran from him?"

"You're putting a lot of faith in the thought of divorce, Thorfinn. If Halfdan wants her as his  daughter-in-la to have access to my family, then I believe that Sigurd will do what his father wants."

Thorfinn had considered it, but he hoped that Sigurd would let go of that pride and let Gudrid be free. There was no love there, not for either of them; that was easy to tell. But it was unlikely to happen. No Norsemen wouldn't so willingly let go of their pride, especially when they were members of such a respected family as Sigurd was.

Leif looked at Thorfinn intently; the young man was still sitting with his shoulders low and his head in his hand. He did feel bad for him. Thorfinn always seemed to land himself in situations that seemed impossible to fix. It was truly unfortunate. All the years on the battlefield, knowing nothing but that, then slavery, then the war on Ketil's farm, and now he was in love with a married woman. No, life was certainly not kind to the young man.

He did deserve better. Leif hoped that things would be better and that they would work out. So he sighed, looking at Thorfinn's dejected posture.

"But..." Leif began, crossing his arms and looking as proud as he could. "If it does come to divorce, then... you have my permission to pursue whatever this is with Gudrid."

Thorfinn sat up straight and looked at Leif with surprise and disbelief. He didn't say anything immediately, struggling to comprehend the words, but when they finally sank in, he found himself unable to look at Leif, biting his lip and feeling flustered. He smiled, still looking away. "Thank you, Leif."

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Gudrid was sitting not far from the annex, washing clothes again, but truthfully, she was just dunking the same shirt in the same bucket of water over and over, complaining distractedly as she tried to listen to as much as she could.

She couldn't hear the conversations; she was too far away for that, but she had heard Leif shout her name, and she could hear mumbled voices going back and forth in there until they seemed to both go very quiet.