Omphalos (Hiccelsa)

Chapter 22

Unn leaned over and cried to the guards; "Kill anyone that passes the house line!" He announced. This slowed them down a bit, but it seemed like they were on a mission anyway. Unn was sure he heard some people calling for his head which made him more enraged. Like good guards, they didn't even hesitate as they sliced through person. Unn sat back and watched. He was quite confident they would not overcome him.

"Kill them all?" Garhter asked, a little nervously.

"They deny I am the god-chosen chief. They think they could do better. They forget who holds the power." Unn said with a wave of his hand. Finally, a small group surrender, and Garther gave a relieved sigh.

"Garther?" Unn's voice snapped his newly decided second-hand-man out of his thoughts, "How long has it been since I entertained a whore?"

"Five days, sir." Garther, winced, recalling the bruises that spread across her body, the way she flinched at the sight of anyone.

"Too long." He declared, and looked down, "Ugg, miserable choosing. I suppose I can make do with the one on the left." He didn't hear Garther's intake of sharp breath.

"But, sir, she's…married." Garther sputtered, "You can't-,"

"I am chief." Unn's voice shut him up, "I can do whatever I please." He projected his voice down to the yard, "Guards, the red-headed one. Bring her to me." As soon as the guards laid their hands on her, she began to thrash terribly. Garther still tried to convince Unn otherwise, the man's insistence bugging him.

"Garther. I will have her. You dare not defy your chief from his pleasures, do you?" He asked, turning a sharp eye. Garther knew that defiance equaled death, so he swallowed his words.

"No, sir." He said lowly, staring at the ground. There was a slamming of a door and the girl was thrown into the room.

"Ah! Lovely." Unn said, lumbering into the main area. She shivered, and for a second, her eyes spun to Garther, pleading. He looked at the ground. She took an angry intake of breath, and turned to Unn.

"You lost." He said, pulling her up, his hands touching her all over. She shivered, but did not cry out.

"You will lose. We will not live like this." She said, shaking her chained hands at him.

"You already have though." He said.

"You kill us, but more will come." She insisted, a flame burning in her eyes, "No one wants a weak leader that gets easily beaten, nor one who disregards their town. You are disgusting." She spat in his face.

"Ohh, feisty." Unn laughed, slapping her, and turned to Garhter, "Would you like to watch? Olav loved-," He began, but Garther winced.

"If it's all the same, I would not." He said. Unn looked momentarily offended, but then recovered.

"Then get out. See if you can figure out what happened to Olav." He said.

Garhter held himself together just until he got outside the door. He didn't take a step further, but instead collapsed against the closed port and slid to the ground. He would force himself to hear his sister's cries. Because this is what it meant to believe in Unn.

Approximately Seven weeks later, two months after wedding.

"He'll come today." Olav said from behind the bars, "He'll come."

"Your instance is almost heart-breaking." Snoutlout scoffed, "It's been two months dude, no one's coming."

"I am a very important man to Unn! He's waiting to wage war. He will demolish you all!" Olav cried from the prison, and Snoutlout shook his head, shutting out the man's screaming to report back to Hiccup.