Hail to the King

Prologue

"Both of them?" Ingrid raised a brow.

"Both of them," Davin nodded.

"Be sure to bring me back a fat hare or a few squirrels tonight. I would like to make a stew tonight," Ingrid smiled.

"Oh? What would be the occasion?" Davin wondered.

"Unna felt a kick late last night and early this morn. Surely that is a sign her babe is to come soon," Ingrid whispered happily in a hushed tone, she and Davin glancing over at her sister, watching her tend to the fire with a long stick with one hand and hold the swell of her stomach with the other.

"If you say so," Davin said quietly, unsure of that with the current state of Unna's stomach. He turned back to his wife and smiled despite himself. "For you, my darling, I will bring back the fatest hare and the biggest squirrel this world has ever known! The gods will be in awe of our bounty!"

"I feel certain you will," Ingrid smiled before they exchanged pecks on each others cheeks.

"Father, hurry up!" Erland beckoned from where he and his brother waited by the door, itching to be outdoors instead of cooped up like the sheep they raised. Magnus clutched his wooden hunting knife to his chest, the handmade weapon the first of his own creation and not well carved by sharp to the touch, trying his best to stand still beside Erland. "The forest creatures will not wait for us!"

"Alright, alright. Keep your boots on. I am coming," Davin shook his head at his children's patience, and collected his own hunting tools before joining them at the door and stepping out into the cold.

Ingrid could not seem to help the smile on her face as she removed the pails from the hearth and carried them over to the wash bin. "Be glad your kind has not arrived yet, Unna. You will not know peace again for some time."

"I have no wish for peace when it means my *kind will stay hidden from my sight for much longer," Unna sighed as she left the hearth and joined her sister at the bin, remembering the sounds that Erland and Magnus had made when they were just babes. "I long for the cries and bellyaching."

"You will come to regret these words," Ingrid laughed as she and Unna dumped armfuls of sheets and other clothes that needed washed, leaving them to soak for a moment in the warm water. "Soon there will be nothing but cries for you."

"All the better," Unna said lovingly as she looked at her stomach and caressed it tenderly, feeling a small flurry of kicks in reply. Though the swell was smaller than it should have been, she felt strength in her unborns movements and knew it could not be much longer until the child would join her outside of her womb. She felt in her heart of hearts that her child had drawn this strength from her late husband, Aesir.

The winter, unkind and unjust has it was, had seen to take Aesir from Unna during a hunt with Davin. The snow had been so thick and the wind so unrelenting that they could not have possibly seen where they were going. Unna and Ingrid had begged them to stay, but they were low on rations and their supply of meat was next to none. Aesir and Davin had no choice but to brave the storm or else watch their family starve. The choice was easy for them, but even with careful footing Aesir was the first to fall down a steep bank and lose consciousness; had it not been for that, Davin would surely not have had the time to brace himself and would surely have lost consciousness himself. They were found the next morning after the storm had passed, Davin shaken and cold with a swollen ankle and Aesir frozen to death, four large hares tucked in his satchel ready to be prepared for dinner. His death had nearly broken Unna and the Winter had nearly taken her as well, but their child had kept her going and brought her back from the abyss that was death's door.

Since then, however, her stomach had barely grown and she was only half the size she should have been so late in her pregnancy. Davin, as well on Ingrid when she was sure her sister was not looking, feared this did not bode well for the child. Small children tended not to last long in their environment and it was well past time for him or her to be due. Unna remained ever hopeful, though, and made it a point to tell her family when her child stirred inside of her.