Cold wind was biting at my face as I headed toward the distant glow of firelight that was escaping through the windows of houses in the distance. Snow up to my knees as I trudge along with the Vikings around me.
We entered English territory the other day, leaving Asser and captain Gratianus behind in Wales. And within that short amount of time a massive blizzard swept in to cover us in snow.
I feel a shiver course through me as the already harsh wind picks up. Gods I wish to be at sea again instead of this forsaken land, at least out at sea I didn't have to walk through freezing snow.
I look ahead and see the village we would soon be invading. It would be an easy raid, barely any houses from what I could tell. At most there would be thirty to fifty people, and most of the villagers would be women and children and a handful of men.
Due to the war at the moment most men of age in England were off fighting. Making it much easier for us to raid their hometowns. Not that young English farmers could do much against hardened warriors, but it did allow less bloodshed on our side at the very least.
As we gather closer to the village I smell the scent of food cooking in the air. My stomach grumbling in response, we have been getting low on supplies and I only had a small amount of bread earlier that very day. The families must be getting ready for dinner, completely unaware of what was to come.
"Gather up all of the villagers, I want them brought to me. Make sure not to let any of them slip away. We can't let English soldiers know about us being here." My father had told us when we had first spotted the lights in the distance. No one argued on whether or not we should invade except for a priest that was with prince Canute. Telling us that it was horrible to harm these innocent people in order to gain supplies.
I watched Bjorn and another man barge into a house, already I could hear arguing and shouts in English from the family within. I remove my bow from where it was currently slung across my back. Grabbing an arrow, I keep a look out for any villagers that could be trying to escape their fate.
A shadow moves in the distance behind a tree and I'm positive it's not one of our men as I take my arrow and nock it, keeping the bow in a relaxed position as I move forward through the snow to get a better look at who was behind the tree.
Approaching cautiously I stalk up to the tree at the edge of the little town. Growing closer I slowly pull back the arrow against the bowstring. Rounding it I come face to face with a red headed women no older than I. She's clearly startled and panicking about the fact that I had found her.Blabbering something in her language, begging for what I could only assume was mercy from me as her eyes go back and forth between looking me in the eye and staring at the arrow aimed at her head.
Ready to release the arrow and get done with this I randomly remember the two men so many nights ago. The man who had wished for my death for killing his wife. I furrowed my brow. Why should I remember that now all of a sudden, it didn't mean anything to me whether or not this woman died. I had shot down hundreds of women, men, and children in the past without the slightest hesitation.
Why was I now? Maybe it was the way she quietly cried, or the way she stared at me as she held her hands up to her mouth, trying to muffle her sobs of fear. Maybe it was just because I was finally gaining consciousness.
I slowly relaxed the bowstring letting it grow loose. The woman looked as if she was just given the most amazing gift in the world. Her life. "Run." I spoke to her in Danish, yet she acted as if there were no language barrier between us. She nods to me, taking a ring off of her right hand. Offering it to me for showing her mercy.
The ring was engraved beautifully with Norse knots. Where this ring hailed from was obviously not from here, I wondered how this young woman from a village in the middle of nowhere in England was able to obtain a ring like this. I almost reject her offer before she reaches out taking my hand and presses the ring into my palm.
At that she takes off into the woods. I watch her form disappear, feeling the cold metal of the ring against my skin. I doubted she would get far, she wasn't properly dressed for a night in the woods, let alone when there was a blizzard. It would've been more of a mercy to kill her instead of letting her die of starvation and cold out there alone.
I take a deep breath and shake the thoughts from my mind. It was done and there was nothing I could do about my decision now. I turn to head back to the group where they were already holding the rest of the village hostage when I spot Thorfinn staring at me. Shit I guess he saw my moment of weakness.
I make my way to Thorfinn's side. He was standing at the back of the crowd, a couple of feet from Ragnar and Canute. Everyone else's attention was currently on the captives sitting in the snow, my father standing in front of them. "No one else saw." Thorfinn says low enough that only I could hear and I feel relief spread throughout my body.
"I don't know why." I respond to him as I turn my attention to the inevitable blood bath as the men circle around the families. "I understand." Thorfinn replies lowly as we watch war axes and swords rise in the air and come down on the innocent heads.
It was a swift death. Even if we had left them alive they wouldn't have survived the winter, for my father would make sure every last scrap of food and money would be taken from them. And considering what usually happened to the women in the villages we raided, I believed this was a much more merciful end. At least they wouldn't be defiled before being sold as cattle or killed.
Once it's done I turn and head for a house, ready to steal a bed for the night. A bed that had been warming a family that was killed by us. Thorfinn followed, staying by my side. Tentatively he reaches out and I feel his hand wrap around my own. Surprisingly soft, yet also rough due to the callouses built up over years of battle. It was a small gesture of comfort. But it meant so much more to me at that moment.
We both enter one of the houses, the fire still burning bright and warming us as soon as we enter the home. I spot a bed in the corner, releasing my hand from Thorfinns and head over to it. Pulling back the covers I lay down into the mattress, Thorfinn coming and standing beside the bed. Both of us stayed silent, only hearing the crackling of the fire in the hearth.
Though he could have lain in the bed with me, there was more than enough room considering that this had once allowed a whole family to rest on it. Thorfinn sat down beside the bed leaning his back against the side of it.
Most of the men would be busy until morning going through what the villages storehouses and most likely drinking all of what alcohol they could get their hands on after a successful raid. Keeping us alone for a while. I feel the heavy embrace of the thick winter blankets, staring at Thorfinns shaggy blonde head. I've always wanted to run my fingers through it, but not yet, right now I would just enjoy this moment of silence.
Soon feeling myself drift off to sleep, hearing the soft snooze of the boy beside me and the lull of the crackling fire I felt peace.