Chapter 3
Freyja awoke to the sunlight streaming through the trees, hitting her face in a green light. She yawned and opened her eyes, looking around. Whoa, she thought. How did I get here?
She was no longer tied up against the tree. She was now inside of a tent, and had many blankets covering her. The tent was rather cozy, with a little fire in the middle and blankets covering the whole ground.
“Well good morning!” a voice said cheerfully. It was Luke. He was standing with his back to her, looking over some maps. Gosh, he was gorgeous. He was shirtless today, and he had a very strong, tan back.
“How did I get in here?” Freyja asked him.
“Well it gets rather cold here in Norway at night, so I figured I should move you inside my tent where it’s nice and warm, so you wouldn’t get frostbite. You’re welcome,” Luke replied.
Freyja stared at him intently. This man was so confusing to her. He was strange and mysterious. One minute he was kind, and then he was kidnapping her. Then he was kind again. It confused her that she couldn’t figure out who he really was, because usually she was good at finding a person’s true personality when she first met them. But Luke, he was different. And it bugged her.
“So…are we leaving soon?” Freyja shyly asked.
Luke turned to her, and Freyja tried not to blush. He had strong abs, of course. “I thought you wanted to go home?” Luke said humorously.
“Well you weren’t going to take me home anyways, so why does it matter?” Freyja scoffed.
Luke smiled and just shook his head and looked at his maps again. Finally he looked up and answered with a grin, “We are leaving right now.” He threw some clothes at Freyja. “Put these on…your gown will just start flying everywhere in the ocean breeze. And I’m sure that’s more of you that you would like my men to see.”
She caught the clothes and looked at them. They were brown trousers and a white, loose, shirt. “Men’s clothing?” Freyja asked with disgust.
Luke just shrugged and smiled his little lopsided smile, then walked out the tent. He called out, “You have two minutes! I would hurry if I were you; you wouldn’t want me to walk in while you were changing, right?”
Freyja stuck out her tongue at the back of his head and closed the tent flap. She changed as quickly as she could, and then walked out the tent. The clothes actually weren’t that bad. The shirt was actually very light and she could feel the cool Norwegian breeze flow through the shirt. All the men were packing up the tents and food, and polishing their swords.
“Carry this to the ship,” a large man yelled, and threw a crate at her. She caught it and grunted. It was really heavy.
“What’s in here?” she asked curiously.
The man grinned and said, “The books we stole from your village.”
Freyja dropped the crate and stared at him angrily. “YOU carry it then. You stole it, YOU carry it.” She muttered, and then stomped away. She heard the man growl in frustration, but she didn’t care.
After about 10 minutes, the men had packed everything, and they were on their way. Freyja was forced to walk between two large men, just so that she wouldn’t be able to run away. They traveled all morning, and ate some stale biscuits as breakfast. Eventually, Freyja could hear a loud roar. She never heard it before, but she figured it was the ocean. The stories she read about the ocean said that the ocean made a loud roaring sound, and it tasted of salt. It was so large, that you couldn’t see the other side, and the waves were so huge that they could swallow you whole. It sounded frightening, but she was actually really excited. Then, the trees started to disperse, and she could see some small rocky cliffs.
“Ah, there she is.” One of the men surrounding her murmured. Freyja peered at the rocks to see what the man spoke of, and as they got closer, she gasped in astonishment. There was the ocean.
It was large, VERY large, and the dark grey-blue waves crashed upon the rocks. It seemed to go on forever. And, sitting a little far out in the water, was a boat. It was a beautiful boat, with tall white sails and a dark wood body. Carved into the side was the name, The Lord of Auderdale. Lord of Auderdale?
“Luke! LUKE!” Freyja called. Luke turned around from the front of the line and looked back, raising one eyebrow. “Lord of Auderdale? Is that you?” she shouted.
Luke whispered something to the men next to him, and motioned him to lead the line. He walked back to Freyja. “No. That is my father’s name. That is my father’s ship. I stole it from him as revenge.” He answered with a slight smile on his face.
“Oh…well that’s rude, to steal your father’s ship. How did you get banished anyways?” Freyja asked.
But Luke just looked ahead and said, “That’s a story for another day, Freyja.” Then he started to run, to get back to the front of the line.
Now they were standing on the rocks, with the ocean only about three feet below them. The men started to jump into little tiny boats, which would take them to the ship. “Um…” Freyja said hesitantly.
A man, about the same age as herself and Luke, smiled and touched her shoulder. “You may come in my boat with me. Just sit in the middle and don’t try to help. You might tip the boat over.” He laughed.
Freyja glared at him. But then she smiled. He was also pretty cute, just like Luke. But he had short, messy, light brown hair and blue eyes the color of the crashing ocean. She put one foot into the mini, wobbly boat, and hesitated.
“Here,” the man said, and jumped in the boat first, then held out his hand.
She graciously accepted it and stepped into the boat with a smile. What a gentleman. Who knew that pirates could be so cute and polite? But then she saw Luke, from a different boat, staring at her. Something flashed in his eyes, but she couldn’t tell what it was, because he quickly turned away. She just shrugged and turned back to the other man.
“My name is Freyja,” she said to him.
“Oh, trust me, I know. We ALL know. It’s a big deal that Captain Luke is taking you with us. We understand that you shot his hand and all, but usually he would just shoot back. But with you, he just decided to take you with us. It’s strange. He told us he sees something important in you, and you could be helpful. Oh, and my name is Jared. Pleasure to meet you.” He said while rowing the boat.
Freyja was shocked at that. She had no idea why Luke would say that. Important? She was just a villager, and an orphan. How could she be important at all?
She chatted with Jared casually, until finally they reached the main ship. The boats were pulled up with some ropes, and Freyja waited for her turn to get pulled up upon the beautiful ship. Finally, everyone was on, and they had started to sail the boat away from Norway. She and Jared, who ended up being the captain’s first mate, just sat on top of some barrels, talking about England and Norway. They spoke of the people and the differences, and how different Freyja’s village life was from Luke’s and his crew’s lives. Jared was a flirt, no doubt. He would laugh at things she said and would touch her knee or her hand. She didn’t mind it, although she was starting to think that maybe Luke was starting to feel…jealous? Every time Freyja or Jared laughed, Luke would look over and roll his eyes at them. It humored Freyja to think that Luke might be jealous.
Finally, Jared stood. “It was VERY nice speaking with you, dear Freyja. But I must help the crew sail the ship, and it looks like Captain Luke may want to talk to you,” he said, and touched her hand again. Freyja looked over at Luke and sure enough, he was staring at her and motioning her to go. Freyja said goodbye to Jared and went over to Luke.
“Getting a little friendly there, eh?” Luke said, not looking at her.
Freyja smiled and responded, “Getting a little jealous there, eh?”
Luke frowned and said as he turned to her, “No. I don’t get jealous. I don’t have feelings for you, so why would I be jealous?”
Freyja clenched her teeth and turned away from him and stared straight ahead. “So what did you want me over here for?” she asked through her teeth.
“I just wanted to tell you that you have two options for sleeping tonight. You can either sleep below deck with the crew, and we don’t have enough bunks, so you will have to sleep WITH someone, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem for you, since you are so friendly with my crew already,” Luke laughed without feeling. “Or you can sleep on top of the deck, where it will be cold and dark and lonely. It’s your choice.”
“What, I can’t sleep where you sleep again?” she asked jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.
“No. Captain’s Quarters are for the captain only. And you aren’t a captain.” Luke replied.
“Fine. I’ll sleep in the cold then.” Freyja said tartly.
Luke just shrugged and turned away, looking over some maps.
“So…where are we going now?” Freyja asked hesitantly.
After a while, Luke finally sighed and said, “We are going to England. I must sell a few…things.”
“I thought you were banished,” Freyja said.
“I am…from my father’s land. I will be going to a different land, so it won’t be a problem.” Luke answered.
Finally, Freyja got tired of Luke’s short, monotone answers, and walked away. It was getting late, so she went and asked a crew member for a blanket. After she got one, she laid it out on the deck, and sat down on top of it. The deck was now empty, because everyone had gone to bed. Even Luke, who seemed to stay up late, was now in his Captain’s Quarters.
As she lay there, on the blanket, she thought about everything that has happened. And she realized just how foolish she was being. She got kidnapped by pirates, and had the possible choice of going home, where her family and friends were, but instead she stayed with the pirates? It seemed like a silly decision, and she realized how hurt her fellow villagers must feel right now. They probably think she will never come home…will she? There’s no way to tell. And now here she was, sailing to England, in a ship full of pirates. She almost wanted to slap herself, because she felt so stupid. And not to mention, while this whole thing was somewhat fun and an adventure, there was something that didn’t feel right. She didn’t fully trust Luke, and there was something in her heart that was pulling her home. She had lived in Norway all her life, and that’s where her religion was. She felt that her gods would be upset with her, since she left her homeland with a bunch of rotten pirates.
Then her thoughts drifted to the moon. As she stared at it, she realized how big and beautiful it looked way out here, on the ocean. It was a full moon tonight, and the blue glow casted the ocean water in a pretty reflective light. Freyja slowly stood up from her blanket and moved to the side of the ship, and leaned against the side so she could stare at the water. It was truly beautiful.
But suddenly, the waves started to drift in a strange pattern. One wave was going to the right, and another one was going left, and in between, there was a swirl of water, getting larger and larger. What was happening?
Before Freyja could do anything, something shot out of the water in a flash of light. Then, in a split second, it was all gone.
“WHAT was that?!” Freyja asked herself.
“THAT was me,” said a strange womanly voice, which was rich with Norwegian accent.
Freyja turned around and almost screamed, but the woman had put her hand over Freyja’s mouth. “Hush,” whispered the woman, as she slowly lowered her hand from Freyja’s mouth.
The woman was…beautiful. The most beautiful person Freyja had ever laid eyes on. She had long, silky hair that was a bright gold color, like the sun. Her eyes matched the ocean water, dark and reflective. And her face was…unbelievable. Perfect. Angelic.
“Who…who…who are you?” Freyja managed to sputter out.
The woman smiled and said, “I am Freyja.”
“Um, no, I’M Freyja,” Freyja replied.
But the other “Freyja” just laughed quietly and said, “Yes, but I am ALSO Freyja. If it’s too confusing for you, you may just call me the Lady.”
Freyja stared at “the Lady” in disbelief. The “Lady” was the name for Freyja the GODDESS. And the woman looked exactly how the goddess was described in stories.
“Are you…?” Freyja asked hesitantly.
“Yes. I am your goddess. I am the Goddess Freyja, Freya, Freia, or ‘the lady’. I am the one you pray to every night,” answered Lady.
And Freyja believed her, because just from looking at the women, you could tell she was godly. Freyja fell to her knees and clasped her hands together and bowed low. “It is the greatest honor to be in your presence, Lady Freya.”
The Lady just took Freyja’s face in her hands and lifted her head. “Oh stand up, child. No need to bow. I am here to give you a message, from the gods. YOU, Freyja, have made a good decision to stay with these pirates. But what you must realize is things are not as they seem, and you must be careful. The gods NEED you, Freyja. You have an important duty on this Earth. You have a destiny greater than anyone could ever imagine. Be careful, you are needed,” murmured the Lady.
“What…what do you mean, Lady Freya?” asked Freyja.
But the Lady just kissed the top of Freyja’s head in a motherly way, and whispered, “Sleep. Rest, dear Freyja. Everything will unravel soon. Just sleep…”
And soon, Freyja found herself asleep, and the Lady was gone.