The following day, Adelheid was still in the cabin. She had walked in circles, gathering her thoughts before finally deciding to try and get out... to end up staying inside because the door had been locked. She had stamped around for some more time and even rummaged the chests to find something useful, but she had no idea what could be and ended up back on the bed, wrapped in some thick furs, worrying about her future.
She had been brought a meal and some fresh water in a basin, which she used to wash her face and body as well as possible, getting rid of most of the remaining ashes on her, but her hair remained dirty and tangled since she had no way to wash it, and her skin was still sticky and brownish as the water had become dark very fast.
She had tried to study the maps on the desk to know where they were and where they would be heading, but it was not very efficient since she knew nothing about geography. She felt completely useless and regretted not studying such subjects more back when she had this possibility.
At the end of this day, she had gone to bed, still exhausted, hoping that the Viking would not try to force him onto herself during the night.
Her hopes had been heard. Or at least partially.
When she woke up, it was because a hand was caressing her naked shoulder, revealed by her shirt which had slid down during the night, exposing the top of one of her breasts.
"Wake up little goddess."
The voice was raspy but warm and gentle, just as the fingers which were going further down her naked skin. Still half-asleep, Adelheid did not protest and even let out a low purr against the warmness of the comforting touch against her body. A chuckle responded her and that's when Adelheid realized that it was not a dream.
She jerked out of the touch and saw the Viking kneeling down next to the bed, an amused smirk on his lips.
"Well, it seems like a man's touch doesn't disgust you so much in the end. And there I was believing your little act of being a pure girl. I now sure know that being my concubine would not be such a repulsive idea to you."
Adelheid was utterly embarrassed by his words. Why had she reacted that way? It must have been the first time a man had touched her so intimately and she had not even flinched. She gathered her shirt and readjusted it on her shoulders to cover her chest, revealing her thighs more in the process. The Viking laughed and she finally used the furs on the bed to cover herself completely. He appeared very amused by this little scene, causing a rush of anger to rise in Adelheid's throat. She was embarrassed and furious that he had seen her in such a way, furious against herself for not immediately rejecting him. He might have been the man who burned her village for goodness' sake!
"You only took advantage of my numb state! How can you joke around and be so light-hearted when you destroyed everything that I knew?" She told him in a dry voice, clearly unhappy.
"So that's what you think? That my men and I are the ones who completely ruined a village of farmers and poor people for no reason?" He answered dryly after losing his amused smile.
"You are a Viking. And the ones who did that were Vikings. Aren't you all the same?" She spat out, crossing her arms over her chest.
The Jarl looked at her coldly as he rose to his feet, no longer even slightly amused.
"My Clan would have never destroyed a village and killed innocent and unarmed people for no reason. We only saw smoke rising in the sky from the ocean and we thought it might have been another Viking's clan doing. We are currently chasing a Clan who dishonor our gods by killing innocent people. I only found you in the middle of those ashes and took you away from the hell that your village had become. But since Vikings are all the same, maybe I should behave exactly like those scavengers surely did with the women from your village. Tell me. Did you not hear agony screams and pity-begging cries during the plunder? These men rape women. They don't take them on their boat except for tying them to poles and letting their men use them as whores until they die of hunger. Do you truly want me to behave like them?"
During his little speech, he had come closer and closer to her, Adelheid paling and looking more and more unwell after each new word he said. She regretted insulting him, since it was true that she had been treated fairly well. The whole concubine thing aside that is.
She was willing to beg him for forgiveness and for mercy while he was getting closer, a dark look on his face, when a man suddenly opened the cabin door and told the jarl something in Norse language before hastily getting away.
Tharn immediately went out too without giving any more attention to his captive.
Adelheid soon followed, the door finally opened, but once she stepped out, she remained paralyzed. The ship she was on was huge. At least a hundred men were on board, hard working and screaming orders around, that she could not understand the slightest since it was still not in her language. Adelheid remained mute upon seeing that. If this ship was so huge, it must mean that its owner must have been powerful, very powerful. And the owner she finally found, at the front deck, looking far away in the distance, where the shapes of two boats were outlining the horizon.
A cold shiver ran down her spine. If this Viking was telling the truth, those two ships were probably carrying the men who had destroyed her village. She closed her fists tighter against the fur that she had wrapped around herself before getting out on the deck. The wind blowing air around made her realize how lightly dressed she was, still in her undershirt and only covered by around her shoulders, the end of her legs and her knees out for anyone to see.
And it was not just anyone who saw them. The men around her had smirks on their faces as they watched her and Adelheid realized the jarl had his eyes back on her and was crossing the boat in her direction, seemingly furious, taking large steps and growling orders to his men who looked away immediately.
"What do you think you are doing, half-naked in the open?" He spat at her. The men looked at the scene with curiosity.
"I don't want to stay locked in the cabin anymore. Are those ships the ones from the scavengers?" She tried to change the subject while creating some distance between them, but he didn't buy it at all.
The jarl let out an angry growl and took the woman by her waist before she escaped and brought her back in the cabin while she was thrusting around, apparently amusing the men on board, which angered Adelheid even more.
Once back in the cabin, the door closed behind him, he put her down. What a wild woman she was! And there he had thought that she would be a delicate lady who would be easy to tame. He definitely had been wrong.
"What were you doing on the deck in your undershirt only?" He roared at her while cornering her against a wall.
"I'm also wearing a fur. Didn't you tell me you had forbid your men from approaching me? I don't see why I should worry. And why would you even care if they saw me? Aren't you planning to use me as your bed slave and then give me to them once you will be bored!" She answered vehemently.
The jarl stopped and frowned. What was she imagining? His clan had laws and rules. Women were not considered objects. And she was no slave. A concubine and a bed slave were completely different and he would explain that to her, but first, he had to teach her a lesson.
As he put his two hands on the fur covering her upper body, she was fighting him but to no avail: in a few seconds, she was only in her undershirt in front of him. Adelheid didn't even have enough time to realize what he was doing before he grabbed her undershirt and ripped it down. Entirely.
That action revealed her entire body to him. Her round breasts, her pale skin which looked incredibly soft all over. The mound between her legs that she was desperately trying to cover with one of her hands.
That was it. He was going to rape her, she thought.
Trembling, Adelheid tried to hide herself, but the jarl finished putting her shred shirt away, leaving her completely in the nude and vulnerable in front of his eyes. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, even if what he planned on doing to her was nothing beautiful. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the door.
"You wanted my men to see you? They will." He told her as he put his hand on the door handle in a menacing tone.
Adelheid had a terrified look on her face, trembling all over as she tried to cover her weak body with her arms, begging him not to do that.
"Please no. I'll go willingly in your bed but don't rape me in front of them. I beg you." Her voice cracked out.
Rape her in front of them? That had never been the Jarl's intention. He mostly wanted to scare her into not showing herself half-dressed anymore. Rape was something he would never impose on a woman. Letting her arm go and putting his hand away from the door handle, he watched as the young woman scurried away from him and tried to cover her body by huddling herself. He didn't want to show her to anyone from the beginning, but he had had to teach her a lesson. Now he understood that his decision had been way too harsh.
Seeing her trembling hard, tears covering her cheeks, he wondered if he had been too hard on her. He didn't want to show her that was what he thought and turned away from her. He was going against his own values because of this woman. Why was she so maddening?
"Dress yourself, there are some old rags in the chests." He told her dryly before taking the door, leaving her frightened form behind him.
His men were surprised to see him come out so soon, their chief usually known for taking his time with women, but they didn't comment on it and executed the orders he barked at them, visibly frustrated by something.
The Vikings they were chasing were probably not far from him. It was not the moment to worry about the well-being of the golden-haired woman he had left naked and afraid in his cabin.
So why couldn't he get her tearful faceaway from his thoughts?
And why was he feeling so guilty about it?