by Leela Ash
“It is not alive. You must feed a fire with wood so it burns, yes? That object must be fed so it does not go out.”
“What must you feed it with?” Alrek turned it over in his hands. You could only have fit twigs too small even for kindling inside it, and he couldn’t even figure out where you’d put them.
Natalie thought for a long time before answering.
“You feed it lightning.”
“You feed it lightning?” Alrek repeated. “You are telling me that you have a, a toy, that eats lightning, and you are not a goddess.”
“If I was of the Æsir, do you think I would be sitting here in a man’s clothes, eating bread?” Natalie said caustically.
Alrek watched her for a moment, then sighed. “If you wish, we can get cloth from the Gaels for you to make clothes. Otherwise, you must wait. More Norsemen will be coming to our settlement soon, with women among them.”
Looking up at him, Natalie blushed. “I… I can sew, but I do not know how to cut the garments,” she said.
“What can you do, then?” Alrek asked, raising an eyebrow. The woman thought for a long time before answering.
“I can work in a garden. I can take care of chickens. I can milk a cow and ride a horse. I can wash clothes and clean a house. I can cook, but only the foods of my country. And I am very good at digging holes.”
“You can do these things, but you cannot make a tunic?” Alrek said blankly. Natalie silently shook her head. “Can you weave? Knit? Work leather? Make soap and salves? Preserve food?”
“I can knit,” Natalie offered, looking embarrassed. “I can spin wool, but not well.”
Alrek shook his head.
“What did you do in your country?” he asked.
“I am— I was a scholar,” she said, looking down. Her Ph.D. didn’t seem very impressive anymore. Alrek, on the other hand, was amazed.
“A scholar? But you’re a woman.”
Natalie cracked an unamused grin. “It is because I am a scholar that I speak your tongue,” she said. “I learned of your people in my schools.”
“You speak of Norsemen in your schools?” Alrek said disbelievingly.
“We speak of many, many things. In my world, we speak of Greeks and Romans, our clothes come from China, and man walks on the moon,” Natalie said. The bitterness in her voice made Alrek wonder if she was lying, but she had been honest with him thus far. Almost stupidly honest.
“I think you are an Æsir, and nothing you say will convince me otherwise,” he said, shaking his head. “No man could walk on the moon.”
“Think whatever you want. Unless you need someone to read and write and add numbers, I am useless to you.” Now she looked positively depressed.
“Such things are always useful,” Alrek said, trying to be reassuring. “And all else, you can learn when the women arrive.”
“You speak like I will be here the rest of my life,” Natalie said.
“Do you know how to go home?” he asked. She didn’t answer. “Do you?”
“No.”
“Well, I do not know how to take you home. Unless you want to live as a hermit or throw yourself on the mercy of the Gaels, you stay here. And if you stay here, you must work.”
Natalie nodded silently. She couldn’t argue with that.
“For now, I will take you to work with Geirr in the kitchens. That should not prove too hard.”
Once she had finished her bread, Alrek lead her out into the settlement. It was the first time Natalie had seen the place by daylight. Her nerves were quickly forgotten, academic curiosity drowning out everything else as she looked around, trying to absorb every detail into her mind. It was one thing to read speculation about Viking life in papers, and another entirely to witness it with your own eyes.
The larger part of the men were building, adding small single-room homes like Alrek’s to the tiny village. Some worked in the garden, and in the distance, she could see goats and sheep.
“Are there no cattle?” she asked, turning to Alrek. Cattle were the true wealth of Norsemen. It was odd not to see any.
Alrek shook his head. “Not yet. We bought some sheep and goats from the Gaels, but no cattle yet. Once we have more goods for trading, we’ll be able to get some cows and a bull.”
“You won’t simply take them?”
“We could. Quite easily, I imagine. But we want to live here afterwards, and my men would not appreciate me slaughtering their future in-laws for the sake of a few cows.”
Natalie looked at him with interest. The integration of Norsemen into the local populations had always been a topic of debate. “You intermarry with them, then?”
A smile tugged up the corner of Alrek’s mouth. “Not many men want to go their entire lives celibate, and not many fathers want their daughters being bedded without marriage vows. Very few women come down from the Northlands. We marry whoever comes along.” He gave Natalie a long look from the corner of his eye and she looked away, blushing. She couldn’t tell whether the idea of him bedding her or marrying her was stranger.
She wasn’t sure she disliked either.
Half a dozen dogs were tied up outside the main hall, large, thick-furred and curly-tailed spitz types. Alrek was forced to wait while Natalie made friends with all of the dogs, getting covered in wet licks for her efforts.
“Likes dogs, too, does she?” Banki had strolled up beside him. Alrek shrugged.
“They seem to like her well enough.” Indeed, she was surrounded, the dogs all wagging their tails frantically. “It’s usually a good sign when dogs like someone.”
Banki couldn’t disagree. Looking at the woman, now crouched on the ground and trying to scratch half a dozen dog’s heads at once, it was hard to imagine her being a threat to anyone.
“That’s enough. You can play with the dogs later,” Alrek finally said, pulling Natalie up by the arm. She scowled at him, which as usual, only made him laugh at her.
“This is the main hall. Most of us eat in here, and some sleep here as well.” The main hall wasn’t large by Natalie’s standards, but it was quite large by the standards of the village. Constructed of whole logs, the peaked roof was covered with thatch. “It’s not much to look at, now, but once we all have roofs over our heads, we’ll make a better one,” Alrek said firmly. Natalie could tell he was imagining the future version of this building, even larger and decorated with elaborate carvings.
“Ours stores are in the back, for now, and cooking takes place there as well.” He led her to the very back of the hall, where part of it had been walled off to contain barrels and sacks of various supplies, from turnips to candles.
The cook, Geirr, was a surprisingly skinny man for one of his profession. He sat next to the fire, slowly peeling turnips with a small knife, and looked up in curiosity when the pair entered.
“Natalie is going to help you in here for now,” Alrek said. “She said she knows how to cook, but I expect you will have to explain a few things.”
Geirr nodded, and looked to Natalie. She had instantly wandered over to the stockpiles, and was going through their food with delighted curiosity, mumbling to herself in her foreign tongue.
“Dried meats, dried fruits…” Natalie picked up a small, black, raisiny looking thing and sniffed it. “Blackberries. Dried blackberries. Carrots, parsnips, turnips… Cabbages! Of course, there’s cabbage. Onions. Leeks. Beans, oh, so many dried beans.”
Alrek and Geirr stared on, not understanding a word.
“Before you ask, no, I don’t know what she’s doing,” Alrek said, shaking his head. Stepping across the room, he interrupted Natalie as she rummaged through a bin of dried fish. “Natalie. You’re supposed to be helping.”
She jumped back, blushing sheepishly, and quickly went to stand by the fire. Geirr raised an eyebrow at her, but he seemed more amused than anything else.
“Well, for now, you can peel these turnips for me,” he said, handing her his knife and a sack. Natalie sighed and took them, sinking down onto a stool. All thi
s Viking culture all around her, and she was peeling turnips.
After watching for a few minutes, as the pair quietly worked, Alrek went on his way.
***
When the day drew to a close, Alrek arrived at the main hall to discover that Natalie and Geirr had produced a root vegetable stew and bread. Natalie actually looked extremely pleased with herself. Men began to wander in, and she quickly provided them with food.
“How was she?” Alrek asked quietly, standing to the side with Geirr.
“Oh, she’s fine,” he said. “Sweet enough woman. She picks things up quickly, but I’m amazed she got to be this old without learning a damn thing. She wouldn’t know a rutabaga from a live cow.”
“She’s a scholar, apparently.”
“Last I heard, scholars still need to eat bread,” Geirr said with a snort.
“As long as she picks it up. I suspect she’s going to be here for a while,” Alrek said. Geirr gave him a look, as though daring him to say that circumstance was the only thing making him keep Natalie around. Alrek just shrugged and went to get his own meal.
Natalie was eating her own food, now seated at one of the long tables and surrounded by men.
“Do you practice seidr?” one of them asked, looking at her curiously. Most of the men seemed to have lost their suspicion of her upon finding her meekly preparing dinner. As a result, Natalie herself was more relaxed than Alrek had yet seen her.
She shook her head. “No. I would not know how to begin.”
“What about Gaelic magics, then? Witchcraft?” another asked.
“I know nothing of that, either.”
“What about - - - - - - - - - - -?” still another asked.
Natalie just frowned in confusion. “I’m sorry, I do not know what you just said.”
While the rest of the group questioned her, Api sat in the back glaring. He couldn’t believe that these men had simply accepted her presence, like it was normal for women to pop out of thunderbolts. His stare didn’t escape notice, and Alrek watched him closely while he ate his food.
After sitting in surly silence, Api pushed his bowl away. “Someone can take my share. I’ll not eat anything she prepared.”
Everyone stared in tense silence, except for Hattr, who reached over and snatched the bowl for himself. Natalie looked utterly crestfallen.
Banki raised an eyebrow. “You would insult Alrek’s woman?”
“Alrek is a fool, and so are the rest of you. I would not trust her if Thor himself told me she was the most goodly woman on earth.”
“It is fortunate for the rest of us, then,” Alrek said, his eyes flashing with anger, “that you do not make these decisions. Now hold your tongue or I’ll have it held for you.”
Api glowered and stood up, stalking out of the hall. The rest of the men went back to eating, but to Alrek’s concern, Natalie said nothing for the rest of the meal.
Chapter 6
After dinner, as the sky grew dark, Alrek found Natalie already in his room. She’d built up the fire, warming the chill air, and now lay on the bed, fiddling with another one of her otherworldly toys.
She held a small, shiny metal tube, pointing it around the room. He wasn’t sure what it was doing, until the kitten’s movement attracted his attention. They were chasing something, a little red dot that moved erratically around the room. Natalie was creating it with her metal tube.
Alrek watched her trail the light back and forth across the floor, and understanding flowed over him.
“It’s a toy,” he said.
“A toy for cats,” Natalie agreed. To demonstrate, she spun the light in a quick circle, sending the kittens into frenzied spinning attempts to catch it. “There is no magic, unless making cats very confused is magic.”
“They say that Freyja rides a chariot pulled by cats,” Alrek said.
Natalie snorted. “Still think I am a goddess, do you?” she said. “A goddess that does not know how to perform the simplest tasks.”
“You have other talents, I’m sure.” Moving to the bed, he sat beside her and began trailing his fingers up and down her back, leaning over to plant a kiss on the back of her neck. “I have no doubt you will earn your keep.”
Natalie frowned at him. “In my country, it is a grave insult to suggest a woman earn her keep with her body,” she said coldly.
“Then don’t. I would let you stay, anyway.” Alrek continued to caress her, his hand now sweeping down over her bottom. “I would still want to fuck you if you were the most skillful woman on earth.”
“Why?”
Alrek paused.
“You’re cute.” he said, after a moment’s consideration.
Natalie closed her eyes, his blunt words soothing her rankled temper a little. He seemed nice enough. She was reliant on Alrek’s mercy for everything, from the roof over her head to the fact that she was alive at all. He certainly kissed her well, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to know what else he could do well. His touch sent a shiver running through her, from the spot where his fingers connected out to the edges of her being and back again.
What better way to wash her hands of Cedric than to make love to a Viking?
Natalie sat up, putting one hand flat on Alrek’s chest. He paused, waiting for her to push him away, but instead, she slid her palm along him, feeling the muscle of his broad shoulders. With a wolfish smirk, he looped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close, and she gasped at suddenly finding herself pressed into him. Her gasp was quickly smothered as he kissed her; a hot, open-mouthed kiss that took her breath away.
Alrek nimbly undid the buckle holding the tunics around her waist and threw it to the side. The overtunic followed, fluttering to the floor. Moving behind her, he slowly pulled up the under tunic, trailing his lips along the skin of her back as it was revealed.
Natalie shivered under his touch, biting back a small moan. Alrek smiled. That was right—even if she came from another world, she was still a woman—and he knew what to do about that. Ripping off the under tunic, he pulled away her strange undergarments, leaving no barrier between his hands and her body.
With a pleased rumble, he ran his hands up her sides, the roughness of his skin in delectable contrast to the softness of hers. Natalie was transfixed—she’d never been with a man who didn’t do most of his work on a keyboard. The texture of his calloused hands catching against her skin made his every touch more intense. Tendrils of pleasure ran through her, converging on where his fingers were now cupping her groin. With surprising gentleness for a man so large and rough looking, he stroked her folds, teasing up and down swirling around her clit until a riot of sensation was starting to build inside her. Sensing her growing arousal, he shifted his hand to slip a finger deep inside her.
Alrek was much better at this than Cedric. Natalie hadn’t been expecting that from a 10th century man. No matter how gentle Alrek was when he kissed her, she hadn’t expected him to caress her like this. Maybe that’s my modern point of view, giving me expectations that don’t matter here. she thought hazily.
He was tickling her from the inside, pushing her further and further, until she was stretched tighter than a rubber band about to snap. And then she did—pleasure flowed through her in a rush, sweeping away any lingering doubts she might have had.
With a soft moan, Natalie fell forward, flopping into the bed as she shook. He leaned forward with her, keeping his hand on her body until she lay pinned under him, panting and sweaty. Alrek tore off his own clothes, finally freeing his throbbing desire. Grabbing her hips, he pulled her up on her knees and quickly entered her from behind. Natalie cried out as he started to move, pushing her already sensitive body.
Now he was done being gentle. There was the Viking she had been expecting-- Alrek was moving so hard and so fast that he was all she could feel. He was much better at that than Cedric, too. Biting her lip, Natalie pushed back against him, their hips meeting with a smack. A soft moan escaped from her anyway, which only pushed
him farther. His breath came in grunts as he moved.
It seemed like their movement could go on forever, and when Alrek shuddered behind her and held her close, she wouldn’t have minded if it had. Alrek had leaned forward over her, the skin of his chest hot against her back as he panted. With a satisfied groan he lay down on the bed, pulling Natalie down next to him. The softness of her skin next to his was more comfortable even than the silkiest of furs. Strange woman, that her skin could be so soft even at her age. Natalie sighed into him, a soft, feminine sound that made him happier than he could understand.
Rising on one elbow, he grabbed the blankets and pulled them up, covering the both of them. Tomorrow would be another long day, and they both needed their sleep.
Chapter 7
Api drained his flagon and slammed it into the table. He, Klintr, and Oddi were alone in the hall, drinking away their frustrations. Klintr and Oddi were his only friends, the only people he could trust. The rest of these fools had the wool pulled over their eyes, just like that idiot Alrek.
Getting up, Api stomped over to the barrel and drew himself another flagon of beer. They had been in the hall for hours, and he was getting quite drunk. The warm haze of alcohol flickered through him, stoking the fires of his resentment.
“It’s that blasted fool Alrek,” he declared as he returned to his seat. “If he wasn’t making damn fool decisions, we’d have gotten rid of that woman. Now she’s making our food! Who knows what kind of foul magic she’ll work upon us. She said herself, she does not practice seidr, or even witchcraft. With her foreign magic, she’ll have every man in this town under her thrall before long.”
Klintr and Oddi rumbled their agreement. I should be leader of these men, Api thought bitterly, downing half his flagon in one go. It should be me making these decisions, building this town. With that woman in my bed.
“She can’t be human,” he continued, waving his beer as he ranted. “She’s some vile utangard thing, some monster from the outside, disguising itself in woman’s flesh to tear us apart from within, and that fool welcomes her into our midst.”