Her Gilded Firebird: Book Three in the Norse Warriors series

by Susannah Shannon

Hako slowed to a walk and unencumbered returned to the forest.

  Chapter 37

  Elin felt even stronger arms than the Huntrix gathering her up. She breathed a sigh of relief and buried her face into Gunnar’s neck and burst into tears.

  His arms were shaking as he lowered her to the ground. He put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a little shake. “What were you doing? Did you jump?”

  Elin cried harder,” I don’t know,” she stammered. Signe lay a gentle hand on top of Gunnar’s shoulder. “She didn’t jump, let’s get her inside.”

  They wrapped Elin in blankets. One of the maids brought a porcelain footrest over. She bent and opened a drawer beneath it. Warm coals were put into it. Elin’s feet were perched on it, and more blankets were draped over her legs and feet. A warm mug was offered to Elin, but her hands were still shaking, so Gunnar offered her a sip. It was warming and sweet. When she had finished the mug, she was able to almost hold still. Gunnar reached under the blankets and held her hand. Signe knelt in front of her, gazing intently into her eyes. Armund entered the room loudly. “The wall tried to stop her.” He said. Elin mutely nodded, she didn’t understand what had happened, but she thought it did seem like the wall had tried to prevent her careening off of it. “Elin,” said Signe quietly, “You can hear them, can’t you?”

  Tears spilled over Elin’s eyes. The grief was overwhelming. “What is it? Who is crying like that?”

  The pain was starkly etched on signee’s face. “Sometimes Hoor gets to abandoned baby girls before I do.” She had to stop and swallow to maintain control over her voice. “We call them the forsaken.”

  “And he kills them?”

  “No, he considers them his due. He holds them, not alive and yet not allowed to pass over. “Their pain could darken the whole world.”

  “Why does he do that?”

  “Their cries are his music.”

  Armund gave a weary sigh. “One of the reasons the Huntrix has agreed to help us is that she wants to free those souls. We are not natural allies, the Snowforce and the Sisters of the Moon, but we share a common enemy.”

  Elin reached for Signe like a drowning man, “Can you save them?”

  A tear ran down the moon priestesses lovely face. “If I can’t save them, I can let them go.”

  Elin pulled her free hand out from under the blankets and offered it to Signe. “I will help you.”

  The wall showed signs of allowing them to pass, so after dinner the wagons were packed. Elin and Gunnar climbed into their traveling bed, and the caravan took off.

  Snuggling up against her husband, Elin felt the grief that had been weighing her down all day ebb away. Gunnar made her feel very alive. He ran a gentle finger down her throat, “I do not know what I would do if anything happened to you.” She breathed in his love for her. Even during such heartache, the world offered so many opportunities for joy. She kissed his mouth, twirling her tongue around his. Pulling back, she whispered, “You know, I should probably be in real trouble for endangering Hako that way.” It was silly, but she needed a break from serious matters. She also had a real need for catharsis.

  Her husband immediately knew what she was thinking.

  “Roll over,” he commanded. She did so and gasped when he yanked her dress up, exposing her naked skin. The first slap landed right in the middle of her left cheek and made her both jump and swoon with desire. He pressed his against hers and growled in her ear, “Don’t you dare move.”

  The next slap warmed her other cheek.

  Elin was reminded of how much she loved/hated being spanked. She knew he wasn’t angry, but she also knew that she had handed over all control. She could kick and beg and fight, and Gunnar would not stop spanking her until he was good and ready. She bit the pillow and tried to keep her voice low. No amount of effort could keep her quiet when her strong husband spanked her with such vigor. “Stop resisting, “he said, bringing his hand down in a fiery smack against her upper thigh. Her bottom was scalded.

  “Who do you belong to?” he demanded.

  She whimpered and couldn’t give voice to the words.

  “I asked you a question,” he said.

  “You,” she groaned. “ I belong to you.”

  “You do. All of you belongs to me Forever.”

  A sob caught in her throat and she gave herself over and allowed the sobs to roll out of her. Her chest heaved as she cried hard. Gunnar let her cry herself out and then whispered,” Spread your legs for me.” She did so and gasped when his fingers smacked into her exposed, wet pussy. “Stop squirming, “he commanded, pressing a firm hand into the small of her back. The small smacks changed to strokes, and Elin groaned as he used his fingers to bring her to a climax. It was astonishing how fast she had gone from sobbing fueled by her red-hot bottom to crying out in pleasure.

  The wagon wasn’t tall enough for Gunnar to sit up, so urged her to spread her legs further and entered her from behind while she lay flat on the bed. He groaned into her shoulder as they came together. With a giggle, Elin held a hand up to his mouth, “Shh, everyone will know what we are doing. “Rolling off of her, he touched her nose with a fingertip, “Too late,” he teased.As he wrapped himself around her, she had the strangest sensation. “It feels like something hot is moving across your skin,”she said.

  “I feel it too,”he murmured.

  Elin laughed,”Well, it would be nice if it would go to sleep on your back.” He laughed too and amazingly it felt as if whatever felt so hot had moved away from her.

  Gunnar pulled all the blankets off of his back and the familiar movement of the wagon pulled them to sleep.

  Elin woke up to Gunnar kissing her shoulder. “Snowdove, wake up.”

  She wanted to go back to sleep and rolled back over. “I have to tell you something,”he whispered.

  “I know, I know, I know. We are at Ovum keep, the next one will be Pinnacle keep and its colder out there than I knew the world could even be.”

  He pulled the covers off of her head. “Look,”he said. Elin was astonished to see a wing draped over her husbands shoulder. Reaching out a wondering hand, she stroked the tattoo gently. She felt it flutter under her fingertips as the bird flew across his chest.

  Gasping, she said,”You have an eagle on you!”

  Gunnar didn’t seem as shocked as she was. “Not an eagle. I started to feel it last night. It’s a firebird.”

  “A firebird?”

  “Haven’t you heard of that legend? Its a rare bird that can only hatch its eggs in a fire.”

  “And you have one in your body?”

  With astonishing calm, he answered. “I do. We will ask Armund about it.”

  “Does this mean you can turn into one?”

  “I don’t know, I know Jonis and Georg both had their scars combine into a form before they ever transformed.”

  “Georg has one of those? Prince Georg, high commander Georg is a firebird?”

  “Of course not,” he said. “Georg’s tattoo is a tiger.”

  Elin dizzily lay back against her pillow. “Did it talk to you?”

  “Georg’s tiger?”

  It was all she could do to not hit him with a pillow. “No! Your firebird!”

  “I can feel it, I don’t think my ears are involved.”

  After her experiences with the voices on the wall, Elin could only say that she understood what he meant.

  “I think we should tell Armund, but let’s not tell anyone else” he said.

  She agreed and they finished dressing in amazed silence.

  Chapter 38

  Gunnar went to find Armund before he started the forge. Elin went to find Liv. Liv knew people at each keep they stopped at and was quick to introduce Elin to her friends. Elin was having trouble not blurting out to Liv that her husband While Gunnar was busy with Armund, a soft-faced woman approached Elin. The dairymaid's reputation had gone before her, and she was asked to check on their cheese stores. Novum keep was too far north to keep its own dairy,
but it was well stocked by the keeps farther south.

  The cheeses were well aged and adequately ventilated, and Elin was a bit deflated that she wasn't more needed. She was startled by a gentle knock on the shutters. Opening them a sliver, she was amazed to see Fasen perched outside of the window. Elin hurriedly threw open the shutters, “Oh my Gods! What if you fall? Get in here.”

  The young warrior leaped into the room with graceful dexterity.

  “How did you get up here?”

  Fasen shrugged her shoulders, heights were nothing to the sisterhood.

  “What happened to your hair?” Fully half of Fasen’s elaborate plaits were now silver.

  “How do you not know? We are the sisterhood of the moon.” It was clear that she was surprised at Elin’s lack of knowledge.

  “Oh,” Elin gave a gasp of recognition. “Your hair changes with the phases of the moon, is that why you are all called Fasen?”

  “Of course it is,” Fasen replied.

  “I really need something to call you that is just for you,” Elin said.

  “But why?”

  “Because you are my friend, and friends know each other's names. Wait, why is Signe’s hair always silver?”

  “Because she can always manifest the power of the moon, she is the Holy Mother.”

  “So when your hair is black, there is no moon, and your hair gets more silver in it as the moon waxes each month?”

  “Of course.”

  A thought occurred to Elin, “Why did you come to this window? Couldn't you just come through the corridor?”

  “Not all along the wall are comfortable with us being here.”

  “Are You following along to make sure Gunnar safely gets to Pinnacle keep?”

  “Yes, that's what we are doing,” Fasen said in a very stiff voice.

  “You are a terrible liar,” Elin said.

  “Yes, I am. Unlike the Snowforce you are so fond of, we aren't trained to be spies, so deception isn't a skill we learn.”

  Elin considered arguing with her about the nobility of the Snowforce, but sensed she would get nowhere. “So why are you really traveling along the wall, if it's not to keep Gunnar safe?”

  “The Blademaster isn't the only one with a destiny.”

  “He is though, he woke up with a Firebird tattoo.”

  That had Fasen’s attention. Elin wished she could take it back. “That’s impossible, the other warriors that earned transformative tattoo’s had extensive gilding.”

  Seeing Elin didn’t understand, the Fasen explained. “Jonis and Georg both had a lot of gilded battle scars, for years before they took a shape. ”

  Not liking being disbelieved, Elin carried on. “He has more than you think. Sir Armund says he is self gilding, maybe because they are burns.”

  “Does Sir Armund know about the Firebird?”

  “Gunnar went to tell him this morning.”

  Elin was going to swear her to secrecy, but approaching footsteps caused Fasen to reopen the shutters and launch herself out. Elin ran to the open window and was amazed to see Fasen rappelling up the side of the wall.

  Liv stood in the doorway, ”Are you trying to freeze to death?” She hustled over to shut the window.

  Elin sat down on a barrel of yogurt, musing over who, other than Gunnar, might have a destiny. The queen had mentioned something about that to Elin, but that made no sense. She was just a dairy maid, from the middle of nowhere.

  “Liv, why are the Sisters of the Moon not welcome on the wall? It can't just be because they don't worship the same Gods we do.”

  Liv stoutly shook her head,” Of course it can. They are witches.”

  “But they rescue the baby girls that are left outside to die,” Elin answered.

  “No one in the snowforce abandons any babies, so I don't know anything about that.”

  Elin found herself inexplicably annoyed with her friend, “Well, the wall isn't the whole world you know.”

  “That's true, but witches are still bad.”

  “I don't think they are witches,” Elin argued. Their conversation was cut short by the appearance of a furious Gunnar. “Liv, I need to speak to my wife, please shut the door after you.”

  Eliin immediately developed a knot in her stomach, as Liv immediately complied.

  “I was making sure the forge was getting hot enough before I went to find Sir Armund,” Gunnar said quietly.

  “Oh?”

  “But while I was there a boy came to get me. Sir Armund wanted to know why he heard about my firebird from Signe, the Huntrix. You know, the group of warriors that is not part of the Snowforce. “ His tone was livid.

  “Well, Fasen said that you weren’t the one with the destiny, and it just slipped out.”

  “You just sort of accidentally committed treason,” he said with quiet fury.

  Elin closed her eyes. “Am I going to jail?”

  Gunnar shook his head. “No. Things are different between the Snowforce and the Sisters of the Moon. Armund was vexed to not hear about it first, but he will not punish you.”

  Elin breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank Gods.”

  “I will deal with you after dinner.”

  The knot in her stomach grew even tighter. “I have to wait all day?” She asked plaintively.

  He was unmoved. “You do, and you might think you’ve been spanked before, but Snow-dove you have not.”

  She found ways to keep herself busy, but she could not stop thinking about the reckoning that was coming. It was infuriating that Gunnar could carry on cheerfully wielding his hammer and casually asking her to get him a drink of water. All she could think about was the spanking that was coming. It made her tetchy, but she didn’t dare let it show. This made for a long day.

  Chapter 39

  Finally dinner was over, Elin was so anxious that she had barely been able to sit though the meal. Her husband appeared to be in no hurry. He even drank another mug of ale after the dishes were cleared. Elin had been nervous all day and now she was really getting furious. He seemed to sense this and laid a gentle hand on her thigh. Perhaps he was trying to calm her, or to remind her who she belonged to. It had neither effect. She was on the verge of openly grabbing her husband’s hand and dragging him out of the great hall when he turned to his comrades and bid them good night.

  As soon as they were in the corridor Elin turned on him. “I can’t believe you did that! I have been upset all day, how could you just take your time?”

  Gunnar arched an eyebrow,”Because punishing the guilty party should always be done in the way to cause them the least distress?”

  “I didn’t mean it like that,”she retorted.

  He led her to the now empty forge. The fires were out, but a lantern was lit and hanging from a rope in the middle of the ceiling. She was relieved that he shut the door. Making demands seemed like a very poor idea at the moment. She swallowed when he said,”I will spank you and then we will go straight to the wagon. I don’t have room there to do it properly, but we don’t have unlimited time either.”

  All Elin could do was nod miserably. He pulled out a bench and sat upon it, gesturing his wife to come closer. He pulled her so that she was straddling one of his strong thighs and tucked her under his left arm. He tossed her skirts up to her shoulders. With one mighty slap he began. Elfin felt her bottom quake under his angry hand. Within five blistering spanks, Elin was sure that she could take no more. She began to squirm although she couldn’t actually get away from him. Her movement caused her skirts to fall back down. He tossed them back up and began again despite her pleas.

  He felt no need to explain why he was punishing her. Elin could not bring herself to easily submit to the thrashing. Her twisting and kicking caused her dress to shift and be in his way. He furiously tossed it back over her shoulders.

  “Yield, dammit. Stop fighting me. The punishment doesn’t really start until you accept it,”his tone was frustrated.

  Elin was not inclined to be overly sympathetic
to his plight. “How can you say it hasn’t started?” she argued. “My ass is on fire!” Her continued, miscontinued attempts to get away again caused her dress to fall back once more. Exasperated he stood her up between his legs. She tried to push his hands off of her hips. This was a very bad idea. Drawing her closer with one arm, he put a finger under her chin. His next words were not comforting.“You might think that I have spanked you before. Trust me, those were nothing.”

  Held helpless still, a fat tear rolled down her cheek. Gunnar remained unmoved and unpinned one of her brooches. Elin compulsively grabbed at it as it began to fall. With a wave of his fingers, Gunnar smacked her hand away. “Stop that,” he said. He unbuckled the other one and let her overdress fall to her feet. He lifted her shift over her head and tossed it aside. She stood awkwardly in front of him, clad only in her stockings and shoes. His eyes drank her in. Graspiong her elbow he turned her around. She could feel his breath on her shoulder as he inspected her bottom. “I really hate when you do that,”she sniped.

  This earned her a ferociously hard slap, which was immediately repeated on her other cheek. Her knees buckled under the force of the swats. It would have been smarter for her to climb into the bull pen back home and wave a sheet at the aggressive young bullocks.

  “Come back here,”he said moving her back over his thigh. The second her belly landed on his thigh, his other leg scissored over hers. There was no chance of a clothing induced respite, and Elin felt incredibly vulnerable. Her nipples tightened in the chilly air. She did not have time to notice that she was cold, as Gunnar’s furious hand began to land with fearsome efficiency. His body blocked her left arm, and he sensed what she was trying to do and grasped her right hand tightly in his hand and pinned it into the small of her back.

  With each swat he delivered a stern reprimand. “How dare you try to block me! You should count yourself lucky, that a spanking is all you are getting.” She was fighting tears when he said,”Bad girl.” He repeated it smacking her with each word.