A careful and arduous trip to relieve herself brought Sinaedh to the edge of the village. She had walked in the direction Mary had pointed, guided by the odor of the latrine, but moving slowly to keep from tripping or running into anything in the gathering dark. Behind her, the sound of feasting continued, raucous voices calling out and occasional trills from skalds singing tales of war and gods rising above laughter. Before her, there was the quiet of a forest, the hissing of wind as it moved through pine needles. In the distance, a wolf howled. Sinaedh shivered.

“Kaldr,” a deep voice behind her said. She turned, pulling the blanket she’d been given close, blinking as she tried in vain to peer through the darkness toward the one who spoke. “Hm,” the man before her grunted. “Fridr.”

Sinaedh stood still. The man spoke with the assurance of a warrior, not a slave. His voice came from before and above her, but unlike the man who had brought her here, she did not smell ale and the feasts of months on him. She nearly cried out as he suddenly gripped her arm, then walked her toward the sounds of the feast. “Komm,” the man said, and she had little choice.

The man tugged her through a narrow door into the cacophony of the feast. Sinaedh’s stomach growled as the scent of roasted beef and mutton mingled with the bitter odor of ale and the miasma of many unwashed bodies. A dull light glowed somewhere in the room, and Sinaedh’s one heartening thought was that she could see a dim glow.

“Kurt, what do you bring to the hall?” a voice boomed, silencing those who had been arguing and calling to servants for more food.

The man pulled her close against his chest. “Mik dreymdi um hana I nott,” he called out.

Laughter rang around the room. “Dreymdi?” the voice from across the room boomed again. Trembling, Sinaedh recognized it as the one Mary had called Aki. He had brought her here and left her in the care of his slaves to learn to work. “Then you must have been dreaming of me as well, Kurt! For last night…,” there was no finish to his words, but the men roared in laughter as he made a lewd gesture.

“Surely you will share then, Lord Aki?” the man holding her called, laughing. Sinaedh blushed brightly as she picked out some of the words about dreams and night, imagining what the men spoke of. “For it is a beautiful thrall.”

“I’d be a poor lord if I didn’t reward my captains,” Aki replied. “Bring her here.”

The men around cheered as Sinaedh was ushered forward. She saw an orange glow and felt the heat of a fire that burned in the center of the room. The hall itself and its occupants were dark shadows that swarmed around her. “Thrall,” Aki said, gripping her arm, as the other man released her. “Ther er, ambatt, thessi vingull allodauflegur innan laera.” The men roared laughter, and Sinaedh staggered as Aki struck her a sharp blow. Once again, stars bloomed in her vision, and a dull ringing began in her ears. She was gripped tightly, and suddenly pushed back over a stool. Sinaedh struggled as Aki leaned over her, his acrid breath hers for a moment as he kissed her sloppily. Without warning, he forced her legs apart. “Thrall,” he groaned. “Meet ormen lange again.”

Sinaedh tried to strike at him, twisting and kicking. He gripped both of her hands, stretching them over her head while his free hand gripped her. He wheezed, and Sinaedh found herself biting her lips to keep from crying. Gasping, Aki loosed her hands, then slapped her again, knocking her to the rush-strewn floor.

“Who wants her, take her!” Aki cried, reaching for a new mug of ale. “But if you damage her, you pay me!”

“Kurt wants!” the man who had brought her here called. She was pulled to her feet, only to find herself dragged to the side and again bent back. This man didn’t have the strong odor of Aki, but his intent was no different. He laughed as Sinaedh struggled. “Hold her, Olaf,” he grated, leaning over Sinaedh. She tasted blood as she bit her lip, vowing not to show any more weakness to these men.

Grunting, the man called Kurt slapped her down to the ground again. Sinaedh gasped, blinking back the bursting stars in her vision while her head throbbed. She was hauled up again. Jaw clenched, Sinaedh continued to fight, only to be rewarded by another cuff to the face when the man was done with her. She moaned and tried to lift her head, but a high pitched whine in her ears accompanied pressure and the squeezing of the star bursts into a pinpoint.

“Come now, they’re asleep.”

Sinaedh twitched, a wordless moan on her lips as she tried to crawl away from the touch on her shoulder. She’d curled as small as she could at the side of the room when the men had done with her, sobbing soundlessly as the merrymaking went on late into the night. Now she heard rasping breaths and snores of men deep asleep around her.

“Come.” A strong hand gripped her arm and lifted her to her feet. “If you remain, it will begin again. Thus do they show their disdain for vanquished foes.”

Sinaedh bit her lips again as she struggled to her feet. Her head still pounded with the blows she’d received, and her legs and belly ached. She hobbled out of the hall into the chill of early morning. “Come. I will help you clean yourself, and give you clothes. But,” there was regret in the woman’s voice, that Sinaedh recognized as Mary. “I cannot keep them from that. It will be your lot until they find their next victim.”

“Thank you, Mary,” Sinaedh whispered as she stumbled along. “Thank you.” Tears misted into her eyes.

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