VIII

Out at sea, Gracchus could see the smudge of the Sofjorland coast on the horizon through his spyglass. At which point he whispered to Vannur instructions to furl sail, and stand off until after dark.

Vannur then straightened up, took a deep breath, and yelled "LAND HO! Furl sail and stand off until otherwise ordered!"

At this the sailors started to haul on ropes, and the row master yelled at the oarsmen to bank oars, and reverse their positions in preparation to back the ship into shore when it was time.

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The sun was well on its way to join with the horizon. Soon it would dip below and surrender the sky to the moon and stars for the night.

"Erik!" Venna called out as she waved for him to come over. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and tried again, "Erik!"

Suddenly a booming voice broke through the general din, "ERIK!" So much so, that the entire square fell silent.

Everyone looked towards Vylder in shock, Erik made his way over with a look of such shame, feeling as though he could die from it.

Venna gave Vylder a reproachful look to which, although he realised his gaff, blushed a little while he tried to maintain a veneer of innocence. He shrugged his shoulders as though to say "What? I didn't do anything."

The villagers quickly recovered and chuckled wryly as they went back to celebrating. Erik, after dragging his feet, a mortified expression on his face finally stood before his mother.

Vylder, off to Venna's left, with a slight grimace mouthed to him 'Sorry son'.

Venna then cupped Erik's face in her hands, leaned in, kissed his forehead, and then said into his ear, "You haven't asked Selti to dance yet."

She then grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face the direction where the slender red-haired girl with her hair done up. She was wearing a lovely yellow summer dress and was standing next to her mother.

They were looking towards the musicians and swaying with the music. She then said into his ear, "Go on then. You only need to say something like 'Would you like to dance?' Nothing simpler." At that, she gave him a gentle push in that direction.

Venna watched him moving away, and then dramatically buried her face in her hands. She peered between her fingers, as her eldest slowly walked, dragging his feet as though he was walking to the gallows.

Vylder placed his arm around Venna and spun her into him, then lifted her up in his arms and started to dance around. Venna squealed a little and laughed as she said, "Put me down you lummox, and dance with me properly, I'm not a baby."

He did that and they danced. Orn returned, holding a pork rib as he chewed the meat from it. He watched with a smile as his parents danced, and noticed his brother being awkward while he asked for Selti to dance.

He watched for a few minutes and settled his gaze on Brenda. He felt in his chest a sudden pang of sympathy. He, as much as the rest of the village, was well aware of her grief at her husband's passing, and the worry for her absent sons.

He walked to the fire, tossed his bone into it, and then went to the wash bucket to rinse off his hands. He then walked over to Brenda Sogard, and with a flourish, bowed and said, "May I have this dance, milady?"

Brenda laughed heartily at that. She curtsied with equal aplomb, placed a hand on her heart and with a charming smile responded, "Why, good sir, I would be honoured."

"Oh no, ma'am. The honour is mine." Then Orn offered her the crook of his elbow, which she looped her arm through. Arm in arm he led her into the square to dance.

As they were moving she said to him jocularly, "Your brother could take a pointer or two from you Orn." Then she laughed some more.

As Venna was dancing with Vylder, he leaned down and kissed her soundly. She smiled up at him as she blushed slightly, and then turned so her back was pressed against his chest. Her arms reached back over his shoulders with her hands clasped behind his neck.

He leaned down to kiss her cheek, but she gently grasped his beard to manoeuvrer his face in the direction of their sons dancing with the Sogards. She had a beatific smile on her face.

Vylder, realising what she was showing him, said into her ear, "We did good, didn't we, love?"

With a slight catch in her voice and as a tear of pride tumbled down her cheek, she replied, "We did, my love. We did."

As the evening wore on, some of the elderly villagers, and the parents with very young children were beginning to seek their homes to turn in for the evening.

The music had tapered off, and some chairs and benches had been brought over and placed around the fire pit that was starting to die down. Due to its size, the coals were still giving off a cheery warmth.

The night was starting to take over the sky, and the village men were talking about different matters of import. The women were also chatting amongst themselves, with a few of them joining the men's discussions.

Mead was being freely passed around in cups from a barrel set up back from the fire pit so it didn't become warm.

Eventually, The mothers with children and most of the womenfolk headed to their homes, including Venna, Brenda, and their children Erik, Orn, and Selti.

Vylder, Chief Bon and the priest Gelder were sitting close to the coals. Gelder was deep into his cup, as his eyes were half closed and his speech was slurred. The Chief was also quite tipsy. Vylder could feel it, however, he did not get drunk easily due to his size.

Eventually, he said to the village chief, "Alright Bon, let's help Gelder here to his bed."

The village chief chuckled at that, and muttered, "It's the same every year. It gives me joy to remind him of these times when he delivers his sermon about avoiding excesses." Both men chuckled and helped Gelder to his feet.

Gelder stirred, and slurred, "Hey, my friendsh. Sush a good showing, donsha think? Wait, where are we going? Ooh! We should go fishing!"

Vylder responded, "Sure, friend. In a few days, once you recover from your mead sickness."

"I'm not shick! I'll have you know good shir I am the picture of good health!" Vylder and Bon laughed as they half walked, half carried their village's priest to his home.

Once they got him to his room, they placed him into his bed, where passed out almost immediately.

Out the front of Gelder's house, Vylder and Chief Bon clasped forearms and bid each other goodnight.

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Just off the south coast of the island of Sofjorland, as the stars began to show themselves in the sky, on the water a large dark shape moved stealthily towards the pebbly shore.

The only sounds heard were the timbers of the ship creaking against each other as the waves rolled underneath them, the shoosh-shoosh-shoosh of the oars, and the slight groans of effort from those pulling them.

The slaver galley had faced stern to shore, reversing to make landfall. As it drew closer, the sounds of the waves lapping gently against the shore could be heard.

Soon enough, the ship's stern ran aground, and several of the crew scaled down the side on ropes to pull the sip further into shore. A plank extended, and the landing party disembarked in earnest.

Gracchus unshielded his lantern so his party knew where he was, he then signalled them to follow him further inland to the edge of a copse of trees to await the fire arrow signal.

Vannur mirrored this action for his smaller scouting party and headed inland to check for signs of habitation.

As Vannur moved stealthily through the trees, he came upon a fence line and signalled the men to get down. He passed the covered lantern to the scouting party's archer, then moved along the fence line, in a running crouch. He spied the first residence, where a dog started to bark.

He took off away from the fence to circle around to check for more houses. As he did this he made certain to take stock of where he was.

Moving on he saw another house with a building out the back. He moved up and checked inside the outer hut-looking structure, and saw that it was a well-kept and tidy forge, the fire had not been lit that day, as there was no warmth coming off of it.

He carefully, and quietly moved up to where he could see light coming out of a window. He moved closer to peek inside and froze.

His chest tightened so fast he was momentarily paralysed. For inside that window had to be one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

She was tall, with long blonde hair, that flowed down her naked back, accentuated by a braid over it running down the centre from two thick strands drawn from the front over her ears.

Her body was shapely and well-defined with a perfect curvature. When she turned around he caught but a glimpse before he ducked back out of sight. But that was all he needed, for that image was burned into his mind.

The only imperfection on that flawless visage was a vertical gap in her left eyebrow that didn't at all detract from her beauty. In fact, it enhanced it.

Vannur whispered to himself, "I have got to have her. Whatever it takes." He then rushed to get back to where he left his men.

After he re-joined them, he tapped them on the shoulders indicating they were to follow, and led them to where he would light the signal arrow.