Creating something new, day 47
Storman Radgeirrsons Feast
Kari has become really good at oral sex, but the fact that she can lick the tip of her nose certainly helps. But it's almost nicer to just lie and hold each other afterwards, gently playing with our fingers and caressed her body. It's nice to have plenty of time and nothing I can do but enjoy it. Its just two months ago that Kari became my concubine and it has been interesting weeks in many ways. I don't regret accepting her as my concubine, and she has more than proved how valuable she is in many ways, and I need her in more ways than one. I don't love her as deeply as Iselin, or have the same protective feelings as for Ciara, but I have got feelings for her, and it's usually not just lust.
----------------------------------------
We make it a nice slow morning and sunbathe, swim and rest a bit on a nice sheltered grassy area above a few low cliffs about a kilometer south, before we return to the ship and have a nice and somewhat normal dinner up in Lord Fludarr's fortress. Before we leave the harbor, Asta shows how she quickly takes the sun height with the sextant, does the calculations with a slate board and I confirm her calculations that showed where we are on the map. She's already good. I really wish someone else would do the work of calculating solar, moon and star position tables for seafarers in the future. Above all, to collect data, and create the celestial sphere and produce an equation to calculate the moon's distance to fixed point stars, so that it can be used to calculate the position compared to a index point. Maybe Asta can create it herself when they are on the island? Why not build a small astronomical observatory on one of the mountains, or the roof of the Academy? Hardly the optimal environment for it, but it's the way it is.
I wonder if the stars are different here, and how much different. I have begun to suspect it, and it took me a while before I realized it, but I blame bright nights and that I've barely been awake at night. So much else is the same or very similar in the world. Scary equally sometimes. But the North star that should take thousands of years to change? Not there. I suspect that an astronomer who really knows the night sky, stars and the constellations would be really fascinated, or half in panic. Personally, I can find the Big Dipper aka The Plough, the North star and Orion. Two of those three seem to be rightish?
----------------------------------------
Storman Radgeirrson's feast is a fucking disaster. Where Jarl Naeswulf was a good host who only made minor mistakes, but where the party and the company in general were good even though it was formal - this seems everything but, and it seems extremely informal. I havn't even been inside the feast hall itself yet, but its clear that this is not so much a feast, as a drunken orgy. There is a man having sex with a woman against a tree, while some men are playing some kind of game with half-naked young slave women on a grass field, and we also see a couple of maids walking around carrying mead whose dresses neckline goes under the breasts and which at the back ends at their buttocks. Hillevi and Kari points out Radgeirrson for me, who comes walking from the grass field when our arrival is discovered, but I have already decided that we will not be here for long, and Radgeirrson is surprised that I brought my women - which I understand - but we are still shown to a separate part of one of the estates longhouses by Radgeirrson. I thank and ask to have some time for ourselves, and Radgeirrson just nods and tells me to enjoy the evening, followed by a wink, before leaving and closing the doors behind him. That makes me a little worried. Has he planned something?
Its quite for a few seconds after the doors close, then we start talking over each other. No point in doing anything more than leaving, and everyone is unhappy about the situation. Hillevi and Kari are not entirely surprised, however, as they've heard that feast like this exist in certain circles, including Radgeirrsons as a participant but not as a host. This is not a feast for someone like Kari or a Shieldmaiden, although some higher status women participate or have their own version of this feast. I shouldn't be surprised considering similar feasts during certain periods of Europe's nobility history, and it's more 'noblility' here than I think pure Viking time was. Also more sex and open relationships than I think it was in Midgard.
Hillevi, who's been checked the rooms, clears her throat and tells us there is a guest in the bedroom. I stop my company and go to check, and of course there is a beautiful and seductively smiling young woman waiting for me in bed - wearing a semi-transparent thin purple dress with a deep V-neckline. Oh, for fucks sake! Shit. Pun not intended.
And our happy idiot for a host certainly won't understand why this doesn't make me overjoyed. At least she has no neckring and doesn't seem to be a slave. She also wears far too much gold jewellery, so I guess she is a guest. Radgeirrson could at least have been smoother after he discovered that I brought my women along, and ordered someone to quickly her out of here before showing us the rooms. Maybe I should give him the benefit of doubt, as she might have snuck in her. She smiles, but before she has had time to say anything, I just raise my hand to stop her while I shake my head so she is quiet, close the door and go back out. Hillevi can keep an eye on her.
I explain about the woman in bed, and Alith's joke about our host's hospitality is not appreciated. By anyone. We will leave. They agree with my suggestion. My women will immediately take the carriage and return to our ship, and I follow on horseback after making sure that Radgeirrson understands to never invite me again to a feast like this. Its just a big unnecessary risk if they stay here even the time it takes to locate and explain to Radgeirrson, especially as some drunk idiot might try something with them. I don't want to have to execute someone again. Alith and Hillevi will stay and protect me, and we should catch up with them before they reach the ship. But they shouldn't wait or drive slowly, as Radgeirrson might be easily offended, and we might have to move fast. I'll give them a bit of head start. We should have time to sail back to Borgarsandr tonight and be able to spend the night in our own beds.
----------------------------------------
I stand out in the courtyard next to the sundial and see them leave. They took all our luggage, and the extra horse is left for me. If we need to move fast, we can. Radgeirrson suprise me and introduce himself with a backslap, and congratulates me for sending away my women so I can 'live like a man' without getting their eyes upon me, and really enjoy an evening without them. The game on the grassy field is over and the winner has taken his prize with him to enjoy her, but he promises that there will be more games tonight and there are more prizes to be won and enjoyed. He laughs and says that he has something really special planned for later, and hopes that I don't stay in the room all evening and visit them inside the Great Hall - there are many guests who are looking forward to meeting me and share a stop or woman, and a couple of them are women, and he suggestively wags his eyebrows. The bed is big and I can bring as many women as I want to the room. He laugh as he walks back into the Great Hall.
I've got no idea how to reply, but he obviously knew about the woman in the bed. I need a few minutes to think. Everything has gone too fast, and I didn't see this comming. Alith seems to find my disgust for this entertaining, but she understands the seriousness of the situation. Hillevi will prepare the horses while Alith protects me. I'll just go into the Great Hall, clarify my dissatisfaction to Radgeirrson, and leave. There will be no sejd here. Alith nods and we go in to get Hillevi. When I tell her and ask Hillevi to prepare the horses, she asks what I want to do with Caecilia.
What?
She points to the bedroom, says 'Caecilia' and explain that she talked to the woman on the bed; her name is Caecilia and she is Radgeirrson's gift to me - my own personal hóra.
When I just stand and stare at Hillevi, she thinks it's because I don't understand, and as it turns out - I don't. Here a hóra is special. It sounds close enough to the modern Swedish word for whore, but Caecilia isn't an ordinary prostitute. Hóra is not bad word or an insult, but it has probably come from somewhere and been distorted for a few hundred years by the influence of Christianity. A concubine is a status with honor depending on the man they are concubine to, and can have children or possibly marry depending on their own basic status and so on. For many low status women, it can be a big step up in quality of life and in social rank to become a powerful mans concubine. Legally, my concubines Kari and Ciara have a higher social status than Iselin, who is just a free woman I have a sexual relationship with - a mistress. Something I usually don't care about, although Kari has tried to make me remember everything about how status, etiquette and law work. But Kari has not mentioned anything about hóra. Then again, they didn't tell me about prostitutes either, because they assumed that I knew. Just as with the gods association to the days of the week.
Hillevi explain what she knows, like that a hóra is a very socially acceptable woman, because hóra isn't just about sex and carnal lust. Like a Shieldmaiden or Valkyriemaiden are Freja's War and Death aspects, and a Sejdwoman is of course the Sejd and the spiritual aspects, a hóra is more a priestess for Freja, focused on her beautiful aspects, such as Art, Crafts, Music, Songs, Sagas and Sex. A hóra doesn't let men take her. She accompany and entertain. Comparing her to a prostitute is apparently an insult, although a hóra usually expects payment for her services, and sex is an important part. Hóra are very unusual and there arn't many. Only really rich and powerful men might possibly have a private hóra, and apparently there usually is one in Borgarsandr called Baugeid, whom often visits King Aeriksson's feasts, but she is not his private hóra. Its apparently an envious thing in having a Hóra attend a feast, because they are exclusive and only move in the higher strata of society, and Caecilia would make my reputation higher even if we never have sex. It all feels like a distorted variant of a female bard in combination with a courtesan, although I probably have the wrong idea. I havn't been interested in that kind of history and it may be different to Midgard. Hell if I know. I also tend to think in fantasy terms when it is not applicable.
Hóra is literally special according to the Law here. A free woman, but incapable of having children, and they have a brand on their chest and can never become anything else by law, and Caecilia will be a hóra for the rest of her life. Which means they can't 'threaten' a wife or even a concubine. A hóra is 'safe'. Its really against the Law to marry a hóra or take her as a concubine. Forcing oneself on a hóra is apparently a worse punishment than an ordinary free woman, probably death through prolonged torture. Hillevi may see it as someone raping Freya, but I suspect that powerful men in the kingdom have passed laws to protect their 'companions', and the powerful women have influenced laws that protect their status so that the 'companions' cannot compete for social status, inheritance etc. Caecilia is obliged to inform about her profession and to show her branding due to the penalty scale.
Of course.
Of course, Radgeirrson is a man who thinks a hóra was a great gift to arrange for me.
I'm flabberghasted. This is a gift I refuse, and say that we will leave Caecilia here. Alith and Hillevi give each other some quick glances and Hillevi suggest that I talk to Kari about it first. Its impossible to call Kari on her mobile, so I just keep staring at Hillevi and she is a bit dubious and cautious as she says that I shouldn't refuse the gift here and now. It's an insult to refuse a gift - even an unwanted or insulting gift - and we should bring Caecilia and talk to Kari instead of just leaving her here. She tries to soften my stare, by saying that Caecilia can be left in Borgarsandr instead, and Kari certainly know ways to get rid of Caecilia in a socially acceptable way. That's probably true.
I just sit down on a chair and just stare in front of me. This damn World. I need to talk to Caecilia. She should know her own situation and the Law.
So I bring along both Alith and Hillevi when I go to talk to Caecilia. She hasn't heard what we said and is still just sitting there on the edge of the bed, leaning back with her legs swinging and waiting. Considering what my sambos new negligees cost, Caecilias must have been even more expensive to be so thin and transparent, and it is in a beautiful purple shade that gives a nice contrast to her fair skin, with nice little decorations of gold thread, and she has several gold jewelry. Her breasts would've been prominent in a normal dress and she really poses towards the door. She gets a seductive smile when I enter, which grows sinful when she notices that I have seen the mark on her left breast. Or its just because I looked at her breasts and body.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
She gracefully rise from the bed, and walks forward with a seductive sway while she says that she's been looking forward to experiencing a man dedicated to Freya, and experience my reputation for masculinity and being able to satisfy several women. Her name is Caecilia, and she's my hóra and will entertain me in any way I wish. I stop her as she tries to kiss me and glide a hand down to my crotch. I wondering if that's her usual bullshit, or if I've actually gotten such a reputation? Both feels equally likely.
I take her hand and ask her to sit down, and say there will be no sex between us. She doesn't understand at all why, as she only has had a handful of men before, is freshly bathed and thoroughly cleaned, and completely safe to have sex with without worrying about children, and she shows off her branding by showing her left breast and playing with her nipple and its intricate gold jewellery with her finger, while she seductively bites her lower lip with a sinful smile. Why am I even surprised that there is a small intricate Freya symbol in gold through her nipple?
I stop her again, and carefully pull the edge of her negligee back over her breast while I tell her that I didn't know what a hóra was until just now, and that I don't wish to be entertained by her. But if she so wish, she can come along when we soon leave the estate, until I can make a decision in the future. I ask if she has any other clothes or things, and she points to some big pretty leather bags in a corner and a beautiful chest, before her hand with its pretty gold rings starts wandering on my body, and she tries to make me stay in bed with her. Why waste a good opportunity, my women arn't around, and she promises to make me relax and keep me entertained, and that I will fall asleep exhausted and happy.
"Caecilia, change into something to travel in and obey Hillevi." is my last word to her, as I leave the room with Alith hurrying after, ignoring the young woman pouting behind me.
----------------------------------------
How the hell are we going bring along all that luggage and Caecilia, on our horses? Caecilia and Alith will have to walk, and use Alith's horse as a packhorse. That will slow us down a lot. Why didn't I talk to Caecilia before I sent them off with the carriage? Kari would be here, and if she still would have come along, there was room on the carriage.
Alith understands that this isn't the time for witty comments, and she's just wondering what I plan to do in the Great Hall. I don't know. There is so much that doesn't match my preparations, not to mention the unexpected gift. I have to accept reality, but I can improvise a variant of my prepared speech, so it becomes a warning and a threat, where the last thing I do is light a boomcandle.
We step into the Great Hall, and Alith step back into the background as I stand there and let my eyes adjust to the dim light. Its about what I expected; feasting men and women where some sit and kiss each other, or just have their hands inside the clothes of the person next to them. A pair of basically naked young slave women with flower wreaths and leaves dance to the music played by a similar 'dressed' female musician. I see two men getting blowjobs by a women under the table they are sitting at while they seem to be playing a boardgame, and considering how that woman sits in the lap of a man over there and moves, I don't think she just sitting there while the man feeds her with his fingers. Damn, she's a really young slave, more a girl than a woman, and she must be in her lower teens.
I look around, but avoid looking at the people, even though I notice a couple of nicely dressed women trying to get my attention, and one walks towards me. Radgeirrson is sitting at the main table and signal to come sit next to him. What an irony it is that all the chairs are the same. I see a suitable place for the boomcandle on a stone pillar with a shallow water-filled hollow as a bowl in the top. When I have apologized and freed myself from the woman who has slipped up against my arm, I take a route by the stone pilar and take a closer look. Its appropriate that it has Odin's symbol on one side and Thor's hammer on the other.
Radgeirrson has a girl lying naked in front of him on the table from which he eats food, piece by piece with his fingers, and also directly with his mouth. She is far too young, and she too can't be more than in the lower teens. Damn. I pass a woman my age a bit before Radgeirrson, who smiles charmingly at me. She raise her stop to greet me, but she too seems to be a rich guest more than 'entertainment'. I quickly greet as I pass. She's old enough to have older children than the girls here; how the hell can she think this is okay?
Radgeirrson greets me with a smile and shows that I should sit down next to him, which I do and lean my Boomstick against the table. He asks if I want something to eat and gesture to the girl in front of him, who looks up at me and smiles. I avoid looking at her body, but can't miss how young she is and that she has barely started to get breasts. Is she even in her teens? Radgeirrson is impressed that I've managed to leave the bedroom. He brought Caecilia here on my behalf - a Sejdmann deserves a hóra, and she was the most beautiful he knew, and eager to go to bed. He laughs, elbows me saying Caecilia wasn't hard to persuade, and drinks some wine. A maid in one of those extra low-cut dresses serves me a stop, while Radgeirrson caress her butt and with a pat sends her away. He's heard I don't like mead, so it's apple cider, and he's impressed that I'm so restrained; he regrets that he himself loves wine far too much and should be more restrained. He often drink to much, which stops pleasures in the bed. I just sip a little, and it's quite nice to have something to drink after the trip here. My irritation hardly helps, and I need to moisten my throat to be able to speak. The cider is quite good too.
"I do not like ordinary feasts, and feasts like this are something I do not appreciate, and certainly cannot condone as they're far to young. They're children. I'm only here because you demanded that I participate and in the future I wish that you do not invite me to feasts like this. I'm more than happy with my women and honor them, but it would be rude of me to leave without thanking for the unwanted gift, so I just want to say one brief thing before I leave."
Radgeirrson looks insulted and angry, but I ignore it, and point to the fire in the fire pit further away.
"In the beginning, fire was sejd. A mighty sejd. A sejd from Thor as he made thunder, when lightning struck and ignited trees. A sejd that warmed people, illuminated the darkness, cooked food and scared away wild animals. A sejd that people learned to hand and control. Learned to create. Fire made people go from stones and wood, to having weapons of iron, to create buildings and ships. Fire is today well known and has lost much of its mystery. Lost what made fire a powerful sejd that was respected. But no matter how common fire is - it's still powerful. It even makes fire more powerful, because people think it's something you can disrespectfully demand, when in fact it's something you should treat with respect and reverence, especially those who understand fire. Think of a small candle flame. A small fire that is nice, warm and a gentle light. But even that small fire, if handled carelessly, can burn down an estate or forest." I take a small boomcandle out of my pocket. "Let me light a small fire for you as a reminder. Think about the consequences of inviting fire into your home, as you might get what you're asking for. Respect fire, and enjoy its benefits from a distance. "
I drink empty half the stop, take my Boomstick in my right hand, and smile towards the woman as I pass her, with Alith following close behind. I light the boomcandle on a lit candlestick, and carefully stand the boomcandle in the shallow water on the stone pillar. No one is close, but this is a risk I must take. The bowl shape will direct the explosion towards the roof, and the water will dampen. It will probably be a little splash of water in here. It's a shame I won't see how it goes or bright the flash will be. Guess I have to try and recreate it at home.
We walk outside and Hillevi sits on her horse, holding ours ready. Caecilia rides sidesaddle on her own horse, in a slightly less revealing dress, and Caecilia's bags and chest hang on another horse. Okay, she had a lot of gold jewellery and doesn't seem poor, and with all her luggage, she must have come here somehow.
We've just left the courtyard when we hear a muffled bang and there is a lot of screaming and alarm behind us. Hillevi and Caecilia look back, but I say that someone just learned to respect sejd and sejd users, while I ride on.
----------------------------------------
We've probably come halfway when I ask them to find us somewhere to rest in the comming woods. Beside the usual soreness from riding, I feel strange, dizzy and with a headache. We've already slowed down because no one seems to be following, and Caecilia in her sidesaddle cannot keep a high pace. So we turn away from the road, and follow a stream a couple of hundred meters into the forest up to a height where there is some protection and cover among the rocks, but through the foliage we can see the road to Radgeirrson's estate. Hillevi guards and watch the road while Alith take care of our horses. Caecilia seems curious, but the day hasn't turned out as she expected.
I drink water from one of my water bottles, but it doesn't help to wash my face and rest. I feel funny, too hot, my heart is pounding and when I realise that I have an almost painful hard on, I understand that my drink was probably 'spiced'. Shit! I tell my suspicions to Alith, and she's worried. I can't ride in the condition I am. It's bad enough normal days, but I'm sitting on a rock, leaning forward. Alith inform Hillevi that I might have been drugged and what the problem is, and they both get really worried. But Caecilia immediately becomes serious and anxious; she has seen this before, just not so fast, and says I have been given a far too large dose. I need to drink a lot of water and have to have sex several times in the next few hours, although it will hurt. A lot. I vaguely remember Liv's warnings when she gave me my own 'spice jar', which I've never used. Dosage is important, because it can be painful and in worst case a knife may be needed to puncture blood vessels etc, and it can cause permanent damage. Of course I never took a chance with such magic powder, and I don't really remembered everything she said, because I would never chance to use it. The information is somewhere in my notes back on the farm in Borgarsandr.
The damn asshole Radgeirrson!
He should be damn happy that I'm not there, as I would have put the damn boomcandle in his hand and asked him to look closer. Alith catches my attention and she means to help me, but I just shake my head even though she nods anxiously and eagerly. Sex is hardly necessary, so I take some privacy behind a tree and start to gently try to relieve some pressure. Its so damn tender and painful. Fucking Radgeirrson! I try to hide and cover my groin, as Caecilia goes down on her knees in front of me and seriously say;
"My lips with saliva are softer, and it will be easier and faster, if my Lord allows me to help. Focus on my face and my eyes. Forget the pain. Focus on my eyes. Let me help. Ignore the pain."
Damn. I realize there is quite a bit of truth in those words.
It's so painful and I'm grateful she's helping me, but I have to focus and clench my jaws to avoid screaming in pain.
I rest for a while by lying crouched on the side of my cloak and I drink more water. I'm still hard as a rock. Caecilia helps me again, but it doesn't help or feel better.
I'm lying there cursing my own stupidity. How could I drink or eat something there? Of course they would use spice and other things! How else would they last all day and evening? I'm so terribly happy that the others immediately left. I don't remember most of what Liv said about 'spice', or how it affects women, but the thoughts in my head arn't pleasant. It would be a hell of a thing to get virility problems, have to bleed my penis or get permanent problems, now that I have three girlfriends. Fucking Radgeirrson! At least thoughts of revenge gives me something to focus on. What was the name of that really prolonged painful torture with milk and honey in a boat?
Caecilia gently inform that her jaw is sore, and her hand isn't as soft as her vagina, and she can distract me better if she carefully rides...
Although Caecilia try to be soft and gentle, its still painful, and I try to distract myself from the pain by focusing on the beautiful and seductive view of Caecilia and the treetops behind her. Ignore the pain, look at her. Look at her long blonde hair fluttering in the wind, and the little gold jewellery woven into some of her small braids. Watch her intricate fine gold earrings rocking and moving. Look at her green-gray half-closed eyes and her face that seem to really enjoy it, and the pleased little smile on her lips that seems to confirm. Ignore the pain. Study her gold necklace with its small gems, and her breasts with their stiff nipples pressing against the fabric, that she wants me to enjoy, but my jaws are far too clenched and tense. The view doesn't distract enough. I mostly close my eyes and grimace, while I focus on breathing. Ignore the pain. I squeeze a stone with my hand when she is a bit careless in her movements as she orgasms, and it fade to black.
----------------------------------------
Cooling down in the stream didn't help either, apart from taking some sweat off my body. We have to keep a very low pace, because I have to sit with my legs to the side instead of astride the horse. We stop after a short streach so I can rest again, and Caecilia helps me again. Caecilia offered to ride in advance and bring back the carriage, but it would take a lot of time, especially as they probably loaded it on board, and I prefer to endure and get closer.
I havn't kept track of time, but it is still only late afternoon when we see the harbor and the ship. My sambos comes rushing along with Bodil and a couple from the crew. They've been worried and knew that something has happened, and Ciara's in tears, distraught and frightened. Bodil and the others have had to stop her from riding after me. They were just about to send two from the crew to look for us, when they saw us coming along the road. In the monoculars they saw that something was wrong, especially since I was sitting hunched over on the side and Caecilia was with us. Alith and Hillevi explain what happened. That I'm heavily drugged with 'spice', and that we left just a short while, but had big problems when we got half way. When the drug started working from the stop with apple cider that Radgeirrson's maid gave me. That Caecilia is a hóra and Radgeirrson's gift.
My mind is blank, and I'm just sweating profusely, in pain and sore, and its difficult to walk as they gently help me into my cabin. I'm still drugged, and I drink more water. I need liquid. I order them to get me some salted meat, vegetables and bread. I'm not hungry but I need to get salt and minerals in me.
Lord Fludarr offers me to rest and recover in his fortress, but I decline and ask the ship to leave for Borgarsandr. My women take turns very gently helping me for the next few hours while the ship sways on the waves. It's still painful and sore, but I feel a little bit better, and I only black out twice. I eventually manage to fall asleep curled up, with Ciara gently resting against my back and holding me. She has refused to leave my side since she ran towards me.