Bodil

"Get up girl, you have work to do." Helga rudely called to me from my room door. I was dreaming. The same damn dream I have had almost my entire life. I'm standing on the edge of a cliff, and there is something below me. I'm scared and need help. I see a man standing in front of me and I'm yelling at him to help me before it's to late. I know his name is Aadi, I don't know how, but in my heart, deep in my very soul, I know. I sat up and rubbed my face as I awoke shaking the dream off. I have had this dream for as long as I can remember. Really, the man in my dream was the only person that I actually had in my life. My name is Bodil, I am roughly seventeen years into my life, I'm tall and well built, I have long black hair and green eyes. My parents were murdered by men who wanted their land roughly eleven years ago. One of the men found me hiding as he and took me to his farm and made me a slave, I have been here ever since. I work for Uri when he is working metal as I am stronger then the other woman here, and he doesn't like having men around, as well I work with Helga in the kitchens. Uri is the man who took me, and lately he has been talking about marrying me off for a price to a farmer who needs to find his fustilogs son a wife. That wasn't going to happen for me. I was leaving. Even if that meant my life. I was not going to become some morons wife and be forced to bear his children.

"I swear, Bodil if I have to come back in here again, instead of selling you off you will spend the rest of your day cleaning the schitten houses instead of helping Uri make those damned sword and axes of his." Helga called out to me. Getting out of my bed and dressing in my usual blue dress, apron and boots I left for my daily chores.

"Finally, Uri will be wanting his morning meal soon enough, get to it." Helga said to me tossing a loaf of bread to me.

Catching it, I walked over and placed it on a tray. "What do you want done first, Helga?" I asked her.

"Get those eggs done, and make some fresh porridge. That should do the old bastard well enough." Helga huffed at me grumpily. Helga was Uri's wife and ran the house hold, assisted her husband with farm details and of course, sold slaves. There was only five of us that Uri kept. The rest of the girls brought her are sold off to whoever pays the highest price.

"And Bodil, that farmer, what's his name?" She paused for a minute thinking, "Yeah, Tosh, he will be bringing his son by here to see if he likes you well enough, you best impress them. Get to the river and clean yourself when you are done here." She ordered me.

"Why would you sell me, when I am already trained so well to work for you Helga?" I asked her hoping she would also think the same thing.

"Shut up, plenty of girls can be trained to serve a man his food, and smash metal with a hammer. Do as your told." She scoffed, "Imagine keeping a slave just because she asked." She complained to herself as she left the house stomping off to torcher someone else.

"Old crone." I said under my breath as she left.

I hated Helga more then I hated Uri. Even if Uri was nicer towards me, it was only because I work without asking questions. When I first got here I tried to leave almost every night. Helga would beat me until I couldn't walk. The minute I healed, I tried again. I was forced to stay here when Helga broke my leg and I was unable to walk for months. During that time was when I was forced to cook for them I thought plenty about poisoning them, but was never left alone when cooking, and Helga was impossible to make happy so she was always looking over my shoulder telling me what to do even if I had done it a hundred times before. I guess you can say I was defeated for a long time, until this waste talk of me marrying that boy. Now I have to leave, no matter the cost, even if its my life.

"Oh come now Helga, it's only a few weeks. And when I get back I'll have plenty of gifts!" Uri was calling to Helga as she came storming back into the house, Uri on her tail like a dog in heat.

"Damn you, Uri. I don't care if you leave, I care that you want to bring this dreadful girl with you every time you need to travel." She motioned towards me.

"Oh, and where am I going now?" I asked them.

"With me to the temple in Theramill. For the seasonal sacrifice, and trading." Uri told me.

"You have no choice, so don't look at me like that, unless you want me to sell you early to Tosh." He shrugged, "Up to you, Bodil." He knew damn well I would never chose to be married, so I didn't bother responding to him.

I left the house towards the horse yard. The last thing I wanted to do was hear Helga's jealous complaints about me to Uri. I had a small hoard that I kept hidden in the barn that I had acquired over time, a few trinkets that reminded me of my family. I had nothing from my old life, thanks Uri, I had my memories however, and that was something.

I pulled a smaller hay wagon away from the wall it rested against, and then slipped between the wagon and the wall of the barn. Lifting the lose board on the flooring I pulled out my sack of treasures. A few Years ago, Uri brought home an axe in need of repair. He forgot about it, but I did not. It was captivating. Unfortunately I was not going to be able to finish here. The Axe was long, and had a slot in the axe head and a spot above the hilt where, what I assumed, a dagger or sword would fit into as a second weapon attachment. It was truly a sight. I was going to forge a sword to fit inside of it, but I got caught hording iron and other minerals and Uri took my stash of materials.

Stolen novel; please report.

Having the skills of metal working will be with me where ever I am, so for now, I will wait to finish my project. I stuffed the Axe back into the sack, and pulled out a leather pouch pulled tightly and closed. I pulled open the knot and lifted out two small idols. My parents. My father was a warrior and farmer when he was alive. He was loyal to our lands King, and our gods. I can remember having great fires with many offerings to the Ota, Gorn, Thatus, many more. Solstice celebrations with our nearest friends, and neighbors. I missed them. My mother especially, she was kind, and beautiful. And when she sang to me it filled my heart. I kissed both the idols and put the back in the pouch and pulled it tight again. Placing my hand on the bag I whispered to Ota, "Keep their souls close to you." I tucked the pouch back into the sack and started to move out of my hiding spot.

"Where is that dreadful girl? Damnit, Bodil! Where are you?" Helga came into the barn looking for me.

I froze, if she saw me coming out behind the wagon with a sack she would take everything and probably whip me daily until I was gone.

"You better answer me, I saw you come in here, I know you are here." She said angrily. I held my breath and stayed put. I did not want to lose what I could call my own. Helga started to leave the barn giving up on finding me, mumbling to herself about how much she hated me. I waited a minute or two before I continued out from behind the wagon.

"That woman is nightmare, isn't she?" The stable man, Din was standing against the wall watching me creep out.

"Please don't tell her I was in here, Din." I asked him.

"Oh? And what do I get for keeping my mouth shut, eh?" He teased me. Din wasn't vicious, he worked for Uri for payment, not as a slave. Being a free person has its perks.

"Din?" I asked looking for reassurance he was going to be quiet.

"Yeah, yeah. How's that axe of yours going?" He asked me, I was a little surprised as I hadn't mentioned it to anyone and only ever working on his when Uri let me work in the shop to better my skill so I could assist him better.

"And how do you know about that? Been going through my stuff?" I tested him.

Shrugging he just smiled, "So what if I did?" He stood straight and started to walk over to me, " I hear you are to be sold." He said to me.

"Thanks for reminding me." I huffed.

"What if I bought you, Bodil?" He asked me.

"What? Are you crazy? You would ask Uri to buy me for yourself? Why would you do that anyways, Din? There are plenty of free woman you could have in your life." I laughed slightly, shaking my head in disbelief. "I am no wife, Din. You wouldn't get what you wanted from me." I told him.

"What if I said, it was just to get you out of here. There is more to you, Bodil than just being a slave girl to a man who would rape you, on top of beating you, if Helga wasn't so damn scary." He said to me. I laughed slightly,

"Please don't Din, We can always be friend without you having to be in Uri's debt. Okay?" I asked him as I reached for his hand. He put his in mine and I hugged him.

"Thank you." I whispered. I couldn't tell him, but in another life, I would have married him would out a second thought and have one of those tales of life rescued by love. That just wasn't for me. Not anymore.

I walked out of the barn with my sack on my shoulder, I was going to fill it the rest of the way with the provisions and clothing I was able to take to Theramill. I was headed to the stables where Uri was loading his wagons, or rather, shouting orders to load the wagon.

"Uri? Do you want my to ride on the wagon, or on my own horse?" I asked him.

"Your own horse, the wagon will be to full. Go pack and be ready to leave soon." He ordered to me. I nodded and walked to the horse I usually rode, I dropped my sack into its stall, took out the axe and buried it in the hay. If someone found the sack, they wouldn't find that anyways. I started to clean my horse, and put riding furs down when Uri came up behind me.

"Bodil. When we get to Theramill I need you to do something for me." He said to me in a hushed voice.

"What?" I asked.

"I need you to go visit a man about an item I don't want others to know about. Got it?" I nodded and left it at that. It didn't matter to me what it was he needed, I was going to have to do it anyways. "I mean it, Bodil. Not a word." He threatened.

"Yeah, I understand, Uri. What's the man's name?" I said annoyed.

"Ivar. Now get ready, I'll you the rest later."

"Yes." I walked quickly to the house, where I stayed with Helga and Uri, only because I had to cook and Helga hated waiting for me when I lived in the slave hut in the yard. Helga was yelling at some poor girl who had just be brought in from who knows where,

"Oh, great. Another smart mouthed thrall. I'll teach you, you can count on that." The girl was young, probably only thirteen years in age, and looked frightened. She was tall and had long blond hair, brown sad eyes.

I sighed to myself remembering when I stood in that very spot being told how stupid I was while I was dealing with the death of my parents and trying to gain my freedom. Shaking my head I walked past the two into my closet sized room, and started to gather what little I had for the travel. I had a single shelf on the wall that had a lone hair brush sitting on top. I grabbed that stuffing it into my bag when I heard something fall behind me. It was a small gem of some sort. Very small, and a bright yellow. It seemed familiar to me, but I was unsure why. I had never laid hands on this before. It was shiny and clean, so it wasn't old. I stood up after picking it up off the ground.

"Bodil, Where were you when I was calling?" Helga walked into without warning. Gasping as she startled me, she stared at me harder.

"What are you doing now?" I managed to shove the fingernail sized gem into my aprons side pocket, "Packing as Uri told me." I pointed to my small pile of belongings. "Hurry up then." She left suspicious of me, but didn't argue otherwise.

I wasn't going to stick around and give Helga another reason to come after me, so I immediately went back to the stable to stuff whatever I could into my sack and load it. "Bodil, wait! Hey!" Freya was running towards me from the barn, she was carrying a squealing piglet with her. Out of breath as she ran up to me she huffed,

"You're leaving with Uri?" "yeah, I am going to Theramill for the thing." I told her. "Oh, are you coming back?" She asked me boldly. Freya has only been here the last two years and came to depend on me as a friend. It was not intended on my part, I never planned to make relationships because I meant to leave some day, somehow. Nodding I said, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I lied. I couldn't risk her making a mistake though and giving away any information. I don't have a plan how I was leaving, but I knew this was my chance..."I'll come back, Freya." I turned and walked into the stable.

I successfully hid the axe back into my sack covering it with the shirts and other clothing I had brought. Then piled other small items around it. the Sack was fairly large so the axe was well hidden inside. I would put food and provisions around it and that would do well enough. I hoped.