Ægir’s Bride Ch. 01

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Tara Cox
Tara Cox
2,497 Followers

Petrine was the first to break it with her hands fisted onto that tiny waist. "Jesus Christ, what are you waiting for?" She shook her head and grabbed Kirsty's hand, practically dragging her across the room to the stairs.

She gave none of them any choice but to follow her. Kirsty frowned as she wondered...had she ever really had a choice either? Sure Bjorn and this woman had offered them to her, but had Fate? Had they really been choices or merely illusions of them? She caught Bjorn's smiling face and thought what an excellent quandary to share with this man the next time she 'called' him to her bed.

But that would not be this night. His tiredness, after last night's watch and the previous one in her bed, beat at her. And while she might have liked to think that she could take him into her arms and hold him while he drifted off to sleep, this thing between them was too new, too intense for her to delude herself like that. No, it was best if he slept alone this night.

As they reached the top of the landing, which branched out on either side to form a U-shaped hallway, Kirsty noticed that once more Mikael held back, brought up the rear, stayed on the periphery of even his own family. Even Sven it seemed was filled with more trepidation than joy at the prospect of installing her in this place of honor as the 'wife.'

She sighed and would have pulled back herself but the woman's firm hold on her hand pulled her forward, forced her to face...what she was uncertain as the woman began speaking again.

"That is the bathroom," Petrine said as she waved at the first door on the right hand side of hallway. "Sven and Olaf remodelled in there a couple of years ago. So while it still has my bear claw tub, it also has a shower."

Bjorn leaned in and brushed the side of her face as he whispered, "Mama is understating things. It is a full-size wet room. And I for one cannot wait to see how wet I can get you in there."

Kirsty caught her breath and blushed as his words sent tingles down her spine to pool between her legs, which suddenly did feel rather...damp...at the image of the two of them in the shower.

She did not have time to indulge any further though as her mother-in-law continued, "The room next to it is the guest room and at the end of the hall is the nursery where Monika stays. When the boys were younger both of those rooms were theirs."

Kirsty still found it difficult to imagine what this woman's life must have been like then. Three boisterous sons...though Kirsty doubted that Sven had ever been a child. Four husbands to love...and all the responsibilities that went with that. And a town full of people who gossiped and talked about you behind your back. It was all over-whelming.

The woman waved to the other side of the hall briefly, "Those are the boy rooms. I will let them show you later."

Then she was off again, dragging Kirsty behind her to the heavy wooden door that loomed straight ahead at the top of the stairs. She pushed it open and stood back waiting for Kirsty to enter first. She froze just inside the room. It was like stepping back in time.

The unmissable center piece was the massive bed that stood straight ahead against the wall. It was remarkable not just for its size, but because of the ornate carvings on the four massive posters which stood like centennials at each corner of it. They practically reached the ceiling, almost eight feet tall. Each stained a dark wood and intricately carved with figures that seemed to bring alive this families Norse heritage. Half way up on each, through the nose of a laughing image that she suspected was meant to be Loki was a large metal ring.

The headboard was a good five feet high. It curved, rose and fell like gentle waves. But at the zenith of that center wave rose the face of another god. And another thick metal ring through its nose as well. The footboard was not as impressive. Though the bed was two, perhaps close to three feet off of the floor, the mattress rose just above the carved wooden design. There were wooden rails across the top, also decorated with the images. Thick, dark red curtains hung from the ones on the side and at the foot of the bed. Though they were drawn back now, secured with thick rope through those metal rings.

Only the brightly colored and obviously handmade quilt that covered it softened its impact. The quilt was a patchwork of tiny squares in shades of red and dark pink that formed a pattern of interlocking concentric circles against a white background. The thing looked so beautifully crafted that Kirsty felt it belonged more in a museum than upon a bed.

Kirsty sighed, if this woman's words that afternoon had not been daunting enough, she would have been just by the sight of this bed. Her bed. And it was she who would be expected to choose now. She who would 'call' them, her husbands, to it. It was a responsibility that she was not sure she was ready for as she faced Loki's laughing face.

She swallowed back that fear and forced herself to listen as Petrine walked across the room to the only other significant piece of furniture. A huge matching wardrobe loomed almost to ceiling on the wall to the left. It too was stained that same dark color and marked with those same wooden carvings. Those metal rings also hung ornately from the snarling dog figures at either end of its curving top. And an even larger one from Loki's laughing face that was centered between them. The thing was almost as imposing as the bed had been.

"I did not know your style but I have bought a few things for you off the Internet. Mostly jeans, t-shirts and a few girly things," Petrine winked at her. "You can pick out what you want or need and order them yourself later."

Bjorn shook his head as he stepped up behind her, wrapping his arm about her shoulder and drawing her against him, "I will select her clothes."

Sven stepped up on her other side and wrapped his arm about her waist. His hand rested on the curve of her hip, "And I her undergarments."

Petrine laughed and the sound echoed around the room with its dark panelled walls that seemed even darker since there was not a single window in the room. The only light was the soft glow from the hurricane glass orbs on either side of the door.

Kirsty noted that Mikael had stationed himself there by the open door. Ready for a quick escape, perhaps? He leaned against the wall, one foot resting against it as he crossed his arms over his chest. Flanked as she was on either side by Bjorn and Sven, Kirsty could not understand why his absence bothered her so much just then. He stared at the dark wood flooring that was softened by thick rugs which also appeared hand-woven.

The only other furnishing in the room were a massive captain's chair in the corner of the room closest to the door and a trunk against the wall by the bed. The damned thing looked surprisingly real. Much more realistic than the props in Hollywood pirate movies. Its heavy lid was closed and an ancient lock hung from the center.

Over all, the room reminded her of the time that she had gone with her school on a tour of the Tower of London. The White Tower in particular. It had once stood not as one of the world's most infamous prisons but rather as the stronghold of William the Conquer. She remembered the King's chambers on that tour...and the Queens. While these walls were wooden and not great blocks of Norman stone, it was no less austere.

She remembered too from that trip the story of how the King would call for his queen. Except in this world...it was the queen, who did the calling. And she was now that Queen. She shivered at the thought.

Bjorn's hand on her shoulder gave a gentle squeeze and she looked up into those tired green eyes. She knew he meant to reassure her as his mother had tried to that afternoon. But the stiff way that Sven stood at her other side...and especially the thunder clouds that she felt rolling off of Mikael from all the way across the room was anything but.

Petrine closed the wardrobe door and walked over to her. She held out both her hands and Kirsty took them as her mother-in-law drew her away from both Sven and Bjorn. She smiled at her reassuringly but her words were anything but what Kirsty wanted to hear at that moment, "So, dear, who?"

Kirsty shook her head, hoping perhaps she had not heard this woman, whom she thought was her ally, correctly.

Sven took a step towards them, "Mama, Kirsten is tired. The journey, being at sea, she was not born to it. All of this is a bit to take in...overwhelming. She might prefer to be alone this night." He stared directly at Bjorn when he spoke again, "I am sure that none of us will object."

Petrine stared her son down, "Exactly, Sven. All of this is overwhelming and I know that better than any of you. The one thing that your wife does not need this night is to be left all alone in that big bed with her thoughts, her worries, and her fears."

She turned back to Kirsty, though she recognized the wisdom in the older woman's words, her eyes that were so much like Bjorn's bore into her soul as she demanded once more, "Who, Kirsty? Who shares your bed this night?"

"I will," Bjorn stepped forward.

As much as Kirsty wanted, perhaps even needed, the comfort this man alone could offer her. She saw again how tired he was. She could not allow him to sacrifice another night of sleep to be that solace in her storm. She shook her head and said, "No. You need to sleep."

He crossed the room and took both her hands in his. He brought them to his lips with a smile, "It will be fine. I think I can make the sacrifice...just this once," he teased.

But she was not fooled as she shook her head once more, "Tomorrow." She stood on tip toe to brush a kiss on his handsome cheek, "And you better be rested. I am looking forward to more of your excellent...conversation," she teased him.

He frowned at her reply but nodded his head. She looked at Sven, but he had shared her bed last night. And his mood at the moment was not much better than Mikael's.

Mikael. He leaned silently against the wall still. She was not sure he had moved at all during the whole 'tour.' His dark head down, his eyes fixed on the floor, his body stiff, it was clear that he was uncomfortable with all of this. But beyond that she had no idea what she had done, why he objected so strenuously to her presence in this room, or how to reach him...

But he was her husband too. And she remembered Petrine's words that afternoon... "Not all are as easy to love, but sometimes it is one's who make it hardest, who need it the most." Kirsty remembered how this man had tagged so protectively after his daughter as she ran about the playground that morning. She remembered the pained look upon his face when the child had jerked away from his touch. Yes, sometimes they did need it the most.

"Mikael, I chose Mikael," she was surprised at how strong her voice sounded. But she was not prepared for the dark scowl upon Bjorn's face or even the slight stiffening in Sven's stance. But it was brief as if he quickly caught himself before he could betray anymore of his feelings.

Even more she was not prepared for how quickly Mikael pushed himself off that wall, and crossed the room to stand in front of her. "What?" He shook his head and frowned, "No, my daughter needs me. I need to give her a bath and put her to bed. I have been away from her long enough."

Petrine stepped between them, "We can look after Monika one more night, Mikael. Right now, your wife needs you more than your child," his mother reminded him once more.

Her son looked as if he would argue with her, then he looked to Kirsty and her heart stopped at the dark clouds that were no longer grey but black now. They promised not just a thunderstorm but a tornado was brewing in this man's soul. She opened her mouth, was about to take it all back. Try and reassure this woman that she could survive one night alone in this bed. As imposing as it was, it could not come anywhere near to the look on his face.

Petrine put her hands on Kirsty's shoulders and drew her into an embrace, "Good night, dear," was what she said aloud. But as she pulled her close for a kiss on the cheek, she whispered, "I knew you were the One. As wise as you are beautiful."

The woman stepped back and motioned for Sven and Bjorn to precede her from the room. It was Sven though who surprised her by pausing just inside the doorway. He turned and stared first at her and then at his brother, "We are just down the hall....if you need us."

Petrine put a hand on her eldest's shoulder and smiled at Mikael, "I am sure that everything will be just fine. Good night, both of you," she said with a smile as she drew that heavy door closed. There was a finality to the click as she released the handle and left Kirsty standing alone at the foot of the huge bed facing her husband. A man that she could tell wanted to be anywhere else but in this room with her right now.

Tara Cox
Tara Cox
2,497 Followers
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13 Comments
AnonymousAnonymousalmost 9 years ago
hair color

Uh, I'm pretty sure that in the previous series, it was Mikael's hair that was blond?

TediTedialmost 9 years ago

Uh oh, Mikael and his knife...

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 9 years ago
Looking forward to the next one!

I'm really enjoying your stories. They contain significant character development, and are well thought out. I am also enjoying your blogs quite a bit! Thank you for posting so regularly, there are so many times I've enjoyed a story only to have it cut short by an author who has decided not to continue. I hope you're still affected by whatever Gods of Inspiration are around! :)

joodlejoodlealmost 9 years ago
Hell yes!

Yes! You knew what I wanted didn't you? I guess I couldn't have been more clear. Mikael is hot hot hot, and I need more of him. And as "wise" as Kirsty is, I am pretty sure she needs more of him too. I sure hope that the scene with Mikael was not truly "his worst". Thank you for beautifully crafting this tale. Scary men are the best-- at least in stories. I can't wait!!!

MasterfuljimMasterfuljimalmost 9 years ago
Just love the build up

I am enjoying that this isn't just a quick toss piece and is a real story with a real build up. Love it.

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