The Tribute

The chieftain of the town of Eoferwic (now known as York), a broad muscled man with a braided beard and long braided hair sat back in his chair and watched the goings on around him. The crew of the ship that brought him from Denmark to Britain and up the River Ouse in a surprise attack on the city was celebrating their easy victory over the Northumbrians. He drank from a horn of mead as he watched his men. His day had been spent in meetings with one representative after another from the Northumbrian Earls who were pledging fealty to him in an attempt to retain their lands by bending the knee to the strong Danish chieftain.

He was just about to call for the evening meal to be brought out when his steward came up and spoke quietly in his ear, "Earl Hjartan, Osbert of Bebbanburg is here to see you. He didn't send a representative. He came himself. And he brought tribute. He brought substantial tribute." The steward looked back towards the door of the hall where a gray haired man in obviously well made clothes.

Hjartan nodded and looked at the steward, "thank you, Sven. Bring him forward and I will see him now." As Sven started to turn away, Hjartan grabbed his arm. "This will be the last one for today. I am tired of politics."

Sven nodded and went to speak to the man known as Osbert. Sven spoke to him for a couple of minutes before turning and escorting the man down the length of the hall, stopping five paces from the dais on which Hjartan's seat was. "Earl Hjartan, may I present Ealdorman Osbert of Bebbanburg. With him is his ward, Brida. From what I understand she is his younger brother's eldest child."

Hjartan nodded to both of them, first Osbert, then Brida. He chuckled as Brida stepped back trying to hide behind Osbert and his two escorts. Osbert stepped forward one pace and went down to one knee. Hjartan looked at the two guards with Osbert and was barely able to hide a smile as they frown and scowl at their lord bending a knee to a foreign conqueror. He listened to Osbert as the Briton spoke the words of fealty, adding an offer of tribute to the Dane. Hjartan leaned forward a bit, looking at Osbert as the man rose again.

"Ealdorman Hjartan, I come to you tonight with an oath of fealty and an offer of tribute to seal the bargain between the domains of Bebbanburg and Eoferwic." Osbert stepped back and to the side. He looked at his two guards and nodded. The two guards stepped closer towards each other and grabbed Brida's arms. "Lord Hjartan, I give you Bebbanburg's tribute to the Lord of Eoferwic and a sign of our hope for continued peace." He gestured to Brida with a broad sweeping gesture as the guards stepped forward with her still held tightly between them.

"WHAT?!" Brida exclaimed, trying to pull her arms from the guards iron grip. She looked at the two guards, blazing gaze going from one to the other. "I demand you release me immediately!" The guards refused to speak to her or even look at her as they dragged her before the dais. She turned her head, fiery eyes locking on Osbert. "You told me that I was coming to make fealty to him with you when you brought him the tribute from Bebbanburg! You lying cur! You're doing this to get the lands that are to be part of my dowry. My father trusted you!" Osbert looked at her silently, a small smile the only emotion on his face.

Hjartan looked at the young woman, drinking from his horn of mead as his eyes roamed over her. A soft white woolen dress covered her, clinging to her tightly across her full breasts. He watched impassively as the two guards pushed her to the floor. As she hit the stones before the dais, Hjartan rose and emptied his horn, setting it down in his seat. As he turned around, looking back at the girl, he saw her look up at him, sheer terror in her bright eyes. She looked around quickly, her long, brown hair swinging wildly this way and that as she tried to find a way to escape.

Hjartan walked to where the girl was sprawled on the stones in his new hall, walking slowly around her, his piercing blue eyes locked on her. He looked over at Osbert, a fleeting glance before looking back to the girl. "Is she pure? If she is not virginal..." Osbert cut in, "Nay my lord, she is a virgin. You may check for yourself if you wish."

Hjartan nodded. "I will do that." He looks back to the girl on the floor, her eyes still blazing with anger as she looked up at him. "Stand up and strip girl." Brida shook her head, splitting her glare between Hjartan and Osbert. Hjartan looked at her and spoke again quietly, "Girl, you will stand up and you will strip, or you will be stood up and stripped by someone else."

Brida looked up at him, the pure anger in her eyes beginning to be replaced by fear once again. She just stared at Hjartan until he turned to one of his men and opened his mouth to speak. Then she spoke quickly, "No, I will do as you ask." She got her feet under her and rose, trying to dust her white dress off with her hands as she looked at Hjartan.

The large Dane looked back at her and crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes roaming her concealed curves as he waited for them to be revealed. He lowered his arms and began to once again walk in a slow circle around her as she reached to the bone fastenings on her dress, undoing them one at a time. With each small fastening undone more of her smooth pale skin was revealed. Finally her arms were the only things that were keeping the dress from falling to the floor. Hjartan walked up behind her and spoke quietly, "Drop the dress, Brida." He then continued to walk in a circle around her, keeping his eyes on her exposed flesh.

Brida, tears of indignation in her eyes, lowered her arms, the dress falling to pool at her feet in a puddle of white wool. Tears still rolling down her face, she tried to cover herself with her hands as she heard the whistles and murmurs of appreciation from the men in the hall, her head rising, and eyes focused on a tapestry on the back wall of the hall in an attempt to ignore all around her.

Hjartan began to walk around her once more, nodding his head in appreciation at the show of her beauty. He stopped behind her and, reaching around her, took her arms one at a time and gently raised them, bending them and clasping her fingers together behind her neck at her hairline. Gently, but firmly when she tried to resist, he pulled her elbows back so they were along the same line as her shoulders, spread out like wings behind her head. With a slow step he moved around in front of her. He reached down and took a hold of one leg and bent it slightly, turning it outward and resting it on the toes and the ball of the foot. He stepped back and looked her up and down slowly, a smile forming on his face.

Brida closed her eyes as she felt him positioning her as he wanted her. She had felt the futility of resisting him as he raised her arms and so just allowed him to do as he wished. Opening her eyes, she again focused her attention on the tapestry on the wall depicting a hunting scene as Hjartan began to again circle her slowly. She fought not to flinch as she felt his hand on her belly, rough fingers pressing tight against her flesh as if testing its firmness.

Hjartan smiled at the feel of her soft skin under his fingers, looking over at Osbert and Sven. "Very nice. Soft but firm at the same time." He stopped behind her and placed both hands on her belly, sliding them up her torso slowly. The noise in the hall went quiet as his hands ascended her pale flesh, every inch higher bringing more silence to the celebrating men. Hjartan's smile grew wider as his hands slid up to cup her full soft breasts in his large hands. He squeezed the warm flesh gently, holding them in his hands for only a few seconds before releasing them, plucking her hard nipples with his fingertips before moving his hands downward once more.

He moved his hands down her sides and gripped her thighs, first one, then the other, almost massaging up and down the smooth flesh. He straightened up a bit, one hand sliding up her inner thigh to caress the folds of her sex before squeezing her ass. He moved his other hand between her sleek thighs to caress the smooth skin of her inner thighs, his fingers sliding up and down slowly, the edge of his hand brushing her moist folds, causing her to tense almost involuntarily. Suddenly Hjartan slapped her ass with a loud smack, her body tensing as he does. As she starts to relax from this latest indignity, he slips one finger into her until it presses against her maidenhead.

Hjartan stepped back and pulled his hand from between Brida's thighs as she sobbed, her eyes closed. He looked over at Osbert and Sven and nodded. "The girl is acceptable. There will be peace between Eoferwic and Bebbanburg." The men in the hall cheered and laughed, the celebration resuming as they saw that the inspection was over.

Sven took Osbert's arm and gestured towards the table nearest the dais. The two of them walked over to the table and, as Osbert sat down in the chair Sven pulled out for him, a servant came over and poured the horn in front of him full of ale. Another servant brought him a platter full of meat, bread and cheese. The Ealdorman of Bebbanburg watched from the table as Hjartan spun Brida around and lifted her onto his shoulder, heading for the stairs.

Hjartan took a tighter grip on Brida as she squirmed on his shoulder demanding that he put her down, looking over his other shoulder, "Sven, you and the crew keep Osbert entertained. I am going to go sample Bebbanburg's tribute to Eoferwic." He turned to go up to his chambers, walking carefully up the narrow stairs, laughing at the calls of his men, some offering advice, some asking if he is going to share this tribute as he has shared out all other tributes from the Britons. With a laugh, he calls over his shoulder, "I might share this tribute. Then again, I might not. You never know" as he disappears up the stairs with Brida over his shoulder, giving her firm ass another sharp swat.

Hjartan walked into his chambers with Brida over his shoulder, kicking the door shut and walking over to the bed, depositing her unceremoniously onto it. She tried to scramble away from him, her eyes showing the fear she felt. Hjartan reached down and grabbed her ankle in a grip like iron, pulling her back across the bed towards him. "No no little Brida, you cannot be going anywhere just yet. The fun is just starting."

She looked up at him, shaking her head. "No, please no. Don't do this."

Hjartan laughed. "You say no now, little Pretty. Soon, though, you will be begging me not to stop." He looked at her sternly. "You should know the futility of trying to escape. You are in the middle of my holding. You will be much better treated in here with me than you will if you make it out that door and into the hall with my crew." He laughed quietly. "You heard some of the suggestions they made. I don't think you would enjoy that very much." He released her ankle and removed his belt, tossing it to the dressing table near the bed. Watching her the entire time, he pulled his tunic off over his head, smiling at her as he began to untie the laces of his pants.

Brida forced herself to look into his eyes, trying to keep her attention anywhere but where his hands were. She heard the rustle as his pants dropped to the floor and, almost of their own accord, her eyes dropped to his groin. Her mouth dropped open at her first sight of his cock, her face flaming red with embarrassment.

Hjartan laughed when he saw her reaction to seeing him nude. "That's right little Pretty. It's all for you." He laughed as he began to walk towards the bed, noticing that her eyes didn't leave his rapidly swelling cock. He walked over to the bed and once again grabbed her ankle. He pulled her towards him until her ass was at the edge of the bed. He knelt down beside the bed and gripped her hips, forcing them apart as she tried desperately to keep them closed.

He looked up into her eyes as he lowered his head towards the joining of her thighs, smiling, a feral look of triumph, as he pressed his lips tight to her sex. He speared his tongue into her suddenly, licking slowly up and down her slit, disregarding her sobs as he lapped up and down deliberately. He kept her thighs spread with his hands as he licked his way along her slit, moving in over and around, spreading his saliva around liberally to moisten her entrance. He chuckled quietly as her body jerked as his tongue flicked against her clit. Feeling her body's reaction, he flicked his tongue against her clit again and again, each time her body jerking with the contact. As he ran his tongue slowly down her slit, he began to taste the warm sweetness of her as her body betrayed her by beginning to show her arousal at the attention.

Hjartan rose up, keeping his hips between her thighs to keep them spread. Brida tried to get away from him again but he reached down and grabbed her wrists. Quickly he tied them together and then to the bed. With one hand he plucked at her nipples, firmly squeezing and rolling the hard buds as with the other hand reached down between her thighs to caress her clit with his thumb. As she responded to his fingers, he moved his hard rod to her opening, forcing the engorged head past the entrance into her tight tunnel. Feeling that she wasn't quite wet enough, he just rocked slowly back and forth as his thumb kept teasing her clit, stroking it first with a feathers caress, then with a tight pressure, and again with the touch of a feather.

She closed her eyes, struggling against the fiber binding her to the bed, trying to get away from his touch and his caressing fingers. Tears rolled from her eyes in embarrassment as she felt her body betraying her, her sex moistening to allow him easier access to her virgin opening. Voice quivering with dread, she opened her eyes and looked at Hjartan, "Please, I beg of you. Don't do this. I can give you lands. I am heir to vast estates. That is why Osbert brought me here. So he can claim my lands as his own."

Hjartan smiled down at her. "I will do this. And if I wish, I will take your lands as my own afterwards. But even if Osbert keeps the lands, I will still get tribute from them, so they will practically be mine anyway."

As she opened her mouth to speak, he thrust forward, his hard shaft easily battering past the barrier of her virginity. The words she was about to speak were replaced by a cry as his thick length powered fully into her, stretching the newly opened tunnel. Hjartan, after the initial hard thrust, slowly rocked back and forth on top of her, sliding himself in and out of her exquisitely tight tunnel. He leaned down, putting his hands on each side of her as he thrust faster into her tightness, his hips meeting hers with each long deep thrust into her increasingly willing pussy.

Soon her struggles changed their tone, from attempts to escape to passionate attempts to reach Hjartan as her pleasure increased with each long deep thrust into her. "Please untie me Hjartan. Let me hold you." She lifted her body to him, eyes pleading with him as well to untie her as he thrust faster into her. She moaned deeply as he pulled almost from her now slick tunnel and drove back into her, his eyes locking on hers as his weight pinned her repeatedly to the bed.

Hjartan moaned with pleasure as her tightness began to welcome his driving shaft, putting all of his weight on one arm, the other hand reaching up to undo the knot at her wrists. As soon as the knot came loose, her arms wrapped tight around him, pulling her body up to his as he continued to rock forward relentlessly into her, their hips driving together again and again. He wrapped his arms tight around her and rolled, pulling her on top of him as she squealed in surprise.

Laughing, Brida pulled her hands out from under him and put them on his chest, pushing herself up as his hands slid down her back and gripped her firm ass, squeezing as her legs lifted and dropped her on his turgid shaft. She moaned in ecstasy as his hips rose to meet her when she dropped onto him, his pistoning cock rubbing the tip of her clit as she leaned forward slightly. She looked into his eyes as she felt his hard cock pushing deep into her with each thrust upwards, his feet on the bed so he could arch his hips up to meet hers.

Squeezing her firm ass he kept driving into her gripping tightness. He leaned up, his teeth closing on one hard nipple as her breasts bounced from the impact of their hips slamming together. His moans grew louder with each thrust as her own cries of pleasure began to build until, as his throbbing cock pulsed within her, sending stream after stream of his hot sticky cum deep spraying into her waiting pussy, she came as well, her already tight pussy milking his pulsing cock with each hard thrust into her. He groaned deeply in pleasure, the sound muffled by the nipple between his teeth as he spent himself within the slickly squeezing confines of her sweltering depths.

As Hjartan dropped back on the bed with a moan, Brida collapsed on his chest, noticing for the first time the deep marks her nails had left in his weathered skin. She ran her fingers over them as she lay on his chest, his thick cock still within her tightness, watching as blood began to fill a couple of the marks. She sighed happily and turned her head up to kiss his chin. She murmured "I am your servant, Lord" as she rested her head on his chest.

He laughed softly. "This I know, lass. I expect no less." He looked down at her with his arms pillowed behind his head as he felt her shifting and saw her looking at him curiously. With another laugh he winked. "I would expect no less from the Ealdorwoman of Bebbanburg." As her mouth fell open in shock, he raised one hand to stop her from speaking. "As you have only Osbert for a male relation, at least for now, I will make Bebbanburg a ward of my estates under your control until someone comes for you as a bride."

Brida, still in a state of shock, could only stammer "W-w-why, Lord?"

Hjartan smiled at her. "Because I do not care for the way you Northumbrians do your politics. You smile to each other's faces and the whole time you're just looking for the best place to plant the knife in their back. It is not just the people of this Kingdom either. The other Kingdoms, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex, they are all that way. It weakens you and is why we will eventually conquer the entire island. You have shown forthrightness and strength of character. That is why you will be the Ealdorwoman of Bebbanburg."

She just smiled, nodding her head silently with tears in her eyes, able to just choke out softly, "Thank you, Lord." She looked around the room and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Hjartan smiled and caressed her cheek. "Come sweet Ealdorwoman. Let us go and inform your uncle Osbert of my decision." He lifted her from atop him with barely any effort and set her beside him in the bed before swinging his legs over the side of it and reaching for his pants. He slid his legs into them and stood up, turning to face her as she jumped up and hugged him tightly before letting him go and sitting back on the bed, looking down at herself with a bit of a blush.

"Hjartan? My dress is still downstairs. It would not be right for me to go to become the Ealdorwoman of Bebbanburg nude."

Hjartan smiled and walked over to a small wardrobe, opening it up and pulling out a long fur-lined robe. He laughed and tossed it to her. "That will be a little big on you, but it will cover you nicely until you can reclaim your dress, and even after."

Brida caught the robe and slipped it on, belting it around her waist and standing up as Hjartan finished getting dressed. The long robe fell heavy on her shoulders and trailed behind her. She smiled up at Hjartan as he reached over and adjusted the fall of the robe slightly.