Chapter 21: Chapter 21

FJORN

Stepping onto the porch, I could hear Astrid and Hilda laughing as I opened the door.

Kendra was standing there, wearing a tight woven dress, as the women braided her hair. She had a thin blue line painted across her cheeks and over her nose. It was hard to believe that just a short time ago she was living in a Saxon village.

“Beautiful,” I said, stepping inside and closing the door behind me. The room grew cold as she looked at me.

“We shall leave,” Astrid said, taking Hilda’s hand, bowing her head, and walking out.

“Stunning,” I said, walking over to Kendra and placing my hands on her hips.

“I have to look the part, right?” Kendra said, looking up at me.

As I leaned down to kiss her, she turned her head, and my lips landed on her ear. Taking a deep breath, I stepped back.

“Would you like to go somewhere with me?” I asked.

“Where?”

“Can you ride?” I asked.

“No, I’ve never been on a horse, except that one night when…” Kendra looked at the floor, and I felt the rage threatening to bubble up again. I knew what night she was thinking of, and I wished I could erase it from her memory.

“Why did you take me?” she asked suddenly, fiddling with her hair.

“I wanted a beautiful wife I could love and who would love me. A wife to hold and have my children.”

“There are women here who would do that.”

“Yes, there are women here, but I don’t know if they would love me, or—”

“Or want to be free?” she asked, cutting me off.

“Yeah,” I said, reaching for her. She turned away and walked to the door.

“Teach me,” she said, looking at me.

“What?”

“Teach me to ride,” she said with a soft half-smile. Taking her hand, I walked outside. Hand in hand, we walked to the stables.

***

“We’ll ride together at first, then when you feel like it, you can ride alone,” I said as I carefully chose a horse. She nodded, and I saddled up a strong but gentle steed, Oden. He was a large black horse with white hooves. After mounting Oden, I leaned down, took her hand in mine, and with a swift pull, she was sitting in front of me.

“Are you ready?” I asked, pulling the reins to the left as Oden slowly walked out of the stable. I could feel how unsteady she was sitting in front of me. Oden shifted his weight, and Kendra jumped, digging her nails into my hand.

Clenching my jaw, I moaned. Even the smallest touch made me hard. Ignoring it, I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her into my chest. “You’re safe, you know,” I whispered in her ear.

“I know, it’s just that I’ve never done this before,” she said, slowly loosening her grip on my hand. Giving Oden a small kick, he walked toward the front gate. Giving the watchmen a nod, the wooden gate creaked open.

Looking down at Kendra in front of me, I got an evil idea. Giving Oden two fast taps, Kendra fell onto my chest. Tightening my grip on her waist, Oden took off in a full run.

I could feel her warmth on me as she held my arm tightly. Leaning down, I whispered in her ear, “Having fun yet?”

“No. Please stop,” she whimpered.

Pulling hard on the reins, Oden slowed to a stop. Pushing off my chest, Kendra landed on the ground. As she started to walk away, I hopped down, pulling on her arm to make her stop.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Away,” she said, trying to pull out of my grip.

“Away where? You don’t even know where you are,” I said, still holding her.

“Fine, I’m going home,” she said, turning to look at me.

“Okay, get back on Oden and we’ll go home.”

“Not your home, Fjorn. My home. In my village.”

Gripping her arm harder than I meant to, she let out a small “ouch.” I could feel the rage filling my lungs as I stared into her eyes. How dare she, after everything I’d done to show her I loved her?

“You will not go anywhere I don’t tell you to go.” After the words left my mouth, I knew I should stop there, but how could I?

“You can’t stop me. Now let me go,” she said, pulling hard on my fingers and trying to get away.

“You don’t understand, do you? You’re a lamb in a wolf’s claws,” I said. I closed my eyes. I needed to stop. I needed to stay in control.

“Fuck you!” she snarled, her voice dripping with anger.

“You have,” I said, dragging her back to Oden.

“Fjorn, stop. You’re hurting me,” she cried.

Picking her up, I threw her over Oden’s back. I mounted him, riding back to the village. Kendra kicked and screamed the whole way, begging me to let her go, but I ignored her. Arriving at the house, I slid down, pulling her to her feet.

She dug her feet into the dirt, pulling and fighting me the whole way, but I just kept dragging her with me.

“You’re a monster,” she yelled, smacking me in the back. Stopping, I slowly turned to look at her. Her eyes grew wide, and for the first time, I didn’t want to be in control with her. I didn’t want to hold the rage in.

“Oh, I’ll show you a monster,” I said, gritting my teeth.