7

Alena did not feel more refreshed and invigorated from her walk. She sat down in her chair, after removing her light cloak and hanging it on its peg. She tried to finish the embroidery on her wedding shoes but a great sense of listless enveloped her. She found herself staring off into space several times with now clear thoughts in her mind. She finally gave up pretending to be busy and just sat there waiting for the next person to arrive.

Felix arrived early and in such an exuberant mood that he put everyone on edge. He burst through the door unannounced and sat himself down in front of Alena without introductions. He immediately called for wine and was told by Marta in a stern tone (that he missed) that there was no wine to be had.

“No wine?” He jumped to his feet and began pacing about the room. “We certainly will need to change that. A good household should come equipped with the best of everything. Madam, how can you allow such neglect?”

“Sir,” Alena replied, “wine does not travel to our little outpost very well and we do not have the room to store it if it did.” She motioned him back to his seat. “As I am sure you noticed we certainly have no room to grow our own here.”

“Yes, now I understand.” He plopped into the chair.

“We have an excellent beer. I think you will it quite nice.” Alena directed Marta to pass Felix a bowl of beer.

Felix looked at the ceramic bowl from several angles before drinking. It was clear he found the accommodations lacking. He grimaced after sipping the beer and pronounced it fair but said he had always found beer too heavy for his taste.

Alena chuckled to herself. Felix was a big man in height and girth. It was clear from looking at him that he ate and drank well beyond his needs. His face was florid and the redness extended to his ear lobes which stuck out like the handles of a pot. His hair was the color and texture of straw and was cut in some many layers that it stuck out in many places and at very odd angles. His weight did not prevent him from bouncing around the room. He had a manic sort of energy that caused him to stand up at inappropriate times and then fall into the chair as if exhaustion had taken over for a brief moment. His speech was as erratic as his behavior and soon everyone within eye and ear shot were rubbing at the headaches they were acquiring. His clothes were very expensive but did not fit him well. They pulled in some spots and hung loosely in others. They looked as if they had been made for someone else who had tossed them to Felix without even wearing them once.

“I can tell you, this place needs a good cleaning up,” Felix announced to the room on one of his energy highs.

“I beg your pardon,” said Alena. She felt like she could barely contain her temper.

“This town, the town across the lake: they need cleaning up. I can tell you I would not put up with all of these people getting killed under my watch.” He banged his fist on the fire place mantel. “I would do away with men fornicating together. And unmarried people fornicating would be stopped, too.” He pounded his fist again. “I will instigate inspections of the inns by the magistrate to keep people in their own rooms. I’ll be buggered if I would allow these shenanigans could go on while I’m around.”

He went on to decry the behavior of Elsin and Vix in great detail. He spoke as if he knew of their relationship and he was an intimate acquaintance of both men yet he claimed not to have known they were lovers. He gave details of the death scene that were in direct contradiction to what Balder had told Alena. According to Felix, both men were found in the bed together, entwined in a lovers’ embrace and they were both stabbed in the back.

Alena did her best to look like she was listening, but she was reaching the end of her tolerance levels. She reminded herself that the council had suggested she never say or do anything to anger or embarrass any of the men as it would reflect badly on them all. If any of them needed discipline, control or chastising, she was to leave it to Balder in particular or one of the other council members. She should always appear open, friendly and impartial. She had agreed to this plan in the beginning not knowing how hard it would be to remain genial to such an oaf.

Just when she thought she could take this baboon no longer, Detlef arrived to take Felix away for a hunt. As soon as Felix saw Detlef, he forgot all about Alena and even walked away from her in the middle of a sentence he was speaking. He linked his arm with Detlef and he began chattering about what kind of animals he preferred to kill. Detlef looked back at Alena and winked as he escorted Felix out of the door.

Everyone in the room let out a collective sigh of relief and began chattering like Felix, a few mimicking his speech patterns and conversation while the others laughed heartily.

“I think he would make a fine husband,” said Alena. “He will watch our every move and chastise our behavior and then go out and kill all of our animals.” This announcement received more laughter. “Wine, wine, bring me wine,” she mimicked. She spun around and clapped her hands. On turning around she saw there in the doorway, Felix had returned for his cap. His face was a deep red and his eyes were narrowed in anger. The room became completely still.

Detlef pulled Felix back out of the door forcefully. It took him several tugs before Felix would move. He finally allowed himself to be dragged out of the house, but he remained long enough for Alena to know that she had created an enemy. He might not be very bright, she thought to herself, but he seemed like he could be quite dangerous. She had no doubts that he would broadcast his complaint loud and clear throughout the region.

Alena felt bad that she had gotten caught performing such childish behavior and setting such a poor example for her people. Yet, she couldn’t feel too bad; the man really was a fool. The question would be how dangerous a fool would he turn out to be?

All they could do now was wait and see. Hopefully, Detlef would be able to undo the damage she had caused. A few dead animals and a great deal of beer might be enough to at least convince Felix not to say anything bad about her and the towns. Alena was sure they had lost another one, though, which was good because she would never have been able to stomach Felix.

Six of the thirteen men had been initially addressed: two were dead, two were uninterested, one was intolerable and one was a good possibility. She wondered what the other seven would bring. She had one more man to meet today and several hours before she had to do so. Alena decided she needed a nap to try and get rid of the headache that threatened to take over her brain.

She asked Marta to make her a cup of chamomile tea with honey and bring it in to her. Alena went to her room, shut the door and stripped down to her chemise. She got into bed, propping her pillows up so se could sit. She wound her hair up and tied it to the top of her head with a ribbon of cloth. Marta came in with her tea and gave it to her. Alena sat sipping the tea for a few minutes then put the cup on the stool by her bed, laid her head back and fell sound asleep.

Before she knew it, Marta was in Alena’s room and shaking her awake. Alena woke slowly. She did not feel rested. While she did not remember having any dreams, she felt like her sleep was disturbed none the less.

Marta had brought in fresh cold water to help Alena revive herself. Alena slashed the water on her face, neck and chest. The brisk, wetness woke her up quickly. She put on a fresh chemise, put her gown back on and let her braids back down. She pinched her cheeks to get some color back into them and went back out into the communal hall. She sat down and picked up her embroidery just as a knock came to the door. Alena took a deep, steadying breath and nodded to Marta to open the door.

Leni dropped a ceramic bowl. One of the men cursed under his breath. Marta stood at the door with her mouth hanging open.

In the threshold of the door stood the most beautiful man any of them had ever seen. He was also a man that none of them recognized. He also had a slave’s torque around his neck. He stood in the door way, waiting, obviously used to this kind of reaction. A quirky, wry smile barely curled his lips. He waited patiently to be asked in. Finally Marta came to her senses and asked his business.

He spoke so quietly that his responses could not be heard by any one else in the room. Marta giggled. She turned around to Alena, cheeks pink, hand on her chest.

“He is come from his master to say that Georg, his master, will be a few minutes late. Georg has sent this man to tell us a story until Georg can arrive.”

“Pray, Marta, let the man enter the house,” said Alena.

Marta giggled again. She showed the slave to the chair by Alena and motioned for him to sit. He arched an eyebrow at her and she blushed.

“I do not think it would be fitting for me to sit in the lady’s presence,” he said.

Alena nodded.

“What is your name?” she asked him.

“You may call me Greydere.” He stood quietly in front of Alena, looking serenely in her eyes in a way that was very direct for a slave. “Do you wish me to tell you a story?”
“I think we could all use some distraction,” Alena said. “What kind of story will you tell us?”

“One filled with love and tragedy and comedy, of course.” Greydere stood quite still by the fireplace mantel, poised as if he were on stage. His long arms hung comfortably by his sides, his hands large but with fine even fingers ending in clean, manicured nails. His gaze took in the entire room, eyes moving slowly from person to person, mesmerizing each one until he or she had stopped moving and paid attention to him intently.

Greydere had black hair that curled around his face and at the nape of his neck, reminding Alena of the dark indigo of a raven’s wings. His eyes that held everyone entranced glittered with a cornflower blue surrounded by long black eye lashes. When he spoke, his well defined lips moved slowly and deliberately over clean white even teeth.

“Once upon a time, long before our fathers and their fathers walked the earth a giant lived within the depths of these mountains.”

The people of the hall moved closer to the fire to hear Greydere’s story. The younger ones sat on the floor and men pulled up stools for the women.

“The giant slept quietly in his den below the earth until one day when a brash young boy stumbled upon his bed.

The boy, whose name was Jared, did not know a giant slept in the caverns into which Jared had gone seeking his fortune. Jared simply searched for a treasure to bring his family out of poverty and to marry the girl he loved.

Jared packed his sack, carried with him extra arrows and flint knives and packed his fire starting coals in a pouch lined with moss. He also put extra fur liners for his leather boots in his sack along with a fur cape to line his cloth cape. He had leather covering that he could put over top of himself to keep out the rain and damp. A spare pair of leggings and two spare shirts completed his clothing supplies. He would need to keep his food supplies limited because of their weight and the space they would take up. He would have to trust his hunting and gathering abilities to keep himself fed. He would carry dried venison with him for those times, like in the caves, when he thought he might not find food. He would take some willow bark for pain, and chamomile as an antiseptic just in case he got hurt. A double thick wool cloth would serve as a blanket and an added cape if it got really cold. With these items packed, rolled and tied to his sack, he felt ready to go on his journey.