Valhalla Hott (16 page)

why one of the women explained.

“The little ones cry too much and are of little to no use and

are killed or left for dead on the trails we follow. The older ones

were either killed in the camps on the raids or slaughtered when

they reached camp if they were male. Anki doesn‟t want anyone‟s

son taking revenge. The others are forced to work as hard as us

women, and they are easy to control.” The woman pointed at a

filthy child of perhaps five, he was sitting quietly near a woman.

“He is Anki‟s son. The boy is the youngest here, and he has been

permitted to live. Although except for life, Anki shows him little

mercy and barely tolerates him. The woman beside him isn‟t his

mother. His mother tried to run, and Anki killed her.”

“The woman who was beaten and raped to death?” Valerie

asked appalled.

“Yes,” she replied sadly.

Valerie‟s anger rose and her blood boiled. She wanted Hott to

come and slice Anki‟s foul head from his shoulders. But she waited,

biding her time until the right moment.

* * * *

Finna sobbed when Anki approached her, and she huddled

closer into Valerie‟s embrace. Both women stood.

“She‟s a child,” Valerie snapped at the man.

“Not when I‟m through with her,” he drawled.

Valerie shoved Finna behind her. She put on her best

flirtatious smile. She reached out and ran a hand across Anki‟s

chest. She slid her hand slowly down his bare chest to his groin and

squeezed.

“Wouldn‟t you rather have a woman?” she asked in a sultry

voice. “I can do things that will have you falling on your ass.” She

heard a quickly muffled chuckle.

Anki looked interested. “Show me here what you can do.”

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Valerie gave a quick look to the other women who had

strategically positioned themselves around the hut.

She took Anki‟s wrist into her hand. “You‟re so powerful,”

she said. Her other hand gripped the same wrist.

The next thing Anki knew he was sailing in the air and landed

onto the open fire on his ass. The women attacked. Anki had

dumped a pan of cooking grease onto the fire when he had landed

and he was howling in agony as his clothing caught fire. He ran out

of the hut flapping his arms wildly while stripping. Valerie saw a

woman usher Anki‟s son out of the hut soon after. She should have

known the boy was the man‟s sooner when she had noted he was

the youngest, and the only child allowed to sleep with the adults.

A man landed on his butt right in front of her with a hard

thump. He began to rise with a growl of rage on his lips. He faced

the woman who had tossed him with a snarl when Valerie‟s finger

tapped his shoulder. He turned, and she slammed the fry pan into

his nuts. He screamed.

“Any head you hit is fine,” Valerie said before chuckling.

She then whacked the bent over man over his blond head. The

warrior went down hard and was knocked out cold. Valerie smiled

down at the pan and spun it around.

“A handy weapon in any century!”

Valerie heard a loud bong and turned to see Finna dump a

stewing pot and its contents over another man‟s head. The girl

then walloped him again with a piece of firewood. Everywhere she

looked men were flipping and flopping to the ground. She heard a

tremendous battle cry from behind her that was cut short. She

turned and looked into the stunned face of Hott as he and the other

men barged through the open hut door. A man went sailing

through the air, and Hott ducked as he flew by.

“They‟ve all gone mad!” a man howled and tried to flee past

Hott, who ran him through with his sword.

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Valerie grabbed Finna and sent her into the waiting arms of

her father. Valerie raced to Hott. Hott‟s men overtook the

renegades, and Hott dragged Valerie outside. She could hear the

screams of the men as Ulfr and the others killed the raiders. A few

escaped, but Hott looked unconcerned. Hott‟s men had secured

the horses and dispatched the few remaining raiders.

* * * *

Hott chuckled when he heard a few of the men grumble that

Valerie and a bunch of women had spoiled what could have been

an amazing battle. He didn‟t care as long as his little Valkyrie was

safe in his arms. Hott looked around at the women shuffling their

feet uneasily, watching him. Valerie approached him.

“They‟re a bit afraid you‟ll kill them and their young for

revenge. They were prisoners here. Used and abused, their

children murdered in front of them. Please use your indoor voice

when you speak to them,” she pleaded.

Hott rolled his eyes, thinking it one of her more annoying

terms.

“You are all free to go!” Hott yelled as quietly as he could, he

looked at Valerie who nodded with approval.

“Now wait a minute,” Geirr snapped. “I came here looking to

find a wife.”

“I will wed you,” a woman piped up quickly, and stepped

forward for his inspection. She was a full-bodied buxom blonde

with a girl of perhaps nine clinging to her skirts. “I have no home to

go to. I will give you many children, and I will warm your bed.”

Geirr looked pleased and went to her. He eagerly reached out

and tested her breasts weight in his open palms. She immediately

flipped him on his arse onto the dirt.

“Damn you, Valerie. Why did you have to go and teach them

that?” he shouted, rubbing his behind.

“Welcome to my world,” Hott muttered.

A few of the men sniggered.

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The woman looked down at the fallen man with a stern look.

“There will be none of that in front of the wee ones,” she said. But

when she held out her hand, he sheepishly took it with a shrug.

Most of the women were agreeable to accompanying the men

to their home. A few wanted to go home and set out together as

they were from the same village.

“What of him?” a woman asked. “His father is the one who

murdered your wife and boy.”

Anki‟s son stood sucking his thumb, swaying with his eyes

downcast. Hott went and stood before him.

He squatted down. “What‟s your name, boy?”

“He has no name,” a woman said sadly. “Anki declared him to

be an idiot. He doesn‟t talk, he used to at one time, but well with

all he‟s seen, why would he make any noise? He didn‟t want his

father‟s attention. No one did.”

Valerie came over to place her hand on Hott‟s shoulder. Hott

picked up the child.

“Anki took my son, now his son is mine. We will teach him to

speak, and he will be a great warrior.”

Valerie looked at Hott with a strange expression. He

wondered if she were annoyed.

“And what will you name our new son?” she asked to his

relief.

“Hrolf.” Hott lifted the boy high into the air under his arms

for all to see. “My son, Hrolf!”

A cheer went up. Hott smiled at the boy when he lowered

him onto his feet. He ruffled his hair. He kissed Valerie hard on the

mouth, and she kissed him back. Odin was indeed smiling on him.

He had his little Valkyrie, a baby on the way, and now a new son

he could train to be a great warrior, like his father—him.

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Chapter 10

Hott took Valerie and their new son home on Anki‟s horse.

Valerie heard the men discussing Anki from their new mounts on

their return. The remarks were heated with fury. The women,

settled on the horses before or behind them, remained quiet and

fearful. The children, too, were terrified of the unknown.

A hunting party would set out in the morning. The loud

chatter of many warriors voicing their opinions was an awesome

thing to be privy to. Valerie‟s ears rang and she cringed when more

than a few men explained in vast detail what should be done to

Anki and the other men who had escaped when they were

apprehended. The images conjured in her mind made her gag and

her belly heave in revolt. Hott did some yelling of his own when he

noted her distress.

“Enough!” he boomed.

Though he had leaned back away from her ear, Valerie

jumped, as did Hrolf.

“These women and children have seen enough without your

graphic mutterings. Warrior talk should be done among warriors.

Which woman before you do you think will jump into your furs

with images of Anki‟s head on a pike or his flesh peeled from his

bones or his eyes gauged? No doubt they think he deserves it, as do

we all, but we can continue the discussion tomorrow amongst

ourselves while we search.”

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Many agreed and though there was still the occasional

grumble, the men settled their ranting. They rode throughout the

night and, succumbing to exhaustion, and the lulling gait of the

horse, Valerie fell asleep safe in Hott‟s arms. The boy slumbered in

hers.

When they reached the village it was decided many of the

women and children would sleep in the large cabin. They would be

too vulnerable outside and had no knowledge of the men. For now

they wished to stay together under one roof. The men had no

intention of losing their great fortune and many stayed to keep

guard, both inside and around the grounds. They had no concern

the women would run. They had agreed to accompany them of

their own free will, but there was a chance danger lurked. Anki

and his lust for killing coupled with revenge could prove volatile.

The cabin was made of wood, and Anki‟s weapon of choice was

fire.

Valerie was simply grateful to be home. She was concerned

about the child. He had jumped fitfully, awaking from sleep many

times. She wondered if he was just frightened, or if he had trained

himself to sleep for only short periods of time. He was small for his

age and malnourished.

After being at the camp only a short time she knew why. The

men ate first, the women second, and the children were given

scraps, if anything was left. She had been told on many days there

was nothing. Valerie had been appalled and wondered why Anki

had kept the boy.
Why not feed your own son?
The man was a

monster. She was angry he had gotten away for the women and

children‟s sake. She was also fearful.

What if he followed them seeking revenge?

She had burned him, and made him look like a fool. She

couldn‟t see him letting her get away with that. He would kill her

if he got the chance.

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Valerie carried the sleeping child into their hut and placed him

on the pallet. She curled her tired body around him. She felt Hott

crawl into the furs beside her and Ulfr on the other side. She

pointedly removed Ulfr‟s wandering hand. He muttered an

apology and said it was an accident. Accident or not she

determined this sleeping arrangement would never work and

needed to be changed in the morning.

The boy couldn‟t possibly sleep with them. Even if Ulfr

decided to have another woman and leave their hut for his own,

the sleeping arrangements wouldn‟t work. The chaos had been too

confusing to get a sense of whether or not a woman had turned

Ulfr‟s head, though Valerie doubted it. When the men had found

them, Ulfr had looked as relieved as Hott to have her back.

No the sleeping arrangement just wasn‟t plausible. No child

slept with their parents every night—right? But for tonight she was

too tired to think about it. Valerie closed her eyes but sleep was a

long time in coming.

* * * *

Valerie woke to find the men gone. She heard Hott call to

Ulfr from outside the hut and knew he wasn‟t far. Hrolf stood

beside the bed with his thumb stuck in his mouth quietly watching

her sleep. She heard his stomach rumble and smiled at him.

“Somebody‟s hungry,” she said.

She rose, still fully clothed from the previous night. Her

mouth felt stale from the dry disgusting scrap of bread she had

been given in Anki‟s camp, her only meal. She ran her tongue over

her teeth and made a face. She needed to find a wet cloth to clean

her teeth and something to rinse her mouth out with. But first the

boy and his needs.

She went to her cooking pot and was happy to see leftover

porridge. She never would have thought she‟d be so grateful for

leftovers. She plopped a gob of the cold porridge into a wooden

bowl and grimaced, her belly rolled. It was congealed, and there

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was only enough for one person really. Perhaps she had best eat

later and see if the boy could stomach this better than she felt she

could. Hrolf stood looking up at her hopefully. She led him to the

table, and sat him down. She placed the food in front of him. He

then looked at her sadly.

“I know it looks gross, but it should hold you until I can make

some bread.”