Chapter Six
Within the stone fortress was a heavy wooden gate that swung open as a groom hurried out with a lantern. Ragnifer encouraged the exhausted reindeer. “All’s well, in we go, my Tardicus heroes.” The door was shut behind them immediately. A gloved hand helped Hanne alight from the sleigh as if she had arrived at the opera in a fine carriage. She could almost laugh at the reality. A thick cloud of pungent musk hung around her like a swarm of gnats. A richly dressed warrior bowed.
Hanne was about to tell him to rise when she realized that he was bowing to the woodsman. “You and your team have done well. Please take your rest here.” Their host turned to her. “Welcome to Gateway Keep, Hanne of the Southlands, I am Karel, paladin of this fortress…”
They had been joined in the corridor by a woman. “Lady, this is my wife, Birgit.”
Birgit was a handsome woman with a warm rich gown draped around her copious bosom. “I will show you where you may rest.”
The keep was a labyrinth of stone walls. As they walked through the corridors, everyone they passed gave a respectful nod to Birgit. “Dame,” they acknowledged, their gaze falling upon Hanne in a frankly curious manner.
“Forgive them; we thought we were finished receiving visitors from below for the year.”
“Below?”
“From areas that are not part of the wall, I meant. The Feast of Michaelmas was yesterday. We consider it the beginning of winter. It is possible to travel from keep to keep throughout the winter, although it’s very difficult, of course.”
“Oh,” Hanne murmured. If Michaelmas had passed, then she had been traveling three weeks. For the rest of her life she would live in a place where winter arrived on September twenty-ninth.
She was shaken out of her reveries when Birgit continued, “We are the gateway to the wall, so we are very much a crossroads. The other keeps get fewer visitors.”
“Does Pinnacle Keep get many?”
Birgit seemed surprised at the question. “Well, no, lady. Deliveries during the summer months and once a year new boys arrive. It’s safe to have the youngest boys at the Pinnacle, because the risk of it being attacked is so small.” She laid a gentle hand on Hanne’s grimy sleeve. “You will be safe there. The wall itself will make sure of it.” She ushered Hanne into a pleasant room lit by several candles. “Will you join my husband and me for an early repast? I am sure you are exhausted.”
She would have been exhausted except for the jangling terror at her uncertain future that made relaxing impossible. Her joints ached. Riding in the sleigh did not jounce her joints apart the way horseback had, but it did require spending hours upon hours huddled still in the biting cold amidst voracious snow tigers and a pack of hungry, if not unfriendly wolves.
“I will send someone for you shortly. Make yourself comfortable, please.”
Hanne undid her bodice and grateful not to be moving at a breakneck clip, settled down to nurse the baby. She looked around. The room was not large, but it did have its own hearth. The narrow bed was neatly made with a woolen coverlet and an enormous fur folded across the foot. A pitcher and ewer sat on a small cupboard. She wondered how many guest rooms there were. How many people lived in these fabled keeps? She had only thought of them in terms of a military facility, albeit one that was mostly a myth. The reality of their existence was taking some getting used to. Tucking the baby into bed, she availed herself of the thankfully hot water to wash her hands and face. Combing the knots out of her hair took some doing. Days with it tucked under a woolen cap while the earth tilted around her at the speed of supernatural reindeer was apparently tough on a woman’s tresses. Running damp hands over it, she managed to smooth it down and then pin it neatly. Shyly, she opened the door and peeked out. Two large strapping young men stood at attention.
Hanne froze. “I am supposed to dine with Birg—” She stopped herself. “The dame and paladin.”
The younger of the soldiers nodded at her. “Yes, ma’am, I will show you where.”
Hanne glanced back into the room. “My daughter is asleep.”
This was not news to the men. “Yes, ma’am, I’m Erik, I will stay here.” She tried not to gawp. The man was hard and lean. His hair and his beard were both long and braided tightly. He bore a healing gash across the bridge of his nose. His mate teased, “Don’t worry, he’s better with babies than he is with his own shield.” Erik took this teasing with an affable laugh. Bizarrely, Hanne felt reassured. “She shouldn’t need anything.” The robust babysitter moved easily into the room and settled his bulk against the wall. Thinking of something, he called after her. “Ma’am? Are there diapers?”
She turned around and showed him where they were. “Please, don’t hesitate to fetch me.”
“I won’t. I promise. I’m the eldest of ten. It will be all right.” The image of the hulking soldier watching over her tender baby reminded her exactly why she had traveled so far. Anything was worth making sure Lilja could be protected. Maybe this Jonis would be the same, Lilja’s wellbeing depended upon it. Seeing the brawny young man intently watching her sleeping baby, she allowed herself to hope, for the first time in some weeks. Some of Hanne’s nerves dissipated, and suddenly, she was hungry.
She followed the maid to the paladin’s apartment. Karel and Birgit’s quarters were a maze of smallish rooms. The maid pulled out a chair and poured a goblet of wine. She dropped a quick curtsy and left the room. Hanne became aware of voices quietly talking in the adjoining room. “She seems pleasant enough,” Karel murmured.
“That baby is darling,” Birgit responded. Hanne smiled with pride.
This will be all right, it will be snowy and cold, but at least the people are kind. Her bubble burst when Birgit continued. “I suppose Jonis didn’t have any choice. Poor man, he needs a dame and they’ve sent him a refugee princess.” Hanne felt her cheeks grow hot. Karel’s voice continued, “We both know we have something else to discuss.”
“I really am sorry,” the woman murmured.
“I know you are, my dear. I am sorry we shall have to deal with this later. I know waiting is hard on you.” She heard what sounded like a gentle kiss.
The outer door violently swung open. Ragnifer walked in so quickly that he seemed to bounce. “My team is resting. It would be rude to not join in for a sup.”
Hanne lifted the decanter. “Will you take wine?”
He hastily held his goblet out, adding, “Just the merest sip.”
She poured a small jot of wine. “Maybe a little more,” he suggested.
She served him more. His raised eyebrow made her fill the goblet to the brim.
A question dawned on her. “I thought you could commune with animals. What about the bear that attacked us?”
“Bears are a stubborn bunch. Forest bears recognize me and will mostly behave… Those snow bears need any meat they can get—they are death on feet. Godless killing machines, they are.”
Their hosts entered the solar and greeted them warmly. Hanne found herself liking her hostess, although she didn’t want to. Perhaps her earlier comments had been more of pity than censure. She seemed to genuinely want to help Hanne settle in and chatted easily about the life of a dame. Holding onto being hurt by what she had overheard seemed foolish, when Hanne was unsure when she would make another woman friend. It was a pleasant meal. Hanne was wondering if what Karel and Birgit had to ‘deal with later’ had to do with discipline within the keep. Birgit didn’t look frightened. Perhaps a little subdued, but she gazed at her husband with genuine affection as she served food off of platters and onto plates. A young man came through the door with a platter that carried a haunch of roasted meat. Hanne saw Birgit give a start and shoo the baffled server back out the door. It dawned on Hanne that Ragnifer was… she was forced to admit that she didn’t actually know what he was, but he was clearly something magic who lived in the forest and could summon reindeer, and thus probably didn’t eat them. Even without the meat, it was a satisfying supper. There was cabbage stuffed with barley and mushrooms. Fine wheat bread, butter, and applesauce rounded out the meal. The glass of wine that Ragnifer had quickly quaffed was causing him to lean awkwardly in his chair. Although the conversation had been convivial, she was not entirely able to forget that Birgit felt sorry for her prospective groom. It made being cheerful hard work. Hanne was exhausted. “Perhaps I could help my friend find his room and retire?” she offered. Birgit had a brief expression that Hanne could not quite interpret. Hanne could make out a bit of relief, a little apprehension and resignation.
Birgit reached for her husband’s hand. “That would be much appreciated; I’ve had your bed warmed. May you know sweet rest this night.” Whatever lay ahead of Birgit, she clearly felt close to her husband.
Even tipsy, Ragnifer moved much faster than Hanne could. She was simultaneously supporting him and struggling to keep up with him. He seemed to know his way easily. They reached his room. Hanne was not sure what lay ahead of her, but she had a good idea of what could lay ahead of the cranky woodsman. She laid her hands on either side of his face and looked straight into his eyes. “Now you listen to me, Ragnifer of the Tardicus. You go straight back down there and you speak to Anvindr about Stella’s hand. She loves you, and you are worthy of her.”
Ragnifer blushed from his beard all the way up to his cap. “I was a wrong-un to call you a hoity-toity. You are as true a lady as ever I have met.”
Hanne felt her eyes mist. She leaned over and gently kissed his cheek while he pretended to screw up his face in protest. She warmly wished him goodnight and began to return to her room.
She got lost returning to her chambers. The keep seemed to be a labyrinth of identical gray stone hallways. All were dimly lit and the same. She realized she was hopelessly bewildered and paused to get her bearings. She decided she had gotten turned around a few hallways back and tried to retrace her steps. Several times she tried and failed to find some sort of landmark. Her optimism fled as she realized that she was absolutely, irrevocably lost. It all became too much. She was adrift in a godforsaken fortress surrounded by people who had taken her in out of pity. She couldn’t even hate them for it, since they were absolutely correct. Hanne did not belong. Birgit had hit the nail on the head. Refugee princess was a kind way to put it; she was actually a convicted murderer who had been banished to the far north. She realized after several frantic turnarounds that she could hear voices. She paused to get her bearings.
“Why am I going to spank you, Birgit?” Karel’s voice was low, and not angry.
Hanne found her heart hammering in her chest. She stepped closer to the door to hear Birgit’s reply.
“Because I didn’t get the things done that I needed to.”
“Is that why?” he asked.
“No, I lied about it.”
“That’s right. I will not be lied to by my wife.”
Hanne virtually had her ear pressed to the door. She was afraid for her new friend. And yet, her friend hadn’t seemed afraid.
There was a hard to interpret low rustling.
“Thank you for pulling your skirt up,” Karel said quietly.
Hanne wondered what was happening; were they going to make love? Why else would she have pulled her skirt up? Was this the keep discipline she had heard of? The sharp smack reverberated through the wooden door. Hanne was so startled that she raised a hand to her mouth. She was waiting for the yelling, cursing, and crashing that in her experience accompanied a disappointed husband. They did not come. The spanking continued at a quick pace; Birgit began to whimper. Karel did not stop spanking her, but he was saying things Hanne couldn’t quite make out, but that sounded stern but comforting. More than once the spanking would briefly stop and it would seem to Hanne that Karel was speaking to Birgit, but he was certainly not yelling. Each time he stopped speaking, he would resume the spanking until his wife began to softly cry. Hanne closed her eyes, swept away by desires she could not name.
“We both know you know better than to lie to me. I expect honesty from you.”
Birgit’s answer was muffled by her crying. The slaps began to fall harder and Hanne could hear Birgit’s full-throated sobs. The spanking slowed down and then she heard Karel say, “There now, all is settled.”
Birgit whispered, “Hold me.”
“Of course, I will, Snowdrop. I love you,” her husband replied.
“I love you too,” Birgit whispered, over and over.
Hanne could scarcely breathe. She had made Friedrich angry and been pushed and slapped. It had never occurred to her to ask for him to hold her afterwards, and she couldn’t imagine that he would have agreed to it. What on earth happened between these paladins and their wives?