Chapter Nine
They reached Ascension Keep on the eighth day of traveling and Hanne had to gasp for breath. She was concerned about the baby, but Lilja didn’t appear bothered by it. Hanne had thought the air couldn’t get any thinner. She had been wrong. The fortitude of the Snow Force was astonishing. She was gasping for breath just riding in the sled, and they didn’t seem bothered in the least. Perhaps that was another reason they spent their childhoods near the top of the world, to build up their endurance. There had only been a few hours of daylight, they were still riding hard after it was dark. Hanne gasped; the sky appeared to be on fire. Long fingers of silver and pink light raced like lightning across the sky. The firmament danced with tongues of fire and it looked like the stars were making love to each other.
Ascension Keep was cold and inhospitable. Hanne wasn’t sure if it was because of its location, but it felt very different than the keeps she had previously been in. No one met the dog sleds. After much banging upon it, the wooden gate was raised. The keep was very clean, but lacked any of the tapestries, rugs, and cushioned chairs that had made the other keeps comfortable. This was a military installation, there was no doubt about it. The young soldiers smartly saluted the drivers, and in a remarkably efficient manner unloaded the dog sleds. Hanne was asked to follow a lanky young acne-prone ensign. As she entered a long mess hall, there was the instantaneous sliding back of benches and forty teenaged boys had stood up. She was not sure of what to say.
She blushed and before she thought of anything, a curt voice commanded, “As you were, lads.” As one, the boys silently sat down and resumed their eating. She was directed to a chair and an older woman sat next to her and took Lilja from her arms.
No one was unkind, but no one spoke to her. She had the distinct impression that meal times at Ascension Keep were about fueling up, and little else. She was not unhappy when a bell rang and wordlessly, the teens stood, bowed to their guest, and filed out. After being shown to her room, Hanne laid Lilja on the floor to spend some time playing. Withdrawing the enormous book, The Keeper of the Keep, she settled down on the fur near the baby and began to read. There were chapters devoted to preparing large game for the table, starting vegetable seedlings indoors, and maintaining the records of each boy. None of these were what she was interested in. She flipped through the book, her eyes scanning for more about the relationship between a paladin and his dame. She found what she was looking for.
The marriage of the paladin and his dame provides the bedrock that allows the Snow Force to produce exemplary young soldiers. You must always keep in mind, the tremendous weight your husband carries. He is a soldier who is also responsible for forming the characters of the future Snow Force. Because he is an honorable man, he will not seek any other physical relationships. As his dame, it is your duty to be open to his advances, enjoy his attention, and meet his physical needs.
Hanne slammed the book shut so loudly that it made Lilja jump and begin to cry. Hanne gathered her to her breast and cursed the life that awaited her.
So I get spanked if he’s mad at me, I have to be his sex slave and I’m supposed to think it’s all a privilege… While I freeze my ass off on an iceberg, she thought bitterly.
Laying the book on the bedside table, she undressed. She massaged her scalp with her fingertips and shook her head to loosen her braids. It took a while to work a hairbrush through her tangled locks. She set the brush down and reopened the book.
You can expect your husband to be faithful, devoted and honorable. A paladin is always defined by his strength. They are manly men and enjoy pleasing their woman, heart, soul, and body.
She had to admit the thought aroused her. She swatted the palm of her hand with the back of her hairbrush and shivered with delight at the satisfying ‘thwack’ it gave.
* * *
By the time they arrived at the ninth keep, which had the uninspired name of Novum Keep, she had a crick in her neck from gazing up at the majestic skies. She was too nervous about her final destination to pay much attention to her bedroom. She ate, nursed Lilja, and they both slept. A knock on the door woke her and she settled into the sled for the last time.
All too soon she found herself on the very last leg of her journey. She struggled to see around the back of the sled driver. The man’s bulky furs meant that Hanne couldn’t see things that were in front of the sled until they were right up upon them. She sensed the dogs’ excitement as they suddenly pulled up in front of an enormous stone fortress. With much clanging, a heavy metal gate was pulled up and the sleds swiftly entered. They were in a courtyard. Hanne had been in castles and she knew that this was a defense. Anyone entering the gate could be locked in and vulnerable to attack. As soon as their convoy was in, the outer gate fell with a resounding thud. Only then was the interior gate opened. The fortress was of gray stone, and even craning her neck she couldn’t see to the top of it. The sled came to a skidding stop in front of a door that would be suitable for a giant. The driver skillfully unlaced the leather cover that secured Hanne and the baby. Only a strong arm under her elbow allowed Hanne to rise on her stiff legs and climb awkwardly out of the dog sled. She braced herself to meet her groom as the door swung open. The onslaught of excited boys caused her to careen on the ice. Cheerful hands helped her upright. The movement of the group carried her into the keep. A loud woman’s voice cut through the din. “Boys, don’t crowd the poor woman—off wit’ ye. You’ll see her soon enough at the feast!”
Hanne scanned the crowd for the paladin. She didn’t see anyone who looked like they could be the famed warrior. The boys and few elderly knights were retreating; she was now surrounded by a handful of women. A hearty young woman with bright red hair cheerfully greeted her with, “Welcome to Pinnacle Keep, I’ll show you to the guest quarters.” The bride to be nodded politely, while still trying to locate her groom.
Hanne duly followed the woman through a maze of halls. Unlike the palaces of the Southlands, they had not entered into a grand hall, but into a sort of large entranceway. It did not make a glittering impression. They exited the entryway and shut a series of wooden doors behind them. It was a bizarre way to welcome guests. But perhaps the keep had more pressing things to do, such as repelling invaders and keeping the subzero winds at bay. With Lilja in her hands, Hanne tripped on the wide stone staircase. Only the quick action of one of the other women kept her from sprawling flat at the foot of the stairs with a broken neck.
As they walked by the grand hall, Hanne could see that it was a room with stone arches. “Is this where the groom will be, or the bride?”
It was explained to her that Pinnacle Keep had only one hall long enough to host a wedding feast. Instead of the traditional way of the bride feasting with her family and friends and the groom feasting in the new house with his family and friends, everyone would be together. Hanne had never, ever heard of such a thing, but she supposed in the hinterlands there would be no end of things she would need to get used to.
A girl introduced herself as Miri with a quick bob of the head and led her to a room where she could prepare herself. With a sinking heart Hanne realized that the paladin could not even be bothered to come meet his new wife. It was humiliating. For the second time she was about to be bound for life to a man who held her in contempt. Hanne turned to study the windows, hoping to hide the tears that threatened to cascade down her cheeks. Curious, she opened the inner shutters. Cold air blasted her face. It was already dark outside. The arched windows were made of leaded panes of glass. Hanne noticed a smudge along the lead that bisected the panes. Touching it, she exclaimed, “There’s wax on the windows!”
Miri didn’t look up from her work and merely grunted, “‘Course, keeps the wind out.”
“Does it work?” Hanne asked.
“Not much, but it’s better than nothing in the cracks.” That effectively ended Hanne’s attempts at polite chatter.
Eidit had thought of everything and had even packed one particularly nice gown. After the girl unpacked and brushed out the dress, Hanne asked her if she would please fetch some hot water.
“Why?” the girl asked. Hanne was grubby, she was exhausted, and she was frightened. She had come through snow bears, muskox, and near frostbite. The man she was about to marry had snubbed her upon her arrival and apparently she now lived in a place where it was normal to smear wax on the windows. She rolled her eyes at the impudence of the maid.
This was the sort of pigheaded thing she was going to have to break these northerners of, she thought. “So I can wash,” she forced herself to say evenly.
“Oh,” said the girl. “You don’t want to bathe then?”
Only the fact that the keep was necessary to ensure the safety of both her and Lilja made her rein in her temper at all. “Of course, I want to bathe—that’s why I need the water.”
“No, you don’t,” was the implacable answer.
Hanne’s distress at the radical twist her life had taken exploded out of her in an eruption of short temper. “How can I bathe without water? I need water to bathe. Understand?”
A firm knock interrupted her diatribe.
Just what I need, Hanne thought, another useless idiot.
Without hiding the shrillness from her voice she responded, “Come in.” Her shouting echoed off of the walls in an altogether unwelcoming fashion. Her back was to the door, so the first thing she noticed was the maid’s sudden curtsy. Hanne turned to see a broad-shouldered man filling the doorway. She had to force herself to control her shaking hands. This man would control her fate, and more important, he would control Lilja’s. A lifetime of being taught how to be a lady served her well. She gave a smooth dip and turned back to the maid. “Forgive me; I’ve had a long trip.”
Miri looked over her new mistress’s shoulder to the man in the doorway, and explained, “She doesn’t know about baths.”
Hanne was quick to raise a hand. “I do know about baths, I just don’t know how to have one without someone bringing me hot water.”
A small smile played at the man’s lips. He was not courtly. There was nothing of a romantic prince about him. He was strong and unyielding. She heartily wished she looked different at the time of their first meeting. She was grimy, disheveled, and in a dress that had kept her warm on the long journey, but now that she was in the toasty keep, it had developed stains under the armpits. His gaze was frank and he did not appear to be overly appalled at his future bride looking like a street urchin. She allowed herself to look at him. His hair was short and graying at the temples. A neatly trimmed beard framed a chiseled face. His tunic was of middling wool—nothing special, no insignia. She caught sight of his sword belt and had to squelch a nervous giggle. She gestured at the wooden sword that hung at his hip. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s how the Snow Force defends the wall.”
He laughed easily; that was good, she decided. “Show’s what you know about armaments. This is the sword I use to flay dragons alive!” He had a sense of humor, which was the first good sign she had seen.
Miri leaned in conspiratorially and whispered to Hanne, “Not really, he has been teaching the littlest boys.”
“Ah, I see,” murmured Hanne gently.
“I am Jonis,” he said simply, pronouncing it in an unfamiliar way; he began it with a ‘Yuh’ sound. So it was Yonis, as opposed to the more familiar in the south, Jonis. She had been mispronouncing his name in her imagination all along.
“Hanne,” she whispered, as if he might not know who the strange woman getting ready for a wedding in his keep was. Their eyes held for a fraction of a second and their brief familiarity was replaced by a sudden awkwardness.
He nodded toward Lilja swaddled in a basket on a table. “This is the child?”
Hanne felt a wave of protectiveness. She gathered the infant to her breast. “Yes,” she whispered, her heart laid bare. “This is my daughter Lilja.”
The large man reached for the baby’s tiny fist. “Hello, Lilja of Pinnacle Keep.”
She nodded gratefully, a lump in her throat.
“I thought you would rather meet this way than in front of the entire fort.”
He had not shunned her; he had been thoughtful. “How old are your children?”
“Benir is almost two. Sera is almost four.”
“You call him Benny?”
He nodded. “We do. And of course, I have forty boys here.”
“Forty?” She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but the number somehow made it all seem more real.
Boyish voices arguing in the corridor caught his attention. “Snow Force!” he roared. “At rest!” The shrieking stopped immediately. He winked at Hanne. “Miri, help your mistress take a bath. I’ll send Agnes to tend the babe.” And he was gone. Agnes could not have been far away since she entered the room almost immediately.
Hanne lay the baby down and began to unlace her dress.
“What are you doing?” the servants gasped.
“Getting ready for a bath.”
Miri began to roll her eyes and stopped herself in the nick of time. “Keep your dress on.” She remembered who she was speaking to and quickly added, “dame.”
Hanne had not been sure that every paladin’s wife was called dame. Dame Hanne had a nice ring to it, she decided. Agnes gathered up Lilja. “It’s all right, dame. I am good with wee ones.”
Miri opened the door and led Hanne into the corridor. They went down a set of narrow stone stairs. They paused at a large curved door. Miri paused and hollered, “Anyone in there?”
She cracked open the door and peered in. Clouds of steam wafted through the doorway. “It’s for the ladies and girls this time of day, but sometimes the boys forget.”