Their eyes all widen as they sit in silence after I’ve finished with all that I know. “Another world?” Gunnar asks. Nodding, I let out a grunt. “It explains her clothing that we found her in, her strange hair and eye color.”
“So, she is not human?” Sten asks.
“The witch, Runa, said she was sent to me by the gods, created for the purpose of fulfilling this prophecy. I believe she is human but from another time or world.”
“It is all so unbelievable,” Kjeld grunts.
Gunnar clears his throat. His eyes lift to mine and he speaks, I already know what he is going to speak of, but I do not interrupt. “The way the sea suddenly changed, when you were together on the ship, then when Isolda confronted her, when Liv discovered the other woman was indeed yours. I cannot help but believe this fantastical story.”
“What do we do?”
“Let me send a man to the other corners of the earth, see if another sister is here, find out what he can about this prophecy. Maybe there is more information that we do not yet possess,” Gunnar offers.
Nodding, I agree with this plan. In fact, I like this idea very much. “What do I do with her in the meantime?” I ask.
Hagen chuckles. “Do you really need us to tell you that?”
“Make her your dróttning. Live your life. She is who you choose, Aaric.”
Shaking my head, I lift my hand and run my fingers over my beard. “Is it real, or has she bewitched me?”
“Does it matter?” Sten asks. “You have clearly chosen her.”
Nodding, I look down at the scarred wooden table, then back to them. “I have chosen her. I just hope that I have not brought evil to my people.”
Chapter Nine
LIV
The two women walk back into the house, but Aaric does not follow them. Judging by the looks of almost pity that they flash me, I assume that he will not be back anytime soon. Something ugly gathers in my stomach. A stabbing pain slices through me. I try not to show it on my face, but I have to grind my teeth together to keep from crying out.
“How about something to eat? Maybe I can have a slave bring in a bath for you? I’m sure that you are famished and would feel much better after you’ve been cleaned up,” the seeress announces before she turns and runs away.
“Slave?” I gasp.
Runa nods once but doesn’t speak right away. She must read the horror on my face. Slowly, she sinks down into the chair across from me. “Do you not have slaves in your country?” she asks, keeping her voice almost tentative and very soft.
“No, not for almost two hundred years,” I explain.
“Interesting.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I decide to ask why they even have them. “Do all of the countries in this place have them?”
She shakes her head. “No, there are several countries that are a bit more forward-thinking, if that is what you would call it. But our country and one other does. They are spoils from raids, it is just done.”
Wrinkling my nose, I reach for the tea that is now cold on the table. “I don’t really like it,” I whisper.
“Who would? I have to admit Konungr Aaric does not personally have a house full of them, not like his father. He has one personal slave and one bed slave.”
“Bed slave?” I ask.
She winces, and that’s when I know exactly what she’s referring to. “Isolda,” I breathe. “She is not his girlfriend, she’s his bed slave?” I ask.
Runa nods slowly, her eyes never leaving mine. My stomach twists in even more pain. I can’t stop from doubling over this time. It feels like my skin is going to explode inside of me.
I tear at my dress, the heat filling me from the inside out. This doesn’t feel the way that it does when Aaric and I are together, this is different, this is excruciating.
Runa doesn’t try to stop me, instead, she helps me strip out of my scratchy dress just as Hillevi appears with two women behind her carrying a large bucket.
“What has happened?” Hillevi shouts.
Runa turns away from me and says something in their language. The seeress only nods a couple of times, then makes her way toward me.
“Come and sit in the tub. The slaves will fill it with warm water while I gather soaps and scent.”
I don’t argue with her. Warm water sounds like misery right now, but feeling clean sounds wonderful. Walking over to the tub, I finish stripping off my dress and step into the round metal basin.
It isn’t big enough for me to do anything other than sit on my butt and pull my knees to my chest. Closing my eyes, I try not to think of these two women, these slaves, as they fill the tub. The idea that it exists at all makes me sick to my stomach and the concept that its accepted, it makes me downright ill.
I think about asking these two women how they can be okay with this, but decide against it. They have zero say at all. Aaric is the one that I need to address it with, but since he’s totally vanished, I guess I’ll keep my mouth shut until he decides to appear again.
Runa and the seeress wash my hair while I stare at the closed door. It surprises me that they don’t ask any questions. They’ve given me a lot of information to think about. A prophecy. How is this possible?
Then it hits me.
It hits me.
Like a freight train.
“Sybilla,” I whimper.
“Shhh, just relax,” Runa murmurs.
Turning my head to the side, I find the seeress’s gaze with my own. “My sister,” I rasp.
Her eyes widen, she takes a step toward me. “What about her?”
“She went missing a few weeks ago. I hired a private investigator. He said she just vanished. He couldn’t find any evidence of her being taken, of anything happening to her. Could she be somewhere around here?”
The seeress looks at Runa. They stare at one another, but I can’t read their expressions. The room is silent, the only sound is the slight sloshing of the water as my hair drips into the tub. Silently, I wonder if there’s a razor somewhere, I could really use a good leg and armpit shave.
“How many sisters do you have, Liv?” the seeress asks.
Flicking my gaze to hers, I bite my bottom lip. “I have three and before you even ask, we all have different hair and eye colors with the same parents.”
“It’s true, gods,” Runa breathes. “I thought maybe, maybe not…”
“It’s true,” the seeress says with a nod. “I knew that she was different, that she was made for our konungr, I could sense her presence and see her bright aura before they met.”
“Blessed and sent by the gods to our konungr to fulfill the prophecy,” Runa murmurs.
Shaking my head, I’m careful not to get water everywhere when my gaze flicks from one of them to the other. “But how do I find my sister?” I ask. “I need to see her. I need to know that she’s okay.”
“I must talk to Aaric,” Hillevi whispers.
She turns from us and walks out of the door without looking back. Frowning, I look back to Runa who is staring after the closed door. Her body jerks as if she breaks her train of thought, then looks down at me and smiles softly.
“Let’s finish up before you catch a cold. Seeress won’t mind if you wear one of her dresses. We’ll get you fresh and pretty for Aaric’s arrival.”