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The Interrogation
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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TOVA I left the tent and went blindly back to where I was gathering chamomile before this whole nightmare started. I bent to pick up the basket and refill it with the blossoms, wilted now in the heat. Tears coursed down my face. I felt a huge sense of loss; not only have I lost my friends, but I feel like I lost Erik. I understood that he experienced some pretty severe trauma, but I believed that he could overcome all of it, if only he didn’t have Arne whispering in his ear. The sun was beginning to set, and I was having a hard time seeing the blossoms, so I picked up the basket and started down the hill. I would give the basket to the groom with the instructions to put a handful in the sleipnirs’ food every morning. Chamomile was a nice treat for them, and it was good for them, too. I entered the camp, and a guard intercepted me. “My queen, the king is requesting you.” I gave him a half smile. “I’m guessing that’s not how he said it, is it?” I asked. “He was pretty ang
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TOVAI wrapped my arms around myself and hurried to the river. I held my tears in; I wasn’t going to let Erik be the reason they fell. I climbed down the bank and took off my clothing, slipping into the cold water. I gingerly sat down, letting the cool water soothe my aching skin and body. I scooted deeper where the current was faster and let the rushing water gently massage my body. I lay back and relaxed.I realized that I was no longer scared of Erik or of my future. I was angry and I was tired. I was angry at Arne for putting suspicions into Erik’s head that didn’t belong there. I was angry at myself for putting myself in the position I was in tonight. And I was mostly angry at Erik for allowing the trauma of what he went through overwhelm him so much that he turned abusive towards me, the person who was trying to help him. And I was so tired. I was tired of being treated as an object to be loved or thrown away at a moment’s whim. I was tired of the damn prophesy being
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TOVAI was drying off at the river, just finishing a lesson with another warrior when Arne came stomping up. The warrior next to me stood at attention, but I ignored Arne, shaking the water out of my braid before pulling on a dry shift over my wet undergarments.“I have an assignment for you,” he barked. It took me a moment to realize that he was talking to me.“Yes?” I asked, mildly curious. I knew that I had been making him mad this entire week. For some reason my presence anywhere irritated him. It also irritated him that I didn’t care. He looked at me with barely concealed hatred. “The latrines are being moved and need to be cleaned,” he said. “There is a bucket and lye on the southeast corner. You need to go into the latrines, clean each one and then let the warriors know when it’s ready to be moved. They’re digging a new trench. When you’re done with that, the stable boys will need help mucking the stalls. They are filling in the old latrine with soil tonight so they
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ERIK I had sent the guard after Tova hours ago and he still hadn’t returned. I felt a brief moment of fear, thinking that she had fled, but then that fear turned to anger. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that she had left and the angrier I became. I knew that the guards feared me too much to bring me the news, so I assumed they were hunting her down. They would get her. If she was teaching warriors to swim this afternoon, she couldn’t have gone far. The guard finally came back, nervously shifting his weight between his feet. I sat back, waiting for a report. “Sir, we had trouble finding the Queen. We were finally able to locate her.” I was curious where they finally apprehended her. “Where was she?” “In the latrines, sir.” That was not the answer I was expecting. I looked at him with raised eyebrows, waiting for him to explain. He swallowed nervously but
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TOVAI sighed with relief when the king left the stable. I picked up a pitchfork and went into the stall I had been cleaning when he pulled me out of it. Chaz was in there finishing up.“Please don’t antagonize him, my lady,” he said in a low voice. I smiled at him.“I can take care of myself, but thank you, sir,” I said, soothingly. He leaned on his shovel and looked at me.“No, my lady, you cannot. The king is two different men. He can be fun and jocular with us one minute and the next he is raging, and someone is losing a limb or their life. He can be ruthless, even to those he loves. If you push him too far, lady, you will have consequences.” He turned back to the work.“We don’t want to see you get hurt,” he mumbled. “High King Erik is not the same man when he is on the battlefield. He is mean and merc
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TOVAI kept an eye on Erik. I could see him regaining control of himself and that pleased me. He needed some serious anger management interventions, but no one could tell the High King that. I slowly cleaned myself, enjoying the hot water. It was hard having my hands shackled together but I knew that Erik was waiting for me to ask him to remove them. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. When I looked up again, he had turned around and was watching me.I soaped up my hair, running my hands through the long strands as best I could with the wrists fastened together. The chain from the shackles banged against my nose in the most tender of areas and I flinched. I knew that Erik saw that, but he said nothing. I finally lowered myself into the tub, submerging my hair to rinse it. I finally sat up, water streaming from it. I gathered it at the nape and squeezed the excess water from it. While I was still sitting in the bath, I began to braid it. “Stop,” Erik said, stepping
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ERIKI rolled off Tova and looked at her. She was quiet, laying on her back and not moving. I removed my hand from the chain between her shackles, but she didn’t move her arms. I gently picked up her hands and moved them down to her belly. She still didn’t say anything or try to help me. I sighed, rolling off from her and standing, going to my desk. I got the key to her shackles and returned to her. She still hadn’t moved.I was starting to get impatient with her. I reached down and unlocked the shackles, removing her wrists from them and placing her hands back on her stomach. She immediately started rubbing her wrists and I could see that they were red and chapped. So were her hands.I picked up one of her hands and she didn’t fight me. I looked and then gently put her hand back.“What happened to your hands?” I asked. “Lye.” She said this softly. I grimaced. I had given Arne permission to assign her any job he saw fit. It angered me that he did this, though. I raise
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TOVAI looked up at Erik, surprised. He hadn’t approached me in over two months, and I had thought that the only interest he had in me was purely for show. After our last encounter he seemed to give up on us. I had already mourned our lost relationship and I harbored no more anger. I was not dumb enough to let my guard down around him, though. I’ve seen his temper turn and I now had a baby to protect.“May I sit?” he gestured beside the log. I nodded, moving over to make room. He sat next to me. I offered him some of my porridge, but he waved it away. I continued to eat slowly, waiting for him to speak.“Do you know what is going on at the front?” he asked. I nodded warily. I wasn’t sure how much the warriors were supposed to tell me. Much of it I surmised on my own but some of them just needed to talk. I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble.“And do you have an opinion on it?” he asked. I put my spoon down and turned to him.“What are you wanting from me, Erik? Battlef
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TOVALater that night Erik was helping me take off my ornate dress. I had my back to him, my hair lifted up and he was untying the lacing.“Why do they tie these so tightly when you’re obviously with child? Of course you won’t have a waist,” Erik complained, picking at the knots. I shrugged.“Fashion, I guess,” I replied. He finally got the knot untied and spun me around, lifting the heavy dress off from me. I gave a sigh of relief and collapsed on the couch. He sat beside me and lifted my feet into his lap, idly rubbing them.“She will tame the Lion,” Erik mused. “You know who the Lion is, right?”I sighed again. “Yes. And I hope HE isn’t who that prophesy is about.”“The king of the Minot Realm does have a fearsome reputation,” Erik acknowledged. “But so did I.”“She is only six,” I commented. “That’s the same age I was when Birgir came and got me from my parents. I’m not letting Greta go if he comes knocking.”Erik nodded. “I agree. I will fight to keep Greta here unti
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TOVAI woke up in the middle of the night with a start, unsure what had woken me. I felt achy all over and decided to take a bath in the morning. I would ask the medicine man for some herbs to put into the water to soothe my muscles.I rolled over and snuggled into Erik. He rolled slightly in his sleep, pressing further into me. I dozed back to sleep when I woke again. This time I knew what had caused it.I carefully rolled away, hoping not to wake Erik. I felt a horrific pressure in my low back and sharp pains were shooting down my leg. I got up and carefully put on a dressing gown over my hugely swollen body, tying the straps in the front. I began pacing up and down the room, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure in my low back. I was in labor.I knew from my lessons with the midwives that the baby could take hours, or even days to come. I wasn’t prepared for this amount of pain, though. The pressure made me feel like my body was going to drop out of my bottom and the
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ERIKI rode Troi into the stable at a run. It had been a long time since she got to go out and ride hard like that. Tova was too large and too far along in her pregnancy to ride, but she still came down to the stable to pet and talk to Bo. He wouldn’t allow anyone else to ride him, including me, so he had to stay when I went out with Troi. I gave the reins to one of the stable boys and then went into Bo’s stall, patting him. “She’s doing okay, boy,” I murmured to him. “It’s just too cold for her to come down and see you.” The new year had come in with a bang, the snow falling enough to cover the first story windows in the castle. After the snow came the winds, biting and freezing everything into a glossy, slippery mess. Tova was large with child and clumsy, so venturing outside wasn’t a good idea. She was going stir-crazy inside the castle. She recently began rearranging the baby’s room for the third time.I dropped a handful of oats into Bo’s feed bucket and carefully made
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TOVAThe days of the celebration passed. It took a week for the castle to become back to normal. Our guests spent a day or two recovering from the merriment of the day before heading back to their lives. Birgir and Ulka stayed a few more days, working out some of the details of their new acquisition. “I’m too old to have kids,” Ulka said, abruptly one night at dinner. Erik choked on his soup and Birgir had to pound him on his back. I started laughing and couldn’t stop.“What on earth brought on this conversation?” Erik asked, horrified. “What are we going to do about an heir?” Ulka said. “Birgir and I aren’t exactly young. We probably have fifteen to twenty good years left to rule, but what will be do after that?”I tipped my head to the side. “Exactly how old are you, my lady?” I asked, curious. Erik gave a shout of laughter. “Good luck getting that information from her. It’s a closely guarded secret.” I threw my wadded up napkin at his head and he ducked. Birgir grinn
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TOVAI thought my knees would buckle under me but Erik’s steadying hand on my elbow and waist helped. One by one the kings and queens stood. The king of Skaldik stepped forward and dropped to his knee.“Kings and Queens of the Four Kingdoms. I, King Olgir, pledge my alliance to each and every one of you. I pledge to work together, to contribute to the well-being of all of our people.”The remaining kings and queens stomped their feet, pounding out their acceptance. And one by one, each of the royalty took to their knee and made the same pledge.Then it was my turn. I wasn’t sure if Erik had intended on participating, but I knew I needed to. I dropped to my knee and bowed to them.“Kings and Queens of the Four Kingdoms. I, High Queen Tova, pledge my alliance to each and every one of you. I pledge that we will work together and contribute to the well being of all people, regardless of where they dwell.”Erik fell to his knee beside me and repeated the oath. We stood together a
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TOVAI stood in front of the crowd, nervous. I looked out, shocked at how many people were there. Every flat surface that could be used as a table and every stool, step and chair had been brought from the castle and were filled. Furs from the beds were placed on the ground with cushions for those who arrived too late to find a seat. As far as I could see there was a sea of people, and they were all looking at me.I cleared my throat and began speaking. I spoke loud, partly to control the shaking in my voice, and partly because I wanted all to hear what I had to say.“Men and Women of Oremgoth. I am speaking to you now as a sister from Nidavelle and as your High Queen. Hear my words.Oremgoth is a realm that is made up of four specific kingdoms. Because of location, each of these kingdoms has a specific gift that is from nature, herself.”I turned to the king of Skaldik and inclined my head before turning back to the people. “Skaldik is to the north. Their people are hardwork
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ERIKI stood on the podium in the pavilion and looked out on to the field. More people than expected had shown up to the ceremony and that pleased me. Some of the guests didn’t look too pleased and some looked uncomfortable, but my mother was down there doing her best to stop the muttering.The muttering was happening because Tova insisted on mixing the perceived social ranks. Peasants were seated at the table with noblemen. Children from all classes ran around together, playing games and enjoying each other’s company. And those who did not send a response saying that they would be attending, regardless of status, were seated on furs and cushions that were placed out last minute. I knew that the only reason no one had left in a huff is because they were curious about what was going on. I stepped out and raised my hand, garnering the attention of everyone. The hum of conversations slowed and then finally stopped, the only noise made from the servants clanking silver together in
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TOVAI was happy to see that the servants had filled my bath with lightly scented water. I climbed in and let the warm water relax my body before quickly washing and coating my hair with oils. I climbed out, wrapping myself in my robe and wandering back to the bedroom where my chambermaid had laid out my gown for the evening.Instead of the chambermaid, Erik was sitting on the couch, shirtless. I looked at him and breathed in, hard. I knew the look in his eyes.“Come here,” he said, widening his legs. I stepped forward until I was standing within arm’s reach of him. “Take off the robe,” he said, eyes smoldering. I obediently untied the sash and let the robe drop to my feet. He hissed his approval through his teeth when he saw my body, still glistening with the oils I had used. He lowered his head and started sucking on my nipple and I threw my head back and moaned. “You know we only have a few minutes,” Erik whispered, his mouth full of my breast. “No, we don’t. Take your
