Chapter Text
I looked down at the young maiden walking alone on the road then to the two men following a short distance behind her from our hiding spot in the trees knowing full well what they intended to do.
“Caithfimid rud éigin a dhéanamh… (We have to do something…)” I turned to face my parents who just continued to solemnly watch as the men got closer.
“Cad a d'fhéadfaimis a dhéanamh? Áednat, tá sé ró-chontúirteach. (What could we do? Áednat, it's too dangerous.)” I turned to Sadb and gave her a harsh look.
“Tá seachtar againn agus dhá cheann acu, tá an buntáiste againn. (There are seven of us and two of them, we have the advantage.)” My family remained silent so I sighed and pulled out my sling.
“Go breá, déanfaidh mé mé féin é. (Fine, I'll do it myself.)” I summoned the mists of the féth fíada as I climbed down to the road. By the time I reached the dirt path the men had reached the woman so I quickly placed a stone in my sling's pouch and started to swing it above my head watching carefully as to strike true. I let go of the knot sending the rock flying with a crack. It hit exactly where I aimed, hitting the shorter of the two men in the ankle knocking him down with a scream. The other rushed to his side allowing the woman to flee.
I shot awake and quickly looked around, the unfamiliar space filled with a thick fog. My heart raced as I quickly made it dissipate before realizing where I was.
“Mmm… Áshildr…? Are you alright?” Sindri groggily sat up next to me as he spoke with a look of concern on his face.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just another dream mo ghrá” He nodded and wrapped his arms around me. His presence and warmth against me was greatly comforting, calming me down significantly. I let out a sigh making him hold me a little tighter.
“Sætan mín, are you sure everything is ok?” I nodded and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” He smiled and gently pulled me back down onto the bed getting me to rest my head on his chest.
“Good, try to get some more sleep then, it’s when all the troubles of your mind work themselves out and you need the rest.” I nodded and he gently started to pet my hair humming an unfamiliar tune until I drifted back to sleep.
When I awoke again sunlight was pouring into the room and Sindri was holding me close to him. I softly smiled, fully comfortable and at peace in his warm embrace. We stayed that way for a long while until a noise from downstairs made Sindri stir. He hugged me tighter and stretched his legs with a small groan before burying his face into my back making my smile grow as he mumbled something.
“Góðan daginn mo ghrá (Good morning my love)” He pulled away allowing me to roll over and face him, a goofy smile plastered on his tired face.
“Góðan daginn sæta, I’m glad you seem to have gotten more rest after that night terror.” I leaned forward pressing my forehead against his and took a deep breath drinking in his scent before responding.
“It’s all thanks to you mo ghrá, but speaking of terrors, I think your brother is in the kitchen making a mess.” He pulled away and gave me a confused look for a moment before smiling.
“I don’t hear him making a ruckus, but I guess we should go down and keep an eye on him” I nodded and playfully kissed his hand before we both climbed out of bed and got ready for the day.
Once we made our way downstairs we found Brok next to the hearth flipping large cuts of meat he had haphazardly thrown into the fire.
“We have a kitchen fire for a reason you know.”
“Well this is faster smart guy!”
“Yeah well it’s also a lot harder to clean, and we both know you aren’t going to do it!” I looked between the pair of them and placed my hands on my hips.
“How about I clean up once he’s done and cook diner this evening, it’ll save you both the work if I do” Brok looked over at me and grinned.
“See, you ain’t even got to do nuthin so why are ya complaining?” Sindri then looked at me too with a shocked and angry expression.
“What? No don’t enable him it’s not your responsibility Áshildr, it’s his.” he turned to look at Brok again before continuing.
“And you’re going to clean up after yourself!” Brok scoffed and pulled the meat out of the fire placing it all on a plate.
“Fine, I’ll do it after I fuckin eat” He stood up and took the food over to the table.
“You two gonna come over or what?” I looked at Sindri who had his hands defiantly on his hips and a small scowl on his face. I gently nudged his arm making him turn to look at me.
"Let's go over mo ghrá, didn't you say you were going to get more firewood today? You'll need your energy if you still plan on doing that." He sighed and nodded before walking over and taking his seat at the head of the table. I joined them and Brok passed me a plate before looking at Sindri.
“I’m gonna fuckin clean up so wipe that look off your face.” I thought for a while of how to best lighten the mood as the pair grumbled until I eventually remembered the promise I had made Sindri the day after we wed.
"I think I've healed enough that I could dance if one of you were to lilt or sing for me…" Sindri looked up at me with a shocked expression nearly dropping his knife.
"What? Are you certain? You only just managed to start climbing the stairs again, it might not be such a good idea. I don’t want you hurting yourself.” I nodded understanding where he was coming from.
“I know you do, but I don't think there's any reason to worry. I promise that if I do feel any discomfort I'll stop right away though." Brok looked up at me and scoffed.
"Yer really gonna do that shit again? Last time ya broke down crying and it took that idiot you call a husband teaching ya about the moons an shit to calm down." I playfully raised my eyebrow as he spoke.
"Ya know exactly why that happened so don't go pretendin it'll happen again ya hear. I've got me self all sorted out." He raised an inquisitive eyebrow in turn before leaning back in his seat.
"Whatever you say, I won't stop ya." I nodded happily and turned back to Sindri who was pinching the bridge of his nose with an exasperated expression.
“Alright, just, please be careful.” I reached over and rested my hand on his arm making him look up at me.
“I’ll be ok mo ghrá, I’ll even teach ya how to do it too” His eyes went wide and he quickly raised his arms waving his hands.
“Oh no no no, I couldn’t sæta” I grinned stood up and pulled him with me.
“Of course ya can, let me show ya” I brought him out to the clearer part of the main room when Brok chimed in again.
"I guess I'm gonna be fuckin singing for you too nutjobs, anything you want in particular or can I just spout whatever I feels like?" I giggled before answering, making both of them roll their eyes.
"As long as it's in 6/8 it'll be perfect" Brok slowly nodded thinking for a moment.
“Sindri, remember that one festival song? That’ll work, don’t expect me to be doin this again tho!” Sindri nodded and Brok started to poorly sing in their native language. I wasn’t paying attention to the words only listening to the medley and beat.
“Da da dum, da da dum. Da da dum, da da dum… Ok I got the rhythm.” I decided to do a basic timeáil step so it would be easy for Sindri to follow and so I could ease myself into it. I stepped on my right foot putting my whole weight on it before taking my left and clicking the heel and then the ball of my foot repeating the process a handful of times to the beat of the tune.
“You try mo ghrá, it’s not that hard” He nodded again fidgeting his hands as he attempted to do so. He struggled quite a bit at first but eventually he got the hang of it.
“There you go you’ve got it!” He gave an awkward smile at my praise making me confident enough to get more complicated with my own steps. I switched to an easy pattern consisting of shuffles, hops, stamps, and heel-toe steps, an ear to ear grin on my face. Sindri just kept concentrating on his timeáil step for a while until he slowed down and stopped to watch me.