Chapter Seventy-two

"It's too much, Freya," Enid whispered in front of another stall.

"It's not, Enid, and I'm buying it. Whether you wear it or not is up to you."

Enid watched as Freya handed that silver coin over to the woman behind the stall, and then she picked that cloak up and held it out to Enid. For a moment Enid couldn't take it and she could only stare, her eyes flicking back and forth between that cloak and Freya's face, and then Freya sighed, her arm falling but Enid caught it, her fingers running through the fur and a smile springing to her lips. So quickly that hand reached up then, untying her cloak and taking it off her shoulders, and Enid shivered, holding Frigga closer as Freya wrapped the new one around her.

"There," Freya said, fastening that bronze clip, straightening and smoothing the fur on Enid's shoulders. "It's a fox, right?" she asked the stall owner

"A snow fox," she answered.

"It looks good on you, Enid," Freya smiled. "I don't know how, but it made your hair redder."

"I…" Enid started, and then she leaned in closer. "I can't, Freya. I'm supposed to be acting like a slave, remember?"

Freya shrugged. "Tell everyone Erik gave it to you."

"I don't want to, Freya."

"So give it back," Freya said, but Enid pulled away, her lips closing in a thin, tight line, her forehead furrowing into a crease, and then Freya laughed, holding up Enid's old cloak and asking the stall owner, "Do you want to keep this?"

The woman shook her head, eyeing that cloak like it was something strange, something deceased or infected, and then Freya laughed again, bundling it up in her arms and heading towards the beach.

"Come on," she said. "I know what we can do with it."

A little while later and they'd found a large fire with racks of drying fish out smoking around it on the sand, and Freya tossed it in, watching as it took a while to catch and burned until there was nothing left, and then she turned to Enid, that smile on her face bright and light, a small laugh rumbling in her chest.

"I never liked that cloak," she said, and Enid laughed too, her lips parting ready to speak but Little Frigga got there first.

"Mor," Frigga said, her finger pointing at a hut not far from the beach.

"That's a house, Frigga," Freya corrected, her forehead furrowing in a slight crease.

"Gro," Frigga answered. "Mor," she said again.

"No, a house," Enid said. "House," she said a little slower, but then the door opened and a man, impossibly old, impossibly thin stepped out, his beard long, thin, white strands that reached his chest, his black hood pulled up over his head as he leaned against his staff and Frigga screamed.

She screamed so loud Enid almost dropped her, her face scrunching up in a bright red ball, her fists and her feet digging and scratching and pulling at Enid as she tried to break free.

"Frigga!" Enid gasped, kneeling down on the sand so Frigga could stand on her own, but Frigga kept pulling, twisting and turning and screaming almost like she'd been tossed into the fire herself. "Frigga, wait!" Enid cried, trying to keep her grip on the girl's wrist so she didn't go running off towards the sea, but that man came closer, his dark eyes fixed on Frigga's face, his head tilting to the side as he shuffled slowly across the sand.

"Bap! No! Bap! Mor!" Frigga screamed, and then that man was knocked back, falling with a flurry of sand as Ivar stood between them, his hand still outstretched from when he'd pushed him away.

"What have you done to her?" Ivar asked, his voice deep and low, his chest heaving.

"What are you doing? That's The Seer?" a woman shouted, running from a nearby stall to help the old man stand up.

"No! No! 'Nig! Bap!"

"It's alright, Frigga," Enid whispered.

"Gods, Deathless…" Erik sighed, doubling over and resting his hands on his knees. "How can you run so fast? What's the matter, Frigga?"

"Mor!" she shouted, Enid letting her go as Frigga crawled for Erik. "Gro! Gro, bap!"

Erik knelt down, his face glistening with sweat, his chest heaving as he lifted Frigga up into his arms. "The Seer?" he asked, and Frigga cried again, burying herself in his chest and grabbing his shirt in her little hands, and then Erik's eyes went cold, they went sharp and pointed as he glared at the crowd gathering around them.

"He attacked The Seer!" the woman shouted, pointing her finger at Ivar as she helped the old man stay on his feet, and the crowd murmured, eyeing Ivar and spitting on the sand beneath their feet.

"That's enough," Erik snapped. "This is a misunderstanding. Ivar the Deathless heard his child crying and defended her."

Enid watched as a few faces paled as they turned away and softened, but so many did not.

"Attacking The Seer is like attacking the gods!" a voice shouted.

"Ivar would never attack the gods, you all know that," Erik said. "His wife had the sight, remember? Get back to work," he tutted, but those faces lingered, the crowd only leaving once Erik had grabbed a few of them and pushed them away with his free hand.

It was only then that Enid could breathe, her fingers letting go of her belt where her axe should've hung and her shoulders dropping.

"Hhhmmm… yes," said a voice then, so impossibly deep, a voice that seemed to make Enid's chest rumble and the earth shift out from under her. "I remember Helga," The Seer said. "I met her once, on her way to Valhalla. Don't worry, Deathless, you'll join her soon. The gods have shown me your final moments," he nodded, and then he pointed a thin, knuckled finger up, those dark eyes seemingly staring straight through Ivar. "The gods are angry with you, Ivar. You've let a snake into your house and it has poisoned your mind and corrupted your children."

That scowl on Ivar's face deepened, his eyes darkening as his fingers reached for the axe at his side, but then Erik laughed, a cold, sharp laugh as he stood beside Ivar.

"Sometimes I wonder which gods speak to you, Seer, or if they even speak at all," Erik said, and the man tilted his head to the side, a wide, toothy grin splitting his face as he stared at Erik, but then Frigga started crying and squirming in Erik's arms almost like she was trying to crawl up over his shoulder.

"Bap, Erik. No, no…" she cried.

"Listen to the child, Erik," The Seer said, "And stop straying from the path the gods have chosen for you."