Chapter Seventy-seven

"I don't understand, Knut," Ivar said, as he leaned against the wall. "If I've offended you, why don't you just say so instead of moving us out here?" he jerked his head towards the room they now stood in.

"You haven't offended me, Ivar," Knut said. "Would I give you such a nice house if you had?" he waved an arm out around him and he was right.

It was a nice house, twice as big as Erik's with the loft for the children taking up half of the roof that had small steps leading up to it instead of a ladder. Enid almost found herself smiling, almost racing to go from room to room and discover all of its secrets, but Ivar frowned.

"So this has nothing to do with Rolf?" he asked.

"No," Knut patted him on the shoulder and smiled. "Of course, not."

"So it's about the prophecy," Ivar growled, his eyes narrowing into thin slits as he stared at the Jarl, and Knut sighed, taking his hand from Ivar's shoulder and studying him.

"No," he said. "People will forget about that in a week or so," he waved his hand in the air. "Although you'd be a fool to ignore the words of the gods, Ivar," he sighed again, leaning against the other side of the door and nodding to Ivar. "I haven't seen my daughter in a long time and I want things to go well. I want Erik to distance himself from your slave so he can focus on her when she gets here. They won't have long to get to know each other before the wedding and having her around isn't going to help things. Erik agrees, so if you can do your part to make sure she doesn't go off wandering, I'd be grateful."

Ivar grunted, folding his arms across his chest and saying, "She's just a slave, Knut. She'll stay where I tell her to."

Enid had to stifle it then, that jolt that shot down her spine, that one that struck at something in the pit of her stomach and had her gritting her teeth.

"Good," Knut nodded, and then he jerked his head back towards the room. "Enjoy the place, Ivar. I'll still cover your expenses just like I promised and see how you feel in the spring. I'll trade you the farm for this place, if you like it, and you'd be welcome to stay… or go if that's what you want to do."

"I'll think about it, Knut," Ivar said, his forehead lining in a deep crease as he looked out into the room, and then Knut patted him on the shoulder again, leaving and closing the door behind him as he went.

Enid saw them then, those big grins that spread across the children's faces as they came in close and that small smile curling at Ivar's lips as he lifted up a finger and shushed them. He jerked his head towards the room and so quickly they took off running, their little feet making almost no noise at all as they tore through the house, but Enid was left watching him slowly walking around, poking and prodding at things, moving back curtains and pulling at furs almost like he was searching for something. A little while later and the children came back, huffing and puffing, their cheeks pink and shining.

"Found one," Tyr said.

"Show me," Ivar nodded, and he waved at Enid, holding a hand to the small of her back as they followed the children to the store room behind the kitchen.

"Here," Freya said, pulling back a chest and pointing at a hatch at the bottom of the wall.

"Good," Ivar nodded. "Check it after dark and put some packs nearby. Enid," he said, turning to her. "If something happens, this is where you escape, understand? Don't stay and fight like back on the farm. If we're separated, be smart, stay low and hide in the forest. I'll find you. Get the packs ready," he said to the children. "Then go out and scout routes out of here. Make it look like you're playing."

Ivar pulled that chest away, moving bundles of sticks and lighter sacks around the hatch to hide it while the children ran off. Soon they tossed leather bags of supplies and a bow with a full quiver of arrows towards him, and then Ivar laid them about, piling them near that doorway and somehow making it look like they had always been there. He grunted then, pulling at her arm to make her follow him as he searched the rest of the house, tapping at walls and tugging on the shutters, even checking upstairs in the loft and under the children's beds, but then Frigga reached for it, her little fingers curling around the poles of her cradle and playing with those round, woolen shields.

"Night, 'Nig," she said.

"It's too early to sleep, Frigga," Enid shook her head.

"Let her," Ivar sighed, when he was done. "I'm just glad she wants to… Maybe it'll be easier for her here."

Enid stared at him a moment before she felt Frigga tugging at her hair and pointing back at that cradle, and then Enid sighed too, laying the girl down and wrapping her up in those soft furs.

"Don't sleep too long, Frigga," she said, but when she turned, she felt those arms coil around her waist, felt his lips trailing down her neck and leaving her breathless.

"We're finally alone," he whispered.