Seven days after departing Trollsoe, Ailia spotted the large island.
“We’ll stay one day only when we arrive in Frostland,” Erik directed his crew. “Remember, no plundering there. This is our regular overlay and we need to keep the relationships peaceable.”
A half an hour later, the dragonship arrived at the harbor. They had landed on the southwestern side of the island in Grindale, and Ailia couldn’t wait to have her feet meet the unshifting soil. Frostland was milder than the Northlandic Kingdom, she noted. The gentle sloping hills were covered in snow, but she was surprised to see splotches of bare earth between the white.
“Remember men, no plundering!” Erik yelled as the crew of Vikings stormed off the dragonship. Before Ailia and Erlend were allowed to disembark, Erik ordered one of his men to chain their ankles.
“Erik is obsessed about protecting his investments,” the Viking said. “You follow him. You run, you die.”
After they struggled out of the vessel, Ailia and Erlend lined up behind the two rows of Vikings. On solid ground again. A sense of peace filled her.
“Every man may do as he pleases. I’m going to take a bath!” Erik said. Before they had reached land, Erik had spoken of a hot spring of water they were going to visit. “Azure Lagoon,” he had called it.
The Vikings chuckled.
“Be back tomorrow. That’s when we leave for Floraland. All relieved!” Erik turned around and they started hiking toward the spring. About half the Vikings left the lines, while the other half followed their chieftain.
Ailia could tell just a few steps into the trip that the chain was going to rub her skin raw, unless she did something to prevent it. She tore off a piece of her skirt and stuffed it between her stocking and the metal. After she had finished, she did the same for Erlend.
“Thank you,” he said.
“It’s the least I can do for the man who risked his life for me,” she said, taking his arm. They walked behind Erik and the others as the winds plucked at her overcoat. “Have you been here before?”
“Yes, once,” Erlend said. “With my father many years ago. When we were here, a small volcano erupted.”
“That sounds frightening,” she said.
“It wasn’t much of a volcano, though. No one was hurt,” he said.
The hike to the milky-blue springs was not far at all. At the springs, Erik approached a hefty blond, and when he had finished talking to her, the woman approached Ailia and Erlend.
“Ailia comes with me,” she said, unlocking their chains. “If you try to escape, I will kill you. I am Gilda. Good to meet you. Now come.”
Ailia glanced at Erlend. “Will you be all right?”
He nodded.
She trailed after the spirited Frostlander, weaving her way between a crowd of naked women, and soon they arrived at a small wooden bathhouse. In no time, Gilda had stripped and stood stark naked in the low glow of the hearth, her two thick braids dangling down her back. Rolls of fat sat around her midsection, and her heavy breasts hung halfway down her midsection like two giant pears. When she noticed that Ailia still remained fully clothed, she asked, “Do you not want to bathe?”
“Uh, yes, I do,” Ailia said and began undressing.
“I will have your items mended and cleaned,” Gilda said, taking them from Ailia and placing them into a basket.
“Thank you.” Unaccustomed to being naked in front of strangers, Ailia tried to cover up as best she could. However, her hands were of little help. “Is there perhaps a towel I can use?”
Gilda grimaced. “For what?” She flung the door open and started for the springs, her pale fat jiggling as she trotted toward her destination. “Come, girl!”
Ailia followed Gilda outside, and when the chill air hit her bare flesh, her skin cringed, turning into a blanket of goose bumps. She glanced across the spring, and on the other side, she saw the men. They were far enough away as to where she had a difficult time seeing anything in detail, but not far enough away to where she didn’t recognize their faces. Are they watching me?
She ran toward the water as quick as a cat, afraid someone might catch a glimpse of her—or worse, stare. She leapt into the waist-high water and crouched down until her breasts were no longer exposed. The bath of heat relaxed her entire body, and she even found that she enjoyed being in the shallow water.
After the bath, Gilda handed Ailia an off-white linen under tunic and a light green wool over tunic to wear while her other clothes were being cleaned. After Ailia had dressed, Gilda brought her to her longhouse with her. At the longhouse, most of the Vikings had made their way back from wherever they had been and sat at the long table, devouring massive amounts of food and wine. Gilda brought Ailia over to Erik right away.
“Ailia,” Erik said. “Serve me my meal and then, you may eat all you want in the back room with Erlend.”
She did as she was told and then Gilda escorted her to the back room where Erlend sat with chains around his ankles. Gilda secured the chains around Ailia’s ankles, and then she left and returned with two full plates of food. Starving, Ailia inhaled the food and didn’t stop eating until she felt so stuffed, she could hardly move.
“Not bad, not bad,” Erlend said moaning, his hands massaging his protruding belly.
She smiled. “I’m glad you got enough to eat.”
“The food is even better than at home.” His heavy eyelids closed as he spoke.
After eating all she could, Ailia settled down to rest, her back propped up against a wood pillar. Gilda brought her overcoat to her, and she bundled it up into a pillow. Shortly after she laid her head down, she fell asleep.
35
Death