Landwulf’s parents notice the blossoming friendship between the two and take action. Even as Kaarina is drawn to the Christians’ simple faith, Landwulf’s parents send him to another village to find a wife from among their own people.
Kaarina is devastated. While Halvar departs to protect their old village from her father, Kaarina does her best to mend a broken heart. When Landwulf returns, he begins to build a house for his new bride and Kaarina does her best to avoid him.
But one day, she is forced to come face to face with the man she loved. Have things changed between them? Can Kaarina trust him with her heart?
Chapter 1
Kaarina sucked in a sharp breath as the steep mountain trail opened out onto the undulating hills below. Cattle grazed in jewel-green pastures and smoke curled from the longhouses of a nearby village. But it wasn’t the farms or the village that caught her attention. It was the ocean. She had never seen so much water before.
“Is that the ocean?” Eira gasped from behind her. “There’s so much water!”
Halvar chuckled. “It is indeed. I didn’t realize you hadn’t seen it before.”
“We have lived in the mountains our whole lives,” Eira replied. “It is new to us.”
The trio fell silent, taking in the stunning panorama of ocean, mountains and farmland. Behind them, the six young men who were acting as their guards were also silent. Most of them had never been this far from home before. Travel in the interior of their homeland of Norowegr was arduous due to the mountainous terrain and many people from the inland lived their whole lives without ever reaching the coast.
“Where are we going?” Kaarina asked.
Halvar drew his horse alongside hers and pointed to a barely-visible settlement to the north. “Over there. That is the village of Merilant.”
“Is it beside this ocean you speak of?” Kaarina asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes. It will be different from life in the mountains.”
Eira rode up beside Halvar as the path widened. “What shall we do there?” she asked.
“I haven’t yet spoken to the village leader. I am hoping that we will be able to find lodging and employment for the winter months.”
Eira looked across the landscape as the gloom of late afternoon descended and a wintry squall swept in off the ocean, threatening to drench them. “I am looking forward to the end of our journey,” she said. “I hope the people we will be staying with will welcome us.”
“I have met the village chief before,” said Halvar. “They are not from our nation.”
“What?” gasped Kaarina. “We are going to live among foreign people?”
“They are sabbatati Christians,” Halvar explained. “They are hospitable people and often shelter the homeless and outcasts.”
“Why?”
“Because they have also been homeless and outcasts.”
“Well, they sound very strange to me.” Kaarina was not convinced that she would like living with them.
“Oh, they will be kind to you,” Halvar reassured her. “Kindness is one of the beliefs they hold dear.”
“Well, that is good to know,” Kaarina spoke confidently but she was still uncertain. What if these sabbatati Christians were so strange that she didn’t know how to act or what to do around them?
Kaarina allowed her horse to fall behind the young men as Halvar led the way into the village of Merilant. The houses here looked different, built in an unfamiliar style. She felt shy and kept her head down but her eyes were wide as she cast darting glances at so many strange things.
“Greetings!” she heard Halvar say.
“Greetings, pilgrims,” said the man who had come out of a barn on the edge of the village.
Halvar pulled his horse to a stop and Kaarina dared a peek beyond the village to the ocean. She was certain she’d never get used to seeing so much water. It frightened her a little. What if a flood arose during the night and swept everyone away? Her attention jerked back to the present.
“We are in need of lodging for the winter, my friend,” Halvar was saying. “The young men will be returning to our village but I will be spending the winter with these young ladies as their guardian.”
“Well, now, that is an unusual situation,” the man said. “Come into my dwelling and tell me about it.”
Halvar swung down from his horse and followed the man up the road that ran through the middle of the village. They went into a house not far from the barn. Eira and Kaarina sat on their horses, wondering what to do next.
“When are you leaving?” Eira asked Torsten as he and the other young men waited on their horses for Halvar to return.
“As soon as possible, before the mountains become impassable,” he replied.
“I wish to say thank you for being our escorts,” she replied.
“That is our pleasure,” he said with a nod.
After what seemed like an eternity, Halvar emerged from the house.
“This is my friend Alfonso,” he told the girls. “He is going to speak with other people who may be able to help us.”
Kaarina felt anxiety clutching at the pit of her stomach. What would happen to them if these people refused to take them in?
At length, Alfonso returned. “I apologize for the delay,” he said. “But we can certainly use some extra help here over the winter. There is a place for each of you and you will be helping the family who provides you with lodging.”
“Thank you, Alfonso,” Halvar said, placing his hand on the other man’s shoulder. “We
