Kaarina: Rejected
Viking Guardians Book 2
Kaitlynn Clarkson
Contents
Copyright Page
Thank You
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
GLOSSARY: OLD HIGH GERMAN
Author’s Note
Frida: Claimed (Sneak Peek)
CHAPTER 1
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Copyright Page
Copyright © 2020 Kaitlynn Clarkson
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic and mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Disclaimer
Although the places described in this story are real, it is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to any event, either historical or recent, or any person, living or deceased, is completely coincidental.
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When Halvar takes his younger sister Freja to the festival of the Disting, he expects her to be on her best behavior. After all, she’s supposed to be finding a husband.
But Freja cannot help herself. Wild and free-spirited, she is a skilled archer and a keen competitor who ignores the rules for women in her society. She finds a way to join the men-only archery competition and her talent catches the eye of a jarl, who decides he must meet her.
Freja’s mind is as sharp as her aim and she eagerly engages in the discussions surrounding the politics of the land. The jarl has never met a woman like Freja and he cannot stop thinking about her.
But with trouble looming in the form of a new king, the jarl must do his best to keep his people safe and he is forced to attend to political matters. When the crisis passes, the jarl’s thoughts turn to Freja. Is the difference in their social status too great? Can they be together? Or must the jarl bow to the will of the people and take a wife who will offer a political advantage?
This novella is set in the days of King Haakon of Norway, a time when the Vikings left their homelands to raid and plunder; when Christianity was making tentative approaches and kings fought for the right to rule.
CHAPTER 1
K aarina 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
