Frida: Claimed (Sneak Peek)
This is Book 3 in the Viking Guardians series.
Frida is excited about attending the meeting that people of her faith hold each year. It is where many young people find their life partners and she can’t wait to see the young man she met the previous year. Will there be a spark between them? Is he the one?
Things don’t go as she planned and when she goes home, more trouble awaits. Unbeknownst to her, her father makes a decision that will affect the rest of her life. She is devastated
Her friendship with the handsome Torsten helps her to cope, but even he cannot save her from the threat of an unwanted marriage looming ahead. She flees, knowing that it is a temporary solution and that sooner or later, she must face her fate.
Can Torsten find her before it is too late? Can he convince her that she will be safe with him? Will she see the truth in his heart?
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
“Frida!”
Frida looked up from the leather she was braiding. It was a warm, sunny day and she had decided to work outside, sitting on a low stool as she soaked up the sunshine. She looked up to see her sister-in-law Kaarina hurrying towards her. Since they’d married, Kaarina and Eira no longer spent as much time with the family and Frida missed them. She smiled and waved to Kaarina.
“It is a beautiful day, is it not?” Kaarina beamed, coming to sit beside her on the grass.
Frida had never seen someone as happy to be married as Kaarina. Her joy overflowed onto those around her and lifted their spirits, too.
“It is indeed,” Frida answered. “What brings you away from your work as a wirtun?
Kaarina sighed happily. “Being married is wonderful,” she said. “I love being a wirtun.” She straightened up. “But I am here for a reason. Landwulf sent me to ask if he can borrow your father’s big saga. It is bigger than his and will make the job faster. He has started work on the barn so the oxen have somewhere to live in winter.”
“I am sure Father will be happy to loan the saga,” Frida replied. “We shall go ask him in a moment. He is working nearby today.”
“Was not our wedding a wonderful day?” Kaarina sighed dreamily.
“It was the best occasion in the village for years,” Frida agreed. “Except for one thing.”
“What was that?’ Kaarina asked sharply. She couldn’t imagine how anything could’ve gone wrong.
“Fritjof would not leave me alone,” Frida said. “That man scares me.”
“He was unkind to his wife when we lived in Myrkvior Fjall,” Kaarina said. “I dislike him.”
“Torsten said he would tell Fritjof to leave me alone,” Frida said.
“Torsten?” Kaarina said with a sly grin. “He is handsome, is he not?”
Frida blushed. “I have not paid him much attention,” she said.
“Come now, surely you have noticed his blue eyes and his big muscles. Any girl who has not must be half-blind!”
“Well, if he is that attractive, why did you not marry him instead of Landwulf?”
“Pffft! He is too much like a brother. We grew up together. Besides, he was betrothed to Revna at a young age.”
“Revna? Where is she now? Why are they not married?”
“She was killed when my father attacked Myrkvior Fjall,” Kaarina said sadly. “She was beautiful and kind and I know that Torsten misses her. They were due to be married soon.”
The conversation moved on, but Frida found herself wondering about the handsome Torsten. Did he still grieve for his lost love? Did he lie awake at night thinking about the future they would never have? A new awareness of Torsten’s vulnerability began to grow in her heart as she imagined how it would feel to lose someone you loved right before you were to marry. She was sure that grief of that magnitude would be a heavy burden to carry.
Torsten hitched up the log behind the oxen as he and Einar worked to build a longhouse in the new village of Leið Lykð. It would be a modest structure at first where they would both live until they could build a second one.
“Let us get this one in place today,” he said, as they started their slow plod towards the new house. “We need to get this ready to live in before the winter months.”
“When can Halvar help us again?” asked Einar.
“He said he might be able to spare a little time later in the week,” Torsten replied.
As they approached the village, Torsten noticed Fritjof outside working on his new pit-house.
“Greetings, Fritjof,” he called.
Fritjof glared at him and turned his back. Torsten had the uneasy feeling that he’d made an enemy.
He thought back to the occasion of Halvar and Eira’s wedding. Frida had come outside, anxious to avoid Fritjof. She’d bumped into him and seemed agitated. He’d promised to tell Fritjof to leave her alone.
“Leave Frida alone, Fritjof,” he’d said after he returned to the festivities.
Fritjof had
