The Skuldner
Dedication:
For /M, I hope that you love it. Let me know if you want another instalment 💖
Content/Themes:
Vikings, FemDom, male sub, romance, first times, young adults, sex
My brothers, Thorsten and Svenn, are angry with me. Our mother has asked me to go to the great Midsummer Blot with her this year, and they are to stay here and look after the farm and our little sister. It's not fair they say, Bjorn is too quiet and shy! He won't enjoy the drinking and the sex! He won't enjoy the sacrifice and the feasting! But she is adamant. She is impressed with the leather work that I've been making. I took it up last Winter, making tooled belts and cuffs with rune work and other protective symbols for those that travel. I'm to go with her and set up a stall to sell my work. Who knows she said, you might even get an apprenticeship or some other opportunity. I turned 18 this year and she says that it's about time I saw something of the world. My father has been away at sea off and on since he was 18. Now he trades the cloth that my mother and the other women weave, but my mother knows that I am not a trader or a fighter. Not like my brothers will be.
We pack up the cart and take two horses, and a goat for the Blot sacrifice. The cart is piled up with our goods and gear. We walk alongside to give the horses a break. It's 3 days we'll be travelling. As we get closer to the Magnate's Estate we start to see more and then more people on the road. It's late when we finally arrive, but the sun is still shining in the sky. Midsummer... We find somewhere by the lake to make our camp, and leave the horses to rest. We're not too late for the opening parade.
The place is busy with hundreds of people around the grand lodge at the centre of the Estate. The sun is sinking and in the twilight we hear the sound of drums and singing.
They're coming.
This year the Völva of Freya are in attendance for the Blot. They will be conducting ceremonies and fertility rites for the feast. I can hear their voices in the distance, strong and loud. It stirs something in me. They beat drums and she comes along the pathway, The Völva, riding a black stallion, surrounded by the young women who chant for her. I'm absorbed into the intensity of it, the singing, the drumming, the hazy light. All the people.
I find myself flying up into the air as Raven, soaring into the evening sky. Another Raven joins me and we fly together swirling and diving in a February dance. It is so wonderful to be so free with another. Suddenly the other Raven gronks loudly, my eyes snap open and I am back in the crowd, eyes locked with one of the singers who is staring directly at me as she walks past. She smiles and winks. I feel the heat rising in my cheeks and gulping I cast my gaze down at the ground until I can feel she's gone by.
----
Next day, I set up my stall and lay out all the leather work that I've carefully crafted over the winter. I'm proud of my work and my mother is proud of me. She smiles at me and musses my hair, before enveloping me in a huge, warm hug.
"You've done well, my son. I'm sure all your work will sell these next few days."
She looks at me fondly before striding off into the crowd. She has business to attend to; she is meeting with the other women in the Guild of Weavers to set prices and discuss their women's business.
I stand by my stall for a while, then sit, then stand again, I don't quite know what to do with myself. I'm not used to all these people. I make a few small sales, and I'm thrilled! Then there is a long lull, so I decide to clear a space at the back of my stall so I can work a little while people pass by, looking up every now and then when I sense someone approaching the stall.
Suddenly, I feel her eyes boring into me. I seem to have gotten lost in my work, and somehow, she is right there, staring at me. It's like she's been there for hours, and I only just noticed. I jump up awkwardly, gulping and knocking my tools on the ground. Her energy is so intense and powerful. I stutter a few words; it's like I'm a little kid. I'm blushing, I can't believe it! She just stands there, smiling at me, enjoying my discomfort. Before I can say anything at all meaningful, she says,
"How much is this?"
She's holding up a horse whip that I made. It's my least favourite piece and I don't know why I made it. I don't like to whip horses, it's unnecessary.
"Ah, I don't know," I say, I wish she hadn't picked it. "Is it for your horse?"
She laughs, well, it's kind of a giggle, and she looks me right in the eye and says, "Oh no! I would never whip a horse..."
I sense that I have no idea what she's talking about, and I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks again. What is she doing to me?!
I gulp again, and say, "Oh, take it, please, if it's not for a horse, you'll be doing me a favour."
"Oh, I think I will..." she says, smiling.
I have this strange feeling that I've agreed to something more than is being said. I wish I knew what it was!
"I like these," she says, holding up my favourite piece of work, the most expensive.
I priced them so I wouldn't have to sell them. They're a pair of long leather cuffs ornately carved with Ravens and magical symbols. I swallow hard. Her green eyes are boring into me again.
"Raven is my power animal," she says. "One of them."
I realise that it's the woman from last night. One of The Völva's entourage of singers. I can't believe I didn't recognise her. I stare right back at her, captivated by her blue eyes. Weren't they green before? I'm so flustered. I swallow again.
She sets the cuffs back down.
"I'll just take the whip," she says. "For now... Come for a walk with me, Bjorn".
I realise this is a command and I must obey it.
"Er, I, er... my stall, I..."
"You go and take a break, my love," my mother says.
