The festival of HΓΆkunΓ³tt began with the arrival of many guests on the very next night. Cwen and Gellir appeared, at least to their visitors, as a united couple welcoming family, neighbours and friends with open arms. Huge platters of food were presented and wine and ale flowed readily.
Almost nobody could have seen beyond the faΓ§ade presented by their genial hosts. Gellir kept an anxious watch on the door, knowing that Emma would be his guest again, in such different circumstances, and Cwen kept a watchful eye on her husband, horribly aware of his eager anticipation. When they spoke to one another it was with a cool civility β polite and smiling, but with deeper feelings of fury and jealousy hidden behind their eyes.
When Emma and Stefan joined the throng of guests the festivities were well underway. Emma looked fit and strong, well fed and rested and was dressed in a fine new gown, the colour of ox's blood. Stefan entered with a possessively placed arm around her shoulders, proud to show her off to the local men, yet wanting to make certain they knew and understood her ownership.
Gellir saw her as if at a distance, yet there were only a few feet between them, he felt as though the rest of the room had fallen to a hush, as his attention was so completely focussed upon her. He feasted his eyes upon her, on the soft skin of her face, her full lips, slightly parted, her large eyes the colour of bronze β the sight of her stopped his heart.
He recalled how he had dreamt of his mother after her death β dreamt they had been reunited with a longing and love like he felt at this moment. When he had awoken he had been bereft, an aching agony in his chest as the reality of his loss has washed over him. He feared that tonight, seeing this lovely woman before him, if he were to blink or to look away he might lose her forever, with the same force of agony that he had felt at the loss of his mother.
Emma was trying hard not to look for Gellir, she was keeping her eyes trained on her Master, laughing and animated; but in her heart she longed to look around, to catch sight of him once more.
Cwen approached first, speaking only to Stefan, ignoring Emma very deliberately. "Stefan, my dear brother, I welcome you"
"We thank you for your hospitality." Stefan smiled broadly, his eyes knowing "I trust you had a safe journey home yesterday. It was a wild night indeed."
Cwen blushed in spite of herself. "Please, make yourselves at ease and enjoy the festivities." She moved away quickly, her face prickling with shame, and she fancied she could feel the candle wedged deep inside her and the snow beneath her knees. Had Stefan seen her? Had he watched her debase herself?
Having seen Cwen, Emma was unable to hide her curiosity any further, and she glanced quickly about her, to see Gellir standing close by, still as a statue, mouth slightly parted and his eyes fixed upon her. She ignored the hot rush of pleasure at the sight of him, and gave him a quick hard smile, before stepping away, still arm in arm with Stefan.
If the man was happy to discard her then she would never let him see the reality of her feelings. Her heart hammered in her chest and she could feel the warm reminiscences of their time together put a tingle between her legs almost immediately.
She had forgotten how beautiful he was, how handsome his broad face was β his sleek, sandy hair, his large long-lashed eyes the colour of a winter sea. If she could obey her heart she would step up to him and touch his skin, feel the warmth of his skin against her finger tips and the rasp of his stubble against her palm.
Her heart quickened pace when she thought of his long shaft buried deep within her, opening her up and transporting her, body and mind. She couldn't deny that she wanted him still, that the very sight of him had made her ache for him. Stefan, she realised, was simply a temporary distraction, a dalliance to occupy her until she could be with her true mate again.
As the feast continued and the wine flowed she kept finding her eyes searching the room for him, keeping watch on his every move, and it seemed that every time she glanced in his direction he would be looking at her with an intense gaze. Around them the room became noisier, as the wine and ale fuelled the guests with a raucous energy.
Cwen could feel a sickening nausea rise in her gut, as every time she looked at her husband she could see his eyes trained on Emma with longing. She knew she had been right to try and rid them of this girl, and that she had no option but to execute the plan she had made on the long ride home the previous night.
Looking around the room she could see Stefan, blind drunk, laughing heartily with some of the men, a proprietorial hand clasped tightly around Emma's arm. He looked as though another glass of wine would have him asleep or ailing. Her husband however, looked sober and alert β engaged as he was in watching his whore. Cwen breathed deeply, trying hard to settle her rage, and she crossed to where he stood in reverie.
"Husband?" she gave a broad, flashing smile, that didn't quite meet her eyes. "You are quiet tonight β please, let me get you some wine." He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, and seeming to notice her for the first time he agreed.
Nobody paid her any attention as she collected wine from a vast flagon, hence nobody noticed her make an addition to the goblet βthe contents of a small glass vial which was hidden within her gown. The liquid was invisible in the ruby red wine, and almost flavourless, and as she returned the goblet to Gellir she watched with mounting exhilaration as he drank the wine distractedly.
It took barely a few minutes for the brew to take effect β astounding in such a big man β but soon he found it hard to focus his vision, and seemed a little unsteady on his feet. He swayed a little where he stood.
"Cwen, I feel...I feel unwell." He blinked rapidly and put his hands heavily on her shoulders to steady himself.
"Darling, come and find a place to sit." She ushered him from the great hall, slipping past the revelling guests without drawing any attention, and took him to their bed chamber.
By the time they reached the bed he looked ready to fall, and she steered him to lie down. Asleep almost instantaneously, she kneeled down and straddling him on the bed.
"Oh, Gellir! You should have trusted me β she isn't the one for you. I can't let her come between us, and you can't want a woman who lets herself be used so wickedly." She remembered the sight she had seen in Stefan's bed the night before and found herself pushing her aroused pussy down against Gellir whilst he slept. "By the time tonight is over, you won't want her β she won't be fit for anything." She shuddered with anticipation and left her husband to sleep his drugged sleep, so that her plan could come to fruition.
Back in the Great Hall the tamer guests were leaving. Cwen said her farewells, struggling with her desire to push them from the door and get on with the plan β she was breathing heavily and has a sheen of sweat on her brow, such was her feverish excitement.
With about a dozen guests remaining, she glanced around the room. The din in the hall was growing as the raucous, ale fuelled voices raised ever louder, and in the fire and candle light the shapes of the guests took on an animal quality β feasting, drinking and laughing loudly. Emma was at the centre, attracting attention from most eyes in the room as one of the few women remaining, and Cwen felt heartened at the sight of Stefan slumped in a seat, oblivious with drink.
Cwen stood to the centre of the room, and heart in her throat she called to the servants. At her instruction they brought forward a huge travelling trunk made of fine leather and metal work. The guests began to give Cwen their attention, wondering what treat she might reveal from the trunk. In one smooth motion she covered the trunk in a thick soft blanket from her own bed, momentarily noting the scent of Gellir that lingered upon it.
Cwen spoke loud and clear for the whole room to hear, and immediately they fell silent. She spoke in the language of her audience, rather than the woman she addressed β for this was for their benefit, not Emma's. "Emma my dear, will you join me?" She smiled widely, a gesture that didn't reach her eyes, and looked, to those who knew her, like the smile of a snake. "I want to welcome you formally to our home, as our guest rather than our bounty. I too, Sister, came from the same land as you, and know the perils of your journey." With a nod to her men she continued. "I wish you to feel at home here, to feel you can act as your self and be..." a theatrical pause "...satisfied by our humble company."
Behind Emma the servants had moved into position, and held her fast by her upper arms. She struggled and tried to protest, but her language was unfamiliar to them, and they feared Cwen too much to release her. The pulled her across to the trunk and laid her back against it. She felt the hard wood beneath her back and struggled fiercely against their hold.
She was quickly tethered to the ironwork on the great casket, her wrists bound with soft cloth, but held so tight that she could barely move them at all. Her legs were tied more loosely, in a longer tether which allowed her to move a little way, and find her feet against the floor, but with her back against the trunk and her wrists bound she was unable to right herself.
Cwen bent over her, face flushed and eyes alight with malice. "You can indeed be yourself tonight! You can be the whore you have been playing since you set your feet on Norse soil." She brought her face very close to Emma's and hissed "By the time we are finished here tonight Gellir will have no use for you β you'll be as ruined and slack as a street girl!"
She turned to her guests with a flourish. "Gentlemen! Let me offer you a unique opportunity β a fine young thing with holes to be filled β she exists tonight for your pleasure and entertainment." Taking a short knife from within her gown she began to loosen the bodice of Emma's dress.
Around her the rowdy guests had fallen into a hushed disbelief, all eyes on their hostess and the foreign girl. With each tug of the knife Emma's dress began to fall further open, exposing her breasts to the eyes of all onlookers. In spite of the warmth of the room her fear made her nipples hard and they pointed from small dark areola atop the white flesh of her heavy, youthful breasts.
As more and more flesh was exposed the guests gazed hungrily upon her flat belly and then, as the layers of her new gown and undergarments were cut away, the dark swathe of soft hair nestling between her legs.
Cwen tugged at the gown, pulling it away from her body and exposing her to all around her in her full nakedness. She checked her bindings, pulling the ankle ties further apart so that the others could, for the first time, see the flash of pink that lay within the hairs between her legs.