Enthralled: Viking Lore, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF

shoulder to the old woman. “How
can a tiny girl have earned such a title?”
    “She is the product of
sin,” the older woman replied. “Take her and be gone.”
    Eirik wasn’t sure what
the woman meant by sin, beyond what the monks had told him last winter about
the Christians’ strange views on what a person should and shouldn’t do.
Regardless, the girl was clearly an outsider here—she was at least thirty years
younger than the youngest of the other women, she wore brown instead of black,
and she stared back at him, her spine straight, while the others cowered.
    “Girl,” he said,
turning back to her. “Is there aught else of value here?”
    Her gaze swept over
their pile of plunder in the middle of the floor. “Nay,” she breathed,
squeezing her eyes shut.
    “She is the only one
worth taking as a thrall,” Grimar said from behind Eirik. He must have sensed
that Eirik was preparing to go. “All the others look too old and frail to do
any work. And the women look dry as autumn leaves.”
    Grimar spat on the
floor, causing another ripple of distress from the crowd. He stooped to
retrieve a bit of rope and stepped toward the girl.
    Her gaze darted between
Grimar and Eirik, unsure what was happening. To ease her fears, Eirik spoke
quietly to her in her language. “You are coming with us. If you do not resist,
no harm will come to you.” He forced himself to speak what was likely a lie,
given the fact that Grimar was her master now. Yet Eirik felt drawn to protect
the small, fiery girl.
    Her eyes widened and
she tried to step back, but Grimar snatched her wrists and bound them quickly,
leaving an extra length of rope by which to pull her.
    “Nay! I will not go
with you!” the girl shrieked, her bluster and bravery from earlier ebbing into
panic.
    Eirik turned his back
on her, unable to face those dark, searing eyes as she protested. He gave
orders to gather their loot and move out. As he and his crew stepped through
the shattered door and toward the wall they’d scaled, he heard the chant rise
from the chapel once more. The girl’s pleas and shouts mingled with the relieved
prayers of the others.
    The sky had turned from
inky black to gray-blue as dawn approached. They made their way across the
hilltop and down the sandy cliffs to the beach, where the Drakkar awaited them.
The crew boarded with their loot wrapped in cloth and slung over their
shoulders. As each one set foot on the planks of the ship, they cheered for the
easy victory.
    The last to board was
Grimar, the girl trailing behind on the rope leash. In the yellowing light,
Eirik saw her face go from frightened to downright terrified as her eyes took
in the ship. Nei, it wasn’t the ship her dark eyes were locked on, but the
water surrounding it.
    “Nay, I cannot! Not the
ocean! Please have mercy! Do not make me go out onto the ocean!” she screamed,
thrashing wildly despite her bonds.
    “Is the girl mad?”
Grimar asked Eirik, not understanding her words. He picked her up bodily and
threw her over the ship’s gunwale. She landed on her bottom onboard but
immediately tried to leap off the ship.
    Eirik lunged for her,
wrapping her in his arms to prevent her from escaping or hurting herself. She
was so small that both arms wound completely around her body, yet she fought
against him with all her might, babbling about the water.
    “Are you sure you want
to claim her, cousin?” Eirik said flatly to Grimar as his cousin vaulted
himself onboard. Grimar eyed the thrashing girl warily, and Eirik internally
felt a flood of satisfaction. Perhaps if he thought the girl was too much
trouble, he’d not take her as a thrall.
    But Grimar must have
sensed Eirik’s aim, for he pulled the girl from his arms and pinned her
himself.
    Standing slowly, Eirik
instructed the crew to row them away from the shoreline. As they pulled away
from the beach, the girl suddenly went still in Grimar’s arms.
    “See? She’s already
learning how to be a good thrall,”