Maidensong Read Online Free PDF

skald. No doubt you’ve heard one or two and thought to imitate them to avoid thralldom. But if you were truly a student of the Havamal, you’d know that there’s nothing you can do to change your fate.” Astryd’s blond brows knit together. “All you can do is meet it with courage.”
      The lady’s eyes gleamed when she saw the amber hammer at Rika’s throat. The hammer was simple but elegant, and Astryd’s pursed lips told Rika she thought it far too fine for the neck of a slave.
      “ You can start by giving me that little bauble you’re wearing,” the Dragon of Sogna said. “Thralls have no possessions of their own, you know.”
      Rika bit her lip as she slipped the thin leather strip over her head and placed the hammer in Astryd’s wait ing palm.
      The Lady of Sogna directed her attention to the whole group of new thralls. “Take off your clothes, all of you. You’re no doubt infested with lice and fleas.” Astryd turned to the serving girl who’d brought the horn of mead to Bjorn. “Evja, burn their clothes and get them all something more fitting to their new station.”
      So this is how it starts, Rika thought. In order to re make them into slaves, they first had to strip away who they were. She slipped her garments over her head, determined it would not matter to her. In her mind, she would clothe herself with the dignity of her art. Her bare skin didn’t quite get the message though, as gooseflesh rippled over her despite the sunshine.
      After Ketil pulled his tunic over his head, Astryd took the garment from him and ran the fine fabric through her fingers. It was soft and supple as water compared to the stiff linen she herself wore.
      “ Save the clothing of these two.” Astryd ordered her serving girl as she pointed to Rika and Ketil. “I may find a use for their garments, after a thorough clean ing, of course.”
      Rika’s cheeks burned. The men at swordplay looked on and jeered, as she and the rest of the thralls were paraded, still naked, to the ironworker. A circle of ugly gray metal was bolted around her neck, a dismal re placement for the little amber hammer.
      At least now if I decide to drown myself, I won’t need loom stones . Rika had already cheated the waves once. She wondered whether giving herself to the sea constituted meeting her fate with courage, but then she thought of Ketil. No matter what happened, she couldn’t choose to take the water, for his sake.
      Evja gave them all shapeless garments of coarse undyed wool. Though Rika was grateful to cover her nakedness, the rough cloth chafed against her skin and rubbed her nipples raw.
      Then Astryd reappeared with her shears. She seemed to take perverse delight in snipping off Rika’s waist-length hair in uneven chunks, hacking and saw ing at her thick tresses. Magnus had never allowed anyone to cut her hair. It shimmered like a sunset rain, he always said. As the long locks fell to earth, Rika squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to remember Magnus brushing her hair when she was little. He al ways smoothed out the snarls she got into. How she wished he were there to smooth her out of this one.
      She ran a stunned hand over her shorn head. Her father would be heartsick if he could see her now. Re lieved of its weight, her remaining hair curled snugly around her ears and across her forehead.
      Then Astryd sent Ketil to work felling trees with a group of other male thralls. Rika was tasked with scrubbing privies. The harsh soap, a combination of lye mixed with ash and fat, reddened her hands and made her eyes burn. After she finished that chore, As tryd ordered Rika to join another group of women who were processing yarn by dragging it through a shallow vat of cow urine.
      As Magnus’s daughter, she’d never so much as assisted with meal preparation before. Her days had been filled with practicing the countless tales her fa ther never tired of teaching her. She mastered the secret art of runes