Scramasax Read Free Page A

in it,’ Snorri repeated.
    â€˜You can’t trust them,’ Skarp said. ‘Always flying into a rage. Their hearts get in the way of their heads.’
    Solveig said nothing. She just waited, but Halfdan could tell she was anxious because she kept twisting her left heel, as she’d always done since she was a little girl.
    â€˜Anyhow,’ Skarp added, ‘this one, she’s more like a willow branch than a woman.’
    Harald sniffed loudly. ‘So, Solveig, you’ve heard what my polite companions have to say. The truth is, it would have been very much better if you hadn’t come to Miklagard.’
    Solveig looked Harald straight in the eye. But she felt as if her limbs were turning into cold stone.
    â€˜I’m sure your father has told you that. Better for us. Better for you.’
    â€˜No,’ she replied in a quiet, flat voice.
    â€˜Understand me,’ Harald went on. ‘You have the heart of a bear. You’ve made a long and dangerous journey and no one can do that without purpose of mind and stamina, as well as good fortune. I well know it. But now you’re here, what are we to do with you?’
    â€˜Sidles of snakes!’ hissed Skarp. ‘Twists of elvers!’
    Harald frowned. ‘Dear God!’ he exclaimed. ‘You do have a poor opinion of women.’
    â€˜And of men,’ Snorri added. ‘The only person good enough for Skarp is Skarp.’
    â€˜This is the problem,’ Harald told Solveig. ‘How are you to stay here in Miklagard safely? I know what you’re thinking. But my guards have work to do, here and in the field. And anyhow –’ he winked at Solveig – ‘I mustn’t expose my handsome young guards to you, must I?’
    Solveig lowered her eyes.
    â€˜Well, Halfdan?’ demanded Harald.
    â€˜I can become a guard,’ said Solveig in a quiet voice. ‘I can.’
    Snorri and Skarp both guffawed.
    â€˜That you cannot,’ said Harald in an icy voice.
    â€˜I can learn.’
    â€˜You cannot become a guard,’ Harald told her. ‘A woman is a woman. A man is a man.’
    â€˜Except for the eunuchs,’ Skarp added.
    â€˜True enough,’ Snorri agreed. ‘They’re women-men.’
    Harald sighed. ‘As I see it,’ he said, ‘these are your choices: you can marry a Byzantine lord—’
    â€˜Never,’ said Halfdan gruffly.
    â€˜No,’ said Harald slowly. ‘Or you can become one of the boy-man’s concubines.’
    â€˜What’s that?’ asked Solveig.
    â€˜Mistresses.’
    â€˜Out of the question!’ exclaimed Halfdan angrily. ‘As you well know, Harald.’
    â€˜Your third choice,’ continued Harald in a calculating voice, ‘is to become a novice.’
    â€˜A what?’
    â€˜A novice in a monastery. A young nun.’
    â€˜No! I can’t. I’m not a Christian.’
    â€˜No,’ said Harald. ‘Not a guard. Not a wife. Not a concubine. Not a novice. And so I say again: what are we to do with you, here and now? And when we go away?’
    â€˜Away?’ cried Solveig.
    Now it was plain to all of them how anxious Solveig was. She tossed her long fair hair and stamped her right foot like a colt, and then she almost moaned.
    â€˜Away,’ Harald repeated very deliberately.
    â€˜Where?’
    â€˜Sicily.’
    â€˜What’s that?’
    â€˜An island. An island rife with Arabs and enemies of the Empress.’
    Solveig rounded on her father. ‘You’re not going?’ she exclaimed. ‘Are you going too?’
    Halfdan stared at her, and he looked quite stricken.
    â€˜You are! How long for?’
    Halfdan shook his head.
    â€˜A year,’ replied Harald. ‘I don’t know. Maybe longer. Until we’ve cleaned the place up.’
    â€˜When?’ demanded Solveig. ‘When are you going?’
    Solveig cried out. In her desperation, she reached