Free A Short Tale From Norse America: Young Ravens & Hidden Blades (The United States of Vinland) by Colin Taber Page A

we just take the raft back home to Godsland?”
    They
both turned to look down the channel, where some of the rooftops of the village
showed, peaking above the hilltop. Most of the village hid in the gully beyond,
with the Godsland Hall nestled in its side. The top of the hill lay levelled
and ready for the new Raven Hall that Eskil and Ballr planned to build over
coming summers.
    “No,
if we go now, we’ll get back too early. We’ll either be put to work or be asked
to watch over the younger children.”
    “You
are right. This is the first time we’ve been able to get out on the raft since
the spring storms. Let’s not ruin it.”
    They
paddled on, reaching the middle of the channel.
    Normally,
they would now be headed one way or the other, towards Godsland or Guldale,
turning from Lakeland’s forbidden shores. But this time they were not.
    After
a few quiet oar strokes, Brandr asked, “Do you think he’s there?”
    Ulfarr
searched the patchy woodlands ahead, where they ran steeply down to the
shoreline of the fjord. “Thoromr One-Eye?”
    “Yes.”
    “No,
he’s not there.”
    “What
do you mean — you don’t believe in him?”
    “No,
not that. I believe in him, to not do so would be like calling your own father
a liar, as it was he who put out Thoromr’s eye.”
    Brandr
grinned with pride. “So what do you mean?”
    “That
the Lakeland vale is supposedly over that ridge, and that they have their own
new lands further on, just like our Guldale. That’s where Thoromr is. Just as
we don’t cross the water to their land here, they also don’t cross the ridge,
as it brings them too close to us. That’s why Thoromr One-Eye is not on that
shore. We call it theirs, but in truth, it is not. You’ve heard our fathers
talk about it; no one has seen anyone walk that shore for years. It is only a
borderland, too steep for farming or building a hall. It is nothing.”
    Brandr
gave a nod. “My father says they are different now that Faraldr the Greenlander
has brought in his own people, same as he has to Godsland and Guldale. He says
Lakeland is only ruled over by Thoromr in name, that it is Aldis, his wife and
Faraldr’s sister, who truly wields the power.”
    Ulfarr
agreed. “My father says the same, though it sounds as if One-Eye still has some
say in what happens.”
    “He
has a son — a great and strong son with golden hair — who is a sure shot with a
bow.”
    “Who
says that?” asked Ulfarr.
    “My
father. He says that one day I might meet him and that I should be ready for
such a thing. He says that as our fathers have had a bloody history, so it is
also likely their sons will too.”
    Ulfarr
thought about that. “It is true; Ballr is wise.”
    Brandr
again turned and grinned at Ulfarr.
    The
raft continued on, both boys paddling under the blue sky, as if waiting for the
other to stop or begin to change course. They were now two-thirds of the way
across the channel.
    Brandr
asked, “Do you think One-Eye is as fierce as they say?”
    “He
was when he murdered Ari and when Leif died, but they say he has changed since
he lost an eye. I think our parents tell us to keep away from Lakeland as a
caution, not because they really think he would grab us and kill us.”
    Brandr
nodded. “My mother says they were surprised he survived the wound. He changed
after that, and again when he married Aldis.”
    Ulfarr
had heard the same thing. “Travellers returning from Lakeland told my father
Thoromr is haunted by nightmares of the shades of Ari and Leif coming back from
their graves for him.”
    “He
murdered Ari, everyone knows that; but he didn’t kill Leif.”
    “Yes,
but people say he feels some of the guilt.”
    “Could
they, Leif and Ari, come back from their graves for him?”
    Ulfarr
shrugged. “The travellers told my father that Thoromr dug up Leif’s body
himself and smashed the skull to stop such a thing.”
    Brandr
was fascinated. “What a creepy story!”
    Ulfarr
nodded, but wore a perverse