Free Viking Bride by Vivian Leigh

hand on her shoulder.
“Peace, Eliza. She means well.”
    “I know,” Eliza conceded.
    The inside of the steamhouse was surprisingly
not-steamy. At least not the first room. Instead, it had a wide
wooden tub full of rose colored water. Red petals floated on the
surface. A thick wooden door led to an adjacent room. Runnels of
water dripped from the seams in the door, and the floor before it
was stained dark and wet. Waves of heat emanated from that side of
the room.
    “I am to bathe?” Eliza asked, eyeing the
tub.
    “You are.” Ingrid helped her out of her dress
and waited quietly as she tested the water.
    Eliza yelped, and her toe puckered up like a
baby sucking spoiled milk. She looked at her mother, aghast. “It’s
cold!”
    “Of course it is. Get in the water, child.
Once you’ve bathed, you can go next door and warm up.”
    Eliza held her breath and slipped into the
water. Her whole body felt like it locked up. Every muscle tensed,
and the cold seemed to tighten around her like an over-eager lover.
She scrambled back out of the tub after only a few seconds.
    “Okay, I’m as purified as I’m going to get,”
Eliza said, her teeth chattering. She scuttled toward the warm
door, trying to control her shivering.
    Her mother and Ingrid removed their dresses
and hung them on pegs, then they all entered the steam room
together.
    It was gloriously hot. Great clouds of steam
hung in the air. Heat emanated from the floor and rinsed the chill
from Eliza’s bones.
    “Gods above, it feels wonderful,” Eliza
said.
    Ingrid pointed to a cloth and a bucket. “We
will bathe you again and then this part will be finished.”
    It didn’t take long to wipe Eliza with the
cloth and rub her with the oil, but when they finished, there was
no hurry to leave the steamhouse. When they finally did leave,
Eliza made sure to make a mental note of where to find the building
in the future. She wasn’t sure the rules for using it, but she was
definitely making it a point to return. Queens could do that sort
of thing, she thought.
     
    ***
    The wedding ceremony was on Frigga’s day,
honoring the goddess of wives and mothers. The entire village
filled a grove of ancient trees, not far from the shore. Cordith
and Aldith walked with Eliza and her mother. Ingrid was with them,
too, carrying the sword and ring that Eliza would present
Kelnar.
    “Are you ready, Eliza?” Ingrid was the most
concerned of Eliza’s attendants, but that was probably because she
was the one that knew the most about her peoples’ customs.
    “I’m ready. Gods, but I’m ready.” Eliza ached
for Kelnar. Being Queen would have practical benefits, but being
wedded to Kelnar went far beyond practicality. It went right to the
core of who she was. She had a will and a strength of her own, but
Kelnar reinforced them both and made her stronger than she could
ever be alone.
    “Wait here.” Karna rested a hand on Eliza’s
shoulder while Ingrid strode on ahead. They let Ingrid get into
position, then the rest of part moved forward.
    Eliza’s dress swished as she walked. Pale
green and white, it was nicer than her other dresses, though not
particularly so. She would come to Kelnar as she was, not as a
dolled up caricature of a woman. Being herself was one Viking
tradition she found she approved of.
    The women stopped a few paces short of the
rise where Kelnar stood. Eliza walked ahead alone, passing under a
large wicker arch. She glanced up as she went beneath it, the only
time she let her eyes stray from Kelnar. It was like walking into
another world when she emerged on the other side. Nothing outward
had changed, but on the inside she could feel it. Her trials would
surely not all be behind her, but the ones that lay ahead would be
with Kelnar by her side.
    “You’re beautiful,” Kelnar murmured.
    “So are you,” Eliza whispered back. He
blushed, then bit his lip to keep from laughing. Eliza just
smiled.
    Ingrid passed her the sword for Kelnar, then
Eliza and