Page 13 of A Viking's Captive

Every day, Rathnon learned additional aspects of Ilona’s personality and character, and his admiration for her grew. He wanted to take her to the loch after dinner, but seeing her sleepiness, he led her to bed instead, and she fell asleep in moments. He slept outside, and Sigrid would sleep near Ilona instead. He fashioned a place to rest on the forest floor near the longhouse. Exhausted from work and hardly sleeping at night, Rathnon finally slept well. He dreamed of Ilona and awakened in the morning hard and wanting again. He strolled to the loch and bathed in the cool, clean waters and drenched his desire for Ilona so he could return to the longhouse.

The men would go gather and cut peat. Reserving the wood for cooking, they used the peat for heating. It would be filthy and smelly work all day. He didn’t ken what Sigrid had planned for Ilona, but he missed her. He missed waking up beside his lovely betrothed.

The men took dried food with them to save time and would nae return until dinnertime. Rathnon regretted his time away from Ilona.How will we get to know each other when so much work needs to be done?

Rathnon walked over to the sleeping Ilona and kissed her head. Inhaling her fragrance of heather and wildflowers transported him back to when he had seen her for the first time. She had captivated him from the very first moment.

Later, Ilona awakened and dressed. Today, Sigrid led her to the barn, where she milked the cows and the goats. Afterward, she would churn butter and make cheese.

These tasks were nae difficult for her, for she had done them many times back home on the farm. Sigrid saw in a moment how comfortable and skilled Ilona was, so Sigrid left her in the barn to complete her tasks.

Later, Sigrid returned to take the full buckets of milk to the longhouse. When Ilona finished milking the animals, she carried the last bucket back to the same place, where Sigrid had assembled the butter churners. Ilona poured the cream from the top of the milk into the churners, and Sigrid carried the milk into the longhouse.

Ilona stood and placed a towel around the top of the lid and churned the cream, agitating it to turn it into butter. Then she sat on a stool and continued churning. Although tiring, it was less arduous than digging in a field. While she churned the cream with repetitive movements, Ilona reflected on her life with her parents. When she contemplated escaping from Rathnon, his whiskey eyes, heated gaze, and sparkling smile came to mind. Guilt devoured her, being away from her parents and nae being there to help them on the farm. Yet part of her heart tugged in yearning for Rathnon. If she left him and escaped, would he lose face in front of the men?

After about twenty minutes, Ilona poured off the buttermilk and then poured the butter into a large bowl. Ilona used a wooden paddle and packed the butter down. Then she poured in water and worked the butter with her paddle to press out the remaining buttermilk. If she left excess buttermilk, the butter would go rancid in a short time.

The buttermilk and water could be fed to the pigs. After many washings of the butter, she took the bowl into the kitchen. Ilona set out butter molds with floral patterns. She wet the wooden butter molds and then packed the butter inside. Later, she cleaned the churn with boiling water. Then she returned to the second butter churn and repeated the process.

Ilona wanted Rathnon’s community to accept her. Mayhap she needed them to like her to feel like she belonged and nae like an outsider, as she did now. She did nae understand their language nor their customs, traditions, and laws. She hoped that by working hard, she would earn their acceptance, trust, and ultimately their approval.But will that matter to Rathnon? Will he be proud of me as his wife? If his community rejects me, will he never fall in love with me?Love mattered to her. Her parents’ and grandparents’ marriages were the example for her. Ilona saw nae benefit to marriage without love. But what could she do if he didn’t love her?

Back inside the kitchen, Ilona helped with making cheese. She washed her hands again and then began making bread dough. She worked efficiently and, not being able to converse, remained quiet while she worked. Her family had retained their proud Scottish traditions from generation to generation. The women appreciated her skills, and the fact that she did nae need any supervision to complete tasks. While Ilona waited for the dough to rise, she resumed her embroidery of Rathnon’s tunic. She needed to find more time to weave to finish his wedding garb.

When the dough had risen sufficiently, she took it out of the ceramic bowls and fashioned it into loaves. She placed the bread in the oven to bake but stayed close by to monitor the rye and oatmeal bread, not wanting it to burn. When done, she removedthe loaves from the oven using a long-handled wooden paddle. Ilona set the bread on the counter to cool.

Other women were busy in the kitchen, cooking fish stew in iron pots. It would be a simple but nutritious dinner since the women would need to wash the men’s clothes when they returned from gathering peat.

With much effort, the men had stacked the peat for drying before storing it in an outbuilding. Although they had rinsed off, they still smelled of the bog.

Sigrid and Ilona joined the women outside by pots of hot water and long wooden paddles to stir the clothes. They took Rathnon’s pants, socks, and tunic and dunked the smelly, dirty clothes in the pot. Ilona added dried fragrant herbs too. With her hands scrubbing the clothes, she followed Sigrid’s directions before she deemed the clothes clean enough to rinse in another pot. Ilona took Rathnon’s tunic and wrung out the excess water, then hung it in the sun over a pine tree branch. She did the same with his socks and pants.

When she next saw Rathnon, he had washed and wore clean pants with a short-sleeved tunic. The women completed washing and hung the clothes on clotheslines to dry. Everyone returned inside the longhouse and ate an early dinner, leaving free time for families to spend together before the parents sent the children to bed.

Sigrid told Rathnon, “Ilona made the bread and butter on the table tonight.”

“I love yer bread and butter. It has a wonderful flavor I enjoy. Thank ye.”

Ilona blushed at his praise.

Rathnon said, “After dinner, I want to take ye to the loch where ye can bathe. We can pick berries on our way there.”

Ilona said, “Good. I want to search for herbs too.” Sigrid, acting as their interpreter, discerned that Ilona’s understanding of words had increased after only a few days.

Rathnon led Ilona on the path through the forest to the loch. She carried her linen shift and a dress to wash. It was a lovely evening, and the weather became warmer each day. Rathnon carried baskets for Ilona and a towel to dry off with. Birds chirped, and dappled sunlight filtered through the canopy of trees towering over them. Rathnon’s skin was warm as he held her hand in his. Ilona spotted the wild berries first, which they picked and placed in their baskets. When they had picked the bushes clean, they continued strolling to the loch.

Ilona gasped in delight when she glimpsed the loch through the trees. It reminded her of her home in Orkney and the loch she used to bathe in. She still wondered how long Rathnon had spied on her without her knowledge but remained afraid to ask, fearing the answer.

When they reached the water’s edge, Ilona urged Rathnon to go first since she wanted to wash clothes first and let them dry briefly before they returned. Rathnon undressed completely while Ilona occupied herself with washing her clothes and hanging them on the sunniest branches to dry. She walked into the loch wearing her linen shift, effectively washing it while she swam. Ilona saw Rathnon at the other end of the loch swimming with powerful strokes. Mayhap he enjoyed the vigorous exercise, and it must have soothed his muscles after digging and cutting peat. She had helped her parents do it to prepare for winter but wrinkled her nose in disgust at the smell and how dirty yer clothes got.

Rathnon raced as if being chased, for lurid images of Ilona haunted him. He was glad she had left her shift on since he feared losing control of his intense desires for her if she had swum naked. He observed that she demonstrated excellent swimming skills. Ilona swam parallel to him across the breadth of the loch.

The cold water felt heavenly to Ilona after her labors of the day. Now that she kent how to get to the loch, she could visit anytime she desired—when she did nae have work. Ilona longed to tease Rathnon and challenge him to a race, but she did nae ken the words to use.

Rathnon stilled in the water and swam up behind and under Ilona, who shrieked and thrashed as if a monster of the deep attacked her. Rathnon pulled her up to his chest as she sputtered and tried to get free. Then she relaxed in his arms as he laughed a big hearty laugh.

Not caring that he didn’t understand her, she said, “Rathnon, ye scared me to death. I thought a fierce animal was attacking me. Ye frightened me terribly.”

He chuckled in delight. “Fenir, Ulf,” he laughed. Fenir was a powerful wolf in Norse mythology, but Ilona was unaware of this.