A Norseman's Legend
Chapter 16
At high noon the following day, Kell was brought to the great hall to receive his sentence. Bound in shackles, he was guarded by four men, so an escape was out of the question. To his surprise, instead of being brought in front of just the council, he was brought before Katarina herself, sitting on the thrown, crown on her head. He was also amazed at how much older she looked sitting there staring back at him without a smile. To him now, she was no longer an equal but his clan leader.
“You have been charged with the crime of kidnapping,” she spoke finally, her voice echoing in the great hall. “You sentence will be death by hanging according to the law of the clan.” She looked around at her council and then continued.
“Kell Thorald, kneel before me.” Kell did as he was commanded, never taking his eyes off her.
She stepped down from her pedestal and unsheathed her father’s sword, but Kell neither stumbled back nor flinched. She placed the blade on one of his shoulders and looked directly down at him, making sure his gaze matched hers. “Kell Thorald, even though your family name is not a friend to us, even though your sentence is death for the crime you are charged with committing, you have shown great allegiance to this clan under my father’s warriors. As head of this clan I have the right to either condemn you or to grant you pardon, but the choice must come from you. Do you swear by the gods of Valhalla, most holy, to show allegiance to this clan once more, this time under my command?”
“My sword belongs to you,” Kell replied.
“Then rise and be thankful the gods have bestowed this pardon upon you!” She replaced the sword back into its sheath and motioned for the guards to take off his shackles.
“Katarina!” her name almost shaking the walls of the hall. “Do you realize-?”
“Yes, council, I realize what I have done!” she interrupted. “I have set free a man who was wrongfully accused and in fact saved my life! If you gentlemen were not so set on executing him, maybe you would see the type of warrior he really is!”
“You cannot be serious! Let him go and not carry out his sentence?!”
“My choice is final and I refuse to argue this point further!” Katarina rebutted. “He is an excellent warrior and he served my father well. I will be very pleased to fight alongside him in battle!”
“You should not have to fight anymore as female leader of this clan. That is what you have warriors for- to serve and protect,” the council leader spoke to her.
“I refuse to give up my ability to wield a sword simply because I am a leader! My father fought until his dying battle and he ruled quite well!” she argued again.
“You should never have wielded a sword to begin with! We, the Council, were against your father’s choice from the very beginning!”
“You act as if you never acknowledged my father’s choices during his entire rein over this clan!”
“There were some we did not approve of,” he said to her without looking at her.
“You chose to go against my father’s will!” she exclaimed, drawing her sword as she spoke. “To me that means you chose to become our clan’s enemy! It could be looked upon as a selfish desire for the crown of this clan!”
“Please believe me, we meant no wrong! By the gods we never wanted to rule Valhale!”
“You have always been alongside my father guiding him as his council! But now it seems evident that your form of council is nothing more than absolute ludicrous! I hear-by abolish this council! You all have disgraced this clan and for that you will be stripped of your titles!” Katarina sheathed her blade and walked out of the great hall.
* * * * *
Katarina went riding late that afternoon and only told one other person of where she was going. She had much too much on her mind and she needed to be on her own to think. She stopped her horse by a stream and collapsed by a tree. Closing her eyes she let her mind wander over everything she knew was now her responsibility. Valhale was hers; it belonged to her. Yet she was questioned by others of her authority to rule such a clan as this. For her to be able to rule over the people of Valhale, the council needed to allow her to make choices that she knew she could make. Stripping them all of their titles would not be enough. She needed to legally abolish the council from all of Valhale, for her to rule in peace.
Then there was Kell. He had been her friend for many years yet it seemed he looked at her differently now. He looked at her as an equal, as someone he could easily fight alongside, female gender or not. Yet his smile told her differently. His smile told her his feelings were more than just the lifelong friend she thought she was.
For many years men of all ages had tried to win her over with their charm, only to fail because they were vain. They wanted her only to get to her power, to get to her crown. They didn’t seem to know her for the woman she was and they never respected her as their leader, both in battle or on the thrown. But Kell was different- he knew her right down to her soul, and he never showed her the false affections of other men. What he portrayed to her was respect, loyalty, and true affection and when he had kissed her prior to this day of recollection, it sent chills through her entire spine. It chilled her now to think of the way he could make her feel with just a kiss, and when he was not there she found herself longing to see him and feel his kiss again.
“Kat?” she heard his voice call out to her in her mind. How sweet her name sounded as it rolled off his tongue.
“Kat?” she heard it again, louder than before, causing her to open her eyes and blink.
“Am I dreaming?” she asked sleepily.
“I would hope not,” the figure in front of her replied.
“Kell?”
“The one and only,” he laughed, extending his hands to help her up.
As she stood up there was an awkward silence and no words were spoken as he slowly cupped her chin in his hand and lowered his lips to hers. His hands slid around her neck, deepening the kiss. She didn’t understand what she felt when he kissed her but she didn’t try to pull away. Kell was the one to let go first and when Katarina opened her eyes and looked up, he was smiling back at her.
“Do you believe me now that I could never buy or steal you from anyone?” he asked her innocently.
“I believe that you have attempted to steal my heart through your acts of caring.”
“I cannot steal that which you give freely,” he replied.
“Then I give you nothing!” she said stubbornly.
“Please, Kat, hear me out,” he said forcing her to look into his eyes. “I am falling in love with a girl who I have watched grow up to become a very beautiful woman. She is strong, she is caring, she is sweet, she is very determined in nature. And with every quality she possesses, I grow more and more attracted to her.”
Katarina could hear no more of this talk of another woman. “Kell, I hope you are very happy with this girl of yours. She sounds very lovely,” she said, pulling her head away and walking over to her horse.
“You don’t get it, do you Kat?” he followed her and grabbed her horse’s reins.
“I get that this girl of yours may only exist in your imagination!”
“Kat, please listen to me,” he begged.
“I have! Tell your love I give her my best! She has a really great man by her side!” She pulled the reins out of his hand and rode off, small tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
Why couldn’t he just tell her how he felt, if he felt anything for her at all? Why did he kiss her with such passion and then talk of another woman who obviously was not her? Katarina stopped her horse suddenly and looked around. Then it happened- a knot formed in her stomach and tears began to form in her eyes. She sat there on her horse and cried for the first time in what seemed like years. The tears streamed down her face as her heart poured from her eyes; her mind screaming in pain with the realization that he did not love her and she truly was alone.
“Kat, what did I say?” Kell said behind her, as his horse stopped next to hers, and proceeded to jump down from the saddle. “Come down and let me finish what I was going to say.”
Reluctantly, Katarina slid down from her horse and faced Kell, but said nothing. He spoke once again, “Kat, please don’t fool yourself anymore. You are as strong as many others, I have seen it. You are Katarn, the great legendary warrior and you will be remembered for that greatness alone! You were the first girl to perceiver so much that you were able to overcome such great obstacles and still become a great warrior! You are a leader of a great clan, the most respected and feared in all of Scandinavia! Kat, you should be proud of what you have achieved and I know that if your father was still alive, he would crown you just for that reason!”
“My father and mother are both dead because of me! What kind of achievement is that?!” Katarina spat.
“Kat, it was not your fault-.”
“ Yes it was! If it were not for my stupid demands as a child to be a warrior, my father would still be here! If it were not for my careless behavior, my mother would still be alive!”
“Kat, you could not have predicted what was to happen, so there’s no sense blaming yourself.”
“I have achieved nothing but horrible dreams and nightmares of being alone, secluded, and sorrowful, with nothing to show for it except the graves of my parents!”
“You are not alone, Kat. You still have me,” he smiled at her.
“Why would you want to even stand near a person as hideous as I? I am not this love you speak of, so why not go back to her instead of trifling with me?!”
“Kat, you are everything to me, don’t you know that! You have shown me not only what it means to possess the strength to survive, but what it means to love someone as well!”
“Love?”
“I do love you, my Kat, and it seems I always have. I’ve fallen for every part of you, right down to the stubborn child I sparred with, and I wish nothing less than to never let them go!”
Kell picked her up in his arms and cradled her there for a minute before spinning her around like a child. This made her laugh instead of cry because it reminded her of how her father used to do the same. Still in his arms, he stopped spinning her, looked down at her, and kissed her more passionately than ever before. This she let herself give in to and returned to him the same. No more words were exchanged between them as he lifted her back onto her saddle and then followed suit onto his.