Chapter 98 - Start Of The Yule Festival

In the morning Einar woke up quite sore because, in gratitude for the delicious food he had made, Kassia and Helmi had not let him sleep.

But, although he was in pain, he did not regret anything that had happened, so he stretched out his hands and slowly hugged his two wives while letting their heads rest on his chest.

Helmi who was leaning on Einar's chest between opened her small and bright eyes, and with her hand hugged the naked piece of her husband.

"You know Einar, being recharged in this position brings back many memories of our childhood.

Like the time we had played so much that we got so tired that we lay down on the soft green grass while the sun warmed us.

You were always the only child who was never repulsed by my white hair or my extremely pale skin. "

Helmi closed her eyes and smelled the fragrant scent of Einar's sweat.

"The simple fact of being able to lie with you right now and have our future son or daughter inside me.

It fills me with happiness but at the same time I am afraid that one day you will get tired of me or that ... "

Einar interrupted Helmi by giving her a small kiss on the forehead.

"Helmi I told you once and I will tell you again I will always be with you in good times as in bad.

The only way that I can stop worrying about you or my children is for me to be dead.

I will take care of you, I will take care of Kassia, and I will take care of our children until I stop breathing.

But I'll still try to keep taking care of you from whatever is on the other side.

Even if it is a black room where there is only sadness and loneliness accompanied by a horrible and invisible beast. "

Helmi, who felt security in every word that came out of Einar's mouth, closed her eyes, and gave him a soft and firm hug, enjoying the moment she was living with him at that moment. 

Kassia who had listened to them silently smiled since like Helmi she felt a lot of security being with Einar.

So she also snuggled into Einar and closed her eyes, Einar feeling that his two wives were asleep, decided to take care of them until they woke up.

While this was happening, Sven who had dark circles got out of bed, while looking fondly at his wife and concubine.

'It's quite addictive what Einar taught me…'

Sven wiped the scant sweat off his forehead and gulped.

'The danger is not that I like it, but that they like it, I would like to be younger like Einar.

Maybe then I can tame these two hungry tigers. '

After this Sven got out of bed and went to the hot spring pool that had the great hall where once he arrived he let the hot water relieve the pain in his legs.

As he looked at the sky, he sighed 'It's a shame that the sun this day only lasts a few hours, but fortunately everything is ready.

I guess like me, a lot of men have a hard time getting up after so much action, but that's a good thing as next year we will have a lot of new children in the tribe. '

After taking a relaxing bath, he changed his clothes and left the great hall to supervise the finishing touches of the Yule festival decorations.

For their part, Laura, Daven, and the rest of the children took their small instruments to start following Aila who was going to show them where they should be placed during the festival.

This is because they had to play a tune that Einar had specially made for them to participate in the festival, and they had been practicing.

When they left the great hall, Aila showed them the platform where they had to be.

The little children, paying attention to Aila, climbed onto the platform and began to take the places she indicated.

Laura, being the only girl who had managed to completely dominate the melody, occupied the best place on the platform.

Because they still had quite a bit of time before the festival started, the little children led by Aila started rehearsing before the big event.

A little before noon, Einar arrived at the town accompanied by Kassia and Helmi, who were wearing quite striking and elegant clothes, which were completely different from the ones they had worn for Freyja's banquet.

Since these were composed of large pieces of tanned leather and some jewels which showed that as Einar's wives they had a higher hierarchy than the rest of the women of the tribe.

Except for Elin, the mother of Einar who was considered the matriarch of the tribe.

In the great hall Einar met with Seren and taking advantage of the still sunlight, they began to work with the milk liqueur that was in the patio of the great hall.

Kassia and Helmi for their part went with Asgot, who was already meeting with numerous members of the tribe who would be in charge of starting the procession around the great campfire.

All of them were dressed in white clothes and sandals, the women had some winter flowers adorning their bodies.

While the men had their faces painted with different colors, Asgot saw his daughter arrive and Kassia walking towards them.

"Good thing you two arrived, Helmi, please help me do a dress rehearsal to see if there is anything to change.

Kassia I would like you to help me review the materials for the sacrifice to Odin and to bring back Yule's trunk that should be kept in the storage chest. "

Kassia nodded and left Helmi to walk to the warehouse where once she entered she began to look for the chest where Yule's trunk should be.

Dodging the children's blankets and other items from the store, she reached for a somewhat old chest that was decorated with carvings in the wood.

After opening it, the first thing she saw was a linen napkin, which had a piece of coal that must have been the rest of the Yule trunk from the previous year.

Next to the napkin, she could also see a small wooden log with different decorations of plants that remained green in winter.

From the freshness of the plants and the beautiful aroma of pine it had, she realized that they must have adorned it at night.

With great care she took out the linen napkin with the coal and the Yule log, leaving the warehouse on his way to Asgot, who was preparing a few things for the ritual.

Asgot thanked Kassia and put the items on the table while he finished making the combination of herbs and resin to make the incense that would be used at the festival.

After rehearsing for a while, Laura and the rest of the children took a well-deserved break.

While Laura drank some pine tea, she looked curiously at the sky, which was already giving indications of what was going to get dark, so with her little hand, she moved Daven's shoulder.

"Look at the sky Daven, today is the day that the sun is going to take a break, in maybe an hour the Yule festival can start.

Isn't Daven beautiful? Maybe we can see more Valkyries strolling in what Papa Einar calls the Northern Lights, like the day before yesterday when we saw them before going to sleep. "

Daven who almost got burned by Laura's movement just sighed and looked at the beautiful sunset that was happening.

When the last ray of the sun went down on the horizon, the torches of the village began to light, lighting the whole place with a beautiful orange color.

Among all the lights lit perhaps the most beautiful of all was a very small one that had a beautiful green color and that was being held by Einar as he walked leading the procession.

Which started from the entrance of the town and traveled the main road, while Einar as herald led them all.

Behind him was Asgot, his parents, and their wives. Further back were the warriors, while at the end were all the members of the tribe who had been chosen to participate.

Einar, who was holding a small clay container that had a beautiful green flame, traveled all the way down the main road until he reached the center of the village.

Where all the members of the tribe, the slaves, and most of the warriors were gathered in a great circle.

All the children began to play their instruments, which were only the accompaniment to the great drums that were being beaten by two warriors.

The impressive sound together with the mystical and mysterious atmosphere made no one dare to say a word.

They just watched in silence as Einar and the rest of the procession reached the great bonfire where once there everyone took their places the ritual of the Yule festival began.

Einar walked over to the large pile of wood and I waited on one side until Asgot arrived in front of the pile of wood holding the coal from last year's Yule log and this year's Yule log.

Placing all this on the pile of wood, Asgot got up and using the green fire that Einar had lit his receptacle in which he had the incense he had prepared.

It began to release smoke that had a refreshing scent.

Asgot walked around the pile of wood a few times and it was then that Einar, using his clay pot, lit the fire.

Everyone looked with admiration and respect at the great fire that illuminated the center of the town.

After this, Helmi and Kassia used bells that indicated the beginning of the sacrifice, so a warrior came out of the great hall carrying a large and fat goat.

He handed the goat over to Godi Asgot, who using a silver dagger cut the throat, letting the blood drain out and permeate the earth.

The goat gave some kicks and tried to free itself, but it was only temporary since it ended up dying on the spot, so a group of warriors took it to a specially prepared table.

Where it would be butchered and used as food for the members of the tribe.

At the end of the sacrifice, Einar gave a small but forceful speech, which at the end was greeted with shouts of support.

After this, a group of women led by Seren gave all the adults a jug with milk liquor with which the banquet began.