Jerry Autieri - Islands in the Fog

Hardar's ships rocked into the current, long oars extending like limbs into the sea. Toki and his men herded prisoners at the edge of the surf. The captured men staggered and wobbled, eliciting a derisive snort from Ulfrik.

"Farmers and boys wasn't far off the mark," Snorri said as he joined Ulfrik.

Ulfrik scanned the scene. Battles were like summer storms, all wind and thunder and fury. But once the fury passed only stunned silence and destruction remained. The detritus of battle lay all around: broken shields and spear shafts, bent swords and lost helmets. Blood watered the grass, glistening in red beads. The wounded and dying sprawled twisted and intertwined, friend and enemy alike.

"So much death for a few moment's work." Ulfrik wiped his brow with the back of his hand. "We're an efficient crew."

Snorri nodded. "He'll be back. Thought we were an easy mark, fresh from a battle and sea voyage. Now he'll fetch help before returning."

"So I guess. We won this battle, but more battles will come. Ari has scouted lands south of here, a place with better natural defenses and good pastures."

"We're running again?"

Ulfrik watched Hardar's ships diminishing on the horizon. Toki ordered the prisoners seated on the grass with their hands on their heads. "We're not running. We're repositioning." Ulfrik pointed with his sword to Hardar's ships. "He's running."

Five years later, Ulfrik stood in the fields surrounding Hardar's hall. In the same fields, the majority of jarls from all the Faereyjar clustered in small groups, greeting or avoiding each other as alliances permitted. Ulfrik had learned firsthand how cliquish the jarls of these islands behaved. The twilight sun would not set until well into the night, and the sky was a luminescent blue backdrop to the gathering. Orange lights from Hardar's hall, Trongisvagur, winked in the small windows. The sea breeze was chill and briny, the springtime still young. Ulfrik gathered his green cloak tighter and faced Toki.

"Hardar knows we're here?"

"If I assure you a seventh time will you listen?" Toki scanned the clusters of jarls waiting with their trusted men for Hardar to emerge and open the meeting. "I spoke directly to his second, Dag the Sword-Bender."

"Well you didn't mention Dag before." Ulfrik sniffed and kept his face open and smiling as he vied for eye contact with others. "Hardar is in for a shock tonight. Come, let's stop hiding like two serving maids and ensure we have the support we need."

No longer the desperate newcomer, Ulfrik counted himself among the greatest jarls in the islands. Five years he toiled, built halls, ships, and a forge. Men fleeing Harald Finehair came seeking the hero of Hafrsfjord and Ulfrik's army swelled to twice its size. They bought families and raised farms, and paid shares of silver to Ulfrik's already sizable horde carried from Norway. Traders sought the wealthy jarl of the Nye Grenner, and wood and iron flowed in while wool and hay flowed out.

This night, at the springtime meeting of jarls, Ulfrik intended the rest of the islands to witness his success.

Ulfrik hailed Jarl Ragnvald, a slender man with a handsome smile more suited to skald than a jarl. Ragnvald met him halfway. "Jarl Ulfrik, I feared you would not show tonight."

"And why not? It's time Hardar recognize his closest neighbor. Besides, it would shame me to not show after seeking your support."

Ragnvald nodded a greeting to Toki, then guided Ulfrik away from the others. "I think your idea is good, and your reasoning sensible. I've spoken to a few of my friends, and they are open to new ideas. But you will have to persuade them; you'll need to persuade me, for that matter."

"I've no doubts." Ulfrik glanced back across the field, searching for other faces he recognized. "And I've spoken to others as well. We are all agreed Hardar does not dictate the location of the festival. It is for all freemen. I hope he will be reasonable."

"If you carry the majority, he will need to be. I only hope this settles the peace between you."

"There has been five years of peace between us. After we clashed, he never followed me south. I think that speaks to our relations."

Ulfrik smiled, but Ragnvald guarded his expression. "He is proud and the summer festival has always been his to hold."

"We shall see. There is one more person I must meet before Hardar begins." Ulfrik clapped Ragnvald's shoulder, confident of his support. He now sought another influential jarl whom he had traded with before the start of winter.

"Jarl Hermind," he called as he strode back towards the center of the groups. The jarl turned, his protruding belly seemingly weightless. Men called him Hermind the Fat with good cause.

"Jarl Ulfrik, so you have come. I was worried."

Ulfrik drew close and embraced the jarl. He was hardly a friend, but Ulfrik's words were not for the crowd. "I have your support along with the others?"

The two separated, and Jarl Hermind patted the gold armband Ulfrik had given him at their last meeting. "You certainly do. Make it easy for us, please."

Shortly after speaking to Hermind, Ulfrik saw Hardar emerge from his hall. He came with a retinue of men, and his wife and daughter escorted him. At this sign, a hirdman threw a torch upon a bonfire and the expensive touchwood blazed immediately. The jarls and their companies gathered closer to the fire.

Hardar appeared much the same as when Ulfrik last met him. Without his helmet, his snub nose gave him a boyish look for his age. The yellow firelight glowed in his eyes, and made his carefully braided hair gleam alongside the gold and silver he had adorned about his arms, hands, and neck. A few sycophantic jarls clapped at his arrival, though the majority simply assumed their spots in the circle.

"His daughter has grown into quite a woman," Toki whispered into Ulfrik's ear. He had glanced past her, but now looked more carefully. In fact, she seemed past a marriageable age, though still pretty enough to have attracted suitors. Her hair was as white as her mother's but her nose was Hardar's.

"My son is only five," Ulfrik whispered back. "She's a bit old for him."

Toki stifled his laugh. "Wasn't thinking of Gunnar."

Hardar welcomed the group, his eyes gliding across Ulfrik and Toki without a flinch. Ulfrik admired the facile charm and control he exhibited. He anticipated testing the limit of Hardar's abilities.

Having never attended such an event, Ulfrik studied the others. Each stated their names and heritages and Hardar welcomed them as guests. At Ulfrik's turn, he proclaimed his name. "Ulfrik Ormsson, Jarl of Nye Grenner."

The smile trembled slightly on Hardar's lips, but he managed to hold it. "Be welcomed, Jarl Ulfrik. We are glad you've finally chosen to join us rather than hide from us."

Ulfrik laughed, overloud and out of place. No one smiled, but it suited him. "My intention has never been to hide. You might remember something of my arrival here, and why I've been guarded about joining these meetings."

Hardar's smile tumbled from his face, but he continued around the circle until all were formally introduced. His wife, Ingrid, spoke a few words Ulfrik ignored, wrapped up on how to position his request to this assembly. Her perfunctory comments over, she departed with her daughter. Now Ulfrik expected the true work of the assembly would begin.

Discussion covered matters of law, trade, and news. Ulfrik sat with his hand over his mouth, allowing all the various issues pass without comment. At last Hardar clapped his hands for attention.

"Now that business is done, time for more pleasant discussion. Summer is here, and time for feasting and games. The gods were generous again this winter, and deserve our gratitude. Like every year, I am pleased to host the festival."

Hardar's face beamed and he shared his smile around the circle. He drew breath to continue, but Ulfrik stepped forward.