Margit Sandemo - The Ice People 12 - Yearning

Sweden’s King Carl XI was horrified when he discovered the miserable state the Swedish forces were in. He asked for money, but the public purse was empty. He only had himself and a few hand-picked men he could trust. He knew that Sweden’s enemies would strike and there was nothing he could do about it.

He did, however, get a breather: he used the coming winter to prepare Sweden for war. Somehow he managed to gather an army which he sent to Scania in the spring of 1676. His plans were offensive. He wanted to conquer Zealand. The Swedish army in Scania waited for its navy which was to take them to Denmark. The navy was large, but it was also in a miserable state, and it had taken King Carl a long time to re-arm it. The first time the navy departed with a fanfare, it had been forced to return almost immediately: 190 men out of 200 had become seasick on one of the ships. Things weren’t much better on the other ships. The Danes believed that the crews were nothing but “farm boys dipped in water.”

So there was nothing to do but start again from scratch. They believed that now they would succeed and so they sailed from Stockholm down through the Baltic Sea in order to join the army in Scania and “beat those damn Danes to a pulp.”

Finally, Lene Paladin’s much delayed wedding to Örjan Stege was set for May 1676. Her paternal grandmother, Cecilie, was well again, the plague was over and everything would be perfect if war wasn’t in the offing.

The Swedish branch of the Ice People, the Linds – Mikael, Anette and Dominic – had already travelled from Stockholm to Gabrielshus in Denmark for the wedding. The entire Norwegian branch of the family were on their way. The Ice People didn’t pay much attention to the looming war, and now Lene insisted on having her beloved Örjan, for whom she had been waiting all those years.

The fact that Dominic, the Swedish King’s courier, had been allowed to journey at all was pure chance. His services were not needed just then and since he had time off, he hadn’t even asked for leave. When all hell broke loose and every courier was needed, he simply wasn’t there any longer. The Oxenstiernas had advised Mikael, Anette and Dominic not to leave. Dominic’s parents had been somewhat concerned, but wild horses couldn’t have kept Dominic at home. So all three of them left just before the threat of war became imminent.

Tancred and Tristan, Lene’s father and brother, were in a different situation altogether. They were both to fight on the Danish side, so it had been difficult for them to attend the wedding.

However, the bridegroom was in the most precarious situation of all. Örjan Stege was from Scania and therefore now a Swede, and as if that weren’t enough, he happened to be an officer as well.

Yet somehow, they all managed to arrive at Gabrielshus on the planned date. For the first time in many, many years, the entire clan was gathered. This was a long-awaited moment.

Meanwhile, Villemo walked restlessly back and forth onboard the ship from Norway. Never had a ship dragged along so slowly. She couldn’t care less about the beautiful scenery, the sea and the sky. Everything was insignificant apart from this one, big event: She was on her way to Dominic!

But what if he didn’t turn up? Rumours of the tense relations between Denmark and Sweden had reached them, and they knew that they travelled at their own risk. Maybe it wouldn’t be possible for them to return home? They had taken the chance because a wedding in the family was far too great an event to allow a miserable war to upset.

But what if Dominic didn’t make it? Villemo was scared stiff.

Her mother, Gabriella, walked over to her by the gunwale just as the ship glided into the Baltic Sea and they could see land on either side. It was far too obvious that the mother had something unpleasant in mind.

“Er, Villemo ...”

‘What a cautious opening!’ thought Villemo. ‘Get to the matter, dear mother, I know very well what it is you want to say.’

“Yes?”

“You’re ... likely to meet Dominic.”

‘Yes, I certainly hope so,’ Villemo thought. Aloud she said, “Yes?”

“Please ... won’t you please be a bit careful? I know you love each other.”

Villemo just nodded briefly.

“Will you promise me and your Dad that you won’t ... encourage Dominic?”

“Encourage?” she asked, to irritate her mother.

“Oh, you know very well what I’m driving at. Will you promise to stay away from him? Completely? Anette and I have corresponded with each other and she and Mikael have forced Dominic to give a similar promise. You’ll never be alone and you will try to observe the laws of the Ice People. You must not encourage a love that is doomed to die, Villemo.”

“That is a very tall order, mother,” Villemo said passionately. “This is the first time in many years that I’ll be seeing him.”

“I’m sorry about that, Villemo. We’re not saying that you can’t speak to one another. But it just has to be in the presence of others. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”

Villemo was silent for a long time. This was a great disappointment. She knew very well that her mother was right. She also knew that she wouldn’t dream of defying her parents ... But, oh, she had yearned so much to meet Dominic again. All those dreams and fantasies she’d had!

At last, after a tough struggle with herself, she said, ”Alright. I’ll be careful. But allow me at least to say a proper farewell to him once these short days are over. It can be in everybody’s presence, if need be. But I want to do it properly. I want to be allowed to hug him and cry a little. Be allowed to feel that he exists, be allowed to touch him. Is that asking too much?”

Gabriella looked sad. “No, my darling, that isn’t asking too much. We’re so sorry to have to hurt the two of you, but I’m sure you understand?”

Villemo just nodded. She didn’t want to talk any more about her feelings of disappointment.

Dominic walked about in Gabrielshus, waiting. It often occurred to him that he could ride to Copenhagen to meet the ship from Norway, but decided that this would seem too rash.

Gabrielshus by far exceeded anything that other members of the Ice People possessed. The interior was so luxurious and lavish that you could walk about for many days and still come across new things of value.

Right now Gabrielshus was in a fever of excitement because of the wedding preparations. Cecilie, who was now 74 years old, bossed everybody about. She wanted to have a hand in everything. She was driving the family and the servants mad with her zeal. Now and then they couldn’t help wishing that she would get sick again, so that she would have to lie still in her bed.

But the trouble was that Cecilie had never accepted that she no longer had so much of a say in things. More than fifty years ago, she had arrived at Gabrielshus as the young bride of Alexander Paladin in an extremely strange marriage. Here she had fought for Alexander’s life along with young Tarjei and the old, loyal servant, Wilhelmsen. Now they had all passed away. Jessica, Tancred’s wife, was now Lady of Gabrielshus and Cecilie didn’t want to interfere with her daughter-in-law, whom she was very fond of. But she couldn’t help it because that was her nature and an old habit of hers. The years of happiness and tragedy hadn’t changed Cecilie. She was the same as she had always been.

Irmelin was still there, with her same quiet and gentle demeanour. Cecilie couldn’t help noticing how Irmelin and Dominic were suffering. She had always been very understanding of young people and took Irmelin and Tarjei’s grandchild, Dominic, out into Gabrielhus’ magnificent rose garden.

“Finally, your misfortune has reached my ears. Nobody tells me anything nowadays. They’re scared that I’ll interfere and they have every reason to. Dominic, you mustn’t marry my grandchild, Villemo. She holds a very special place in my heart since I’m able to understand her thoughts. She and I are very much alike. And you, Irmelin, can’t have Niklas from Linden Avenue. You’re all of the Ice People and thus carry the evil legacy. It’s cruel because you’re so well suited for one another, both couples! And now we’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of the two others from Norway. The long separation hasn’t helped at all, I suppose?”