Crimson's Captivation Read Online Free Page B

women of the province were young
and energetic but wore the affliction of hard work and worry on
their faces. Survival, as a sturdy constitution, had plagued their
daily lives and took its toll on their bodies. These villagers were
the true owners of the land—their Viking blood was pure and Viktor
respected them, they were the true continuity of the Sweden
homeland. Instead of answering, they primped themselves and
flirted. Viktor sympathized with the women but needed his
answer.
    “My ladies, I implore. My bed is cold and my
world empty, my heart in despair. You are all lovely and tender but
it is Crimson upon whom my thoughts linger. Has any seen her the
last four days?”
    An elder woman understood the young man’s
desire. She huffed and pushed her way through the crowd, shooing
the ladies. “Get, get. Leave this young man be, have you no shame!”
The crowd ignored the elder woman as they wooed over the young man.
Unable to clear a path through the crowd the elder woman shouted
over their heads, “My lord I have seen your Crimson!”
    Viktor pushed his way through the crowd and
barked, “Leave, all of you! Now!”
    The crowd scattered, the disheartened women
made their way back to their homesteads, fields, and stables. Back
to empty personal dynasties that needed the presence of a man.
    Viktor grabbed the reins of his horse and
approached the elder woman. “When? My lady, when did you see her
last?” he demanded as he locked eyes with the elder woman.
    The elder woman examined Viktor before she
spoke. “She was to travel to the outskirts of Karlberg palace to
watch the soldiers head to Denmark. This was four afternoons ago I
think. She rode that steed you have tethered. My husband noticed
the stable empty the last three nights.”
    Viktor grabbed the elder woman’s shoulders.
The woman was old but strong and easily held her ground. “Did she
say which port?” he demanded.
    The elder woman pulled away, obviously
annoyed at his manhandling and walked back toward her home. Viktor
closed the distance and walked beside her. “My apologies, my lady,
my desire gets the best of me at times. Please, did she say which
port?”
    “No, my lord. Only that she was heading in
the direction of the palace. Odd, though, she left on the south
path. I suspect she was leaving to meet a lover. You perhaps?”
    “That is where I found her horse, near the
willows on the banks of the lake. I shall start my search
there.”
    The elder woman entered her home, moments
later she returned with a loaf of bread and two Akero apples. “Here
my lord, go and find your love. It’s the romantics who die for the
poets and the poets light a fire in us all with their words.” She
refused his payment of krona, appeared to grow tired of the
conversation and closed the door in Viktor’s face.
    Viktor stored the food in his pouch, mounted
his steed and galloped off toward the willows, toward their secret
hiding place.
    The elder woman watched the young noble leave
from the small window of her house. She secretly wished him well;
she knew his love, having been missing for days, would prove
difficult to find. She also knew that questions unanswered, quests
incomplete, left a breach in ones soul. The breach would slowly
leak until the man had been drained and left as an empty shell of
himself.
    Viktor rode his steed hard for two hours and
reached the willows just before dusk. He examined the area and
screamed out Crimson’s name until he was hoarse. There was no
response; only a stem of a Twinflower near their special tree
seemed worth noting. He picked up the stem and twirled it in his
fingers while he followed a trail of wilted pedals that led to the
shores of the lake.
    The sky above expanded into darkness and
became the color of sweet molasses but there was nothing sweet
about this night. The campfire flickered and cast shadows, all
manner of evil seemed to suddenly appear then disappear among the
draping branches of the willows. With weapons