Posted May 27, 2021, 9:34 p.m. by Civilian Seamus McKenzie (Future Citizen) (James Sinclair)
Posted by Civilian Ragna Idun Edman (Future Citizen) in Earth - Bømlo
Posted by Civilian Seamus McKenzie (Future Citizen) in Earth - Bømlo
Posted by Civilian Ragna Idun Edman (Future Citizen) in Earth - Bømlo
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻The long boat turned, under oars, and slid smoothly pier. Oddvar tied off the rudder and while the men roped the ship to the pier to hold her stead. To the last one of them they all watched Ragna as they made their way off the boat. She’d manned the rudder, trimmed the sails, even helped haul in the nets. But the closer they got to Bømlo, the quieter and more distant she became.
When he’d got the comm from Ragna he’d been concerned and commed his brother, Cuyler first thing. He got the gist of what Ragna was supposed to be doing there and had looked forward to having her on the ship. She always loved to sail and Ragna had a special place in his heart. Seeing her standing in the surf, sobbing like that had broken his heart. He’d tried to get her to talk about it, but all she’d asked was if he’d gotten rid of her sword. His only reply was a cryptic “it’s where it’s supposed to be.”
“Ragna, sweetheart, come on. It’s time to get off the boat.” He took her elbow lifting her up and guiding her to the gang plank. Those were for cargo, but right now it was the safest way to get her off the ship. Cuyler was sitting on a stump, knife in hand, trimming his nails. “So Ragna, how was the trip?”
She took a very deep breath and shook her head. “Pointless. Maybe if you sent them it would carry more weight. I’ll send Revna and Mike digital copies. Maybe they will help.”
Cuyler watched her walk away, “Oddvar, I have never seen her look like that.” And then he laughed and clapped his twin on the back, “I have a feeling that trip and more point than she realizes.” Oddvar shook his head, “No Cuyler, she knows. You remember how Revna was, when Shauwn died?” Cuyler nodded, “Aye, I do.” Oddvar watched Ragna until she disappeared, “I can’t watch Ragna go through that,” and he walked away. Cuyler just grinned did a little jig and made his way home to tell his wife ALL the gossip.
Ragna and Clan
Three days earlier…
Seamus put the last of his gear in the sheepskin pack and cinched it closed. He tucked his best knife in his boot and looked around, making sure he had everything and the fire was completely dead, no embers. Yes, his sister would come check on the place every few days, but one had to be sure. He then opened the cabinet farthest from the sink.
Inside sat an outdated and long for the recycler comm station. Seamus scowled at it then said “Look, you… I dunnae know why ye shat the bed, an I dunnae care. Work now, or I swear by every god in existence or not I’ll smash you to pieces.” He took a breath and tapped the controls…
And it powered up perfectly. Seamus punched in the name of the person he wanted to speak to,set the mode to ‘Priority Confidential’ and waited, his jaw set and eyes on fire.
Seamus McKenzie, Hey It Worked. Praise Odin
The comm went off and Cuyler got up, hoping it was Oddvar or better yet Ragna, or someone who would tell him what in the name of Valhalla was going on. Earlier that day Oddvar had commed him to tell him Ragna was asking for him to come pick her up. it was ‘odd’ because Ragna was over there officially with clan business, but then again Ragna, well all his girls really, loved the sea. About the time the moon rose he’d gotten another call from Oddvar, he’d picked Ragna up but she was hysterical and all she would say was that “He’d rejected her sword.” Cuyler didn’t even know there was a he in her life, and neither did his wife, because he checked. And since then nothing, no word…nothing. And he was worried.
He moved over to the companel and turned it on, ‘Priority Confidential?’ What in the blue blazes? It wasn’t his daughter and it wasn’t his brother. He accepted the call, “Cuyler Edman, how can I help you?”
Cuyler Edman, worried fatherA red haired head and full bearded face with piercing blue eyes appeared. “Chief Cuyler Edman. My name is Seamus Callum Lachlan McKenzie, Marshall of Clan McKenzie… and I love your daughter Ragna. I intend to come get her… now. She gave me her sword. We shared a meal. She warmed herself by my hearth and we shared a bed. She wore the McKenzie tartan and held my blade’s naked steel. None was done against her will… nor mine. I’m coming to your island to fulfill my obligation to her. I will be in the woods on your north shore in two days if the winds are fair. If you wish to talk, come talk. If you wish to fight, bring more men than you have. I will wait three days. On the fourth, I will come and pledge myself to your daughter. If this does not please you, kill me. If it does… bring some of your mead. I’m gonna need it.” and the comms went dark.
Seamus McKenzie, Faint Heart Never Won Fair Maiden
Cuyler stared at the dark comm for several long minutes, his expression unreadable. Then he turned his head toward the door to the outer hall and seeing no one he began to laugh, a deep full belly laugh. After several minutes he wiped his eyes. “Ooohhhh....I told that girl…heh heee hoo…oh umm…Alright then. 2 days Mr Seamus Callum Lachlan McKenzie, we shall see what you are made of.”
One Day Earlier
Cuyler stood on the northern banks of the island, the only place on this side to actually come ashore, unless of course this Seamus intended to climb the cliffs like Fezzik. The North Sea was always cold and a small fire was lit in the small clearing at the edge of the forest. A bottle of 2365 Edman Mead warming in the coals. Cuyler didn’t bring anyone. He figured the lad deserved one chance to make his case without the village knowing about it. Of course if it went wrong it wasn’t the village but his daughters Seamus would have to deal with. And the lads cousin, Mike, wouldn’t be able to keep Revna off him, if he hurt Ragna. And so far…Runa didn’t know a thing and that was very very good.
Cuyler, a large hulking man coming in at a solid 6‘10” and 300lbs, watched the boat pull up on the shore and walked out helping to haul the boat in. Once it was secure and they were seated by the fire, drinks poured, Cuyler leaned back against a log. “Alright Seamus Callum Lachlan McKenzie Marshal of Clan McKenzie. You married my daughter the old way, so you state officially.” It wasn’t a question and it d^%$ well better be official. “Then tell me why, when my brother picked her up, the only thing she said was ‘He gave it back…’ as she attempted to fling her sword into the sea?” Then he held up a hand, “Before you start, you should know I have 3 daughters nothing is far fetched.” And then he went quiet and drank his mead while the Scotsman in front of him began to talk.
Cuyler, dad’s got to have a little fun before making it all betterSeamus was dressed in working kilt and shirt, his sword strapped on his back and Ragna’s on his hip. He watched as the elder took his seat, raised his mug to him, and drank deeply.
“I dinnae give it back. I hung it on my hearth. In my home. That I built with my hands. The fact that… Ragna suffered from a terrible headache and didn’t remember that explains her reaction. Had she stayed with me, that I am sure she would have realized that. I… I am gutted she left in pain, lord. Hurting her? The thought never… and never will… enter my mind. May I sit?”
Seamus McKenzie, I’m Here For Her
It wasn’t like Ragna to miss details like that. Before he could ask Seamus answered his unspoken question. Cuyler nodded and waved the mug at a spot round the fire. “Aye, lad I think ya better.” Cuyler regarded him a long time in silence. He sipped the mead, brewed the year Ragna was born, mulled with late autumn spices, and cayanne. Sweet, welcoming, and a fire that made you wonder what you’d just got ahold of. Just like his youngest daughter.
Seamus took off his sword and leaned it against a log and sat down. He picked up the mug and took a drink, and then looked at it. “Reminds me of… Ragna, for some reason.” and he shrugged and took another drink.
Cuyler chuckled heartily, “Aye it should. I like ya better for realizin’ that too.”
He’d been worried about the storm, and to know she’d been alone with a virtual stranger, a slight smirk crossed his face, no stranger then, and knowing she’d have an attack, had twisted him, but the storm had knocked the comms out. He looked Seamus dead in the eye, all pretense of being a chief gone from him, and before Seamus simply sat a father. “Did she have a seizure?”
Seamus looked confusedly at Cuyler. “No, lord. She was in pain, yes. But no seizure. I watched over her. I would have known.”
“Ragna’s always been plagued by these headaches, migraines the doctors called them. She can’t see, can’t eat, the slightest noise or light…” Cuyler shook his head, “They are worse during the storm season, the sudden changes in atmosphere and humidity trigger them. The really really bad ones, make her seize. We’re simple here, live off the land, follow more traditional ways. We took her to the best neurologists we could find. No answer, no preventative, no treatment worked. Until my sister-in-law created a liniment. It didn’t stop them, but it seems to help the symptoms. I doubt she had it with her, not expecting to be gone long. Tell me Marshal McKenzie, is my daughter alright?”
Cuyler, Dad firstSheamus set his mug down and looked at Cuyler. “Lord… When the storm came, she was in pain. I treated her with a tincture of my own making, learned from my mother. As you say, it helped but didn’t stop it. She still ate, sir. I shielded her from the fire light; and when it became too much I put her in my bed, covered her, and then used the rain and wind to make cold compresses I put on her eyes. I held her when she cried out for me, only leaving to refresh the compress. In the morning, she woke. She ate. She yelled and screamed and argued. Even though the storm raged, lord, she was fine save for some small pain.” He stopped for a moment, wondering how much detail to give her father. In for a penny, in for a pound he thought.
Cuyler nodded, reassured that at least physically his daughter was alright. Emotionally she was not, but it wasn’t his place to fix that now as it.
“When I kissed her… the first time… she was angry. But I saw no more pain. The storm was still raging… even as I chased her out in it. Even as I told her that I accepted her, that… that I loved her. And no, lord, I can’t explain it. I knew her… hours… but I knew then as I know now… and I know nothing will change that. No matter what happens here… in your village… nothing will change that. And I will leave here with her, or I won’t leave here at all. Either way… I will be with her for the rest of our lives.” and he drained the mug.
Seamus McKenzie, Either Way Is Final
Cuyler leaned over and poured him another measure. “First, stop this ‘Lord’ business. Clan Chief I am, but right now, all I am is her father. Though I suspect that later we will have much to discuss about my Revna, your Mike, and Lady McKenzie. I’m Cuyler.” And he held his hand out to the man sitting with him at the fire. His shake was firm and calloused, he was a working man. And he had no ego to add to the greeting either. “As for hours, lad, I think it must be the way of things. Revna barely knew Mike more than hours before she knew though their situation was almost tragic.” He laughed, “But not even a second date and she’s married him. Seems to be the way. Apparently Ragna wasn’t to be out done. Though I fear for the poor lad who ends up with my Runa.” His eyes danced at the thought. “When it’s meant to be Seamus McKenzie it’s meant to be, and no amount of time will change that. Knew the moment I laid eyes on my Helka. Told her too, right then and there I was going to marry her. Told her to take all the time she needed to get used to it, as long as she was used to it in a week. Week later, showed up in her village, picked her up, hauled her off and haven’t left he side since.”
Cuyler took a long swig from his mug and then refilled it. “Ragna’s terrified of ‘destiny’, ‘fate’, ‘true love.’ She watched Revna self-destruct when she lost Shauwn. Runa watched too. Those three…there’s a closeness about them that’s…different. Runa decided she would date anyone who was interested, never tie herself to one person, Ragna, well she went the opposite way, too many stories of broken hearts in history, not enough to balance it out. She’s wrong. So,” he paused, “What should I call you? but more importantly what you going to do about Ragna? And please tell this old man he can help.”
Cuyler eyed the sword at his belt, he knew it, without a doubt. “So if you’re wearing her blade, how did Ragna to the daft thought that you’d returned it?”
Cuyler, Let’s set her straight
“Seamus. Call me Seamus. And she thought I returned it because I hung it with her things. I dont think she realized where it was hung. Left of the hearth… where my mother kept hers and where I know your wife keeps hers as well. My mother, she was Norwegian you know… Hildred Alfhild Lothbrok. Lothbrok-McKenzie after she married my father. Thats how I knew what the engraving said.” and he ran his finger along the cross piece. “Even though she didn’t know I did.” and he grinned slightly.
Cuyler’s brows raised, “Really now? Hildred Lothbrok is your mother?” He shook his head, “By Odin’s one eye! First Revna by grace of her mother, and now Ragna. I don’t suppose I can hope Runa will come home married to a demi god, probably be some intergalactic pirate.” He sighed heavily and resigned himself. “Have sons, Seamus, daughters are wonderful, but they will either break your heart or give you a heart attack on any given day.” He laughed at his own half joke and then returned to the current matter, “Makes sense then her behavior. Those headaches of hers, leave her…like she’s walking through the bog. Takes her days sometimes to recover.”
“As for how you can help? First, I’d like your blessing and permission to go get her. Second, I’d like you help her process wha’ happened. I know she needs some time. So she has four more days, that’ll make a week.” and he nodded slightly at Cuyler. “And last… as a personal favor… could ye make certain she’s nae got anything sharp or pointy at hand when I come? I’d hate to start our marriage off with a mortal wound.” and he grinned as he took a drink.
Seamus McKenzie, Foresight Is Key
Now Cuyler really laughed, slapped his knee and after a moment took a deep breath. “Sorry, sorry. First of all this is Viking territory, you don’t need my blessing but if you want it, you have it, Seamus. We’ll get her settled and put to rights, though I can’t say that will help you. Ragna…well she’s all fire.” He chuckled again, “Aye I’ll make sure she’s got nothing sharp and pointy, nothing blunt either. Now part of this will be up to your timing, she practices every day, so you’d best not show up while she’s doing that. There’s a hunters blind southwest in the village. No one knows it’s there but me an my wife. When you’re chief you gotta get creative about being left alone sometimes. I suggest you keep an eye out there. I don’t suppose she’ll have time to pack,” and he laughed again, “My brother or I will drop her things off to your boat that morning. She’ll be after getting a new blade so I’ll make sure my brother takes his time on that one. There’s a fisherman’s hut just around the bend there,” Cuyler pointed. “You’re welcome to it, or you’re welcome to stay in the village but....that’s ruin the surprise. She’s due back tomorrow night.”
Cuyler, I’m getting a front row seat
“I’ll stay in the forest. Less chance anyone finds me and asks questions. The last night I’ll go to the blind. Mid-morning I will come for her. Should I come to your home?”
Seamus McKenzie, Planning For The Future
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