Western Walkabout: The Slave - 1
The Lord of the island is given a woman slave as a gift. She reveals that she is a servant of the risen Christ.
Richard Harris begins a six-part story set in Viking times.
I was given a slave as a present after my uncle Erik had been viking along the coast of Erin. She was a young woman with long, blond braids and blue eyes, tall, well-coordinated. I asked her name.
“Aoife.”
Was she a person who respected the old gods?
“I’m a servant of the risen Christ,” she said.
“We don’t have any of the Christian priests on this island,” I told her.
“Sometimes we go to Lindisfarne and eagle them.”
Eagle refers to opening up their ribs, like wings, and offering them to the sky god.
The woman shuddered.
“It’s a pleasure to have you in my household,” I said. “Your views will be respected, and you will be allowed to pray. I know it can be difficult for you as a slave but I will try to treat you fairly. You may keep your name. I will call you by it. Your duties will be to help in the kitchen, to maintain the fire andd the lamps, and to help with the cooking. Were you ever with a man?”
My man was killed during the raid. We’d been together only a few months.”
“Are you with child?”
“No. I’m sure I’m not.”
“Well, Aoife, your body will be precious to all here because you belong to me and I’m in charge of this settlement. No one will take you without your consent. You can sleep by the fire, serve during meals, and eat afterwards. Later, I may ask you to join me at meals and we will ask your Christ to bless us all before the first snows fall. Winters are hard here.”
