Chapter 19: Chapter 18
The viking speaks to us with a nod. "You have the right to call witnesses, as do I, though I find that would be difficult to pursue given our current location. Finally, should the accused disagree with the ruling, she may engage her accuser in one on one combat, the one who achieves victory is favored by the spirits, and is presumed the correct party."
I take a moment to consider the terms. There was something about this situation that had been rubbing me wrong since the start, but I think this all answers it. The question bothering me was this, how did the heirs that kept challenging the sword not die? Duke Frost mentioned that practically every heir, male or female, had challenged the sword and its guardian. I didn't know about other heirs I suppose, but he had survived the experience, despite not being able to beat the guardian.
The reason must be this man's conscience. Something to that effect at least, so appealing to his sense of reason…might work? We don't have a better plan.
"Alright, we accept." Yuki shot me another glare, but I narrowed my eyes at her. "Any objections?"
She frowned, but turned away, mumbling. "...No."
The viking nodded, and placed his blade's tip into the fire. "I, Ørnulf Hodne The Fallen, swear upon the spirits of Ice, of Fire, of Life, and of Death. I will prosecute the accused with all the wisdom afforded to me."
Following the gesture, I withdrew the small woodcutting knife I've been using as a survival implement, and stuck its tip into the flame. "I, Poe, servant of Lilith Edgar, swear upon the spirits of Ice, of Fire, of Life, and of Death. I will defend the accused with all the wisdom afforded to me."
He nodded, and withdrew the blade, and I followed suit. "Now, it is the accuser's burden to explain the details of the accusation." He had thick leather gloves on, one of which he pulled off, revealing a hand of half rotted flesh. The smell was rancid as soon as the thing was revealed, and I couldn't help but gag. "Some centuries ago, I was the last chieftain of my proud people. We were a society of warriors, a collection of proud fighters and mystics. The empire to which you now swear fealty descended like a plague, they pillaged our lands, burned our harvests, condemned my people to starve."
He stared down at his half rotted arm, a small piece of bone visible through one of the holes in the hand. He slipped the leather glove back on, his red eyes returning to mine. "I challenged their general to single combat, to end the pointless slaughter of both our people. When I walked across the battlefield to meet him, I was greeted with a volley of arrows. Though my neck was pierced, and my lifeblood stained the snow of my lands a hateful crimson, my rage would not allow me to pass peacefully. My people's rage, would not allow their leader to leave them so soon. My body was dug back up, and imbued with the flickering embers of our slain spirits. Now, I guard the Forbannet Snø, the blade which binds the leader of the purge of my people."
"And Yuki specifically? What is she accused of?"
"She is the daughter of those that cleansed my people."
I frowned, trying to figure out what approach to take here. "First, let's be clear about something. Yuki herself, and all of her direct family had nothing to do with your civilization, they weren't even alive for that period of time. Second, there's something I'm unclear on. What exactly was the reason for the conquest that occurred? This land doesn't seem like the type the empire would want, nor do I see any reason to wage a war over it."
The Viking looked slightly offended that I looked down on his land so much, but he didn't vocalize that. "I don't know. They came unprompted."
I turned to Yuki, who was sitting with her arms crossed, glaring daggers at the armored man. The Viking interjected. "You may summon her as your witness, if you desire."
"Sure, Yuki, testimony please."
The girl in question didn't stand from her spot by the fire, and spoke. "The natives were launching raids against empire controlled territories. The conquest was more about stopping those than it was about taking land."
I turned back to the Viking, whose red eyes narrowed. "You lie. We raided territories to the far west, across the sea."
Yuki nodded. "Yeah, those were empire territories. We still don't fully understand how you all were capable of using the northern sea out of here, given it's more ice than water and requires getting across the frozen desert further north, but all the raids were places we held."
She placed her hand on the wall of the cave, and some of the excess moisture froze, into a very rough ice map clinging to the cave wall. She pointed to the dukedom, which was actually a peninsula when you went even further north. It reached up, seeming to just barely graze the arctic circles of this world, without connecting the two. She touched the edge, and a small line of ice followed her finger. "Your raids arced down like this."She drew a half circle, as the route had them ending up on the West coast of the empire. "We assume you had some interactions with the islands off the mainland," several small ice chunks appeared around the dotted line of the route. "Then you returned home." The dotted ice turned back to moisture as her hand retraced the path.
Continuing her history lesson, she waved a hand and the ice map disappeared. "The Empire's main weakness is its navy, so rather than wait for another raid, we marched. The, at the time, general was the first of my family line to be a duke."
The Viking was silent for a long moment, and I took the opportunity. "So, in terms of provocations, your people actually launched the first raid."
He shook his head quietly. "We had been raiding that area for generations, long before that piece of land belonged to you. If I am to guess, you conquered that area as well, yes?"
Yuki nodded. "The empire's history is all ancient, but we know at least 90% of its land was taken through military force. Still, whether we owned it or someone else owned it, claiming our invasion was unprovoked is just outright wrong. Your people weren't innocent bystanders, you were a warrior society, one that lost."
"Defeat and genocide are different things." His crimson eyes narrowed. "We fought to survive, raided to live, to gain food and resources when we otherwise would starve. That is wholly different from what occurred in these lands."
I raised my hand slightly. "Genocide is innaccurate. I'm not an expert but I've pretended enough history books were storybooks in the last few years to know the Empire doesn't do that. It's not a re-written history thing either, assimilation of people and ideas is one of the major ways we spread."
He shook his head again. "Though my soul left my body and I was unable to witness the last stand of my people, they had burned our stored supplies. My people would starve to death, and be pushed from our lands. What other conclusion could there be?"
Yuki frowned. "I don't think that was it. I don't doubt the empire would do that, but I don't think they'd hesitate to record it either. In all frankness, we've done worse and bragged about it."
I cough into my hand, glaring at her. Not helping our case here. She didn't acknowledge me with a response though, and just kept her arms crossed. C'mon, we're so close to a non-violent solution to this. Please don't ruin it with teenage angst. "For what it's worth, It was probably just what I mentioned earlier. Assimilation. Whoever took over after your death surrendered, and, in typical Empire fashion, er, had most of their culture and history erased."
He glared at me, and I felt like I deserved it. I hung my head. "Alright! That's really bad, I get it. But we have an unparalleled opportunity in front of us!" I gestured towards him. "We have a…not quite living, but, firsthand member of the society. A high ranking one too. Let's trade."
He huffed. "Trade?"
I nodded, pushing past his dismissiveness. "Trade. We'll record your history and customs, and can spread them out. Your people, though assimilated, will probably come to be curious and naturally fall back into their roots." That…wasn't 100% true, but it wasn't a lie either. I didn't think there'd suddenly be a revolt in the dukedom, at best people would take a passing interest in their ancestry, before moving on with their life. It was a very mild solution, but mild suited me just fine.
He paused to consider, his eyes staring into the burning flame for several long moments. "I…am a being of revenge. It is the purpose of my existence. My soul is bound to a rotting body, forced to walk with legs that are more frost than flesh, to speak with a mouth frozen shut, to see with eyes long milky and white. I am not a being with whom you will find peace and love."
"Not even love for your own people and culture?"
He was silent. His posture was hard to read, leaning forwards, his arms resting on his knees and his hands clasped together, as his eyes peered into the open flame with an unfocused intensity.
I could tell he was at a tipping point, so I took a second to formulate my thoughts as well, and cointuned. "You have a choice here, between continuing a one-sided curse that does nothing but bring suffering to people hundreds of years removed from your tragedy, and actually meaningfully changing the world for the better."
His silence remained, oppressive and unending. I couldn't help it, as my leg started bouncing anxiously. I could feel my heart trying to break free from my chest.
Yuki was the one to break the silence. "You shouldn't appeal to his love. The guardian bears the same curse we do. He wouldn't know love if he was wed."
"I was." His voice is distant, his staring match with the flicking flames still unbroken. "Astrid." The name hung heavy in the air. "She was a flame like no other. Snuffed before she could burn out. She was a brilliant and raging inferno, whereas I am now akin to a dull ember, still clinging to life."
He finally looked up, meeting our eyes. "Return in two days, bring writing tools." He stood slowly, grabbing his blade and letting it drag behind him as he walked out into the snowing mountain path.
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