The Ice People 12 - Yearning. Margit Sandemo

also a pity for them.”

      “Of course. Once, when my parents voiced a proposal, I said that I haven’t the heart to marry another man when Dominic is the only one for whom I yearn.”

      He was silent as he glanced over the plains of Zealand.

      “What are we to do, Villemo?” he whispered, racked with pain.

      She sighed. “What will happen if we give in to the pressure from our parents and marry somebody else?” she asked provokingly.

      “No!” he exclaimed so passionately that she started. He turned towards her, moving closer with a burning look in his eyes.

      Villemo stepped back. “Dominic, don’t come too close. I won’t be able to resist you any longer and then things are bound to go terribly wrong!”

      He changed his mind, turning once more toward the parapet.

      “I won’t allow it, Villemo. You simply won’t be allowed to marry someone else. I know that it’s selfish to think along those lines, but I simply can’t bear the thought. Jealousy isn’t a noble feeling, but it’s closely tied to love!”

      “I’d feel the same if you married somebody else. I just couldn’t accept it.”

      “Me, too. I’ve never been allowed to touch you, Villemo, and it hurts me.”

      She didn’t know what to say. She felt just like he did. She shook uncontrollably all over.

      “I’d give a lot just to be able to do that,” he said quietly. “When I think of all the things we said to each other in the barn back then. All that we’ve written in our letters, then I know that it’s impossible. Because I wouldn’t be able to stop in time. Your body has changed too – which doesn’t make it any easier for me.”

      “Please don’t say things like that to me. Dominic ... do we really have to stay away from each other? I don’t think it would be so awful to have a child that is struck, because I’d love it nevertheless. After all, it would be yours, wouldn’t it.”

      He became extremely agitated. “I wouldn’t find it difficult to be a good Dad to such a child. But I can’t bear the thought of losing you, Villemo, of being the cause of your death. Our child would invariably be marked, deformed, evil and dangerous, and it would take the life of its mother at birth.”

      “I’m willing to run the risk in return for being allowed to live with you for a while, even for a short while, Dominic.”

      “Yes, but I don’t want that at all because I’d be the one who’d have to live on with the sorrow and the loss – and with the child who would then be my responsibility. Uncle Tarald was unable to cope, surely you know that. He never accepted Kolgrim. What’s more, he didn’t even love Sunniva, Kolgrim’s mother. How do you think it would turn out for me, who loves you so much that I’m prepared to give you up entirely if that means saving your life?”

      She was touched. “But not for another woman?” she smiled with tears in her eyes.

      “Not for another woman,” he smiled back. “Villemo, I-”

      Somebody was shouting from the courtyard down below.

      “Dominic? Villemo?”

      “It’s Mum,” he whispered, even though it was impossible to hear them down below. “She’s worried. You must go down, but hurry up!”

      He leaned over the parapet. “I’m here, Mum, but I haven’t seen Villemo.”

      Anette looked up. Her relief showed in her face. Villemo was already on her way down the stairs.

      It wasn’t that they hadn’t been warned, but all the Ice People could think of was the joy of having gathered the entire clan. So they were taken by complete surprise when war broke out.

      The Danish fleet had returned triumphantly from Öland and went ashore by Ystad together with the Dutch. The town fell quickly.

      Sweden’s King Carl, who stood at Malmö with his army, anticipating an attack from the Danish on the other side, was prepared to cross the strait and conquer Zealand just as his father, Carl X Gustav, had done so successfully. But he was taken by complete surprise. He sent vast numbers of troops towards Ystad to stop the Danes, without knowing that the Danish army was already preparing to sail across the Sound and disembark at Helsingborg.

      Gabrielshus was practically in a state of panic. Messengers arrived to tell Tancred and Tristan that they were to ride immediately to Dyrehaven, the deer park on the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, in order to join the army there. Dominic’s situation suddenly became catastrophic. A Swedish courier in hostile territory! Anette was hysterical and couldn’t see how she and Mikael, would be able to return to Stockholm right across the battle field ... And what about her poor little boy?

      Cecilie cheered up noticeably. It had been a long time since something exciting had happened. The others couldn’t help thinking that she didn’t fully understand how serious the situation was – that her son and grandson were now going to war and against Tarjei’s grandson at that!

      The Norwegian branch of the clan were the ones who took things calmly. Their ship would depart from Copenhagen in a week’s time, but they couldn’t wait that long. A freight route would be leaving the following morning so they decided to take that instead. So there was a general exodus in such haste that they were spared from having to say long goodbyes.

      Hilde was sensible enough to ask Anette and Mikael to travel with them to Norway. She believed that it would be easier for them to return to Sweden from there and they, in turn, were relieved to accept her offer.

      At long last, Irmelin would be be going home to Graastensholm. Hilde couldn’t do without her any longer. Neither Irmelin nor Niklas were yet mature enough to live under the same roof, so both were asked to solemnly pledge not to fraternise with one another. Although everybody understood their pain, their parents didn’t want to run the risk so Irmelin would definitely be going home!

      The last thing the Norwegian branch of the family saw at Gabrielshus was a pitiful picture of two women: Cecilie, old and bent waving bravely for as long as she could see them, and Jessica standing next to her, tall and lonely. The party was over, now the guests were leaving and Jessica’s daughter had left home forever. And her husband and son had gone to war.

      The one who made the greatest fuss at departure, was, of course, Villemo. She who had behaved so virtuously the whole time!

      “I didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to him,” she said with a wild look in her eyes as she sat in the carriage. “He rode off before I woke up. I didn’t get to talk to him and I had so much I wanted to tell him!”

      “You must calm down now, Villemo!” Gabriella said. “Dominic did this for the sake of both of you. He didn’t have the strength to say goodbye to you.”

      ‘I never got to feel his arms around me,’ she thought desperately. ‘I had waited for the moment of departure when I’d be allowed to be in his arms for a short moment. It was the only thing I was looking forward to. And I was deprived of it.’

      “Why didn’t he journey via Norway like the others?” she asked aggressively.

      “Because Sweden is at war now,” Gabriella replied patiently, as if she was talking to a child. “His job as a courier is very important and the Swedish King stands with his army right on the other side of the Sound. He has no reason to be in Norway.”

      “How will he manage to get across to Sweden?”

      “I’m sure it will still be possible in the normal way. Otherwise he’ll pay a fishing boat to get as close to the Swedish coast as possible and then he’ll swim the rest of the way.”

      “Oh, he can’t. That would be impossible,” she moaned. “He might drown.”

      “Dominic is in good shape,” Kaleb said. “A courier needs to be. Don’t be too concerned