The Sage of Einar

Chapter 29: Duel for the Jarldom

Laura, who was lying down, only shook her small head when she felt that someone had put something wet on her forehead.

“Don’t worry, Laura, you’ll be fine; you just have to wait for your temperature to drop a bit.”

Said Max, who had some dark circles and looked quite tired.

Kassia, who was taking care of another child, just took a little break. “Max, you should get some sleep.

The little children are only suffering from mild cowpox symptoms, so maybe tomorrow they will be running without a problem. “

Max yawned a little while stroking Laura’s cheek. “I’m not very tired; besides, I can sleep during the day, and I promised these little ones that I would take care of them.”

Kassia just sighed and looked doubtfully at her belly before returning to tend to the little boy.

In the morning, Laura opened her eyes and could see that Einar was asleep next to her with his arms crossed.

Very careful not to disturb him, Laura got up on her bed and took her animal skin to cover it.

“Papa Einar, I hope my blanket can help you sleep better; I know you were taking care of me all night.”

After covering Einar, she gave him a little kiss on the cheek and got up to go to breakfast in the great hall.

Max, who was sleeping, woke up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Einar, it’s time to eat; it’s past noon.

If you want, after eating, you can go back to sleep. “

When Max raised his face, he could see Helmi’s beautiful face, so he gave her a kiss. “Thanks for letting me know, Helmi, but by the way, how is Laura.”

Helmi smiled and walked over to the small wooden window which she opened.

This caused Max to close his eyes for a moment because the sunlight dazzled him a bit; when he opened them, he could see that all the children were studying with Aila in the inner courtyard.

“I suppose I can say that the entire town in these fifteen days has developed immunity to Smallpox.”

Helmi nodded as she watched the children do their activities. “They were difficult days, but no one died …”

Max, who had gotten up from his chair, hugged Helmi from behind so he could see better out the window while resting his head on his shoulder.

“That’s because we work tirelessly, especially you, Kassia, and Felipa.

Without you, I alone would not have achieved such an amazing result, but you can be sure of something.

Our names will be remembered in the history of mankind. “

When they reached the Great Hall, Max was surprised that a somewhat heated gathering was taking place at the table.

“Your son almost cost the lives of a large number of children in the tribe.”

Ivar yelled as he pointed his finger at Sven.

Sven calmly removed Ivar’s finger from his chest. “I remind you that your family has no representation in this matter, and no child died.

My son and his wives did a great job keeping the town in order. “

Ivar angrily looked at the other members of the Thing. “Since Jarl Sven does not want to see the truth, I would like to bring the sacred rules of our assembly and request a duel for Jarl’s title.”

Nilsa and the other members of the Thing looked at Jarl Sven in search of an answer, but at that moment, Max, who had understood a bit of what was happening.

She walked towards her father to understand what was happening; Kassia, who was listening to everything, just got up as she went to Max to help him translate.

Max heard what had happened and then looked at his father, “Father, if you accept the challenge that would follow.”

Sven put his hand on his son’s shoulder. “As we are the ruling family, we can choose the time and the weapon, although, unlike an Einvigi.

The challenge will be done in the center of the town, and no protection will be used; the only result of that duel is to die or win. “

Max sighed and rubbed his nose. “It only matters to kill the enemy, or the way of fighting is taken into account.”

Sven nodded. “Killing is what matters; how it happens doesn’t matter.”

Hearing this, Max closed his eyes and squeezed his nasal septum; this lasted for a little while before Max opened his eyes and turned to see Ivar.

“Since you are so confident about challenging my family and our decisions, I accept the challenge.

It will be done at this very moment, and we will use daggers to fight. “

When Ivar heard Max’s words, he just smiled and opened his arms “Members of the Thing have already heard, the challenge has been accepted, and a place has to be prepared in the center of town.”

Sven showed a smile that revealed his teeth. “The place will be ready before you weed a pot of water; hope you are ready, Ivar.”

Confident of winning the duel, Ivar left the great hall to give the news of the duel.

Kassia and Helmi, who were behind Max, only showed a smile because they were confident that Max would win the duel.

“Kassia lends me your silver dagger; I need to find the middle point of the dagger so I can finish this quickly.”

In the village, the news about Ivar’s challenge to Sven spread like wildfire; whether they were warriors or slaves, they all took a short break and headed to the village center.

While the people were arriving, Max, who was already in his designated place, began to find the silver dagger’s middle point.

This was because he planned to end the duel quickly; when most of the people filled the square, Godi Asgot did a little ritual in the place.

For this, Asgot cut the neck of a chicken and let the blood baptize the duel’s land.

After finishing the ritual, the members of the Thing led by Sven decided to start the challenge for the Jarldom of Hagebak.

Max especially took his dagger as he held it from the blade, Ivar who was seeing Einar’s strange grip, only laughed.

When Sven started the duel, Max raised his arm and threw his dagger.

Ivar, who saw Einar’s movement, didn’t understand what he did until he wanted to breathe and realized that he couldn’t.

He touched his throat with some fear and could feel the handle of Einar’s dagger, so he looked at him in terror as he saw him walking towards him.

For his part, Max just walked towards Ivar, who a few seconds had fallen to the ground.

While Ivar’s body had some shaking, Max stood in front of him and bent down to take the handle of his dagger.

With which he ended the life of Ivar once and for all, all the people present began to shout the name of Einar.

With some melancholy, Max wiped the blood from the dagger and shook his head as he walked away from Ivar’s body.