„Why I should be embarrassed?“ Maleus asked her after returning the kiss. „I only should be proud of beeing your husband, because all men on the street will turn their head to look at you. And I´m happy that you like my gift. I knew that you want your own,since the day I bought my old one.“ He could feel that she understood the meaning of the twin blades. „But now we should move on.“

They found their way to the castle, where the tourney should start. Many of the pedestrians looked and started to whisper when the danish king and his wife walked by. Maleus noticed this very well and smiled all the way. After a short look to the list of entrants the danish ruler snorted. „Look, so much well-known names. There are realy knights from all over the world. The right place for us to test our skills.“ He took the feather and wrote his name on the list. „I hope Odin will give me the strength to be victorious.“

With a thought to her recent pregnancy and the fact that a spear had been her main weapon for many years now Ish wrote her own name under the list with smooth letters. "You have a good chance of Victory, my dear. I will be surprised if I last past the first round." She smiled and scanned the list for familiar names. "Perhaps this will give an opportunity to relief tensions in a more direct manner. I for one am looking forward to the festivities as much as the contest, there have not been enough opportunities for this sort of thing in the last few years. Our homecoming to Denmark was not enough, I want more." The Danish queen snaked her arm through her husband's and looked around. "How about we show our faces for a bit, you seem to be enjoying the attention. The tourney will begin soon enough, give your opponents and enemies an opportunity to appraise you in person."

After her 2nd round duel in the Coronation Tourney of Poland

Her arm felt a little stiff, but otherwise Ish was not badly hurt when she stepped from the ring. She would have liked to stay for longer, their Polish hosts had been friendly and gracious and she would have liked the opportunity to visit mass in the cathedral once more. But she had received an invitation to another tourney, and this one meant a chance to meet in person a woman she only knew by their exchange of letters.

Her eyes fell upon the familiar figure of her husband and she took off her helmet, loosened the band that kept her hair confined and let the straw-coloured curls fall over her shoulders and back. "I am sure you have seen me lose. We should go back to the inn and pack, then we can make it to Seighin's tournament. And you need to help me out of this armour, I am going to die of heatstroke!"

Shortly after their exit from the tourney and after Maleus added his signature to the treaty the small Danish party was travelling once more. October turned to November and the weather turned for the worse, with cold winds and even colder rain lashing down onto the travellers.
Wherever they could they stayed and inns where hot baths could be had and Ish was longing for one of those as her horse plodded slowly on over the roads that were so deep in mud that she could feel the poor mare struggle for every step.
She raised her head, instantly regretting the action as heavy drops of cold water hit the skin of her face. "Maleus!", she raised a gloved hand and tried to get her husband's attention. "I don't think Kolfinna is going to make it much longer without a rest. And I could use a fire and some food too."
The only problem was that there was no town anywhere close to them. However there was a farm up ahead and hopefully they would be able to persuade the farmer to let them use his barn for a bit of coin...

At the entrance to the barn Wulfgar and Ulric had lit a small fire and the horses sheltered a bit further in. In spite of the approaching winter the barn seemed woefully empty. The man working the farm seemed on his own, but he also reeked of strong alcohol which was not a good sign.
The Danish queen looked about herself and felt glad she was not travelling on her own. They were also not making a great issue of who they were, except quite obviously foreigners. But that was something they could not very well hide in a country that was as foreign to them as they were strange to its people.
She had stripped down to her undergarments which were, mercifully, still dry and had hung up hers and her companions wet clothing in the rafters relatively near to the fire. Now, as she laced the bodice of a soft and dry woolen gown her thoughts returned to the road, and how much she still had to travel and her heart sank. Still she had not been able to tell Maleus but she vowed to herself that it must be soon.

After their sparse meal of some broth and stale bread, Ish sat cuddled against her husband, feeling completely safe and warm with his arm around her shoulders. She was nervous but it had to be said.
"I don't know what you know of confessions. But I was able to make my confession to a priest in Kaliski who knew the Nordic language." She sighed. "He gave me a task to perform and bid me to return when I have done what I should do..." Her eyes sought his face, unhappy at the knowledge that he would not like what she was going to say next.
"Maleus, I have to go on a journey to one of the holy places of Christianity."

Maleus enjoyed holding his wife in his arms. It was a moment of peace. But as his wife spoke to him he was confused. „What means you have to go on a journey?“ he asked her. „ And what kind of taske he gave to you? Where do you want to go?“ His good mood started to change into anger.

Ish sighed, feeling her husband tense. Almost she would have cast a look at Wulfgar, but the warrior had decided that he preferred to spend his time somewhere else and she sighed. No help from that corner.
"I have to travel to one of the holy places and pray for forgiveness then. And I have not decided where I should go, but I don't want to go to Santiago de Compostela Spain because of what the Spanish did to our lands and the Swedish. And I do not want to visit Rome, that is as much as I know."

He realeased her shoulder. „Oh, you have to travel. And you have to pray for forgiveness.“ Maleus voice became louder. „ A stinky priest told you to do this and you do what he demand from you? Don´t know where to go but you have to? And wasn´t it you who want to spend more time with our children? That´s why I signed this contract. To spend more time with my family and now you tell my that you have to move to a place which some call a holy one because some of your saints had farted there? “ Deep in his throat there was a noise like thunder.

The blonde Englishwoman hunched her shoulders, feeling the cold all of a sudden. Why did it always have to be such a struggle? "Think what you will. And if necessary, I am going to take my children along." She stared her husband square in the face and narrowed her eyes. "And don't even start with your prejudices. You believe in portents and omens, and you dare to discredit my belief?" She snorted derisively.

Maleus jumped up ans starred at her before he left the barn with slimming the door. There he met Wulfgar. The konung looked into his eyes. „You knew it, didn´t you?“ he hissed. Wulfgar nodded. The fist of the danish ruler smashed into the face of his protector. There was a cracking sound and blood was spraying when Wulfgar fell to his knees. „I love you, like a brother.“ Maleus shouted. „But do this one more time and I will kill you with my own, bare hands!“ Tears of rage in his eyes he moved away into the rain and the darkness.

Breathing heavily, Ish sat in front of the fire. She twitched violently as the door slammed and sighed. Her body began to shake and tears sprang to her eyes as she buried her face in her hands. She was cold and there was an even colder knot in the pit of her stomach.
The door opened and she raised her face.. and took a deep breath. "Let me get you something to staunch the bleeding." Ish rose, still shaking like a leaf, and walked over to the saddle bags to pull out a length of white cloth that she had used to bandage herself after the tourney and handed it to Wulfgar. No words were necessary but her husband's stupidity only made her feel angry. "I will go to sleep. You watch the fire. Doubtless he will need it warm when he has finally managed to calm somewhat." She managed half a smile and grabbed a pile of blankets before curling up on a pile of straw, closing her eyes. However sleep would not come, however hard she tried.