09

When they arrived the door to the Lindwurm was barred. They banged on the door for quite a while before finally Lauryn came to the door and spoke to them from inside. She tried to get them to go away. When they would not leave, she unbarred the door and opened it. She tried again to get them to leave by saying that Madame Gertrude was ill and she could not attend the meeting. They said they would need to see Madame Gertrude to determine if she really was ill to report back to Jondan. Lauryn began screaming about them calling her a liar. When she saw that they were unmoved and not impressed by her temper tantrum, she tried being sweet and weepy. She began crying about how what should have been a happy occasion for her was being ruined by Mairyn who had no right to any of Madame Gertrude’s belongings and why now all of a sudden she be upset about being beaten. Madame Gertrude had been beating Mairyn her whole life and it was only because Lauryn was getting married that Mairyn was making a big deal about it so she could steal the attention of Lauryn. While Franc and Llood were shocked that Lauryn would tell them that Madame Gertrude had beaten Mairyn all her life because no one knew, they kept their tempers and insisted even more now that they see Madame Gertrude to see if she was really sick because they did not believe her. Lauryn stomped off to what they assumed was Madame Gertrude’s rooms. They heard lots of screaming coming from the back of the guesthaus, and then Madame Gertrude came storming out into the main room followed by Lauryn. Madame Gertrude was screaming that she would never pay Mairyn a dowry and if she ever came within arms’ reach of her again Madame Gertrude would beat Mairyn again for causing all of this trouble. The men thought for sure that Madame Gertrude was very drunk. They tried to calm her down and speak to her but she would not calm down. They were able to tell from her behavior that she was not sick. When they tried to tell her she would have to go with them to the meeting and present Mairyn her dowry as was decreed by Jondan, Madame Gertrude had thrown a bat at Llood and hit him above his eye. Madame Gertrude then attacked Franc and kneed him in the groin. Franc and Llood thought it best at this time to leave and come tell Jondan what had happened and receive new instructions. Once they had made their report, Franc finally sat down and bent forward, placing his head betweens his knees. He was feeling sick to his stomach. Someone fetched him some fennel tea to settle his stomach. Llood allowed Flora to wipe the blood from his brow. His injury was not too bad but if it had been just a little lower, his eye could have been affected.

Jondan sat on his stool on the stage with his eyes closed and thought about what should be done now. He found it hard to believe that Madame Gertrude was behaving in such a bad way. Her actions were not profitable. She stood to lose more than just the value of Mairyn’s dowry and by acting this way she was ensuring that he would have to use force to make her follow the rules. He could not see any way around the situation. Madame Gertrude must pay the dowry to Mairyn and she must pay it today. It wasn’t necessary that the exchange take place in the town square though and as long as there were several witnesses who were not related to the parties involved, the entire town did not need to witness the exchange. So they would go to Madame Gertrude at the Lindwurm and confront her there and have her pay the dowry in her own home.

Jondan gathered Wulfgard, Mairyn and Petre as the injured party. He called Izabo, Flora, Smyth, Shepp and Brita as witnesses. He could not use Franc and Llood as they were now going to be additional injured parties and they would need to be repaid for their abuse.

Jondan led the way to the Lindwurm. Although they would not be needed and they would not be able to enter the Lindwurm because there would not be enough room, the rest of the town’s folk followed. Jondan did not try to prevent them as they had a right to be there. The door to the guesthaus was open. When the group entered they found Madame Gertrude and Lauryn sitting at one of the guesthaus tables. Lauryn had her head on her arms and she was crying. Madame Gertrude was drinking from a large cup, sloshing ale down her chin in her haste to consume as much drink as possible.

Jondan walked up to her.

“Madame,” he said, “do you wish to forfeit all of your rights in this town?”

Madame Gertrude dropped her cup and stared at Jondan with her mouth open. It seems she did not think her behavior would or could bring about her banishment. Lauryn jerked her head up and looked between Madame Gertrude and Jondan. Lauryn knew this would not be good for her.

“I see that you did not consider that possibility.”

Lauryn reached her hand across the table to grip Madame Gertrude’s hand in desperation. Madame Gertrude looked at Jondan in terror. If she was banished she would have to leave now with only the items she had on herself at that moment. If she did not do what she must she would lose everything. She had sobered up quickly at the thought of having nothing at her advanced age. Without another word, she rose, held her head high and left the room to gather the items that were mandated for Mairyn’s dowry. She collected all of the items herself and placed them on the table. She did not ask for any help from Lauryn of anyone else. To recover from her bad behavior she would need to act particularly good right now. She needed to show that she was sorry for her behavior and she wanted to make amends. She would voluntarily add some extra items as payment for making everyone come down to her instead of going to the town square as she was required to do. She added a silver arm band to Mairyn’s dowry. She placed the arm band on the very top of the pile so everyone could see it. Gathering these things had taken quite a while as she had not gotten the dowry together ahead of time. Some how she really thought she never would have to pay it. Once she was done, she sat back down at the table, exhausted. She had done so much work in many ages. She started to get mad when she thought about that as in the past she always had Mairyn do her work for her. Now she was out a servant and all of these belongings. She forced these thoughts from her mind. This kind of thinking would not help her now. Izabo went through all of the items on the table to make sure everything was there. The animals would be taken from her stocks later in the day. It seemed that she had prevented her exile. Now she would be able to plot her revenge at a future time. Izabo had everything put in a sack and handed it to Mairyn. Mairyn touched the sack which was enough to satisfy the rule. Petre actually took the bag to carry it for Mairyn. It was only now that Madame Gertrude looked at Mairyn. Their eyes locked and Mairyn was shocked by the hatred she saw in Madame Gertrude’s eyes. Mairyn didn’t want any of Madame Gertrude’s belongings especially if they brought such bad feelings with them but Mairyn really had no choice in the matter.


So Mairyn had her dowry treasure. Wulfgard had sent four men to collect the animals that were part of her dowry payment. Madame Gertrude had now paid everything she was required to pay Mairyn. The penalty for the abuse of Franc and Llood would be dealt with later and Mairyn would be no part of that. That would take place at a future date. Mairyn decided she would stay home when that trial took place. She was sure to hear of it from others. Right now she was tired and wanted to go back to Wulfhall, drink some more drugged wine and go to sleep. The crowds were dispersing. Wulfgard had a couple of his women gather Mairyn’s belongings for her and carry them back to her room at Wulfhall.

Wulfgard took Mairyn by the hand and followed by Petre, Jondan and Isabo, they returned to the town center. Mairyn would have rather gone back to her room. She now had three people who hated her. She didn’t feel her life was improving. Before people just spent most of their time with her ignoring her. Sure, there was an occasional beating but they didn’t last long and she avoided the worst of them. Previously her sister at least talked to her and there were a few good times, but now her sister would not even look at her with anything but loathing. Madame Gertrude used to work her hard but now she felt like Madame Gertrude was a mortal enemy and Mairyn felt sure that Madame Gertrude would go to the ends of the earth to pay her back for Madame Gertrude’s humiliation, reduced circumstances and the crushing of her plans. And then there was Gideon. He had never paid Mairyn any attention and now he seemed bent on doing her irreparable harm. It seemed he was hunting her for some reason and until he was found, she would never feel safe. Mairyn knew what her life was before. Now she had no idea what to do. She had no idea what her days would consist of. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life taking baths and brushing her hair. She needed a job, she needed a task and position in Wulfgard’s household so she had some idea of what her days would be like. And now that she had a dowry, she needed to know exactly what that meant. She needed to find out if she had any control over her possessions or would Wulfgard have complete control like Gideon suggested and she was really just as poor as always only now she had finer clothes and less to do to keep herself occupied. If she didn’t find something to do with herself she would die of boredom and depression. She needed to meet with Wulfgard and get some answers. Now that she had a plan, even if it was a very small plan, she felt better. She now realized she was back on the stage in the town center. Most people had gone home but a few people realized the day was not over for announcements and pronouncements. The word began to spread and people began to come back to the town center.

Jondan banded his staff on the wooden deck of the stage. The murmuring in the audience stopped. No one could figure out what could be happening now. Word had gotten to Madame Gertrude and Lauryn. They stood at the edge of the small crowd, as curious as all the rest.

Jondan spoke.

“People of Hallstatt, listen and hear. Wulfgard wishes to make a statement that he wants everyone to understand and heed as his sworn word and proclamation.”

Wulfgard stepped forward, pulling Mairyn with him by her hand. He brought her to stand next to him in front of almost all of the people of the town. The people looked up at them with eyes wide with wonder. This was going to be something big. The tension in the air pulsed and buzzed like the currents after a dry thunderstorm.

“People of Hallstatt,” said Wulfgard, “As you know, I have made this maid, Mairyn, my ward and I have sworn to be her protector. Because of things that have happened recently, I can not fulfill my obligations.” He paused to catch his breath and during this pause there was a gasp of breath from the people gathered around them. Mairyn held her breath. She knew things were too good to be true and she was almost relieved although she didn’t think she would be able to go back to Madame Gertrude’s Lindwurm and pick up her previous life. Madame Gertrude would be sure to make that life completely unbearable. But perhaps Wulfgard would give her some of her dowry. She didn’t need much and then she could go away and find a new life. She would miss Petre though. It would be very hard to leave him. At the back of the crowd they could hear Madame Gertrude snickering and Lauryn was actually giggling. People turned and looked at them in anger. Some people tried to tell them to be quiet or go away. Madame Gertrude told them to shut up. Lauryn definitely had a satisfied look upon her face. She raised her chin and looked Mairyn in the eyes and stuck her tongue out at her. Wulfgard held his hand up for quiet and everyone’s attention again. He cleared his throat.

“You have all jumped to an erroneous conclusion and mistaken my meanings. I have no intention of casting Mairyn off.” He let that sink in to everyone’s minds. They couldn’t figure out his meaning. If he weren’t going to keep her as his ward and he weren’t going to cast her off what did he mean?

“You old lecher,” said Madame Gertrude, “no wonder you wanted a dowry for her and so quickly too.” Madame Gertrude began laughing, so loudly and so uncontrollably that people wondered about her sanity. She was suggesting that Wulfgard intended to marry Mairyn. While this was a bit unexpected and a little disturbing, it wasn’t unheard of for an older man who had made a girl his ward would then decide to marry her. People just didn’t think it was something Wulfgard would do without being totally up front about it. And he really did seem to treat Mairyn as his daughter. Madame Gertrude was still laughing, doubling over in her evil mirth.

“You marry the wench, Wulfgard. It would be what you both deserve.”

Wulfgard stared at Madame Gertrude. There was something odd in her joy at the idea of Wulfgard marrying Mairyn. She should not be happy about him marrying Mairyn. It made no sense and she was downright ecstatic about the idea. This was something he needed to ponder.