Tooth ache

[Sinold Bragasson]

For the past 6 days now Sinold was in pain. It was agonizing pain, distracting him from his duty and making himself irritable. One of his left lower molars, in the back, was sending out hot waves of pain each time he bit down upon something. Lady Edfeil had given him some oil and herbs to rub against the tooth, but when Sinold tried to do just that, spikes of anguish made him almost cry out loud.

This wouldn’t do much longer, the tooth needed to be ripped out. A prospect Sinold dreaded, as he had seen it done to others on plenty of occasions and never did the men and women look too cheerful. It would be a bloody, painful exercise, and one best left to his own kin.

So, without further ado, Sinold saddled Ligea and rode to Sommersville, buying three bottles of the strongest rum he could find, and then made his way to the harbor to seek out Thorgrimm’s crew.

Surely there would be a Norse healer there who knew how to pull a tooth, and how to handle a pain-wrecked Norse warrior who’d lash out and try to kill the person who would attempt to extract the diseased tooth which whatever means necessary.

After looking around the harbor a bit, Sinold spotted the ship called “Valkyrie” A good name for a proud ship, the Norse thought and so approached the plank leading up to it’s decks.

“Yo! I greet thee, proud warriors of Thor, I am Sinold Bragasson, I live up in the castle there. In a little predicament I ma, may I come aboard your fine ship?”

Holding his left cheek, Sinold waited for a reply to his querry.

[Svien Skildbiter]

EXTRACTION.

The guards at the top of the gangplank laughed as Sinold stood on the dock holding the left side of his face: even at the distance they could see the swelling of his cheek.
Pointing to the bottles in Sinold’s hands, one of the Vikings called down. “Nay my drunken Islendigan friend, ‘tis the Frankish flagship, “Goelette”, methinks strong drink has addled thy wits." He waved a hand out into the harbour. “The vessel ye seek lies over yonder with Thorgrimm Halfdane’s other longships. If ye wish to go to her, ye will have to swim.”
Seeing Sinold’s obvious distress, the guard grinned.“But mayhaps we canst help thee in thy troubles, come aboard and I will call Captain Skildbiter.”
As Sinold climbed up the gangway, one of the guards went to fetch Svien Skildbiter. The tall blond Varangian emerged from below decks and came to stand in front of Sinold.
“What ho, my small friend, what troubles thee?” He smiled as Sinold explained the cause of his pain and pointed to the offending molar.
“Ah, so the gremlins have attacked thee.” Laughed Svien.“Well, I think we canst aid thee in thy trial. Wait here and sup some of the rum, I shalt return.”
Svien disappeared into “Goelette’s” hull, while the Varangians urged Sinold to down the contents of one of his bottles.
Skildbiter returned holding a small pair of evil-looking blacksmith’s tongs. He poured some rum into a large mug and dropped the tongs into it. Then after calling to some other large Vikings, he had Sinold lie down. Each of the Vikings grasped Sinold by an arm or a leg, pinioning him firmly to the deck. Another prised his jaws apart and Svien peered in, with a long thin blade he tapped Sinold’s teeth until he found the offending molar. He grinned as Sinold arched in pain. “Methinks that ‘tis the one.” He nodded to the Varangians who took stronger grip on Sinold’s limbs.
Svien took the tongs out of the rum and held them to a candle, the strong spirit flared brightly. Another Viking poured a shot of the liquor into Sinold’s open mouth; he gagged briefly but managed to swallow.
With a swift movement, Svien plunged the pliers into Sinold’s mouth and grabbed hold of the tooth. Placing his knee of Sinold’s chest, he leant back and pulled. There was a brief struggle while the molar resisted the pull and Sinold bucked against his restraints. Then with a grinding pop, the offending tooth came free, Svien rolled off Sinold and held the tongs with their bloodied cargo aloft.
One of the Vikings handed Sinold the mug of rum for him to rinse his mouth. Svien grinned broadly and passed him the tongs. “Here, take this as a small momento of our meeting”
While Sinold swilled the strong liquor around his mouth and spat it over the railing, Skildbiter picked up another bottle of rum and after taking a long swig, passed it around the rest of the Vikings. They all drank and laughed while Sinold tenderly poked an exploratory finger into the cavity in his gums. He gulped down another large shot of rum and gave a crooked grin as he realised the throbbing pain of the last six days had disappeared. He reeled slightly as the effects of the strong spirit made themselves felt.
The Varangians laughed as they grabbed Sinold under the armpits. They carried him to a shady spot on the deck where they covered him with a cloak and left him, still clutching the last bottle of rum, to sleep off his ordeal.

[Sinold Bragasson]

(*Clap-clap-clap* Wonderful post! And gruuuuuuuuueeeesome! )