𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄, vikings

𝟖. 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐬

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖; 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐬
(𝗌𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗏, 𝖾𝗉 𝗂𝗂 - '𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝖾𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍𝖾𝖽')

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐃 in what was once an important Saxon town.  It didn't take long for them to turn the place into their new home, so much it didn't even look like Christians lived there not long ago. Sigyn kept herself occupied by helping to fix any damage caused inside York's walls during their attack. When she went to inspect the back of the town she found its wall was severely damaged, they couldn't afford to have such a weak spot on their fortress. Especially not while living in a foreign land surrounded by enemies. As much respect as the boatbuilder's daughter had from her countrymen regarding construction or repairment — it was a known fact that the girl had inherited her father's skills —, it wasn't enough to get people moving to collect materials in order to fix a part of their new residence most didn't even pay attention to. The orders would have more effect coming from one of the Ragnarssons, Sigyn figured it wouldn't be difficult to get Ubbe or Hvitserk to agree with her, but she hadn't seen the two in a while and had no idea of where they could be, which meant she would have to speak with Ivar. Honestly, even Sigyn had to recognize that the youngest son of Ragnar had stepped up as leader more than his brothers did — after all, it was his plan that got them where they were.

Finding Ivar the Boneless wasn't a complicated task, people had been paying more attention to him these days, all Sigyn had to do was ask someone if they'd seen him and they pointed in the direction where he was. A dark alley near York's main area — well, most places were dark due to the constant grey sky hanging above them. When making her way to the alley, the shieldmaiden noticed some men standing by its entrance as if they were guarding something. One of them had long grey hair and a prominent scar on the left side of his face, Sigyn had seen him with Ivar before, he had an intimidating demeanor that made the young woman slightly unease. Yet as she passed by him, White Hair nodded towards her and even motioned some of the men standing with him to step aside and let her pass more easily. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Sigyn realized what their action actually meant.

Walking further into the alley, the young woman found not only Ivar but his brothers there as well. Ubbe stood in front of where the Boneless was sitting, and by his tense posture, Sigyn figured they were arguing — nothing new for them.

"Sigyn!" Ivar shouted once he saw her walking closer to them. Her timing was perfect as he would much rather talk to her than listen to his brother's lecture. "What do you think of our new settlement, huh?"

"It's not bad." she shrugged ever so nonchalantly. Now that she was closer to them, Ubbe's body was no longer shielding Ivar from her sight.

The cripple was shirtless leaning on a table while a man worked on tattooing his back. Sigyn didn't like the thoughts that immediately crowded her mind about how attractive the youngest Ragnarsson looked with his biceps flexed and toned chest in full display, or about how his blue eyes were shining brightly in contrast to the alley's darkness. The girl had never paid attention to Ivar's appearance before, the arrogance that irradiated from him and her jealousy of his relationship with her father always stood out before anything else. Sigyn decided she shouldn't even think any further on why she suddenly thought Ivar the Boneless — one of the most infuriating people she ever met — to be attractive. She shook the thoughts out of her head and walked towards Hvitserk, who was leaning on a table watching Ubbe glare at their younger brother.