Blessed by the Gods

Present the Finds

Dark clouds had formed in the sky, covering the sun and giving enough cover for Ivar and Rùna to sneak into the King's house where the servants welcomed Rùna and helped her bandage the wound as well as dress and remove the remaining blood stains that they had missed to wash off.

In the distance thunder growled when the feast in the great hall began. Once again the kings celebrated their union by drinking, playful fighting and more drinking. The queens on the other hand had grown cold to one another.

Floki, who had entertained himself with card games was the first to raise his head at the arrival of the princess. He ended his games with the men around the table and headed to the door where Hvitserk waved him to come.

Rùna ignored all the vikings around her, walked into the hall and had a seat next to her father, who laughed with Ragnar and spilled more ale than it reached his mouth.

"Father, I need to speak to you" Rùna stated, overhearing a slave whisper to the queen. Her attention drawn to the words of the slave, she hesitated, but followed her original plan. A dagger she had taken from one of the men in hand, she stepped between Ragnar, who had dismissed her, and her father, who paid little attention to her words. "You need to see this" she handed him the dagger and pointed at the symbol.

Ragnar took it from her hand and inspected the handle, his head swaying as he moved. "Interesting, tell me princess, where did you find this?"

In that moment the door flew open and Hvitserk, Floki and another of Ragnar's men stepped into the hall, holding out the weapons from the carriage. "Ragnar, you need to see this" Floki hopped towards Ragnar, his eyes growing wide as he spotted the dagger in his hands. "Where did you get this? It is the same as the symbol on this" He held up the sword and pointed at the symbol on the hilt.

Ragnar leant over the princess, who grew sick from the smell of mead on his breath. "Your son gave that to me to show my father" she whispered.

The man, carrying Ivar on his back let him sit on a chair and stepped aside. Ivar gestured Hvitserk and with more men, he brought in the dead bodies of the men they had fought in the woods. "They attacked us, and all carried the symbol on their weapons" He headed to Ragnar and Valtar. "Princess" his nod went her direction, before turning to his father. "These weapons are not made like ours, they are lighter and of different material"

"These men wear clothes made of coarse fabric, sturdy" Floki threw in, a piece of cut fabric in his hand.

"What does this mean?" Ragnar glared at Valtar, who gestured his men to check the woods at once.

While Valtar and Ragnar discussed the matter, Rùna walked over to Ivar and sat down beside him. "I hope you can forgive me"

"I saw a vision too, nothing you told me, but something else entirely" With those words, he kissed her then gestured the man from before to carry him away.

In the middle of the men's heated discussion, Aslaug rose from her chair and approached Ragnar. She leant close to whisper something in his ear and when she finished talking, his eyed glistened. "Where is your queen, Valtar?" Ragnar inquired, leaning against a post, the piece of fabric in one hand, the dagger Rùna had given him in the other. "It seems she has left"

Valtar spun around and scanned the room with his eyes, but the queen was not in her chair and neither in the room. He ordered her slaves to find her and his men to let no one leave the house.

All the while, the sky had grown too dark to see, even though the afternoon had only begun and the sun stood high. Not a single ray of light got past the dark clouds. Thunder growled and grew louder while the wind blew heavy against the side of the house.

Frightened by the sudden darkness, the people in the town hurried to get home. They locked their door, closed every window and gathered in one room alone to stay safe with their family. Rightly so. Cattle dashed over the fields to seek shelter under the trees, horses neighed and laid their ears back, pacing back and forth in their boxes. Chickens ran around, followed by people trying to catch them, but give up and save themselves instead.

Inside the king's house, the men argued, Ragnar accused Valtar of betrayal while Valtar grew angry with his wife and desperately tried to push away the thought of his wife having to do with the attack in the woods.

After an eternity of arguing, Ragnar turned to face Rùna who had brought him the dagger, but she, Ivar and Hvitserk had gone. So he gazed at Floki and ordered him to find them while he remained to talk to the king.