𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄, vikings

𝟏𝟐. 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐; 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫
(𝗌𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗏, 𝖾𝗉 𝗏𝗂 - '𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝖾𝗌𝗌𝖺𝗀𝖾')

𝐁𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐇𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 of the man whom Sigyn wanted to kill. The man whose life Ivar decided to spare — at first under the pretext of torturing and crucifying him later, but then, although the man was indeed tortured, the prince decided to keep the Saxon as a pawn in his great plan of world domination. Heahmund was an outstanding warrior, after all. Sigyn was not glad about it, she didn't trust the man and honestly couldn't understand why Ivar did, yet the shieldmaiden ended up keeping her opinions to herself. After all, there were more pressing matters she had to worry about — like the fact that Hvitserk and Ivar had decided to reclaim their homeland from Lagertha's domain. Which meant they'd go against her old mentor and friend.

Sigyn wasn't stupid, she knew Ivar would, at some point, seek the revenge he craved ever since discovering his mother had been murdered by his half-brother's mother. Having lost Helga, the Flokisdottir girl understood the desire to have blood for blood. However, it didn't mean it was an easy task to march against the forces of the woman who took Sigyn under her wing and taught her everything she knew about combat and even life.

So as the deep blue waters danced under their ship, as they sailed to King Harald's realm, Sigyn tried to come up with an alternative. Perhaps things wouldn't have to end in a civil war, perhaps she wouldn't have to fight against her friends, perhaps she'd be able to make Ivar see some reason beyond all the bloodshed for which he was thirsty.

Perhaps. Most unlikely.

The kingdom which was mainly skilled in whale hunting and trading started to appear among the fog announcing they were arriving at their destination. Forging an alliance with King Harald was a smart strategy, the man had a remarkable fleet under his command and a significant number of soldiers to change the odds in their favor — not to mention he was just as cunning and untrustworthy as Ivar, they would balance each other well enough.

Once out of the ship, Sigyn and her companions were greeted by the sight of large whale ribs displayed by the docks' entrance like some sort of portal. The entire place stank of dead fish, but that wasn't surprising of course. What was, in fact, surprising — shocking even — was to discover that Harald Finehair now had a wife and the unfortunate woman was none other than Astrid, Lagertha's former lover.

The couple welcomed their uninvited guests with plastic smiles on their faces, they guided the princes and Sigyn to their great hall in order to discuss the reason behind such a visit. Harald's great ambition was to become king of all of Norway, so Ivar's proposition to attack Kattegat easily picked his interest. Especially since the princes promised he'd become king after Ivar died. So now the men sat around drinking ale while Astrid took Sigyn aside claiming to have a lot to catch up with her friend — seeing as she went from a commoner to royalty, they indeed had much to talk about.