The Corsair

Sometimes it's like I've lived a thousand times in a thousand different places. A thousand different lifetimes flow through my head, the echoes of them filtering through my dreams.

"What are these North men doing on our waters?" the King of France growled to the bilingual squire that stood in front of him, spitting out their title. "Your worth was proven, so I allowed you to keep your life. Prove it once again, you know these people. They are from your homeland." 

The wanderer looked at the ageing French King, glancing to his slightly younger Italian Queen, allowing himself to steal a glance at their heir, a fair haired French Prince donned in finery.

"The fleet is refereed to as sea ór vipers, lead by the viking Queen of Norway, Queen Maarika." the wanderer stopped.

"Who is this Queen Maarika?" the King of France spat. "Who is this pagan who dares touch the waters of France?" he glared.

"Queen Maarika is a legend in my home country, King Henry. She is the daughter of the great King Jamur and his wife, Queen Marie. The long dead King and Queen are equally as great. King Jamur was a farmer who made himself a King, Queen Marie a great shield maiden in her own right. Both of equally high blood as you, King Henry, however they were disowned at a young age."

"I wonder not of Queen Maarika's parents, Erik. I wonder of her." he glared.

"Queen Maarika is the only remaining child of her parents. When she was just a babe, she was born in the worst storm in recorded memory. Six days later, her parents were killed by the long dead King Svend. As well as her brothers, Jamur, Archur, Ada'm, Jamur, Jamur, Roberc, Jokn, Jamur, Roberc, Frahcis, Luic and her sister, Jana. The Queen was the only survivor of that violent coup on her family and their rule."

"How did this girl grow?" the Queen of France asked.

"In exile, Queen Catherine. At the time, the girl was a newborn. The newborn daughter of a slaughtered line, so she had no wealth, no armies. Simply a surname. She grew up in a neighbouring country in the harshest circumstances, never unaware of her bloodline. The last member of the house of Starc-Amerion."

"Quite the redemption story," Catherine rolled her eyes. "Go on, squire."

"She worked a hard life, farming in the cruellest conditions, having to answer to those who would eventually attempt to destroy her. Eventually, when she was ripe, Queen Maarika was sold off to a famous Warrior Earl, Earl Bjorn of the house of Ravenna, and the story appeared to be over. However, that marriage ended almost as quickly as it began. They were married for two winters. The girl who had no lands, wealth or armies had amassed all three in a scarily short amount of time. Queen Maarika waited three years, building her lands and her gold and her power and her armies. At the age of seventeen, she was an Earl in her own right. Powerful, a growing army of Warriors and Shield maidens. Queen Maarika is a Shield Maiden in her own right, Queen Catherine, having been raised with a sword in her hand."

"Pagan." Henry spat. "Only worshippers of the Devil would allow a woman to fight."

He carried on, pretending not to have heard the King of France who had held him captive for eight months. 

"Queen Maarika had taken lives before she had taken her first steps, the Queen is no stranger to spilling blood. As she and her army started to amass more and more land, more and more Kings and Queens saw her as a threat. There were nine Kingdoms that amassed Norway. To unite them all, they needed somebody stronger than one King, but gentler than another viscous ruler. She took crown after crown after crown, gaining the title of Åse Ulfhild, goddess of battle. The Queen is a political genius, only taking five of the nine crowns through battle, instead turning the people from their original ruler. A master of battle and politics, it was only a matter of time until she took the crown from King Svend, that he himself stole from her parents." he smiled a little.