In which Ylva Sigefridsdottir, also known as Ylva the Dread, had been an earl since she was a young girl, despite having two brothers, following the death of her mad father and power-hungry stepmother.
Hearing of the girl's feared reputation and...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It was nighttime and Ylva stood with Ragnar, King Horik, his son, Lagertha, Bjorn, and the rest of the usual group as they spoke of what Horik had done to the King's son and the rest of the men who had come to make negotiations.
"King Horik, your behavior has made it very difficult to talk peace or to negotiate with King Ecbert," Ragnar spoke up as he looked directly at the man.
"I never had any intention of negotiating with King Ecbert," Horik complained in a calm tone, "I thought you were aware of that. I only want revenge. I want to kill King Ecbert. And then, perhaps, I shall talk to him."
Sharpening her blade, Ylva briefly looked up at the man and rolled her eyes.
"If we defeat Ecbert in battle, he may be prepared to offer us more in terms not only of gold, but of land," Lagertha explained to the group as she glanced around.
"This was a gift of good faith," Ragnar argued as he held up Athelstand's bracelet.
"What is good faith?" Horik retorted as he turned to look at Ragnar, "Why should there be good faith between us and Christians?" He asked and turned to look directly at Floki, "What do you say, Floki?"
Floki made a weird face and nodded, agreeing with Horik, but Ragnar had already expected that. "They worship a false god. They're fleas and vermin."
"I will go myself and talk to him," Ragnar decided, causing Horik to turn to look at him.
"You will not divide our forces, Earl Ragnar," Horik argued in a stern tone, "You seem to forget I am King."
"How could he forget? You only remind us all of it every chance you get," Ylva suddenly spoke up and defended Ragnar, causing the man to smile as Ylva stood up from her seat next to Bjorn, "But tell me, if you must always remind us that you are king whenever things don't go your way, are you truly a king at all, Horik?"
Offended by her words, Horik stood up in a threatening manner, yet Ylva remained calm about it. He lifted the weapon and pointed it at her, causing Ylva to smile. "Am I supposed to be afraid?" She asked him casually.
"You should be," He responded and Ylva rolled her eyes.
"Well, I am not," She admitted as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him calmly.
"You dare defy me?" He asked her in a low growl.
"Yes, I do. Because you wanted so badly for the four of us to be equals, but you constantly throw it in our face that you are king and we are not," Ylva explained to the man with an attitude, "You attacked the Saxons who came to us peacefully, even though earlier that day, you complained that Ragnar did not consult you before making a decision regarding the Saxons. Yet for some reason, you went and did the same thing he did, which makes you no better than him. I do not understand it."
