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...
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In Kattegat, during her stay there with Sihtric and Freya, Ylva had the opportunity to be there when King Horik's family arrived.
In the Great Hall, the people of Kattegat cheered loudly while Ylva remained silent and rolled her eyes as Horik walked in with his family.
"Ragnar Lothbrok, my friend and ally, and all your family gathered," Horik began to announce loudly, "Let me properly present to you my wife, Gunnhild, and my children."
The crowd began to clap and Horik smiled. "Ragnar, you and I have formed an alliance on which the future of our country and its people depends. In this endeavor, I see you more than ever as an equal."
Ylva rolled her eyes and turned to Sihtric, scoffing. "Like hell he does," She muttered under her breath and Sihtric smiled, shaking his head.
"Between us, and, of course, Earl Ingstad and Earl Ylva, we have already accomplished so much. We have land and opportunity in Wessex...But that is only the beginning," He explained the crowd cheered loudly, "We know already there are many other worlds to discover and we shall do so together, united even more by the bonds of family for you have many sons and, as you can see, I have many daughters."
The people to laugh and Ylva turned, exchanging a look with Sihtric, clearly annoyed.
"It is our custom to celebrate such an alliance as the Gods celebrated theirs with feasting and with pledges," He finished and with that, the celebrations began.
Ylva rolled her eyes once more and began to walk away, only to be cornered by Horik's wife. "You must be the famous shield-maiden Ylva I've heard so much about," Gunnhild spoke up, causing Ylva to stop and turn to face the older woman.
"Oh, from what I've heard, you are far more famous, Gunnhild," Ylva told the woman, a fake smile on her face, "I'm told you killed Swein Forkbeard when he invaded Gotaland."
"And I'm told you are an Earl in your own right and have been since you were 13 years old," Gunnhild replied with a small smile on her face, "How did it happen?"
"I killed my father," Ylva replied, a mischievous look on her face, "Not before I had him pissing in fear for three years straight as I invaded all of Ashton's neighboring lands before I invaded him."
Hearing the girl's words, Gunnhild began to laugh alongside Ylva, who had the slightest of smirks on her face.
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That day, outside, Ylva played a game with Ragnar, Sihtric, Bjorn, and several other men. The game consisted of trying to get a coin into a bucket that was several feet away from them.
No man seemed to be able to get it in, not even Ragnar, Bjorn, or Sihtric. Ylva stepped forward and smiled, lifting up the coin. "Take your time, Ylva," Bjorn told her and she simply nodded her head.
