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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At their camp, Ylva and the rest of the Northmen were preparing for battle with Lord Burgred. Bjorn sat beside Ylva, who was placing blood from the bowl in front of them on Bjorn's face.
When she was done, Bjorn dipped his fingers in the bowl and turned to Ylva, who was smiling at him. He ran his thumb from her forehead, down to her left eyes, and then to her cheek.
He did it again with his whole hand to both sides of her face. Ylva opened her eyes and smiled at him, chuckling softly as she shoved his hand away.
Bjorn smiled as well, only to watch as Ragnar crouched down in front of the duo. He glanced between them, a disapproving look on his face. "Are you two finished?" he asked them in an annoyed tone.
As Ragnar walked away without another word said, Bjorn sighed in frustration. He turned to exchange a look with Ylva before they both stood up, prepared for battle.
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Upon arriving on the hill, Ylva carried an ax in one hand and a sword in the other instead of using a shield. She was in a crouched position behind Bjorn, close to the others.
"I can't see anyone," Bjorn told his father quietly as he sighed in frustration.
Ragnar raised his hand to tell them to stay in place and as if on cue, they heard horses, which meant the Mercians were close. "They're up there."
"Wait!" Torstein exclaimed as he grabbed Ragnar by the arm to stop him from going any further, "I will go first."
Torstein panted for breath as he weakly stood up. He grabbed Rollo's shield, telling him thank you before he walked forward.
It wasn't long before Torstein had died at the hands of the Mercians, but he didn't go down without fighting. Even while dying and missing an arm, it didn't stop him from killing a Mercian before he himself died.
Once it was time, Ylva yelled out as she ran forward alongside the others and killed any Mercians in her path.
One of the men swung at her and Ylva ducked, cutting him across the thighs. He fell into a kneel and Ylva slit his throat.
She swung her weapons at numerous others, blood splattering across her face as she slaughtered most of them at ease.
Suddenly, four men came at her at once, surrounding her. She yelled out as she slashed at them. Bjorn stood near her, fighting some of his own.
Just then, one of the men punched Ylva in the face and roughly pushed her back, causing her to collide with the man standing behind her. She lifted her sword to stab him, only to have her eyes widen as he drove her sword straight through her belly.
