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.
Days later, Ylva was standing with Bjorn and Freya in the Great Hall of Kattegat, watching as Ragnar walked up to his throne to perform the arm ring ceremony. "Firstly, I want to announce that we leave for Paris in three weeks to the day," He announced loudly and everyone cheered, "But today is today, and we are here to perform an important ceremony, in which my two boys, Ubbe and Hvitserk, will received their sacred arm rings. Kneel."
Hvitserk and Ubbe exchanged a look with each other, just before kneeling in front of their father.
Bjorn lifted the sword he carried, allowing Ragnar to sprinkle salt on it. "Take this offering of earth and salt to remind you that you belong both to the earth and to the sea," Ragnar spoke up, holding out the blade to them. Once they ate the salt off of it, Ragnar handed the sword back to Bjorn and sat down on his throne. "These arm rings symbolize your coming of age. They also bind you in loyalty and fealty to me, your king and your father. Any oath you swear upon these rings must be kept, or else you will sacrifice your honor and your place in Valhalla. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Father," They answered in unison, smiling up at their father.
"Do you swear so?"
"Yes, Father."
With that, Ragnar handed them their arm rings. "Put your arm rings on, my brothers!" Bjorn spoke up loudly as he smiled widely, leading to everyone in the hall cheering.
They made their way over to their mother, who kissed them both on the lips since it was a part of the ceremony. Both of them smiling, they made their way over to Freya, who was standing near Sigurd and Ivar.
"I suppose you'll have to choose now which of us you'll marry when you come of age," Ubbe spoke up, earning a laugh from Freya as she shook her head.
"I will marry neither of you," Freya replied with a smirk on her face, "I will marry no one."
"I think she will marry me!" Ivar exclaimed enthusiastically, causing Ubbe and Hvitserk to laugh.
"She can't marry you," Hvitserk argued as he shook his head in disagreement.
"Why not?" Ivar asked, his smile fading.
"Isn't it obvious, brother?" Ubbe replied, frowning at Ivar, "You're a cripple."
"Being a cripple doesn't determine whether or not you can marry," Freya reminded them in a calm tone, a part of her looking offended.
"No sane woman would marry a cripple," Sigurd pointed out and Freya smirked at him.
"Then I guess I'm insane," She commented, causing everyone's smile to fade while Ivar watched. She winked at the group and walked away without another word said, leaving them all shocked.
