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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The Viking army ended up getting the boats onto land and when they did, they began to roll them through the woods.
Hours had passed before they finally took a break. Ylva was walking through the camp to find numerous men singing after returning from raiding a nearby village.
As she walked near Harald, Erlendur, and Halfdan, she could hear them speaking about the village they raided. "The farmer was a generous man."
"Yes, with all his goods and chattels," Halfdan replied with a smile on his face, "We enjoyed their company."
Ylva bent down, picking up a cup of mead she had left there earlier on that day. "Did you kill them?" She asked them calmly.
The men noticed how she sounded unhappy, but it wasn't because they had raided and slaughtered innocent people, including women and children. It was for another reason. A reason Harald and Halfdan hadn't expected Ylva to learn about.
"Of course we killed them," Harald answered casually, "They could have ridden off and told the Franks all about us. You would have done the same."
"I never said I wouldn't have," She replied with an attitude, "But I heard you brought my daughter with you and that is something I will not stand for. You will not let that happen again. Do you understand?"
Noticing the threatening look on Ylva's face, Harald smiled and lifted his hands in surrender. "I will remember that next time, she-wolf."
"Good because next time, I won't be as forgiving," She told him sternly as she moved closer to him, "She might not act like it, but she is not even thirteen yet. She is still a child. She doesn't need to be watching you lot rape women and slaughter children at her age."
She shot the men a cold glare, just before storming off. Harald smiled, turning to exchange an amused look with Halfdan.
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Later that day, Erlendur was walking alone through the woods when Freya appeared in front of him. He jumped slightly, not expecting the girl to pop out of nowhere.
Once overcoming his shock, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "What do you want?" He asked the girl with an attitude.
"I know you're planning to get Torvi to help you kill Bjorn and Ylva," Freya responded in a calm tone as she crossed her arms over her chest. She waited for him to reply, but instead, he remained silent, "Torvi is incapable of such a thing."
"What do you know?" Erlendur snapped at Freya with an attitude.
"I know that I'm the only one who can get close enough to kill those two without anyone expecting it. They know about Torvi. They're not stupid. They'll see her coming before she can even attempt to kill them. They would not expect that out of me," She explained to him in a confident tone and Erlendur began to laugh.
