Viking shizzle yoyo

She laughed as he told her they'd raided more villages. 'I know that, I was not held in a dungeon or something,' she told him, and then fell still again. Agnar frowned and looked at the ground in front of his feet. 'Well, how was I supposed to know?' he said quietly. 'All I knew was that you were gone.'
He wanted her to ask about what had happened, about the men that had accompanied her in the village where he had found her, but he stayed silent nonetheless. He somehow was afraid to ask her. Since he didn't know what to say otherwise, he didn't say anything at all. Sigrid seemed content with the silence hanging between them, because she didn't speak either. Agnar took the time to look around them. They'd stayed here for a while, and the territory felt familiar to him now. 
'I have not even asked you how you have been doing the last year,' Sigrid suddenly said, just as Agnar started believing she wouldn't say anything at all. He glanced at her quickly, a bit surprised. 'Well,' he said and looked in front of him again. 'I lived,' he said and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants. 'I don't know,' he muttered, thinking about the past year. 'It's been different without you. Hakan- your father changed. Everyone changed, really.'

After what must've been half an hour, Sigrid sat down on a rock at the cliff they'd reached. Agnar sat down beside her and looked at the view. He noticed Sigrid looking at him, and he returned her gaze. 'Do you mind listening to me for a while,' she started, and he looked at her, surprised she needed to ask him. 'Ofcourse,' he immediately replied. 'You can- you can tell me anything, you know that right?' he asked her.
'I think I just want to tell someone some things about what happened... I just... I missed you.' Agnar quickly looked down, not knowing how to respond to that. 'Yeah, me too,' he whispered, although missing not seemed able to describe the feeling of loss he'd felt while she was gone. When he looked up again, she was staring in front of her.
'Remember when I slipped away? I tried to find the other villagers that had left in order to try and find out where they were going. I had been walking for a while and somehow I bumped into some people. It was something like a challenge and I got to get away if I won... well... I did not win, so he took me with him,' she started talking. Agnar listened, not saying a word while she spoke. 'He took me to a big place, huge houses and beautiful gardens. There was one other that spoke our language and the man that took me with him wanted me to learn English. So I was taught their language, taught allot of other stuff I'd rather forget and sometimes he took me with him and his company when he went out to some party or so. I managed their language in no time, it's not that different from ours as you think, and he just paraded me around... like I was proof that "those heretics" could be "tamed",' she told him. It took him all he had to suppress his anger at those words. How dare they? How could they believe they could just take her away and use her as some sort of prize? He was about to start ranting about the English, when he noticed how bad she was shaking. 'Sigrid?' he asked, concerned, as she leaned against him. He heard her starting to cry and he quickly put his arms around her, pulling her closer. He ran his hand through her hair and put a kiss on top of her head. 'It's okay,' he whispered. 'They won't take you again. I won't let them.'

For a while she just sat there, resting her head against Agnar. It felt so good, so safe, she did not really want to leave this place at all.
After a while, her head became clear again and all of a sudden there was an idea, popping up in her mind. Maybe, just maybe... she thought and she sat strait up again. She did not really knew how she wanted to do it... yet... but she would take her revenge, as soon as possible. “I want to make them pay for what they have done.” She said to Agnar, her eyes had a fire in them which she had thought she had lost while she was imprisoned. “I will hunt them down and kill them all of I have too.” She said, now looking up at the sky. for a moment, there was nothing, but eyes could easily be betrayed if the person’s mind was not used to detail. On a branch, not far from her and Agnar, there were two ravens, sitting.. staring at the both of them. They were looking and now coming closer. Their eyes, Sigrid could see, were different from the other ravens, the eyes carried a wisedom. Could it? Could those two be the ravens that were flying the world for Odinn’s sake? “I hereby swear to hunt them, slaughter them and their families or die trying.” She said, almost unable for Agnar to hear.
The ravens however had heard her words and they flew up from where they had been resting, rising higher and higher in the sky until Sigrid could not see them anymore.
Then she rose and looked down at Agnar. “enough time wasted, I have an idea and I hope my father agrees too it.” She said to Agnar, her mind now elsewhere, forming a plan she now wanted desperately to be work out.

She walk back seemed faster than it had took them to get to the cliff. Inside she found her father, luckily still sober, and she got him to talk with her. She went to the separate room and looked up at him, her eyes determent. “Father, I want you to listen to me and think clearly before you answer me. I will do it anyway with or without your permission or support, I already made the promise to Odinn.” She started.
Her father stared at her, his eyes black but sharp. He nodded at her and gave her permission to speak, but before that he said something to her himself. “I know you want your revenge, my dear girl. I will support you in whatever you want to do.” He told her, then she began to speak.
She told him she wanted to find her way back at the court of the king of Wessex, once there she had everything she needed. She would mingle with the people at court, finding out where her victims would be at what time and place and then she would hunt them. Of course she would have need of an escort and she wanted two men for that, they were needed to carry news to her father if , in any case, she would come to die. They were also, of course, there for when she needed some help with the slaughter.
Her father kept to his promise and he said he would sent Agnar and Egils with her, he also would provide her with everything she needed for her task. He said he would tell the two men straight away and Sigrid now left the room.

Agnar and Egills were summoned to the separate room, Hakan stood there in the center, waiting for them. He greeted them, not like normal which was happy and friendly, now the way he had to; as their superior. “I want you two to go with Sigrid to the court of Wessex. She needs her revenge, as do I for what they have done, you will help her do this.” He said, there was no room for any questioning, this was a command.

Sigrid was waiting outside the room, she was gulping a cup of mead away when Agnar and Egils came out of the room again. She decided it was better not to go to them right now, maybe she should wait.
She took another sip and sat down on one of those chairs that was covered by a bearskin. She sighed and shut her eyes, just letting her mind drift off for a moment.
She had no idea how much time had gone by since she had sat down in that chair but she suddenly found herself somewhere else. “You should honour your promise.” She heard a voice say. She somehow recognised the voice and she looked up, seeing one of the men that was always close to her father. The man was a seidrmann, one who had the second sight. “So it seems you have the sight too, I always thought it had to come out some time.” The man said to her, now sitting next to her. “But the point is, Odinn is willing to help you, but you have to make a sacrifice. I can help you with that, tonight. See me at that cliff where you went with Agnar, no one has to know.” the man said.
Then she woke up, a little dizzy at first but then she saw the man turning around the corner. So she had not made it up, she thought to herself, finishing her mead quickly.
She got up out of the chair and went to Agnar and Egils. “So, are you coming? If so you have to be ready to leave at dawn. We will be heading to Wessex tomorrow morning.” She said to the two of them. She remembered what the man said and yawned. “I am going of to get some sleep. See you guys tomorrow.” She said to them and then she left, heading toward the room her father said she could use for tonight.

She went to bed yes, for a minute or so. When it was quiet around her chamber she sneaked out into the darkness. At first her eyes had to get used to the darkness but after a few minutes her sight was restored. Without a second thought she went to the cliff, this time a little faster than she had walked with Agnar.
She found the man there, already seeming to make some preparations. He knew she was there, obviously, because without looking behind him he said “Would you be so kind and give me that knife you carry with you, Sigrid.” She was surprised for a moment, not really knowing what to do, but she found herself getting the knife out of its small scabbard and handing it over to the seidrmann. She did not question him as she watched him work carefully.
Sigrid had already noticed the animals standing in a small paddock the man had set up. Still she would not dare to ask him what there were fore, she knew she had to sacrifice something but she did not know what it was.
When the man was finished with whatever he had been doing for the last half hour, he turned to her, asking her to come closer. So she did and he explained to her shortly what had to been done. Very short; she had to kill the animals while saying some incantations in the old tongue and then she was able to go and sleep.
After what seemed a day, she finally returned back to her father house. It had been just an hour or two but still, it seemed to her like all her energy had vanished in that short period of time. She shivered when she got into bed and she fell asleep almost instantly.
Instead of having some quiet, uncomplicated, dreams.... she got the opposite. She turned in her sleep, now seeing things she had not when she was at the cliff. Again the ravens had been there, but now there had been another presence as well...looking at the both of them.
She woke up with a small scream in the early morning, actually feeling as tired as she had felt before she went to bed. With allot of effort she got out of her bed and immediately went to the bath that was already filled with hot water. The servant girl had already made her a bath for she knew how much Sigrid liked those.
There was still some blood on her when she got in and soon the water had turned a little red. Puzzled Sigrid looked at it, trying to remember more about last night. Then, the girl came in and she got out. Another emptied the bath while the first helped her get properly dressed for a court.

She wore another dress because when she had come home she had requested that the girl would buy her one on the market. This dress was the colour of her own green eyes, which made them even seem more green than ever. Her red hair was pulled up and in the end... she looked quite fitting to be at court.
Her father came in, looking at her in surprised and for a little while they spoke in private about how things would be going. She would go to Wessex first, when she had handled things there she would come back for maybe a week. After that she would go to Sussex, then to East Anglia. Her father seemed pleased with the idea but still, he pushed a rather beautiful sword in her hands. “It is a Roman short sword. I found it on a market a few weeks ago and bought it in case you would return. Take it with you and let it protect you in time of need.” he said to her, that was his goodbye and after they hugged, he left her.
She got her bag from the bed and left the room, going to the main hall where she had promised to see Agnar and Egils again this morning. Of course she would never admit it but she felt a little nervous after all. This was a great step for her, she wanted it so badly, and she did not want it to fail.

After quite a while the two men finally appeared. It seemed that they both had a little bit to much the previous night. It was not that she could blame them, she did not, but it was just a little inconvenient that they had to be late. “Not a problem. I just hope the two of you are ready for a day’s ride. We will only stop for something to eat and drink.” She told them with a stern voice. She was not really in the mood for delay and if the two would go and moan she would just sent them back, easy as that. “The horses are already saddled. You both eat something, i’ll see you outside in a few minutes.” She told them, after she went outside.
She stroke the nose of the mare in front of her. She had missed her horse more than she could have imagined. “You will take me right?” she asked the mare softly, she did not want anyone to hear her. “We can do this, we can can’t we?’ she asked again. Somehow she began to be uncertain about her decision. Had it been right for her to do so? Maybe she should leave the two of them at home, then if she was to be caught the two of them would be alive still. She sighed and got on the horse, patting her warm neck. When the two man came she smiled and she waited until they were on their horses two. “Sure you have not forgotten anything?” she asked them. Without really waiting for an answer she let the horse walk and soon she was in a steady, relaxing pace. It would bring them to the next city by sun down and then they could sleep there. She knew someone from her time at His place.
It was midday when the company got to the first village. She left the horse with a young man, which she paid to watch the horses with a big smile. His gaze meant only that she was certain he would do well. She led the two men to the tavern and there she sat down on a table. First she had gotten some looks from the others that were in the tavern but soon a woman came to their table, asking them what they wanted to eat. “I would like an omelette please and some mead.” She said to the woman. The woman waited until she had Egil’s and Agnar’s order and then she went on her way to the kitchen. Sigrid turned to the two men and said “You can go back if you want to. I would not like you two being here if you don’t want to be.” She said to the both of them.

The two men also ordered what they wanted. Neither had the need for any alcoholic drink and she grinned a little, from the inside that was. Their reactions did her good and she smiled slightly. “Thank you. I just... I know I get carried away sometimes and I don’t want you to feel like you have to because my father ordered you to come with me.” She said, trying to explain herself. She knew what some thought of her and she hated that, but well... she was the Jarls daughter and so she knew that there were people who would not like her for that.
The serving girl was quick and soon they were all eating. She enjoyed the eating most of all. There was a silence but a comfortable on and she just thought about the here and now, not what was yet to come. She took a small sip of her mead again and sighed. “I am stuffed.” She finally said and leaned a bit back in the chair.
When the girl came to pick up the plates the immediately paid here and also told her to give some of the money to the cook, also to keep some herself. Then she went outside again, got her horse and got quickly into the saddle. They had a long way to go still until they were on their destination, at least she hoped she would reach that point before dark. “I am sorry Egils but we have to ride half a day more, than we will stay at the city for a few weeks I suppose.” She said, not telling them more about the plan. They just needed to be there in case something happened to her, most of the plan she would perform herself.
They rode all day. Sometimes she told them a little about what they were seeing. Once in a while they passed a church and they were silent, she did not want anyone to know that they were Norseman. Now, with the sun almost hidden behind the mountains, the city came into view. It was larger than the ones she had seen in their own land and she hold her horse for a moment. “Whenever we are with other inside those walls, under no circumstances are you to speak. I do not want them to know who we are. I can teach you some of their language so you can find your way around in a week but until then we only speak in private.” She warned them. She just hoped they would understand. “I hope you do not mind and that you understand.” She said softly, and then without another word, she rode of.
Not a long while later she had found them a place to stay. She had met a man, called Todd, she had met with Him and he remembered her well, he understood her perfectly and he made them clear he would not say a word to anyone about their staying and business. He was a translator and so he could speak to Agnar and Egills in their own language. “If you two want to pass as English you should change your names, at least for appearances.” He proposed to them. He also agreed to teach them his own language while Sigrid was of on business. “When in public you need not call her Sigrid, like you know her. The people she will contact know her only as Katherine. They know her by that name and I suppose you don’t want to blow up your covers now do you?’ he said. “I can offer you some options for a name if you want to?” Todd offered the two men, while Sigrid changed her dress into a more formal one, she had already been invited for dinner at another acquaintance’s house.

She heard the talking in the other room while she changed into another dress. There was a handmaiden, one of Todd’s daughters, and she helped her very well. Everything went swiftly after she had asked her a few questions. “I am not going to ask you what you are planning to do. I just want to tell you that you can always count on me when the time comes.” The woman said to her. Somehow Sigrid appreciated her friendship, for as far that the woman was her friend it was. “So, I think you are ready to go. I have already sent word to let know that you would be there for dinner. I am to join you and I will keep an eye on you. Father will stay here with the two men you brought with you. It is going to take a while I think, judging their tongue, but father will teach them well within a week, to max.” Eleanor said to her.
Sigrid sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. She barely recognized herself. She had changed allot the last couple of months. She was not really pleased with the change though it was good that she knew what was expected from her, now she could also help her father better after all this business was done. “I hope they will not doubt me. I am sure Maurice let them know that I have escaped.” She muttered softly. She felt a hand on her arm and looked the woman in the eyes. “Not to worry, father took care of everything. You will be quite safe I promise.” She said. Then the two of them left the room to join the men for a little while before they would leave for court.
In the mean while Todd had come up with some names for the men. “Ok I will come with a list of names and you two just pick one.” The man started and he looked at the piece of paper in front of him. “Orval, Arnold, Edgar or Edgard, Emory, Harold and Ronell.” The man summarized and looked at the both of them waiting for an answer. He saw his daughter and their guest come in. he had known her only like that so for him it was not a surprised. It was more a surprise when he had seen her so underdressed. She had a power over her. She had courage, spirit and a strong own will. He liked her as much as his own daughter for he was the one that had taught her English in the first place. “I see you two are ready to go. Be careful, both of you.” He said to them, kissing his daughter on the head and giving Sigrid a hug. “Don’t do anything yet, Katherine. You need your time.” He whispered in her ear before he let them both leave the house.

Now that the women were gone there was an awful lot to do and he looked at the two Norseman. This was going to be difficult, but he held his hoped up and smiled. “are you ready for some training?” he asked them. Though it was not really a question.

The two women had left the house. Sigrid had been  wanting to say goodbye to Agnar but she did not. She ought not to act like that around here. Besides, while Todd knew here he had no need to know of her feelings towards her guard.
Todd looked at the two men, now forever in his mind Ronell and Arnold. “Yes, it is a very common name around some parts of these lands.” He said, trying to sound like he was nothing but serious. Though the old man smiled and suddenly seemed quite some years younger. “But it is a very amusing name. I had a friend was who was called Arnold... never stopped laughing.” He said smiling to the two young men. “And yes, training in the language. I have taught here the language in two weeks, if you at least try to be interested it will not take you any longer. Some of our words are from the same elderly language and so it must go swiftly.” He told the two of them. His eyes went to Agnar. He had seen the man look at her but he kept that knowledge to himself, there was no need to let them know he knew without being told.
“I will teach you how to speak in the common tongue and how to write properly. You also need to know that if you join the lady on later errands that u ought not to speak until spoken to. So i think I will need to teach you some etiquette to.” The man said, thinking rapidly about how he was going to do this the next month.
He grabbed some pieces of paper, some feathers and a pot of ink. He gestured to the table close to the fire and said “First you will write down the alphabet of you own language. Then i will write mine underneath it and you will copy that. You will do that for the next two hours until you are able to write the letters without any complications. Any questions? O yes... there is something to drink already and food will not be a problem either, just call for the servant.” He said. While the two men worked on their task he sat down in a chair and picked up his book, he had to keep a close eye on those two, at least so he thought.
Sigrid in the mean while, in this state of being Katherine, walked with Eleanor towards the courtroom. They had been brought here by a carriage and now they were led to their destination by some of the guards. Once inside the room the two women were greeted properly. Some were glad to see the lady Katherine again, not asking anything about the man who was with her before. Soon they split up and started talking to people. Their goal? Getting to know as much as possible about the man Sigrid had to get rid off.

Spoiler:

With the sounds of the feathers scratching on the paper behind him, Todd sat down in front of the fire place. He sighed softly, thinking about what kind of assignment he would give them when the two hours had passed. He started reading, just in order to clear his head a little. He was worrying too much about the two women that were now at court. He trusted his daughter with his life and he trusted Sigrid with hers, but still he wondered. There was allot of conspiring going around at the moment and he thought it was not that safe, or good a time, for another complot. He just banned the thought out of his mind and focused on his reading and the two men reading.

Sigrid en Eleanor had split up, both had been talking with men and woman in the whole room. They had come to know some things, rather minor and unimportant to the naked eye but very important when one put everything together. There were rumours, most of them were known to be true, and so the two woman met again right before their host announced the dinner. “the lord requests everyone to meet him and the lady in the dining room.” A man said and he gestured at the grand room behind him. With all the others they walked, sat down where they were supposed to according to... well... whatever reason their host had to put them at one place or another, and so when the lord and lady sat down dinner started. There were dozens of servant carrying plates and walking around with ale and mead. Sigrid had to keep herself from asking for a whole cup full of mead and just made the sacrifice. She would not be of any use when she was drunk or a little light headed. She looked down the table, since she was not that far from the top for some reason. There were just three men and their wives between her and their host. She tried to listen to every conversation around her, Eleanor was talking to the man on her right, smiling and laughing when he made a joke... or something that had to pass as a joke. “So, I see you have returned. We are delighted to have you back after those unfortunate events, Katharina.” The woman on her right said. “Lady May.” She greeted the woman. She had not spoken to her, nor had Eleanor, and so she continued the conversation eagerly. “May I ask what unfortunate events you speak of?” she asked her.
“I mean the death of your uncle, very tragic. I heard he was slain by one of those barbaric Norseman?”
For a moment Sigrid felt the air was not enough to keep her straight and she took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind. Yes, He had claimed to be her uncle when they came at court, everyone she had met after she left the damned castle had known her as his niece.
“That is still not clear, but we are all very stirred by what happened.” Sigrid answered with a thin voice. And so the talk continued and Sigrid learned more and more about what happened while she was away.

Todd rose from his chair and smiled. “That is enough you two.” He said to them and he called for the servant. “Can you inform the cook that we would like to have our dinner now?” he said politely, he always treated his staff well. The servant nodded and walked off. “Okay, you two clear the table for the servants will you? The ink will be put on the other table against the wall, the feathers too. You will keep the paper with you in your own room, Carine will show you the way.” He said, and with those words his wife came into view. She smiled and swept her hands clean on a towel, she had been helping in the kitchen. “If you two will follow me.” She said with a clear voice. So she showed them their rooms. They were in the same hall as Sigrid’s and Eleanor’s chambers, but a little further down the hall. “I would appreciate it if you two would keep them as clean as possible. With that I mean no ale up the stairs.” She said to them in their own language. Her speech however was natural, since she herself had a Swedish background. “Your things are already inside your room. Dinner is to be served soon so I expect you to be back in a few minutes.” She said.

Dinner was already served downstairs when the two men came down. “excellent timing gentlemen.” Todd said and he gestured towards the two chair opposite himself and his wife. After they had been seated Todd started eating without saying any Christian prayer at all. He was not really a Christian, not was his wife. He himself came from a region where the old religion was still practised in his younger years. He looked at his wife who started to talk.
“So I understand you are Danes as well?” She asked the men a little to eagerly. He knew his wife missed home and he knew that she had not have had news for years now. “Have you any news from Sweden?” she asked them then and Todd smiled. Always a talker she was, had been from the moment he had met her in Hedeby.

Sigrid was done for the moment. The dinner had been lovely, the company a little irritating but still... she had the news she wanted and now she was eager to be back Sigrid again. So she touched Eleanor’s shoulder and nodded towards the door. “Shall we go? We have a busy evening.” She said. The woman nodded and came with her, soon they were in the carriage towards her elderly home. “So, you were having a talk with lady May. Anything interesting?” Eleanor asked. Sigrid sighed and shook her head. ‘Nothing you would believe in you wildest and most unreal dreams.” She said softly. “The man got himself killed by Norseman sword. Not Danish but Norse. He got killed in his loving Nothrumbria almost right after I had left.” She said to Eleanor. The woman hold her breath and shuddered. “He never was a smart man.” She said and Sigrid nodded. “Let us be at your parents house as soon as possible. I don’t even want to see this place any longer than he have too.”

It had taken her some time but finally every piece had fallen in place. The young woman had spent some weeks to pretend her good will to the authorities in the area and when all that was settled she had left the town to follow her target to another great city in the area.
Now that the man trusted her, he would open the doors for her to finally have her revenge. He had connection, many many more than she could ever establish herself. He had years and years of experience at court and knew everything there was to know about how to act, how to gain trust and who knew what and what someone had done in the past that could make their life miserable if that ever came out in the open. It was in the woman’s best interest to gain his trust, the trust of Harold, trusted servant of the king and a so called good Christian.
Now she was told to meet him at Londinium, an old city created by the Romans in the early days. She knew from experience that nobody lived in the old roman buildings, the people were afraid for some reason. Some even believed that the spirits o the Romans still roamed around that place. So to avoid inhabiting their buildings the people created their own city across the river Thames. That city was nothing like the old Londinium. The streets were smelly and ugly, there were no water pipes or a bath house. Everything almost looked like a big village.
Sigrid wrinkled her nose and tried not to breath for a while. The foul smell was overwhelming and she almost felt sorry for taking the two men with her. In the time that she had been plotting and trying to gain favor with Harold, the men had learned the English language from Todd. Now they could talk in public, which was normal for a lady and her guard.
They rode behind a small company, Harold at the head and he was followed by his own guard. She was lucky because he had invited her to stay at his home for the time they were here. They would stay here for a day or two and then they would continue south, towards Wessex and from the Danes. Sigrid felt almost sick at the thought of losing her father while she was gone, she could only hope that they would be back in time. She took a deep breath, huge mistake, and almost puked. “The stench is overwhelming.” She said to Agnar while she looked around. The city was nothing like the city they had left behind a few days now, this city looked poor and nasty.
“Luckily we only stay here for two days. Then we can leave this dreadful place again.” She said, wrinkling her nose again.
They rode for some time until a fine house got in sight. The house was just outside the city and the smell was replaced by the smell of pine trees and the sound of birds. She smiled and relaxed a little. The woman had been living like a lady for some weeks now and she had gotten used to it, at least a little. She would never fully be a lady or accept this situation. She would always be a Dane in blood and heart.
They halted and Harold and his guard dismounted. So she followed their example and her horse, together with the mounts of her companions, were led away by the servants of the house. “I you can follow me my lady.” Harold started as he gestured to the house. “I will show you around, the servants will show your guards the way and tell them what to do.” He said. She nodded and smiled graciously. “Well thank you.” She answered politely. She looked back with an apologetic expression on her face when she looked at the two men. “I will see you later.” She whispered and then she followed Harold into the house.