Word count: 4565.

Warnings: Swearing, blood. 

❝𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.❞

♔

A pair of pale, ice blue colored eyes observed the group of nine people, both females, and males, sparring against each other in the middle of the forest clearing. It was their training ground. An older man walked around them, occasionally yelling orders at them. The sky was crystal clear, no clouds in sight, as the sun laid on thick. It was a hot day, but it wasn't anything surprising since it was in the middle of the summer season. There were a stream and an older cabin, which had belonged to the King before but had been given to the trainer and his pupils to store weapons in and for them to be able to rest inside. 

The girl, to which the eyes belonged to, sat by a thick pine tree trunk, resting against it as she watched her friends train. She was done for the day, her body overall sore with bruises forming. A smile was playing on her lips as she watched her best friend, Arnbjǫrg, a short, crazed ginger with freckled skin, beat her older brother Úlfr, a tall, lanky boy with dark hair and playful eyes. While sitting, she had her legs crossed, her hands resting over her chest. 

Since it was a hot day, the girl was wearing a simple, thin under-tunic made out of linen, in the color white, which was neatly tucked inside of her black trousers. Accompanied by her knee-high leather boots. A simple outfit for a girl in a high rank. She was so focused on her best friend and brother training that she failed to notice the tall boy sneaking up on her. A hand suddenly ruffled the top of her head, making her flinch and jump slightly. She let out a gasp, looking up with wide eyes and a blush making its way onto her cheeks. There he stood, a boy named Sigmund Kalfsson, who had dirty blonde braided hair and a toothy grin.

 Laughter ripped at the back of his throat as he watched the girl on the forest ground suddenly go from complete shock to embarrassment and anger. Her eyebrows were narrowed, the blush still coating her usually pale cheeks.

"Sigmund!" She scolded him, as she watched Sigmund sit down next to her. "Why'd you do that?"

"I just wanted to see your reaction" Sigmund teased her before sitting down next to her.

He looked dismissive and kept on grinning, as one of his arms made its way around her shoulders, dragging her into his side. Even though she was upset with him for scaring her like that, she couldn't help but melt into the touch that she adored so much. She dragged her knees to her chest, puffing her cheeks as she avoided looking at him. In the background, the birds were singing a familiar tune and the wind giving them a soft, cooling breeze.

"Solfrid Asbjørnsdottir, are you trying to ignore me?" Sigmund asked, playing innocent.

Solfrid refused to look at him, keeping her head forwards as her eyes swept over her friends and brothers. But then a hand grabbed a hold of her chin, turning her head towards the boy she liked deeply. His grin and turned into a playful smile as he cocked an eyebrow at her. Her cheeks became hotter, if that was even possible, as she looked to the side. Sigmund was quick to catch it though, as both of his hands cupped her face, Sigmund leaning down to give her a quick, sweet kiss. Before Solfrid had the time to react, he had pulled back, stroking his thumbs over her cheeks. She looked at him, first squinting at him suspiciously, but then her face relaxed and a warm smile crept onto her lips.

"Are you mad at me?" Sigmund asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"..No" She muttered, this time she couldn't stop herself from giggling.

"Good" He jokingly told her, before kissing her forehead.

Sigmund let go of her face, placing his arm around her shoulders once more as she snuggled into his side. Both of their chests moving in the same calm rhythm. The blush on her cheeks had begun to fade, but she was still warm inside. Solfrid and Sigmund had only been lovers for a mere six months, but she liked him deeply and was pretty sure that the boy felt the same way about her. Solfrid can still remember when Sigmund had confessed his feelings for her, the way he had tried to properly court her, and how patient he was with her and her clumsy ways of handling her feelings. There had been ups and downs in their relationship but it hadn't been anything that they couldn't work through and get past. 

It was a healthy relationship and Solfrid could see a future with Sigmund by her side. The pair sat in comfortable silence as they watched their friends train, Sigmund mindlessly stroking his hand up and down on Solfrid's bare arm, just where she had rolled up her sleeves. The sounds of swords and axes colliding against shields echoed through the clearing and it had become a sound that Solfrid was now was very used to. Her training had taken a more serious turn when she was fourteen. 

Her father, Asbjørn the Fearless Skull King, leader of the Berserk army, had allowed her when she turned fourteen summers to get the same training as her older brothers Úlfr and Njáll. She had begun the proper training with Ragnar, their trainer, and rather quickly got the hold of it. Before her training had started she had forced Úlfr to teach her how to use the bow and arrow, and how to yield a sword and axe, in secret, so that their father wouldn't find out. Their mother, Dagmær, was very strict on the fact that Solfrid would grow up to be a fair princess and someday a faraway King's future Queen, but that had changed. It had taken a while for their mother to accept the fact that her daughter would not become someone's queen, but rather a fierce shieldmaiden princess. 

Solfrid's eyes traveled from Arnbjǫrg and Úlfr to Njáll and Þórfreðr, to Iðunn and Jórunnr and lastly, to Hálfdan and Eindriði. They were all good warriors, fighting fiercely.

"All right then! Training is over for today" Ragnar's voice called out, but not before continuing,

"I want to see one last sparring. Between Solfrid and Iðunn" The older man finished, looking at the two girls.

Iðunn and Solfrid had never really gotten along with each other. Iðunn had always been distant towards Solfrid, almost dismissive, even though Solfrid had tried to give her a warm welcome to the friend group. Iðunn was the last one to join, but no matter how hard Solfrid tried to get along with Iðunn, it seemed impossible. But even though this was the situation the two of them were in, Solfrid couldn't bring herself to hold any hard feelings towards Iðunn. She wasn't that type of person. 

When the two of them were alone, which was rare, they could only hold awkward small talk before the two of them would slip into a tense, awkward silence. However, Solfrid wasn't stupid. She had noticed that Iðunn had become even colder towards her when she got together with Sigmund. She had also noticed how tense, bitter, and snappy Iðunn was whenever Solfrid was with Sigmund. Her eyes watched Ragnar carefully, before mentally sighing to herself. Solfrid kept her happy expression on, however, she knew that if someone looked closely at her face, that happiness didn't reach her eyes. Sigmund leaned down and gave her cheek a quick kiss.

"Good luck" Sigmund whispered.

Solfrid nodded in response as she stood up, leaving Sigmund's embrace. She brushed herself off, before grabbing her double-sided axe and shield, which was in the same colors that represented the kingdom, black, red and gold. Solfrid held onto the axe loosely, her pale, ice-blue eyes meeting Iðunn's dull, dark brown ones. Solfrid could almost feel the discomfort radiating off from Iðunn. Paying no mind to that, Solfrid walked to the middle of the clearing, as her friends and brothers walked past her, some of them nudging her and wishing her good luck before they made their way to where Sigmund was seated. Some of them sat down, others stood up, leaning against nearby trees, all watching Solfrid and Iðunn. Iðunn did the same as Solfrid, and soon the two girls stood face to face, almost three meters in between them. Iðunn was holding hard onto her sword, Solfrid had noticed, she held the shield the same way. 

Sweat covered most of Iðunn's face, which was expressionless at this point. Solfrid swallowed, her grip on the axe's handle becoming harder, as she readied herself. She brought her shield slightly up, signaling to Ragnar that she was ready. Not too long after, Iðunn mimicked Solfrid and Ragnar looked satisfied. No one had to say anything. Both girls had entered the mindset of the fight or flight mood. Moments passed by before Iðunn took the first step, letting out a strangled cry before lunging at Solfrid. Solfrid was prepared for Iðunn's blow, knowing from observing Iðunn for a while, that she's always the first one to make the first move. Solfrid shielded herself, the force behind Iðunn's blow being hard. 

The moment when Iðunn's sword hit Solfrid's shield, Solfrid fought against it and pushed the sword away with her shield. Raising her axe, Solfrid swung at it at Iðunn, who also was quick to shield herself. She jumped a couple of steps back, her shield still held high as the much shorter girl prepared for another blow. Iðunn let out a growl as she went on and landed blow after blow against Solfrid who blocked each other them effortlessly. They began circling each other, Iðunn giving Solfrid dirty looks. Solfrid swirled her axe a bit, before lunging forwards, landing a powerful blow towards Iðunn and her shield. 

The two girls went on, the clashing of the sword against the axe and weapon against shields rang clearly through the training grounds. Their friends cheered them on, Ragnar watching closely. Both of them were panting, sweat covering their skin and it was almost glowing in the sun rays. A bit into the sparring Solfrid observed that Iðunn became more aggressive, her hits holding more anger than before. Solfrid huffed a bit before landing a blow, backing up a bit after her attack being dodged. 

That's when it happened. Something seemed to snap in Iðunn. Her eyes getting a wild glint in them. It had been a while since the two girls sparred, but this was something else. Iðunn lunged forwards, swinging her sword wildly, it was almost like Iðunn had forgotten that the two of them was sparring. It was like Iðunn was in battle, fighting for her life, she looked like she was thinking about something that very clearly upset her. Solfrid had a hard time blocking and dodging all of Iðunn's attacks. Solfrid tried to land blows as well, but it was a bit tad difficult with Iðunn being so borderline savage. Then it happened. 

Solfrid let out a pained grunt when she felt Iðunn's sword slicing her arm. It happened when Solfrid was about to land a blow on Iðunn, and Iðunn was too fast, moving to the side and slicing her arm with the sword. Ragnar had a strict rule that you weren't allowed to hurt your sparring partner when you used real weapons instead of your wooden replicas.

"What the fuck Iðunn?!" Solfrid shrieked, but Iðunn ignored it, going in for another attack.

Solfrid dodged the attack, feeling confusing and a rising rage within herself. Her face was completely narrowed, as Ragnar and the rest of them also had seen what Iðunn just had done. Ragnar was about to intertwine, to stop the sparring that had gotten out of hand, but he had no chance as the axe and the sword clashed against each other. Iðunn tried intentionally some more times to slash at Solfrid, but she blocked those attacks. Solfrid wasn't one to usually lose her cool, but this made her upset as well.

 After all this time, Solfrid just wanted Iðunn to accept her, to at least try and get along with her. But this just proved that Iðunn and Solfrid never could be more than acquaintances, if even that. All of those dirty looks, snappy comments, tense and awkward moments between them made Solfrid lose it. She usually never lost her cool. But this time she did. This time Solfrid let herself get consumed by the anger she felt in the pit of her stomach. She saw only red, her arm was hurting, and when she had blocked Iðunn recent strike, Solfrid angrily threw her shield to the side. 

Adrenaline pumped through her veins and so did the anger. She braced herself, her grip on her axe's handle become so hard her knuckles turned white. Solfrid had the advantage of being so much taller than Iðunn, as she was towering over her. With an angry scream, Solfrid took a double grip on her axe and lunged at Iðunn, striking again and again with all the power she could muster, which only was boosted by the adrenaline. Iðunn yelped in surprise, as she struggled to dodge Solfrid. The taller girl had no mercy, striking over and over, Iðunn backing as she tried her best to not fall over. Iðunn had dropped her sword, holding her shield with both of her hands. 

Ragnar was now screaming at the two girls to stop this madness, but Solfrid completely ignored him. Solfrid's and Iðunn's eyes met for a split moment when Iðunn slightly lowered her shield, and that is when Solfrid delivered her last blow. With all of her powers, she swung her axe, hitting Iðunn's shield with such force that Iðunn fell backward, onto her back, Solfrid's axe stuck in her shield. Solfrid was panting heavily, her chest heaving up and down, as blood dripped down from the wound on her arm. 

Ash-blonde hair that had gotten out of the braids, which belonged to a half ponytail, on top of her head stuck to her sweaty forehead. Her expression held anger and it was very clear. Solfrid just stood there, staring at Iðunn, who stared back at her, and Iðunn was snapped out of her state. Her eyes no longer holding that wild glint. 

Everyone was just staring at the two girls, taken by complete surprise, especially by Solfrid's sudden outburst. Solfrid walked over to where Iðunn laid, as she took a grip on her axe, ripping it away from Iðunn's shield. Not too far away from the scene sat an abnormally large raven, who let out a low gurgling croak before leaving the spot. Solfrid had seen it in the corner of her eye but ignored it for the moment, more focused on Iðunn.

"I hope you're satisfied now" Solfrid hissed at Iðunn, her voice cracking at the end.

Tears brimmed in Solfrid's eyes as she turned on her heels, marching over towards the horses. Ragnar was the first one to snap out of the shock, as he rushed over to stop Solfrid. The older man got a hold of Solfrid's unharmed arm, however, Solfrid was quick to jerk her arm out of his grip. Solfrid glared at the older man, a couple of tears running down on her pale cheeks. Her eyes and eyebrows were still narrowed, but now she looked more hurt and sad than angry. Ragnar tried to say anything but was cut off.

"I'm never, ever, going to train with Iðunn again. Do you hear me?" Solfrid spat, clearly hurt.

Ragnar understood and only nodded, not saying anything more to the young girl. It was clear that Solfrid wasn't in the best mindset and he didn't want to upset her further. Solfrid brushed away the tears with her hand. It felt like someone was squeezing her heart, it hurt and she was just overall very upset with what just had happened. Ragnar could see that this hurt her a lot and it wasn't acceptable, not by any chance in his book. 

Ragnar would have normally told her to brush it off, man up, and be stronger than that. But Iðunn had stepped over the line, so Ragnar actually felt sympathy for the younger princess. Ragnar patted her shoulder, as Solfrid kept avoiding eye contact. his face became harsher as he turned to face Iðunn, who still was laying on the ground. No one had come to help her up. Ragnar began chewing her out, cussing at her as he walked over to her. Solfrid continued walking to the horses, ignoring her friends calling her name. 

This happy day had turned rather sour and she wanted nothing more than to just go home and bury herself underneath her furs. As she reached her mount, a soft, feminine hand gently grabbed her unharmed arm. Solfrid looked to her left, seeing Arnbjǫrg already looking up at her with a worried expression.

"Are you okay?" Arnbjǫrg quietly asked.

Solfrid slowly shook her head, choking on a quiet sob. Arnbjǫrg's expression softened.

"I don't know why she went all savage like that" Solfrid whispered,

"She just got this wild glint in her eyes, it looked like she thought she was in a war fighting for her life" Solfrid finished.

Arnbjǫrg was aware of the strained situation between Solfrid and Iðunn, as Solfrid often would consult with Arnbjǫrg about it. After all, Solfrid and Arnbjǫrg had been best friends since they were babes since Arnbjǫrg only was a couple of months older than Solfrid. The shorter girl pulled the taller girl into a loving hug, which the taller girl quickly responded to, by squeezing the shorter in a trusting manner. After a couple of moments, they pulled away from each other as Arnbjǫrg took Solfrid's injured arm and looked at it. The wound was long and deep enough for it to eventually leave a scar. 

Since most of the adrenaline that pumped through Solfrid's veins had begun to fade, the throbbing pain became more intense. Arnbjǫrg cursed under her breath as she saw how deep the wound was.

"Shit, you need to go to one of the healers when we get back" Arnbjǫrg commented and Solfrid nodded.

Solfrid looked to her side, seeing her brothers and friends, who all looked concerned and worried, walking towards her. When they arrived at Solfrid's side, they began asking if she was okay and what happened. Solfrid had quietly repeated what she had said to them all. Hálfdan looked the most pissed, his expression turning to anger real quick. He cracked his knuckles, speaking up.

"I'm going to beat her fucking ass" Hálfdan growled out.

That made Solfrid snort with some amusement. She rolled her eyes, raising an eyebrow at Hálfdan.

"Don't you remember when you punched me so hard that you knocked two of my teeth out? Who should have beaten your ass then, Arnbjǫrg maybe?" Solfrid said.

Hálfdan choked on the air, he had completely forgotten about that. His expression slowly faltered to a more sheepish look. But then it got a bit more serious.

"At least I didn't go after you with a real sword, she could have killed you" Hálfdan reminded Solfrid and Solfrid only swallowed at the thought of that.

If Iðunn would have wanted to, she could have had gone on, being even more savage. A shiver ran down Solfrid's spine. She snapped out of it when she felt Njáll putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at her older brother, who was, like everyone else, upset and angry. But he was even angrier. Njáll had always been overprotective of Solfrid, never letting her get hurt. He pulled her into a hug, before muttering to her.

"I'm going to talk to Iðunn personally, and then mother and father. There is no chance she's attending your birthday feast tomorrow" Njáll said and Solfrid only nodded as a response.

When Njáll pulled away from his little sister, he gently grabbed her axe from her, which she let him do. Because she was focused on something else. When she looked over her friends and brothers, she noticed a person missing from the group. Sigmund. He wasn't there with them, and for a moment, she panicked. Her eyes traveled further away, before finally seeing him. Her eyes slightly widened when she saw how he, instead of walking up to his lover to check up on her, walked over towards Iðunn with what seemed like a worried expression. 

Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw how he began talking to Iðunn, helping her to stand up and brush her off. Solfrid quickly adverted her eyes, taken by complete surprise. She swallowed harshly, taking one more glance towards Sigmund, and when she did she could see how he was talking quickly to her, how hurt Iðunn looked. Solfrid couldn't read her lips, but she could note how Iðunn's expression then went from a hurt one to a relieved one. Solfrid was slightly disturbed as she shook her head, taking a couple of steps backward.

"I'm going home. To see a healer and then to rest up for tomorrow. I will see you later" Solfrid said, turning around to her mount.

With some help from Njáll, she mounted the buckskin colored draft horse. She gave the group one last nod before softly urging the horse forwards. The buckskin mare went from a soft walk to a trot to a full-on gallop. She went over the stream, into the thick fir– and pine tree forest. Branches scraped her arms and face when she went through the thicker parts, but for the most part, she came through the forest unharmed on the path she knew so well at this point. When she glanced upwards, she could see two abnormally large ravens fly in the sky, which at this point began to get covered in grayish clouds. 

However, she didn't think about those, as she was more worried about her parent's reaction to all of this. She knew that she would be scolded for it, and even more scolded by her mother for being hurt and most likely needing bandages around the wound, which would force Solfrid to wear a long-sleeved dress for her feast tomorrow. After some time, she began to see the large village which she called her home. 

She could see all the huts, the market, the Great Hall, and the large lake a bit further away. As she neared her hut, which she shared with her parents and brothers, she slowed the mare down to a steady trot. Solfrid rode past a couple of villagers, who all greeted her with respect before she came to a halt outside of the royal stables. She dismounted the buckskin mare, wincing slightly when she accidentally pressed her arm and handed over her to one of the stablehands. 

Once Solfrid's horse was taken care of, Solfrid began power walking towards the hut. She kept trying to think of something smart to say, something that might save her from getting chewed out. Secretly she just hoped they would understand that it hadn't been her fault. When she reached the hut, she took a deep breath and opened the door. She was immediately greeted by a familiar sight, the family's three wolfhounds sitting by the door, waiting for her. A soft smile formed on her lips, as she bent down to pet all of them. Then she heard a very familiar voice speak up.

"Solfrid Asbjørnsdottir, what has happened to you arm?! Why is it covered in blood?!" A rather upset, feminine voice asked very loudly.

Solfrid cringed slightly before turning to look at her mother, who's eyes were narrowed, hands resting on her hips as she looked upset. Solfrid tried to smile sheepishly at her mother, but that smile dropped quickly as a sad expression appeared on her face. Solfrid looked down on the floor, her arms hanging by her sides. Her mother noticed the change on her daughter, and Dagmær became worried. She walked over to her daughter, grabbing her chin gently to make Solfrid look at her. Solfrid looked her mother in the eye, feeling new, hot, and fresh tears well up in her eyes. She couldn't help it. Her mother always made her feel like she could just express her emotions in whichever way she wanted to.

"Iðunn lost it when we sparred and attacked me and well... slashed my arm" Solfrid sobbed, before explaining a bit more in detail of what had happened.

Dagmær looked even more upset than Solfrid did. She went on to rant about what a terrible fool Iðunn was, how Dagmær was going to have a very, very stern talk with her parents and how careful Solfrid has to be, that Solfrid should have asked Iðunn to stop when things were getting out of hand. As Solfrid expected, she got scolded, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it would have been. At the end of her mother's rant and scolding, Dagmær brushed away Solfrid's tears before she got a hug from her mother. After a while, her mother pulled away.

"I'm going to call over a healer for you, my little bear, while I go talk to Iðunn's parents," Dagmær said, kissing her daughter's forehead.

Solfrid said nothing, just nodded at her mother. Dagmær held her promise and exited the hut, leaving Solfrid alone again. Solfrid sat down at the dinner table, dragging her hands over her face, just wondering how a day could have gone from being rather good to turning into a complete shit show. Then she began worrying and overthinking. Had she overreacted? Maybe she had. Then she thought about what Sigmund had done. That was strange, and if she didn't lie to herself, it stung a bit. She wanted his comfort and instead witnessed how he instead comforted Iðunn. She buried her face in her hands, groaning. Her head snapped up when she heard the door open, and she felt relief when she saw that it was one of the healers.

A couple of hours later she was fixed up, fed, and laid underneath her furs, staring up at the ceiling while two of the wolfhounds were cuddled up on either side of her. Her breathing was steady as she thought about tomorrow. First of all, she needed to talk with Sigmund about what she had seen earlier, about what the two of them were talking about. She hated herself for feeling the way she did about it, but it felt off and she was hurt by it. And on the other side, she was going to be eighteen summers old tomorrow. Solfrid prayed to the Gods that it wouldn't be a complete shit show tomorrow as well, as she only wanted to celebrate her day with her family, lover, friends, and people. Solfrid squeezed her eyes shut as she turned to her side, wrapping her arms around the wolfhound, snuggling her face into her soft fur. Slowly she slid into a dreamless night, unaware that the big day she was waiting for would change her life forever. 

♔

― 𝚎.𝚛