Years had passed since that day at the docks. The winter season had finally settled into Kattegat leaving the town and surrounding forests blanketed in snow. The fjord was iced over making travel by boat impossible until spring. As a child this was always my favorite time of year because it meant I would spend time with my father. We would wake up early, eat a quick breakfast and then head right out to train or to hunt. Now I was left with an empty house and most of the time an empty belly.

Being that my father did not survive the siege of Paris there was no treasures that came back to be used as currency and therefore no food regularly. The uncomfortable rumble coming from my stomach made me sit up from my bed, letting the furs fall into my lap. Bitter winds crept through the holes in the walls making me hug my arms around my body. I slept in my linen underdress but the biting winds made me feel naked. Looking over to the fire pit near the middle of the small space, I saw that the fire had long since gone out. Opening my mouth I breathed out watching my breath turn into fog as it left my lungs and traveled into the air of my home.

Taking the furs that pooled in my lap, I moved them from my body and left my bed. My dark blue dress was hung over the back of one of the chairs at my table. I grabbed the wool dress, pulling it over my head and slipping my arms through. I then pinned it in place with two old brooches that used to belong to my mother. They were simple in design and looked dated compared to the intricate pieces worn by noble women in Kattegat. My boots and cloak were by the door as well as my bow and quiver. Sliding on my boots I quickly tied them before putting on my cloak followed by my quiver. I repositioned the leather strap so it was no longer biting at my neck before grabbing my bow and then heading out of the house.

As soon as I was outside a gust of wind blew through the town, whipping my hair this way and that. Pulling my cloak closer to my body to try and keep warm I stepped into the busy crowds of people, making my way to the woods.

The people of Kattegat were all busy at work, calling out prices of the goods they were selling to passersby, mothers chasing after their children who were happily running about while the older children wielded shields and dull swords as they practiced their combat skills.

Cutting through the crowds I held my bow close to my chest, not wanting to accidentally hit anyone. I dodged the puddles of mud and patches of ice as I walked. Glancing to my left I caught a glimpse of Queen Aslaug standing with her usual cold look painted on her face at the open doors of the great hall. Beside her, hunched over in the chair beside her was her youngest son, Ivar. His ice blue eyes locked on my own pale blue ones and I stopped in my tracks.

Being that we were close in age, Ivar being a year older than myself, we grew up playing with the same group of children. Though Ivar didn't do much playing, partly because of his mother's constant coddling and the fact that the children our age often made fun of Ivar the Boneless. When we were young, I pitied him and often tried to include him with whatever I was doing in an attempt to make him feel normal. As he grew, something sparked in him, some dark malice that also grew. When Ivar finally snapped and he buried an axe into another young child's head is when I slowly backed away from him. I no longer tried to be nice or included him in my games for fear I would be next. Over the years, whatever evil was inside Ivar grew with him. As he stared at me from his perch next to his mother I felt my blood run cold. This wasn't the first time he stared at me like this, in fact, this seemed to be a common occurrence since my father had passed.

My gaze drifted to Queen Aslaug just as her lips curled up showing what looked like disgust for me. My stomach dropped. Not that she had ever liked me, even when I was the only one who tried being nice to her youngest but her new disdain for me made me feel uneasy. Since the disappearance of Ragnar, Aslaug had noticeably start to become unhinged. She took to the wine more so than before and she openly denounced anyone who showed fealty to Lagertha.

Breaking their intimidating gaze I continued on until I reached the forest. The moment I stepped foot into the cover of the trees all sound disappeared. Everything was still like I had stepped into another world. Closing my eyes I took in a deep breath, letting the cold air burn my lungs. That feeling reminded me of the many hunts my father took me on in these woods.

Trudging forward through the snow I carried on, looking for tracks. The sound of my boots crunching in the snow was the only sound that echoed through the woods. Before long I came across what looked deer tracks. My heart skipped a beat in excitement, a dear would feed me for a couple of days and I could sell the pelt in the market. Pulling an arrow from my quiver, I positioned my hand on the grip of the bow, resting the middle of the wood arrow on the knuckle of that hand and nocking the arrow with my other.

Branches rustled in the distance alerting me that my prey was nearby. I brought my weapon up closer to my chest so I could quickly take aim as I made my way towards the sound. As I came upon the stag a smile tugged at the corners of my lips. The animal was biting at a tree, tearing the bark from it's surface. Ducking behind a bush for cover from the stag I knelt down on one knee and extended my arm in front of me, pulling back the bow string with my other at the same time and anchoring my thumb against my cheek.

Before I could aim properly I felt the cold steel of a blade against the side of my throat. The sudden cold against my neck frightened me causing me to release my arrow prematurely. The arrow hit the stag's shoulder blade and my heart sank more from knowing that I missed vital organs and that my meal was now off running through the forest than at the stranger who could easily kill me.

"Nice to see you, Briet." Sigurd chuckled.

I released the breath I didn't know I was holding. "Sigurd!" I sneered looking up at the mop of curly hair and wide smile. "That was my breakfast!"

Laughing, Sigurd finally took the blade of his axe from my throat and put it back in it's holster on his belt. "Relax, girl. We'll track it down. You got it in the shoulder so we can track the blood." He said between chuckles, offering his hand to me. I placed my hand in his as he tugged me up to my feet.

For my age, I was quite small. Most of the people in Kattegat towered over me. Even Sigurd, the shortest of Ragnar's sons still had inches on me; the top of my head only just reaching his chin. I took the arrow from my bow and placed it back in it's spot in my quiver before we started tracking the wounded animal's crimson trail.

"If you are hungry, Briet, all you have to do is ask and you know I'd share food with you. We have plenty to go around." Sigurd finally spoke.

"I don't want to be a burden on anyone. I can take care of myself." I answered, feeling embarrassed that he thought I cannot care for myself. It was hard, yes, but nothing in life is easy. "And I don't think your mother would like that idea."

Sigurd scoffed. His relationship with his mother was very clearly troubled. Growing up with the boy I knew exactly why. Aslaug only cared for her youngest. When a wanderer came to the village a couple of years ago, Aslaug threw herself at him, making a fool of herself. She was married- to the king- and would sneak around with this man who had no issue with taking every willing woman in the town. That was Sigurd's breaking point. He no longer respected his mother for being with another man, for letting his oldest brother's first born child, Siggy, die and for allowing her youngest son to kill an innocent child just for not including Ivar in a stupid childish game.

"You know I don't care what she thinks." He answered before he brought his index finger up to his lips signaling me to be quiet. He took his finger from his lips and then pointed to the stag that had escaped earlier. It was lapping water from the half frozen stream, my arrow still stuck in it's skin. I could see the stream of blood slowly trickling from the wound. "Take your shot."

Nocking another arrow, I took a deep breath in and drew the string back with one arm while extending the other. My thumb came back to my cheek and I focused on the target. I let out my breath and released the arrow at the same time and almost instantly the thwack sound of the arrow hitting the animal rang through the air. The stag fell to the ground as it let out a grunt. My arrow hit him right in the lungs, it would be a quick death for the beast but I planned on ending him sooner so he wouldn't suffer.

Sigurd and I ran to the animal and once we were by it, I dropped my bow to the ground and unsheathed my dagger from it's spot on my belt. Sigurd grabbed the stag's horns so it wouldn't try to impale us as we came to end him. I quickly took my blade and slit it's throat to end it's labored breaths. Warm blood pooled from the animal and onto the snow as it slowly stopped thrashing. I took my knife and wiped the blade in the snow next to me to clean off the blood.

"That's a nice blade, where did you get that from?" Sigurd asked as he produced some rope to tie the stag's feet together.

"From Lagertha," I said as I looked around the forest floor for a branch long and thick enough to hold the weight of the deer.

"So that's where you went, eh?"

He was referring to my week long stay in Hedeby to visit with Lagertha. She was a friend to my father and was there when he was killed. I always thought of her as a second mother and she had offered me a place to live with her in Hedeby when I learned of my father's death but I refused the offer. Something about leaving the home I grew up in tore at my heart and I couldn't bare to leave the ghost of my father in Kattegat. Lagertha tried to give me new clothes, weapons and money when I visited in an attempt to make things easier for me but I refused them all as well except for this dagger. I wanted to appease her but I also wanted to show her that I could make it on my own.

"She has a soft spot for you." Sigurd continued.

"Did you miss me?" I teased, punching at his shoulder as we finished threading a branch through the deer's bound legs. We lifted the animal, resting the wood on our shoulders and started off back to town.

The both of us froze as we heard a twig snap in the distance causing an echo to spread through the woods. We started scanning the woods as our hands instantly went for our weapons, me for my bow and Sigurd for his axe.

The only sound to be heard was the trickling of the water from the stream behind us. I looked over the woods once more as my eyes caught movement off in the distance. I stared in the direction of the movement for a while longer until I was sure it must have been me imagining things. With no other signs of danger as we stood still for a moment longer, we brushed off the sound and made our way back to the town.