With a splash, the brown looking water hit the dirt a few meters outside the village. The towels were drained dry before Lovise put them back in the bucket. Her wet fingers grabbed around the handle and her eyes looked at the wet puddle one more time, before she left the spot and walked back to the manor.
It was a day like any other, cleaning the manor while the earl and his family were busy doing the things they were meant to do. And that’s how the tables turn; everyone was meant to do their jobs. Lovise her job was to take care of the earl and his family, doing the things they asked her to do. In particular Freyr. Earl Rigas had given her as a present to his son, for she was now his personal thrall. And to be honest, Lovise was fine with it. She was fine with the rank she had and honestly didn’t know any better.

The young woman put the bucket and towels back to their places and sighed softly. There were some Thegns in the great hall, but nobody needed her for anything. So Lovise walked back to her own little cottage to change her dirty clothes. Lovise wanted to be clean around Freyr and the rest of the Earls family, as she found it important to make them comfortable. Wet, filthy and dirty close never made anyone comfortable. So she went home, changing her clothes and made new braids in her hair.
She didn’t take much time doing this and when she was done, she walked back at the manor to check Freyr his room. Making sure his bed was neat and his room was clean enough. As soon as she opened the door of his room, her eyes found him lying on his bed. Freyr had heard her come in, pushed himself up in a hurry. ”I’m sorry,” She apologized immediately while tilting her head slightly downwards. ”Good evening” Hearing his voice, Lovise put her head back up and smiled back. ”Good evening, prince Freyr.” Her voice soft, friendly.  ”Is there anything I can do for you?” She asked him, closing the door behind her. She looked at the armor he was still wearing, looking heavy and the prince looked tired. ”Shall I help you taking off your armor?” She then asked, pointing her eyes at his armor.

The light eyes of the young woman looked at her dirty, wet hands. She didn’t care about it though, it was normal and it made her satisfying. Lovise saw other Thralls in the hall-way of the manor and smiled, but only a few smiled back. She didn’t had any connection with the other Thralls and they didn’t seem to like her very much. And even that was fine, Lovise didn’t needed anyone. Not any more, she was fine doing it on her own and wasn’t a talker after all.
The door of her little cottage cracked a bit when she opened it. Her eyes looked around the small room she called ‘home’ and Lovise sighed a bit. She washed her hands, changed her clothes and put the dirty ones in a bucket besides her door. That was for tomorrow, or tonight if Freyr didn’t need her. Lovise was alone most of the time if the Earl and his family didn’t need her, but she wasn’t really that lonely. She missed her mother of course, the band they had before their old Earl died. But Earl Rigas was a better man, as though Lovise thought.

Lovise entered Freyr his room, where he was laying on his bed. Her eyes found his and she immediately apologized for the scare she must have given him. Lovise could sense him being uncomfortable around her and tried to comfort him with her smile. It was a warm, friendly smile.
As Freyr thought about her question, she asked him to help taking off his armor. The young man must have tired from his day and probably wanted to sleep, or take a warm bath. ”Maybe that would be a good idea”, Freyr replied and Lovise smiled again, nodded before walking towards him. ”Is there any special place you want to keep your armor?” She asked when she got beside him. She wasn’t his Thrall for such a long time and didn’t knew his routine or where he kept his things. Lovise placed her fingers around the leather ropes from the lamellar armor and started to open them.  

Lovise was used to help people, being command around and never knew any better. Freyr at the other hand, looked unfamiliar with his new position as her master. He was young in that way and she understood him completely. The woman would be uncomfortably with a position other than a Thrall as well. She did it her whole life and never hold a sword for example, as Freyr never commanded anyone. Not the way he had to command her. Lovise didn’t want him to be more uncomfortable like he was at this moment, so she tried to give him a warm and friendly feeling. She wanted him to know that he could trust her. It was about loyalty after all, and she was. Trust had to come with time and Lovise was patient enough to wait for that. There was no reason to hurry anything.

Lovise put her fingers around the straps of his armor and looked at the wooden standard across the room. ”We can just put it there” Freyr replied and Lovise nodded slightly, not understanding why he said ‘we’. But she didn’t asked him for it, still wanted him to feel comfortable. ”That is a good place indeed.” She agreed with him, smiling a little. ”I must ask you to be careful, I bruised my shoulder quite badly in training today” Lovise had almost untied the straps and stopped for a second, while her eyes looked at Freyr his face. ”Do you want me to take a look at your shoulder?” She asked him just before she untied the last straps. Lovise moved a little bit closer towards freyr, trying to remove his breastplate as carefully as she could. She stood up, walked across the room and placed the breastplate neatly on the wooden standard. When she walked back to remove the rest of his armor, she smiled a bit. ”It looks so heavy, all that armor you have to wear all the time.” She said softly. Lovise sat next to Freyr to untie the straps of his mail shirt, what looked even heavier than the breastplate.

The young woman was fine being a Thrall, maybe even liked it and was more than used to the things she had to do. She was good at it, too. And the thing she liked most about being a Thrall was the things you got to know and the things you heard. People spoke, a lot and Lovise was almost always around to hear them. Sometimes even secrets or battle plans were said while she was cleaning the floor, or something.
It was different with Freyr, to be honest. Lovise hadn’t been any ones personal Thrall before what made her job different. She wasn’t as involved with the others as she was before and didn’t hear as much as she did. But it was fine, she liked Freyr and wouldn’t mind to get to know him better. Hear his stories, adventures and any other he wanted to share with her. Like his wounded shoulder, Lovise had learned that man didn’t really want to tell if they were wounded or had pain. But, Freyr was different. And there was nothing wrong with some differentness.  

”No, that is not necessary. Maybe when it does not stop hurting”, Freyr answered with a little smile. Lovise smiled back, nodded a bit. ”And maybe you could not tell anyone” Lovise looked at him while she untied the last straps. ”My lips are sealed.” She smiled at him and placed a finger against her lips when she had untied the last strap. ”See it as my rank secrecy.” She giggled softly, before helping him taking off the breastplate. Lovise wouldn’t tell his mother, he didn’t want her to worry and that she understood completely. And she meant was she said, it was a secrecy she had and Lovise would never cross that.
The armor Freyr was wearing must be enormous heavy and Lovise was glad she didn’t had to wear something like that. ”It is heavy, but I would rather train with it and get used to it than take the easy way out and struggle when I am on the battlefield” Freyr said and he took off the braces. Lovise untied the straps of his mail shirt and observed his face, trying to see something that showed his shoulder hurts more than he would express. ”Do you like your training?” She asked him, truly curious and her eyes looked at his for a second. Lovise wanted to help him pulling off his mail shirt, but didn’t get the changes as he did it himself. The young woman looked at him while he hang the shirt over the standard and tilt her head a little. ”I think I should take a bath before I join my parents for dinner”, He then said and Lovise immediately got up from the bed.  ”Of course, I’ll bring you some warm water.” She tilted her head a little down and smiled gently before she walked by and left his room.  

Being a Thrall, Lovise felt like a living diary sometimes. Others didn’t really noticed Thralls often and they spoke freely about everything they got in mind. It was a Thralls duty to keep their mouth shut, but most of them were easily tempt to spill some of those secrets. Lovise never spilled a secret though, she kept them all to herself and tried to remember everything she hears. It’s worth full information off course and only the Gods know whenever it will be useful. But for now, she was just that innocent Thrall who just knew how to be of service.

”We have a deal then”, Freyr replied and Lovise smiled a little at him. It was kind of weird helping him, although she had helped Vikings taking off their armour more than she could count. Lovise was his personal Thrall and even though she had seen him very often, she barely knew him. . ”I do. I like getting better at things”, Freyr chuckled. ”And I want to make my parents proud. Maybe go on a raid with them one day, if they think I am ready” Lovise nodded conceivably. Freyr had a lot to live up to, a lot of responsibilities already for being Herra. He would be the next Earl after his father and Lovise could imagine how hard those expectations must be. But on the other hand, he never knew any better. Like she never knew any better than being a Thrall. The Gods had made their plans and they had to live up to that, nothing more and nothing less.
When Freyr said he would like a bath, Lovise stood up immediately and nodded her head decently. ”That would be great”, The young Thrall left his bedroom, feeling a bit goofy for not proposing it herself. She held her head low as she walked towards the fire pits were other Thralls were warming up pails with water. She smiled at some of the girls, asking them for help to fill up Freyr his bath.

Lovise knocked at Freyr his door, waiting for him to respond before opening the door. She held a pail of hot water in her hands and let the other Thralls in before she entered the room. They emptied the pails in the tub and smiled before leaving Freyr and Lovise in the room alone. Lovise placed the pail she hold next to the door, turning her face towards Freyr. ”Be careful with the water, sir. It’s really hot.” Lovise couldn’t help herself at seeing the bruises on his shoulder. When she caught herself staring at him, she bow her head towards the ground and bite her lip nervously. ”Anything else I can do for you?” She asked him softly, her eyes looking at the bathtub.

Luckily, other Thralls had warmed up a lot of pails with water already. Because of this, Freyr wouldn’t have to wait long to take his bath. Lovise smiled at the other Thralls, thanking them for helping out. Not that it was necessary, though. It was kind off their job to provide Freyr with warm water for his bath. But the pails were heavy and Lovise was glad she didn’t had to carry every pail by herself. And you needed a lot of pails to fill in one bathtub. While she waited for the rest of the pails to warm up, the other Thralls gave her some strange looks. Lovise knew immediately what it was about: they were jealous. Freyr was her master, her only master. And it wasn’t bad to be around him, everyone knew that. He was kind, generous and they wished that for themselves.

Lovise knocked on young man’s door, let the other thralls get in before her. They all didn’t look at Freyr and Lovise was still quite nervous about looking at him. Not knowing if he toughed it would be un respectful. But on the other hand, it was weird not looking at him at some occasions. When she dropped the last bit of water in the tub, Lovise walked back towards the door, her eyes focused on the tub. As soon as she noticed that Freyr began to undress himself, Lovise wetted her lips before turning her face to the side of the room. The last thing she wanted was for Freyr to feel uncomfortable, or disrespect him by looking at him. Lovise could still see his movements, but didn’t saw any details whatsoever.
"Actually, yes. There is something I wanted to know about you", Freyr replied, and Lovise moved her eyes towards him, carefully. Luckily the bathtub was high enough for Freyr to keep his ‘private parts’ still private. It made her smile for a bit. ”You can ask me anything.” Her voice soft, almost innocent. "Please, sit down for a minute", Lovise frowned her eyebrows, while her eyes found the chair he pointed at. ”Off course,” She nodded before moving her step towards the chair. It felt weird, sitting on a comfortable chair in his room, him getting to know her. Not quite sure what his intentions were. Her bright eyes looked at his for just a small moment. "Have you ever been out of Skagerrak?" His question got her by surprise, what made her quiet for a while. ”No, I’ve been not.” Lovise replied after a few seconds of thinking. ”I’m don’t have an obligation outside of Skagerrak.” She explained herself. She would love to see more nature, other villages the Gods had created. But she just wasn’t meant to be outside Skagerrak for her duty lay here. ”Have you?” Lovise asked before thinking. ’I’m sorry,” She apologized immediately for her disrespectful behavior.

It was a bit strange, seeing all the good things important people had. The luxury they enjoyed, the comfortable beds they sleep in and the lovely food they eat every day. Lovise had to admit, she was a bit jealous of that. But who could blame her? She saw the good live they were having and she would come home every night, to find that cold and lonely room somewhere nobody cared. But it didn’t feel unfair, though. Everyone had a purpose to serve and with those purposes came the luxury it deserved. So if Lovise deserved a bed of straw, if the Gods thought that was her luxury, she was fine with it.

Freyr asked her to stay a bit longer, even to sit down. The girl nodded and sat down, wondering why he asked this of her. Lovise was a Thrall for all her life, and knew exactly what her tasks were. Talking with your master like this clearly wasn’t one of them and it made her kind of insecure. In a way it felt unnatural to make eye contact with Freyr, knowing it wasn’t polite. But it felt even more unnatural not to. He wanted a normal conversation, so she had to make eye contact. At least she thought so. So she looked at him for a few moments and looked away for some more, to look back at him as soon as he spoke. The question got her by surprise, what took her a brief moment to think. She never had been outside Skagerrak, wouldn’t even know what to do elsewhere. Of course she wanted to see more of the world, but unfortunately it never happened. As soon as she asked her question, she regretted it. Asking your masters any sort of question what isn’t work related, is disrespectful. ”You do not need to say sorry” Freyr simply said and Lovise looked up a bit. A little smile was shown before she pointed her eyes back at her hands, who laid on her lap. ”I don’t want to be disrespectful,” She explained herself.
”I have not gone to other villages either. I have visited some settlements my father owns but they are not that far away” Freyr replied her question and Lovise nodded. It must have a lot benefits to have a family like he has. Lovise could only dream of things like that. Lovise looked at the way he played with the water, thinking about what kind of settlements his father would have. Hearing Freyrs voice again, her eyes looked up at his. ”And I want you to come with me, if you would be comfortable” Her eyes widened, full of surprise. Her mouth opened bit, her eyebrows frowning. ”I would love to,” She said, still surprised. Lovise couldn’t believe the thing he just asked her and her eyes light up. ”If you’re sure you want to have me.” She then said, her voice a bit calmer and a small, but truly happy smile on her lips.