Prying eyes [Yrsa]

With Rigas away on travels and raids the full responsibility of Skagerrak fell on the shoulders of Gunnvor and her son Freyr. Her parents always learned her how to be a proper ruler back in the day when she still lived in Skagen. But things change, people got killed, bigger armies came in and destroyed her vision on how she wanted to rule. Since she became the countess of Skagerrak Gunnvor always was alerted by the most little things. Knowing  they were still wanted her head on a spike she was always cautious in what she did. The only living air of Skagen still alive and here was she ruling an totally different country.

Gunnvor buckled the golden bracelets around her wrists and turned around  to one of the slaves. Like usual her long black hair wasn’t braided for which the light green in her eyes was sharper than usual. She was a stern woman for who didn’t knew her and in days like this, without her husband she was extra alert on certain messages. ‘Yes?’ She asked softly, not looking up from the bracelets she was putting on. ‘You wanted us to tell you when their arrive people out of Skagen?’ She began polite. Gunnvor her eyes slowly traveled up from her wrists to the slave standing there. ‘And?’ ‘There arrived four traders out of Skagen.’ She said. Gunnvor nodded one time before the slave girl leaved again and the woman walked out of the room. The great hall was crowded with people taking a meal or waiting for their Countess to give the assignment, there were a lot of Rigas his Vikings with him but the Shield maiden all stayed behind with Gunnvor. The countess seemed maybe elegant, in her long green dress and the golden bracelets around her wrist but she wasn’t all that gracefull. Gunnvor had fought and trained just as much as these woman and young girls did. She fought her way to this position and she was planning on keeping it.

People coming over from Skagen to trade and do business wasn’t unusual. But just as much as she wanted to take back what was here, they wanted to eliminate the countess, knowing she would come one day. But with Rigas not around she always had the urge to be curious. ‘I need one good shield maiden to accompany me today.’ Her voice was neutral but her strong female side never left to edge the words. She stood before her throne in the great hall, her fingers stroke over the dagger she had hidden on her back before she walked out, keep standing still under the pale sunlight of that day. Not everybody knew the full story behind Gunnvor, but they all knew she was preparing the best fighters for a battle that was yet to come. It wasn’t an question earlier, nor a warning, but as soon as she stepped outside somebody followed and Gunnvor looked over her shoulder, smiling to the shieldmaiden. ‘Yrsa.’ Gunnvor greeted her with a small nod.

Rigas not being around became a problem with every day that passed. While his warriors and shield maidens often were doing his task they all lingered around in the great hall waiting for Gunnvor to say something. But what did she had to say? He was away longer then expected and it became a worry for her. His men never returned, there wasn’t any sign of life. Despite Gunnvor held a neutral face, she knew what they were thinking. Skagerrak fell in a weak position, how long would it take for Skagen to notice, for any other village praying on a seat on Rigas his throne. She needed to step up her game, she and Freyr needed to do. Because she was the countess, Freyr was next in line. She wouldn’t let anybody take Skagerrak like they took Skagen once away from her. They would need to kill her before they even got this far to begin with. She hoped, in the depths of her hard it wouldn’t come that far.

So her first act was on securing Skagerrak, especially against Skagen. The brothers Halfdan and Harald were know about their ruthless take overs, she knew for herself, they killed her parents, they raped her mother before killing her. That image would never leave her. So every arrival of a Skagen villager or trader would be guided by one of her men or women to measure the thread. Today she did that herself and asked for one of her shield maidens to join her in doing so. Gunnvor was a good warrior, on every suffer but somebody you could trust to fight alongside of you was always more pleasant for the conscious. Today that was Yrsa.

Gunnvor walked down the few stairs, pointing her direction towards the harbor. People looked, people whispered and Gunnvor tried to ignore. Someday somebody would ask, where was Rigas? But not today, she tried to keep that question as far away as possible for she didn’t knew the answer herself. When Yrsa asked what they would do Gunnvor shifted her light green eyes aside to the shield maiden. She relaxed a little under the second set of words. ‘I wouldn’t ask you to join me Yrsa without letting you in on the task.’ She smiled for a short moment, pointing towards the harbor. ‘There are villagers, traders out of Skagen arrived.’ She began, looking aside to her. ‘With the current state of Skagerrak I can’t let that slip away without looking into it. Skagen has it out of me as much as the other way around, I want this village to be safe.’ She explained herself, looking back in front of her, now and forever right? Certainly now Rigas wasn’t around everything came back down on her.

Gunnvor still had a hard time overthinking the fact that Rigas was away to long, that he may will never come back. For the process of that she needed to handle her Vikings and shield maidens in the same way like Rigas did. There respect all rested on honesty, righteousness and loyalty, if she wasn’t telling them Rigas wasn’t coming back then there wasn’t no honesty. Besides, they needed to know. She had already send scout out to pick up his trail. She wanted to do it herself, take a horse and go out there but she knew it wasn’t what Rigas would wanted. He wanted her to sit on that throne and lead the village like she was in a way was born to do. None the less it was a hard thought doing this without him. She knew battle demanded sacrifices, life demanded deaths or loses. She tried to think he was still alive, maybe captured, maybe just lost.

When Yrsa asked if they expected trouble Gunnvor looked for a short moment aside to the shield maiden. She saw Yrsa often train, being good in following orders, being the best in her task. Gunnvor didn’t ask her for protection … but maybe in a way she did. Her emotions clouded her judgement, in that way she knew herself good enough to rely a little on another. ‘If it will reach there ears that our earl is not,’ she felt silent, pointing around to the village. ‘not on his throne they probably would want to challenge us.’ She followed practical. She looked over the people they passed on the streets, the houses, the activities. ‘We need to be more cautious now then we ever were.’ She whispered, looking to the faces. How many of those man here were maybe doing something they didn’t had to do. Now Rigas was gone everybody would challenge her place on the throne. She needed to expect everything from every corner and it was hard to have so much eyes around and only having two of them to really look.

When Yrsa said she would follow her lead Gunnvor smiled shortly, looking over to the harbor they now approached. She recognized the boat right away, heaving the yellow colors Halfdan and his brother Harald stood for. Her dress draped into the mud as she stood still, eyes scouting the harbor. ‘If I would send you to Skagen, to look over there defensed, to look for the best possible way to attack, what would you do when you arrive?’ She asked, her green eyes scouring over the men and woman, walking fort and back over the docks. She knew Skagen as the best, she knew the defenses, she knew everything, that was why she asked. If it were real traders they would be busy trading. The boat laid there empty, guarded by one single man, no weapons, just an hold skinny man. The boat wasn’t long enough to ship more then ten men, it seemed harmless, but Gunnvor knew even harmless things could be very dangerous to the eye.