She watched a hole day of training, going over the finest of forces they had with Rigas. She was compelled by the capacity Rigas his fighters had and every time when she saw they train or practice she wondered what it would be like to take back what used to be hers. You didn’t read it off of her face, for that she was to distant from the battle to actually show it. This wasn’t an army like Uddevalla could place but it sure was a good fighting force to protect Skagerrak. And they all showed the best of themselves before their earl and his wife. It made her day, seeing this putted that small cocked up grin on her lips. And when she looked aside to Rigas she saw the exact same thing, they had a fighting group, ready to raid, to fight and to defense.

Normally the great hall was filled with the laughter of the Vikings. But after today there was hardly somebody to see. Her steps echoed through the room when she walked over, only to see one of the slaves standing in the corner. ‘Freyr?’ She asked, practical. Just like Rigas had a swift obsession with keeping track of her she kept track of her son, certainly this late. The slave walked over but Gunnvor stopped her. She didn’t need help and that stopped the girl right away. ‘He is sleeping my lady.’ She bowed obedience. Gunnvor looked down to the half long fighting bracelets she wore around her wrist, not giving the girl much attention. ‘And his slave, Lovise?’ ‘Washing.’ The girl replied with a new bow. Rigas got Freyr a slave girl, not that she was protesting against it but she needed to know who walked so closely around her son. Not that she didn’t trust her husband, it was just that motherly urge of her again. ‘Bring me her.’ Gunnvor said softly, pulling of one bracelet before she laid it down on the table aside her. ‘Offcourse.’ ‘Thank you.’ She thanked the girl, looking how she run of before turning to her other bracelet. It took a while but that girl came in, greeting her with the usual question, you wanted to see me. ‘Yes, come in.’ Gunnvor replied, nodding towards the door to shut it. Lovise did so, walking closer and acting like a true slave by asking the question where she could help with. Gunnvor looked up from her other bracelet, her distinct green eyes studying the face that stood not far from her. She had seen the girl pas a couple of time but there wasn’t any interaction between them until now. Gunnvor had a way of looking stern, dominating almost … in the most natural way of her own behavior. ‘No,’ she began, answering the question while pulling the other bracelet off. ‘Sit.’ She nodded towards the table her bracelets laid on, waiting until Lovise sat down. ‘We didn’t got a change to introduce ourselves properly.’ She said after an agonizing silence. ‘Giving the work that you do you can’t blame me for being critical.’ That last word lingered a long time of her lips while she just stood there, looking down to the girl with the kind of gaze that would scare away every child. ‘How is Freyr today?’ She asked with a soft tuck of the right corner of her mouth while walking over to a table with ale and some cups. She knew already how Freyr was, she saw him hardly two hours ago, but she wanted to hear it from her. Loyalty was something hard to find  these days.

Gunnvor had a way of acting nobody really like, but to be great you had to be feared. Despite she had the respect of a great deal of people in Skagerrak, there was still a part that wanted her back home in Skagen, she wasn’t raised here so why rule? But nobody wanted to undermine Rigas and for that Gunnvor was colder and more at distant, always looking for the problems and always looking for the loyalty among men and woman. People also knew she could be kind and open to those deserving this, so … it was really a matter of saying the right things in order to be granted in her inner circle. Especially all who hang around her family got her attention and today it was the slave her son had, a fine looking young girl with dark hair and a rather pale skin. Her distinct green light eyes followed the slave girl in, taking in every single details there was to see. The poor girl, no idea what the Courtess wanted from her and no idea how she would walk out here afterwards. She wasn’t a bad person around the youth, she only wanted to make sure that everything went the way she wanted it. For all she knew this young woman could be a spy from out of Skagen with the task to kill her only son. Not much people knew the true story of Gunnvor, only that she came out of Skagen, but it didn’t need a bright man to figure it out.

Lovise looked nervous, what was probably normal for a girl being here not that long and already being summoned by the courtess. When she introduced herself Gunnvor only smiled shortly. ‘That I already knew.’ She replied almost politely. You poured some ale in two cups before slowly turning around again, facing Lovise who sat there scared to dead because of the situation. The question was merely to feel her rather than really wanting to know how her son was doing. She only nodded while walking back. ‘Good.’ She said, placing the cup before Lovise on the table, not sitting herself. ‘Are you born here Lovise? In Skagerrak?’ She asked a little flatten, pointing towards the cup of ale before Lovise before drinking from her own cup. She stroke her finger over the table before gracefully sitting down herself, eye leveling herself with Lovise. ‘There is a lot I don’t know yet, that kind of gift don’t grant the gods to anybody. They say knowledge is power,’ she felt silent, squeezing her eyes a little together before pointing towards the girl. ‘I need to know you before I will be able to trust you.’ She finished her sentence, leaning a little back. ‘What makes you so special for being here, serving my son?’ She asked straight forward, like Gunnvor always was.