Chapter 48: Plot Revealed
Ragnar relaxed his shoulders and took a deep breath as he put on a stoic expression while seated next to his father.
A strong knock resounded on the door, "Come in", Harald grunted, slightly angry that one of the guards had managed to injure him during the fight.
The Baron tightly clutched a large cut scored across his forearm, now wrapped in bandages, the cause being his axe's unsuitable size for close combat.
As Marquise followed close behind, Erika walked in, holding the chieftain's wife in her tight grasp.
The lady Astrid stumbled in, and a look of surprise came across her face as she glanced between the two men that she'd intended to kill. "How are the two of you still alive?"
Her face stung with a resounding slap as Erika spoke with slight amusement in her eyes, "You do not get to ask the questions here."
Ragnar remained stoic as he replied, "How are we alive? Do you honestly think those four men were enough to kill the two of us?" He said as he rested one leg across his knee.
The poker-faced expression on Ragnar's visage made Astrid shiver uncomfortably. She was afraid of the pair of them when she first witnessed their enormous figures outside her gates. "I sent all my best guards after the two of you. There should be no way they are dead! Where are they? Have you captured —"
Her speech cut off as another slap resounded across the room.
Astrid looked at the shieldmaiden Erika while she clutched her cheek, "Watch who you're disciplining. A mere shieldmaiden has no right to lay hands on a —"
Erika slapped her once again, "I don't give a shit what your position is, lady. It has been taken away by Ragnar and his father." She glared mockingly before glancing at Ragnar with a vile smirk on her face.
Ignoring the malicious expression directed at him, he nodded as Astrid looked appropriately reproached, looking behind them to Marquise as he snapped, "Why were they able to sneak up on the two of us like that?"
Marquise bowed softly, "Apologies, milord, I'd kept one guard on duty while the rest of us were assisting the elderly and women in packing up and getting on the boat. They have been apprehended and detained now that we have all our men gathered here."
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"Hmm, we will need to form an official guard for the Sigvald Family. They will be trained extensively in the spear and have executive powers among our men. Marquise, you will be in charge. Remember that I won't give you another chance."
Marquise bowed once again, "Yes, milord, I'm grateful for the opportunity."
A soft smile came across Ragnar's visage, "Good, now bring Eve here. There is something we need to discuss."
With the spearman having left the room, Ragnar slowly stood up. "Now, what do we do with you?" He said as he walked up to the lady, inches apart as he scanned her figure.
Astrid cowered under the stoic gaze of Ragnar, "Please, don't kill me." All her previous pride had gone down the drain now that her entire guard was wiped out.
Harald watched on as his son scrutinized the woman who seemed to be in her late 20s. He'd taken the back seat to diplomacy to understand how his son would lead in his absence and correct any mistakes that he found early on. So far, the redeeming qualities he'd found in his son were aggression where it so asked of him. And level-headedness where it was deemed required.
"Kill you? Like you tried with us? Do let us know.." Ragnar said as he turned to point to him and his father, "Why did you try to kill the two of us?"
Astrid looked down and shivered as Ragnar took a lock of her blonde hair and twirled it in his fingers, "When you mentioned that you had lineage back to the throne of Norway, I took it upon myself to kill you for our king." She said as the strength came back in her eyes, and she forced herself to look into those demonic irises that studied her every move.
Ragnar scoffed, "You would risk your life for this king?" as he grabbed her neck to emphasize how easy it would be to kill her.
Astrid shook as she tried to control herself yet remained steady in her reply, "It is why we are here in the first place, so it makes no difference to me."
Shock took over Ragnar's body as he squeezed tightly upon the neck of Astrid. Watching her choke and struggle to breathe as her eyes slowly rolled back while she squirmed under his grip.
Eve had long since walked into the room during the exchange and softly stroked Ragnar across his shoulder to calm him down, "Ragnar, please wait before you kill her," a soft giggle broke out from her lips, "She hasn't explained herself yet."
Ragnar eased off Astrid's throat, allowing the woman to gasp for air, "All of you are killers and maniacs!" She screamed as she looked around the room, to the indifferent Harald, Erika, and the amused Eve.
The freckled Eve goaded Astrid, "My oh my, is this how a lady behaves?"
Astrid looked at the newcomer with disdain, "If this man choked you to an inch of death, you'd understand why I'm reacting in such a way."
Eve giggled once again as she replied, "I quite like when he chokes me. Now explain yourself, and tell us what the reason for why you were here in the first place was."
Astrid was about to resolutely deny answering the question when her gaze finally rested upon the unchanged expression of Ragnar. Throughout the entire interaction, his blank stare had terrified the crap out of her. "Alright! I'll answer. King Hardrada has long since planned his invasion. And several crews have been sent out to delay Duke William from entering the fray. We were one such crew, sent to disrupt trade between Rouen and Le Havre and to disguise our origins as sellswords for the count of Maine and the French King."
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The plot has been revealed! The deviations from history are starting to appear in front of our protagonist.
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