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3rd person pov

Kattegatt was not what Haraldr was expecting, it was quite a small settlement considering its location near important possible sea routes. When Ragnar and Haraldr with his men stepped off the longship we were greeted with thunderous cheers from the rest of the settlement. Haraldr overheard Eric talking to his wife about the things we had brought with us was more gold and silver than they had ever seen.

Which confirmed to him that the men he had met were most likely simple farmers and Kattegatt reflected that. This was a closed community with simple long and rectangular houses made of wood with thatched roofs with a longhouse of about 30 m in the middle of the settlement for the jarl and his family.

'Thank merlin I removed my armour and mail set or I would stand out even more' not that people did not give him odd looks. Thanks to his effeminate features and no beard making him look even younger then he is.

When we had finally finished unloading the loot and slaves a man approached Ragnar "Cnut" he said, from what Haraldr could see from his facial expression it looked like Ragnar was not very fond of the man.

Cnut looked at Ragnar and said "I was sent by jarl Haraldsson he would like to see you in the great hall"

Ragnar responded, " it will be a pleasure" but you could hear from his tone that it would be anything but.

Before we could start walking towards the great hall Cnut stopped us and asked Ragnar " who is this?" pointing at Haraldr "he does not belong to this settlement"

Ragnar looked at him and then back at Cnut and said "He is just a straggler we picked up at another settlement where we stopped to resupply before coming here. Look at his gambeson it was made from the scales of world serpent" he joked half-heartedly.

Cnut looked at me and my clothes and gave a scoff "let's go", we slowly followed Cnut to the so-called Jarl Haraldsson.

We arrived in the great hall where it looks as if the entire settlement has shown up to hear of the news about the west. The first thing Haraldr notice when entering the great hall is the massive lit fireplace in the middle of the hall and furs spread around the floor trying to keep the heat in, although it does not seem to be perfect sense many in the room still feel the need to keep their fur coats on. The second thing you notice is the raised dais and the jarls throne with furs sprawled all over it, jarl Haraldsson was an older looking man past his prime but still had the build of a strong warrior with the experience that gave him respect from his housecarls. He had long black hair that has started to grey in many areas, the jarl was currently sitting on his throne with his wife with who had her own smaller throne with his housecarls all around him.

Haraldr casts a "notice me not" on himself to avoid unnecessary attention. So he could observe these proceedings without the jarl questioning who he was. The housecarls bring forth the chest of riches from the raid att puts it down in front of the dais. The head housecarl a man named Svein starts to inspect the loot for himself before showing the jarl a gold bowl of some sort before putting it down and walking back to stand beside his jarl.

Ragnar stands in front of the dais and says "Taking these things was easy."

He pushes the monk Athelstan forward "the Hofgothi in their temple was not even armed, this is one of them we have captured several more that can be sold as slaves"

Ragnar then turns to the crowd behind him and says "it would seem that there are lands to the west who are rich with plunder, and it is all their for the taking."

"Think about all that treasure and how sailing there could benefit us all."

The crowd was excited about Ragnar's speech, but jarl Haraldsson's look was disconcerting. 'Ragnar certainly has the charisma to spare, but this will probably not go the way he wants'.

Haraldsson stood up and looked at Ragnar and asked: "how did you succeed when so many others before you have failed?".

Ragnar was looking around the crowd like he is searching for someone but can not find them. Ragnar then turns back towards Haraldsson and says " Thor was with us" with more certainty than Haraldr expected from him.

Ragnar's crew started chanting the same "Thor", "Thor", "Thor" with equal fervour.

Haraldsson makes a snort, clearly not believing them "Well you are truly fortunate than" pausing before saying " but you do understand that all this belongs to me now, considering all this was acquired on a raid unsanctioned by me, your jarl".

Ragnar's crew looked pissed and Ragnar tried to defuse the situation by saying " I and Floki paid for the boat, and the men? are we not entitled to something?".

This was the wrong thing to say, as Haraldsson replies in a calm but you could hear the underlining anger in the tone " you are not entitled to anything", "but let it not be said that I am not a merciful jarl so I will allow you all to pick one thing, just one! out of all this treasure".

Then the door to the great hall opened with more of Harald's men coming through sending a clear message, "so Ragnar Lothbrok what is your choice?"

Ragnar was not happy but he knew he had to obey " I choose this Hofgothi to be my slave, I could the extra set of hands-on my farm".

The jarls wife starts laughing then the jarl and then the rest of the settlement even if some only did out of fear, then he looks to Ragnar and says "granted".

Ragnar leaves with Athelstan in frustration and Haraldr follows behind, removing the charm when they are outside the hall.

Startled by his sudden appearance Ragnar looks at Haraldr and says in his frustration "where were you?".

Haraldr looked at him and answered "around" with a smirk.

Even more, frustrated now kicks a basket lying on the ground when his brother Rollo was coming towards them walking fast. "why did you do that?".

While Rollo might share similar ambitions as Ragnar, even if his reasons are less noble. He does not share Ragnar's patience or Ragnar´s subtlety about showing it.

Ragnar looked at Rollo "do what?" even though Ragnar knew what he was talking about.

"Why did you give up everything so easily?". Rollo asks

Ragnar looked at his brother like he was an idiot "Rollo he was looking for an excuse to kill us, is that the kind of death you want?" Rollo looked contemplative and then Ragnar added "trust me, this is not the end" before walking away.

Haraldr followed Ragnar back thinking 'i need to go back tonight to do a little spying and get the true mettle of this Haraldsson'.

Haraldr Pov

I had been to busy observing the meeting of the jarl to read his mind. Ragnar's farm was a little further away from the settlement near a river with fishnets lying on the riverside. A young boy came running outside a one-room house with a small window that had shutters on it. Haraldr also saw a longhouse further away built for the other families working on the farm and the animals during the colder winter months.

The boy jumped into Ragnar's arms and said " did you make it west" in childlike wonder.

Ragnar smiled at the boy "Hello little man" and hugged him for all he was worth.

Standing by the open door Haraldr saw a beautiful woman with long blond hair in intricate braids and a young girl whose eyes started lighting up. As she saw who was most likely her father and started running towards him

"I told them you would be back", she said as she fell into her father's arms he just smiled at her while returning the hug.

The woman most likely his wife had now reached the group and kissed Ragnar before saying "so? where is all this treasure you promised us?".

Ragnar now looking sheepish looked at his wife and responded "the jarl took it all"," but I found it and I filled a boat full".

His wife started smiling as Ragnar pulled on the rope holding Athelstan by the neck." This is my proof, one of Hofgothi from the temple we raided" he walked towards us and said, "Hofgothi, Haraldr this is my family."

Looking back at his family he says "his name is Athelstan and he speaks our language".

The children looked at the priest as if he was a zoo animal from another world.

Ragnar makes Athelstan bow and the first thing his son says is "what is wrong with your hair?".

I look towards the boy and say " they cut off their hair so they stand out from the general populace"

Athelstan looks at me " how do you know that?".

I smile "a simple guess"

The children finally notice me and the girl smiles says "you are pretty, like a girl" and I look at her with a pout which makes her giggle.

The wife looks at me "and who exactly is this stranger Ragnar?"

Ragnar looks to his wife " His name is Haraldr and I am not sure what he is, but he has the gift of magic like the gods".

The wife looks at me incredulously "really?" Ragnar says " yes but not here, I will explain inside"

The inside of Ragnar was sadly not much to look at. They have a small fireplace just like the great hall had with a hole in the ceiling to allow the smoke to rise through, but the floor was just stamped earth with raised platforms along the walls functioning as bunks or seats. The house did not even have a proper bed, only pillows that look like they have stuffed with feathers. As Haraldr was looking at the house Ragnar was retelling the story of how we meet even though the wife was sceptical.

I remembered my childhood in the cupboard and turned to Ragnar and asked: " do you want real beds for you and your children?"

He stopped the conversation he had with his wife and looked at me " of course I do, but only the rich like the jarl can afford one"

I turned towards the stamped earth and transfigured it to two child-size beds and one queen-sized made of wood. With cotton sheets, cotton stuffed pillows and a wool stuffed quilt. I then used my finger to carve runes into the wooden base of the beds to make sure the transfiguration is permanent and a temperature control rune to keep them warm on the coldest winter nights.

When I was done Athelstan looked at the beds with his jaw hanging and said "dear god"

I frowned at him and snapped " your god had nothing to do with this".

'Athelstan did not deserve that, I must still be affected by what happened in the war'.

I looked around the room at the other inhabitants in the house, the children looked at me like I could hold up the moon.

Ragnar was in amazement and said " is there nothing you can not do?" and I just laughed at that.

The most interesting reaction came from the wife who looked at me strangely and said, " are you one of the Vanir?"

I sighed 'is this going to happen every time?'

Ragnar smiled at my sigh and then looked at me with immense gratitude in his eyes " I think introductions are in order, this is my wife Lagetha, my son Bjorn and my daughter Gyda" he continued "now why don't you two go outside and ask Haraldr to show you more magic while I and my wife try out the new bed Haraldr has given us"

Ok, I did not expect that but I went with the kids outside while hearing Ragnar saying one last thing before I closed the door behind me. " You Hofgothi, you stay".

I did not need to know what that was about.

3rd person Pov

The day turned into night and while Ragnar wanted to offer Haraldr a place in the longhouse. Haraldr declined his offer and told Ragnar that he will manage. Haraldr was finally going to spy on Haraldsson. With that idea in mind, he decided to apparate to the outskirts of the main settlement of Kattegatt and then used a powerful disillusionment charm and a charm to silence his footsteps. He moved stealthily towards the great hall and into the jarls bedroom where he could hear voices from inside. Haraldr put up a listening charm on the door and moved away from the door so he did not get caught by the housecarls while paying attention to the conversation inside.

It seemed to be the jarl and his wife was having a discussion "are you happy?" Haraldsson said.

His wife replied " oh yes but I still do not understand why you never went west"

Haraldsson answered back "of course I was aware of England, I have also talked to the Saxon traders that come here from time to time".

"I was just too cautious with our sons still being so young, and the while the eastern raids were not very profitable at least I knew what to expect. Unlike England and the western kingdoms was we did not know what kind of resistance was waiting for us. After our sons died I no longer saw the point and now this simple farmer Ragnar Lothbrok with his charisma and growing fame is a threat to my authority in Kattegatt. I have to kill him, the two of us can not exist under the same sky. I will help fund his next raid to the west but have my bastard brother Cnut join him and kill him for me. Making it look like some sort of accident. If that fails and Cnut dies I will accuse Ragnar of his murder using my hidden card".

The wife looked confused "what hidden card?"

He replied" His brother Rollo, did he think I did not see stealing my bounty from the raid. No, I will use Rollo to testify against his brother or I will show him what happens when you steal from me".

Haraldr stopped listening outside 'wow Haraldsson is more cunning and ruthless than I expected.'

He could almost sympathize with Haraldsson for the death of his sons, but Haraldsson is a muggle and is suffering so much because of his sons' death that he has lost all his scruples. Also because of the war back home, he can never see himself submit to a muggle. At least Ragnar has magic and after bonding with his children, he noticed they were also squibs which means Lagetha must also be one because magic breeds magic. No, for now, his fate is tied with Ragnars, after deciding his immediate future he apparates back to the farm and finds a hidden area behind it. Puts up a muggle repelling ward and one for non-magical animals takes out his manor trunk and enlarges it. Goes inside greets the elves dobby and winky and walks to his bedroom and lays his head down on the bed and closes his eyes.

He wakes up the next day and decided to tell Ragnar about what he has learned. Haraldr climbs out of his manor trunk and starts walking towards Ragnar`s home. When he noticed the door being open and Ragnar standing in his yard with his iron hoes ready to start working the land.

Haraldr approaches him and says "Ragnar we need to talk"

Ragnar turned towards me and smiles "Haraldr you would not believe how warm and comfortable those beds you made us were, I and Lagetha thought we were sleeping in a bed worthy of the home of the Aesir. Also, the children were definitely not complaining and I think you have just become their favourite person"

Haraldr lost his train of thought at that and smiled "They are great kids".

Ragnar looked touched " thank you, oh you should have seen how I and Lagetha flustered the Hofgothi last night" Ragnar started laughing and told me the story, and soon we were laughing together until he realized why he came to talk to Ragnar in the first place.

My face turned serious " Ragnar, you need to hear what I have to say" Ragnar stopped laughing at my serious tone, and I slowly started telling Ragnar everything I heard last night.

He never once interrupted me and as he finished absorbing it he spoke, " That fool I told him the jarl was looking for an excuse, although I am now even happier that I did not underestimate the jarl and provoked him further".

"I spoke with Athelstan last night and he told me of many more kingdoms in the west filled with riches, I was about to tell the jarl about it later today so he would help fund our next raid. Also, Lagetha wants to come along this time and I worry about us leaving the kids alone with Haraldsson".

"Well I have a solution for that if you want," Haraldr said.

Ragnar looked at me hopefully " how?".

He answered back "I can use magic on your children's necklaces of Mjölnir, that will hide them from Haraldsson.

'Technically it is a simple muggle repelling ward but it should work since non of Haraldsson's housecarls were squibs.' thought Haraldr

Ragnar smiled at him " maybe you truly were sent by the gods".

Before Ragnar could continue his work Haraldr stops him: "wait there is one more thing, but this concerns both you and Lagetha so if you could bring her out here".

As Lagetha joined them I started speaking again" I noticed on your first raid west that you only had a gambeson on you. which will most likely become insufficient protection in the future as we start raiding harder targets".

Ragnar and Lagetha looked at me confused as Lagetha said: "what about it?".

" Well," Haraldr started "I can use magical nutrient potions on your farm soil here, and while it would not be permanent it should double your crop yield for a season, so even if you have to share the surplus with the other people living here, you should still be able to feed yourselves in the winter and still afford to trade for two chainmail shirts for you and your wife to use next raiding season".

Both Ragnar and Lagetha`s eyes light up and while normally someone who heard such a proposition would automatically dismiss it.

However because of the things Ragnar had already seen me do he instead answered with this "thank you, my friend truly".

Haraldr gave a pained smile and though 'it has been a while since I had a friend'.

Later that day in the main Kattegatt settlement Ragnar and Athelstan hade just come out from a meeting with the jarl and approached me.

Ragnar opened his mouth " Well you were right, it went exactly as you said it would. We have the funds for one more raid this season before winter comes and Cnut is coming with us" he said with a grimace.

Even after our talk earlier that morning it would seem that Ragnar does not even want to contemplate that Rollo might betray him.

Haraldr answers him "well, we will just have to keep eye on him".

It took 3 days to get the supplies and men ready for the raid. We were all now standing in Kattegatt`s minor port area or at least what was classified as one in this age. It was decided that Athelstan would stay behind and take care of the children. After a few threats from Lagetha of course.

'I am starting to like this woman, beauty, and fierceness like a wolf. If she and Ragnar were not so in love and I did not respect my friendship with Ragnar. I could see my self pursuing her romantically'.

Now since Athelstan is a squib, he will not be affected by the ward.

'Although I still don't understand the disparity between Ragnar`s magic and Athelstan's who for some reason seems extremely subdued somehow?'.

Nevertheless, all the men from the raid from Lindisfarne were there with the added addition of Lagetha and Cnut. And while Lagetha was easily accepted by the men, not just for being Ragnar´s wife but the Northmen were more progressive for the time with having women fighting beside the men. The same could not be said for Cnut who no one liked coming on this raid with us.

Rollo in his reckless manner showed this by pushing Cnut to the ground and grabbing him by his gambeson.

Rollo asks " are you really with us, Cnut?"

Haraldr did not need to know what he meant by that but whatever Rollo might think. Trying to intimidate him is not going to work. Cnut will always be on the jarl side because he is Haraldsson`s bastard brother and owes everything to him. Like his position in the jarl`s court. Not that bastardy has a huge stigma among the Northmen, but Cnut`s prospects will always be higher as long as his brother is in charge.

So when Cnut then said "I am with you" no one truly believed him. Rollo laughs off the incident and they take off for the west once again.

Haraldr Pov

We were approaching the Northumbrian shoreline when Hedwig appears suddenly in a ball of lightning on my right shoulder. Apparently, she had left the trunk at some point and Cnut stumbled and fell face-first on the deck when he saw the phenomenon. The rest of the crew laughed at the incident as Cnut pushed himself up and reached for his spear or "krókspjót" and pointed it at Hedwig.

Looking afraid and speaks an almost indiscernible "what?".

Ragnar stands up and says "put away your spear" in a threatening tone.

Cnut not seeing anyone else being afraid of the majestic bird he lowers his spear and sits down.

Although still looking at me with suspicion. I ignore this and looked at Hedwig "what is it, girl?"

Hedwig squawks and pushes an image of 'an Anglo-Saxon man looking at their boat from a distance on top of a cliff' through the bond.

I look at her with a smile "thanks girl".

Hedwig chirps and disappears the same way she came.

"Ragnar," I say in a serious voice.

Ragnar walks over the deck to me and asks "what?"

I look at him "we are about to have company" and points towards the cliff. Ragnar's eyes follow and see the silhouette of a man and then look back to me and his face hardens for battle. Before nodding to me and walks away.

3rd person Pov

On the shore, all the men start preparing for a confrontation when we see a group of men.

'Men at arms for some nearby Earl looking at their armour' thought Haraldr

We could see them approaching in the distance with two of the men being on horseback.

"Seems to be a welcoming party," Haraldr says and the other put up their weapons and shields while he put his hand on his "bastard" sword that he has in a simple sheath with a space expansion charm on his waist to make the sword have the appearance of an arming sword.

Ragnar looks at Haraldr "no let's talk to them first" who seems to have a fond curiosity for these Anglo-Saxons from talking to Athelstan.

When the Anglo-Saxon men were close the two men on horseback disembark and one of them moves towards us and asks "Who are you?" "What do you speak?".

Ragnar took charge at this point and said in Old English " we are Northmen".

The man looks intrigued and responds "traders?".

Ragnar answers "yes" happy that the conversation is going smoothly seeing the Anglo-Saxon man facial features easing up and looking calmer.

Ragnar and Haraldr have been learning a bit of old English from Athelstan who seems to be a good man. If a bit wary of him

However, Rollo`s ego had to get its word in "what is he saying?" "who is he?".

The Anglo-Saxon man looking a bit nervous again puts his hand on his chest and says "I am the sheriff here" "if you are here for trade, you have to come, speak to our king Aelle", "we can take you to him" pointing to the rest of his party.

'He is desperately trying to defuse the tension' Haraldr thought

When Rollo opens his mouth asking again "what is he saying". Rollo`s massive stature is putting the smaller Anglo-Saxon man on the edge.

Ragnar answers Rollo seeing the same thing "He wants to take us to his king".

Rollo did not look happy about that heightening his voice saying " it is a trap". Looking at the other Northman "don´t listen. They will kill us" making the others nervous.

'While Rollo is paranoid, these men do not know that Ragnar and his men are pagans nor do we know the temperament of their king' thought Haraldr.

Haraldr looks at Ragnar for the first time since this standoff happened and says "I hate agreeing with Rollo but we do not how this Christian king will react when he realizes we do not follow their faith".

'In this day and age Christian distrusted even their different doctrines, who knows what they will do to in their words "Pagan".

Ragnar disagreed "at least wait until we know where we are".

He nods "that I can agree with".

Eric approached Ragnar and said, "I agree with Rollo, I say we kill them".

The Anglo-Saxon man does not understand why we were arguing. The sheriff tried to say that they were interested in trading with all neighbours, whoever they may be. Although that sounded hollow in Haraldr´s ears. Especially after seeing the men at arms behind him being afraid of the large Northmen in front of them asking the sheriff to give them money to make our party go away.

The tension kept rising until the Anglo-Saxon sheriff asks "what is with him?" asking about Rollo who he can tell has a problem with them.

Ragnar responds " he does not trust you".

Frustration is shown of the sheriff as he tries to give Rollo a peace offering in the form of a silver necklace that seems to be a symbol of his badge of office. But Floki spots one of the young men wearing a cross around his neck. Floki being offended by this symbol yanks it off hard causing the men at arms to draw their swords. Rollo seeing this kills the sheriff with a swing of his axe and the slaughter of the Anglo-Saxons men begins.

The first men at arms were overwhelmed by the power and ferocity of the Northmen and were losing their moral fast. Haraldr takes out his bastard sword made of mithril and swing in a high arc and it cleaves right through the man's helmet, mail, and raised shield like it was not even there. Separating him into two pieces spraying blood all over the sand and beach. The other Anglo-Saxons seeing this, stars to waiver and flee making them easy pickings for the Northmen. Ragnar tackles one of them while another makes it to a horse and starts riding up the beach.

Haraldr shouts "Hedwig" into the air and the thunderbird swoops down and grabs the man by the talons and throws him off the horse landing on his back. Where one of the north men who had run after the fleeing man takes his spear and thrusts it into the man's chest to make sure he stays down.