Askeladd - Thorfinn x reader -

49.

Chapter 49
Purpose 

KETILS FARM
NOVEMBER 

For the pair, Thorfinn and Einar, their day started off common. 

Thorfinn awoke Einar early in the morning as he screamed in his sleep, suffering from the same nightmare that'd been tormenting him since he'd fallen into the position of a slave.

A nightmare where he struggled to pull himself up a cliff, hands of strangers prying his fingers off of the shaky rocks he gripped for dear life. A nightmare where Thorfinn fell from the cliff every time. 

A nightmare where every time he woke, his brain flushed out the crucial events; making everything he'd experienced a blur. 

And as Einar and Thorfinn made their way to the wishing well as usual, Einar engaged in his routinely morning small talk with Arnheid. Outside of their conversation, Thorfinn splashed his face with the cool water from the well to help clear his mind. 

Then, they strode to the forrest to complete another day of hard labour. Day by day, their efforts proved to be more fruitful, as the wheat they'd planted was beginning to grow beautifully. 

For Thorfinn, a man who'd never done such a thing in his life; getting to learn the process of farming heartened him. 

Today, they cleaned the ground of the corpse of cut down trees. The task wasn't easy, requiring the duo and their horse to drag a single tree. As tiring the job was, they endured knowing it'd all be worth it in the end.

And just like any other day, a certain group of farmhands observed them with malice. Conversely, instead of just spitting crude words and insults towards the pair behind their backs--today they'd decided to hurt them the best way they knew they could. 

A way that didn't include violence, a way in which they could get away with it unpunished.

Presently with Thorfinn and Einar, after harsh hours of work in the forest they now performed chores for Sverkel. The old's man wish for today was for the two to repair a leaky roof. 

Bundles of sheaf roped together by their ends were tossed up to Einar who stood on the room by Thorfinn. While Thorfinn grabbed the next stack, he couldn't help but meditate on his nightmare. More specifically the questions Einar gave him when he awoke that were still left unanswered. 

"You were screaming something like 'Askeladd' and 'father'.. Askeladd, is that someone's name?"

Originally, Thorfinn had no plans to speak of Askeladd with Einar. But right now what he needed most was a friend to confide in. To truly get what bothered him off of his chest he'd need to give Einar the full picture without neglecting important details. 

"Askeladd is the name of the man who killed my father.." He began, instantly grabbing Einar's full attention. "Askeladd was a brutal and strong danish soldier.. He was also Y/n's father.. " 

The new information caught Einar off guard, those two sentences alone being a lot to process. His brain struggling to comprehend how the same woman who Thorfinn dreamed of was the daughter of the man who killed his father. He blanked out for a moment, and it took Thorfinn tossing up another bundle to snap him out of it.

"And he showed up in your nightmare?" Einar questioned, he had millions more but he felt this was the only appropriate one to ask right now. 

"I'm not sure.. All I can remember from the nightmare was falling from a cliff." Thorfinn replied before diving into more detail about his past with Askeladd, "I followed Askeladd into battle to avenge my father.. I ended up fighting for eleven years."