Wraith and lovers [Sihtric Kjartansson]

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

   ─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

It was doomed from the start, her opponent was twice her size and strength, he was taller, older, and had trained every day since he was five years old. Despite this, her small stature gave her an advantage in terms of quickness.

Her opponent attacked and left a harch ache on her shoulder while she was preoccupied with her thoughts. She swiftly put her hand into the injury and attempted to attack when she was caught off guard by another blow behind her knee, sending her right leg to the ground. In distress, her eyes opened to the one who had vanquished her, and as his sword approached her neck, she knew she was doomed.

"while you beg me for your life ?" her enemy said

'never !' the girl responded

'then you will die by the hand of Bebbanburg's greatest little lord' he proudly said

Gazing square into his eyes, she finally broke character and shoved the blade away from her as she struggled to get up in pain.

'It hurts, Osberth' she sobbed clutching her shoulder

'It's only a wooden sword, Asha.' The boy defended himself.

To his comments, she walked past him making sure to hit him as hard as she could in the shoulder, then she left the large court of Bebbanburg and headed to the stairs. As usual, she wanted to go on the ramparts and watch the sea. This quiet and infinite extent of water was embraced by the breeze, upon which the reflection of the late sun would create a pallet of blue mixed with orange and bright yellow. That was one of her favourite things about Bebbanburg, along with the vast beach, the views, and the people. She was three years younger when her father chose to send her as a ward to the Lord of Bebbanburg, where she would grow and someday marry his eldest son, Uthred. Even if her heart tip the scale in favour of Osbert, the youngest and three years older than she was. He had been nice to her, whilst his brother seemed to avoid talking to her. Osbert even stood up to his father and persuaded him to allow her to join the practice of sword fighting and horseback riding so they could spend more time together.

Today, however, she would not witness a calm sea from the ramparts; her heart skipped a beat as ships, or rather Drakkar, were seen nearing the beach.

Aboard the leading ship was a famous Viking, Ragnar Lothbrok, sailing with his eldest sons, Ragnar the Young, and Bjorn Ironside. And once more Danes had come to conquer Saxon lands.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

After Bebbanburg fell, and his lord was executed, Ragnar took captive his only son left alive and the girl. Osbert gave himself the name Uthred and was later known as Uthred Ragnarson. The two of them, along with another girl named Brida, were taken to Kattegat and raised as Ragnar's children.

Growing up in the family, the youngsters rapidly accustomed to the Dane way of life and embraced their gods, forsaking the Saxon one. Nevertheless, Uthred never forgot the lands that were his heritage, but he still called himself a Dane and a Ragnarson.

While Ragnar fantasised about conquering and sailing, Asha spent her youth practising and learning about warfare and, occasionally, peace and farming. She had the chance to be trained by the most famous shield maiden in the world, and Ragnar's former wife, who taught her everything before she passed away. She also loved listening to Ragnar for hours, talking about his dreams, how he viewed the world and the gods, and what land could be beyond the sea and to the edge of the world.

By the age of fourteen, she was taken under the wing of the boat builder; Floki, along with one of Ragnar's sons, Ivar. Floki taught them how to think like warriors, how to despise the Saxons and adore the gods; he understood all there was to know about the gods, from Hunin and Munin's whispers to Freya's fertility, and soon the children would know everything too.

Uthred, on the other hand, spent his days wandering around with a sword in one hand and a Brida's in the other. It seems like Asha was jealous of his close relationship with the girl, but the rivalry between Brida and Asha vanished quickly when Ivar found a place in her heart.

On the final day of Ragnar, a war arose amongst his sons over who would inherit the lands. A conflict between six sons, in which most of them died.

Sigurd was the first to die, by the hand of his own brother Ivar. Bjorn and Hvitserk were killed in combat, and Ivar gained Kattegat. While his brother fought, Ubbe sailed out to discover new lands. And Ragnar the Young didn't take sides in the conflict, the lands of his father were not what he was interested in.

Asha, who was soon known as the Boneless' right hand, followed him for a while in his conquest to the east, their combined thoughts vanquished hundreds of thousands of rivals, but one day, she left, with the idea of finding Uthred again.

As for him, after Ragnar died, he decided to stay away from the war to come and return to Bebbanburg to claim his birthright, which he failed, before meeting Alfred. Finding Uthred was the easiest part, but staying with him was the hardest, when he swore his sword to the king of Wessex, a Christian, she could not accept it and refused to fight against her people. On that much, brida and her agreed. She walked away from battle and travelled the plains of Northumbria shortly after leaving Uthred.

But when peace came and Uthred gained a place to call his own, he decided to ask for Asha to live with him, in Cookham. The task of finding her would be assigned to his faithful men, Sihtric and Osferth, the baby monk. She was last seen in a little Danish village upon the border of Northumbria, so that's where they'd start looking.