We are all blind

Friends

The summer had already started to make it's way to Kattegat. The days had become longer and warmer, making people's mood a lot happier than usual. It wasn't just because of the weather. It was also because of the raiding season that was about to start in just a few weeks time and the excitement in the town was undeniable. The one and only Björn Ironside were assembling a big raiding party to explore a new world and new seas.

Sidsel was excited in a different way. Summer meant raiding for Vikings and her brothers would always find their way to Kattegat to raid west. They would always come and visit Sidsel and their other sister, Asta who also lived in Kattegat, this time of year before heading out with Björn on the summer raids.

Walking slowly on the shore, only listening to the motion of the water, she was thinking about what had led her to be in Kattegat. The greediness and ambition of a man of course. Her own father. She came from Köpingsvik, a rich trading center on an island outside of the Swedish East coast. He wanted to ensure a strong alliance between Kattegat and Köpingsvik by sending Sidsel and her older sister, Asta, to Kattegat to live amongst the Ragnarssons since they were around the same age in the hopes that they one day would marry one of the brothers. This was something Queen Aslaug had agreed on since she also saw the possibilities in having a powerful ally like Köpingsvik.

The problem with this arrangement was that Sidsel and Asta never wanted to get married. They've told their father countless times. Asta because all she wanted to do in life was to explore and fight, going on raids with her brothers. She didn't want a husband because then she was obliged to give said husband a child and she wouldn't be able to do what she loved the most in the whole world - fight.

Sidsel, well she simply thought that giving birth to a child she was never able to see, and therefore never be able to take care of properly, was pointless. And who would in their right mind marry a blind woman anyway?

"Watch where you're going".

The voice had startled her as she was deep in thought. She recognized his voice immediately though and relaxed.

"Why do you always sit in the way then? Get up and move!" She said with a smirk, earning a scoff from the man sitting somewhere to her right.

Ivar the boneless. Her closest friend for these past three years, except her own sister of course. Had it been almost anyone else telling him the same things Sidsel just did, they would be severely punished by his wrath. She walked closer to where she'd heard his voice, put her staff down on the ground and sat down herself, facing the sea.

"What are you doing here?" Ivar asked after a moment of silence.

Sidsel shrugged her shoulders. "I wanted to take a walk, so I took one, unlike someone else I know, I can walk". She felt a hand push at her head a little as he pretended to be upset about the words. She chuckled and then asked him the same question he'd just asked her.

He took a deep breath before speaking again. "A lot is weighing on my mind today", he explained. He didn't need to say more. He was often like this when he missed his father the most and Sidsel knew this. Ragnar Lodbrok had just disappeared one day out of nowhere after a failed raid to Paris, leaving a big hole in a lot of people's heart. Especially his sons.

"Talk if you want, I will listen", she offered. He rarely did talk about his feelings with anyone, but she always offered.

"Not today".

And the two friends just sat there in silence by the shore, watching and listening on the movements of the water, side by side.