As Hertha left the dining room King Edwin thought about what she said. A lot of things made sense to him now and why Queen Ada knew half of his battle plans over the years. "Guard tell some of my most trusted nobles to investigate the Queen and my Commander," King Edwin said as he left the dining room. "But tell them to keep private," King Edwin continued. "Yes King Edwin," The guard said as he left his post. A few minutes later Hertha caught up with her companions. "What took you so long sister," Stigr asked as he got on his horse. "I was talking to the king," Hertha replied as she got on her horse. "I told him about Queen Ada and the commander. Now we can leave our settlement protected while King Edwin's attention is on them," Hertha continued
"Good job Hertha," King Hjalmar said with a smile. "Let's go back to our new home," King Hjalmar continued as he on his horse. Two hours later King Edwin went to the church of Amos to pray. "Please Amos bless me with answers," King Edwin said as he prayed on his knees. "I don't know who to trust or what to do. Please help me," King Edwin continued to pray as tears came down his face. Three days later King Hjalmar and his companions returned to Earmon. The people were celebrating drinking and throwing the gold and silver around. "Some of the king's men delivered gold and silver," A woman said. "Good and we have the legal right to own Earmon," King Hjalmar said as he got off his horse. "Hertha get hostages together so we can give them back to King Edwin," King Hjalmar continued.
"Yes father," Hertha said as she got off her horse and went to the cellar where they kept the hostages. Stiger and Olin followed her to the cellar as they got off their horses. When they arrived the hostages were covered in their own filth and eating stale bread. One of them was worse than the others, he's wounds were infected and it was hard for him to breath. "It stinks in here," Stigr said with disgust on his face. "It's them and one of them smells like their wounds are infected," Olin said as he covered his face with his shirt. Hertha walked up to the commander and inspected his wounds. Some of them were scabbed up and the others were completely healed. "It's not the commander that's infected," Hertha said as he stood up. "That's good news," Olin said.
"We can send him home and keep our promise to King Edwin," Hertha said with a smile. "Hear that commandor," Hertha asked as her smile got bigger. "You're going home but the king might not be happy to see you. I told him that you and Queen Ada were lovers," Hertha continued as she chuckled. The commander's face was filled with fear which Hertha laughed even harder. "It's this one that's infected," Stigr said as he pointed at the man with infected wounds. "He's not going to make the journey back to the king's castle," Olin said. "We should present him as a sacrifice to the gods," Hertha said as she walked up to the man with infected wounds. "To thank the gods for their blessings on our success on the raid," Hertha continued.
"I agree with Hertha," Stigr said as he looked at Olin. "The gods have been generous to us and we should pay them back. We would sacrifice this man's life as a gift to the gods," Stigr continued. "I'll run the idea by your father," Olin said as he walked away. Two hours later Hertha and Stigr gather the hostages and lead them out the gates of Earmon. "You're free to go," Hertha said with a smile. As they left some of King Edwin's men came to help the injured hostages. Hertha and Stigr grabbed the hilt of their sword in case King Edwin's men had other plans. The archers in the towers draw arrows. A few minutes later the hostages were out of Hertha's and Stigr's site. When Hertha and Stigr went back inside Earmon as the others prepared the sacrifice.
A lady with an axe in her hand standing next to the sacrifice who was painted in norse symbols. His hands were tied behind his back as they placed a tree stump in front of him, a big bowel in front of the tree stump. Olin pushed the man's down and placed him on the tree stump. Everyone gathered around the sacrifice as two men lit up torches. "To the gods I offer this sacrifice," The lady said as she brought down her axe. The man's head fell aside as his blood poured into the bowel. They cheered as the blood poured into the bowel. The lady dropped the axe and picked up the bowel. She walked towards the crowd of people. "May the gods bless you with future success on your journeys," The lady as she walked past the crowd sprinkling blood on their faces.
They celebrated through the night with drinking and dancing around the dead man's body. The next morning King Hjalmar walked inside the church and woke up Herha. "Get up and help your brother prepare the boats to sail," King Hjalmar said. "We're leaving for Akehold at noon," King Hjalmar continued. "What about the settlement," Hertha asked as she sat up. "I've told some men to stay behind," King Hjalmar replied. "We'll send some more people back here to farm," King Hjalmar continued as he walked away. A few minutes later Hertha arrived by the boats to help her brother get the boats ready for sail. "You ready to go home brother," Hertha asked as she placed the shields on the side of the boat. "Yes sister," Stigr replied as he put a barrel of water in the boat.
"I'm ready to see our home and people again," Stigr continued as he placed another barrel of water in the boat. Three hours later, noon arrived and everyone was ready for sail. "Set sail," King Hjalmar said as he jumped into the boat. "Yes King Hjalmar," The men said as they placed the oars in the water and started to row away. Four days later back at King Edwin's castle he was in the throne sitting on his throne while eight nobles were complaining about the vikings in Earmon. "Why are they still are," The first noble asked with anger in his voice. "We should attack them now half of their army is gone," The second noble replied. "We can't, we're still outnumbered and they're well defended," The third noble said. After thirty minutes of listening old and young nobles bickering King Edwin finally snapped
"Shut up all of you," King Edwin shouted as he stood up from his throne. The room was silent when he walked away from his throne. "We're not attacking them again because we have agreement with them. And I would like to keep my word," King Edwin continued. As King Edwin was shouting at the nobles Queen Ada visited the commander in his room. He was lying in bed with his wounds wrapped in bandages. "What are you doing," The commander asked as he grunted in pain when he tried to sit up. "I'm visiting the man I love," Queen Ada replied as she sat down on the side of the bed. "You have to stop coming in here so brazenly," The commander said."King Hjalmar daughter Hertha told your husband about us," The commander continued. "She doesn't know anything," Queen Ada said with a cocky smile. "She was just trying to get to you," Queen Ada continued as she leaned in for a kiss. As they kissed a servant saw them through the crack of the door.
