In which Freya Ylvasdottir has been prophecied by the Seer to be destined to betray her mother, Queen Ylva the Dread and Bjorn Ironside, her mother's husband, and no matter what she does to try to avoid her fate, all roads lead back to the betrayal...
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Ten years had passed since the Second Siege of Paris. The Siege had ended in defeat and in the end, it led to Ragnar Lothbrok leaving Kattegat for what everyone had expected to be forever.
Things in Kattegat and Ashton, its neighboring city that happened to belong to Freya's mother hadn't been the same since. While much had gotten worse, there were some matters that had resulted in some good.
Her mother was Ylva Sigefridsdottir, who had become an earl younger than anyone else in the land. She was a powerful earl and married to Ragnar Lothbrok's son, Bjorn Ironside. Though in reality, Freya wasn't either of their children biologically. While Ylva and Bjorn raised her since she was a girl, Ylva didn't give birth to Freya nor did Bjorn father her. Though that didn't mean Freya didn't share the same blood as Ylva.
Her father was Erik Sigefridsson, oldest brother to Ylva. He had been killed by Ylva herself when he tried to take her Earldom. He had been a cruel man and in truth, Freya never really cared that he died.
Her mother had been a slave, presumably from England, but many believed her mother had been from some other land. After all, the features that Freya bore were not that of someone born in Wessex.
It was foreign and because of that, Freya had always been known as a great beauty with many men vying for her hand in marriage. She refused them all. Though the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok were among those who wished to have her hand.
She had known them all since she was a girl. She had always been the closest to Hvitserk and Ubbe since she was only a year older than Ubbe, but it was obvious that the strongest bond she had was with the youngest son of Ragnar Lothbrok. Ivar.
Anyone who knew them both could say they were a lot alike. Both driven by their anger, yet more clever than anyone around them. Not to mention, many thought them to be mad, especially Freya, who they named Freya the Mad long ago.
It ran in her blood, to be mad. Since she was a girl, she heard from Ylva of a saying that had been told for hundreds of years about her father's side of the family. They said that when someone in their family was born, the Gods flipped a coin. Some landed on greatness while others landed on madness.
Ylva had achieved greatness and while many thought Freya's to have landed on madness, Ylva refused to believe that. She always did. She was always the one to defend Freya, no matter what.
Though their bond wasn't as strong as it had been when Freya was younger, Freya still loved Ylva more than anything in the world. In truth, Ylva was the only one Freya truly loved in this world.
Aside from raising Freya as their own, Ylva and Bjorn had other children. Gyda, Rorik, Halig, Erik, and Thyra. Of course, Freya was fond of some of them, but she didn't really love them. Erik liked to call her mad while Gyda and Rorik would always snitch on her when she snuck off to be with the Ragnarssons. She didn't really care for young Thyra, since the girl was only three years old. However, Halig was the child Freya liked the most. He was nice to her and she spent the most time around him. He was the old one who never treated her like a misfit. For that, she was always grateful.
