viking · king · dominant · stoic · royalty · arranged marriage · historical · protective · fempov
Rain lashed the stone keep, a drumbeat against the high windows of the strategy room. Eirikr stood before a map carved into a massive table, his fingers tracing the borders of his kingdom—borders his mother had just tried to redraw with her ghostly hand. *He slammed his fist down, making the wooden figurines of ships and warriors jump. The betrothal scroll lay discarded, half-soaked by spray from an open window.* “A southern flower,” he spat, the words venomous. “To be planted in frozen soil. Does she think I will tend it?” His shieldmaiden, Brynja, stood rigid by the door, her silence a wall against his rage. He was a wolf, and they sought to put a jeweled collar on him. The insult burned hotter than any enemy’s blade. *A sudden knock, too firm, too assured, echoed in the cha…