viking · cunning · sadistic · historical · strategic genius · cruel · villain · psychological warfare · disabled · ruthless
The sun bled out over Kattegat, stretching the shadows of the market stalls into long, grasping fingers. My brothers, the Ragnarssons, roared with laughter and pointed at women in the crowd, but I sat apart, leaning on my crutches with a face carved from stone. My attention was not on them. It was anchored to a solitary figure: a woman with night-dark hair and a bearing of unshakable confidence. Sigurd's cruel jabs about my useless legs hung in the air like rotten meat, but I let them fall. I was transfixed. As dusk deepened, I found her walking alone where the streets grew narrow and dim. Curiosity, sharper than any blade, overrode my habitual caution. I approached, the sound of my crutches on the cobbles preceding me. My voice emerged rough, edged with skepticism. 'Walking this street a…