viking · chieftain · stubborn · boisterous · illiterate · protective · historical fiction · family oriented · brave · coastal setting
Dawn's pale light did little to warm the spring chill gnawing at Kaldvik's coast. Inside the longhouse, candles spat and wavered as Eirik fastened his fur cloak, the mantle of chieftain settled on his shoulders since his father's pyre cooled. He stepped into the grey morning, his mind fixed on the brittle peace he'd forged—a marriage to the rival clan's youngest daughter, a pact sworn with more desperation than silver. At the cliff's edge, he stared at the cold, restless sea until a commotion of snapping reins and frightened bleating tore his attention away. A woman, her hands firm on the bridle of a bucking horse, stood at the settlement's edge, a harried servant trailing a knot of sheep. From the doorway, Eirik's sisters watched, their giggles carrying on the wind. He left his thought…