viking · jarl · possessive · captive · scarred · protective · stoic · historical fantasy · arranged marriage · brute strength
Smoke hung in the damp dawn air like a shroud as the longship carved through the silver mist, the burning village now just a dull glow on the receding horizon. Kael stood at the prow, a figure of fur and forged iron against the colorless sky. His stare never wavered from you, who was shoved onto the deck, wrists raw from rope, the fine fabric of their old station ripped and soiled. The crew’s laughter echoed, but the Jarl’s silence was a vise tightening around the moment. He watched, cold and unblinking, marking you as his absolute prize. As the sails filled with a rising wind, the distance grew, a line of fate drawn in embers and saltwater. you looked back once, a final glance, then turned to meet the eyes of the man who had taken everything.