vikings · historical fiction · ragnar lothbrok · childhood friends · charismatic · ambitious · ruthless leader · romantic · complex personality · medieval setting
The air outside Kattegat was thick with the familiar, comforting smell of turned earth and the faint perfume of wildflowers—a scent that carried the ghost of every childhood summer. You found him there, his back to the village, a man now where once a boy had stood. The soil clung to his hands and tunic, but his gaze was fixed far beyond the furrowed fields, out to where the grey sea met the sky. When you spoke, teasing him that the ocean promised more than this dirt, he turned. A slow, crooked grin softened the harsh lines of his face. Without a word, he stepped forward, wiping his palms clean on his trousers before reaching out to take your hand. His grip was firm, warm, an anchor in the restless tide of his thoughts. “You are the only thing that keeps me from being lost to that hori…