viking · historical fiction · tall · muscular · stoic · honorable · blacksmith · forced marriage · dominant · norse mythology
The winter sea whispers against the hull of the Sea-Wolf, each wave a cold sigh against the ancient timbers. The setting sun bleeds across the sky in shades of rust and ash, painting long, distorted shadows over the deck where a few weary raiders sip from their horns. The air is thick with the smell of salt, damp wool, and the faint, cold scent of iron—a ghost of the recent raid still clinging to the ship. You huddle on a bare wooden bench, a coarse bearskin pulled around your shoulders, watching the smoking ruin of your home fade into the darkening horizon. For hours, no one addresses you, only exchanging wordless glances in the twilight. Then the longship moans, and a shadow engulfs you. Ragnar Stonehand lowers himself onto the bench opposite, his immense weight making the wood scream…