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As my line of defense began to stretch and bend under the onslaught of hostile attacks, my men began to fake a retreat, which only made the enemy attacks more fierce ... the thought that they were close to winning ... made them less vigilant and cautious ... my line the defense was bending more and more, but not torn apart ... it was now more like a stretched "U"

- Give the signal that the right wing with the reserve surround the enemy and close him in the trap... don't let the opponent catch breath. (Ulf)

Before my order was carried out, several people returned to the camp from the group I sent to attack the enemy from behind.

- My lord, we've discovered the enemy's camp. It is guarded by less than two hundred people. (Warrior)

- You will return there and attack camp, the crossbowmen will go with you. They don't have much to do right now. (Ulf)

- Yes, My Lord. (Warrior)

My soldiers' spears took a bloody toll, despite the enemy's tough defense. The battle dragged on for another hour. However, its result could not be reversed, one mistake of the opponent decided the fate of the whole battle ... the nosmen were brave and brave warriors, but they lacked a battle perspective.

Two hours later, I got information that the enemy camp had been captured and several important people had been taken prisoner. Immediately the information was passed on, and it reached our opponents ... who decided to surrender.

Thirty prisoners captured in the camp, plus four hundred surviving warriors, knelt in front of me on the battlefield. The bodies of their comrades and my people were lying around ... fortunately, they were mainly slaves, incorporated into my army.

- You took an armed fight against me ... the King of Norway. I would like to condemn you to death, but I don't want to be considered a tyrant, so I won't kill you. However, some kind of punishment must be imposed. Each of you will be stripped of your right hand ... the hand you raised on me. (Ulf)

Of course, they tried to beg, plead, resisted ... all in vain. The punishment was carried out immediately ...

After a day's rest and burying the dead, my army moved further south. We visited all the smaller and larger settlements, hostile and neutral ones... Hostile settlements had to pay a ransom, give up slaves and take an oath, for the neutral ones I was more indulgent, the oath alone was enough.

Two weeks later, the entire Kingdom of Alvheim was under my control ... at the moment I was the most powerful chieftain in Norway, and in a few months I will officially become King.

It was time to return to Kattegat, the gold and silver that my people had acquired did not matter much to me, I only kept four hundred Slavic slaves for myself. Kattegat also increased by three hundred new inhabitants, I relocated them from several conquered settlements.

It was the beginning of November when we returned home and I immediately called my hrid to discuss plans for the future.

- Erik, pick a dozen people who think. They will serve as my messengers. He goes to every king, Jarl and chieftain in Norway and informs them about two things, the first is that the Althing will be called next year at the beginning of spring, the second is that each chief has to prepare people and ships for next year's raid. We will go west to England.

- I understand, but why do you want to summon an Althing? You have enough people and strength not to worry about such things. (Erik)

- Tradition and law ... of course our messengers can make it clear that if my coronation does not go my way ... many people will die ... aha Floki focus entirely on shipbuilding. This time our raid will look different. Leif, as always, you have to keep an eye on our people's winter training. (Ulf)

We covered a few more minor topics and the meeting is over.

My slaves were placed in my private village.

The new inhabitants of Kattegat were surprised by the size, appearance and cleanliness of the settlement. The construction of buildings for animals and toilets has already brought results, unfortunately, as the population grows, more will have to be built.

I went upstairs to check how much my children have changed in the last few months. Yrsa was in the company of Hild and Mira, and the twins were asleep ... they had grown several inches since the last time and they gained weight.

When Yrsa saw me, she ran towards me, I picked her up and started spinning ... there was no end to the cry of joy, which woke the twins. For my safety, I decided to evacuate, Lagertha may be a loving wife ... but I chose not to test her patience.

In the evening we lay in bed.

- What will happen to us now? (Lagertha)

- You are the Queen, and what will happen to us ... I don't know, for me it is also the first time in my life that I became king. (Ulf)

My wife started talking to herself ...

- That's what he was talking about ... Queen Lagertha ... Queen of Kattegat ... Queen Lagertha of Norway ... sees the future. (Lagetha)

- What are you talking about? (Ulf)

My wife started explaining that she had visited Seer a few months ago because she wanted to know the future of our children ... She did not learn anything specific, apparently the Gods did not want to reveal future events, the only thing that Seer revealed was a bear warning and that he was addressing her as queen.

I decided not to pay attention to my wife's talk ... In this reality Odin, Thor or Yahweh did not exist ... or so Weles claimed.

Days, weeks, and months passed. Spring was slowly approaching, and with it the time of the Althing.