Venue and feast

As I sat at that table and the implications of what was revealed hit me it seemed like time had stopped, Cliodna was holding a palm to her belly looking at me from the corner of her eye, Astrid had a huge grin on her face sat across from us.

My mind went into overdrive, being alive in this time wasn't the greatest thing for a pregnant woman or raising a child with a lack of medicine and an almost non-existing health care system. I was honestly nervous, various possible scenarios played out in my head.

As they began to pass and I thought of a future with Clio and our children euphoria began to buzz through my brain, I knew I wanted children and I was happy they would be with Clio. I felt pride swell in my chest and burn through my body as I just sat there in a daze, a little version of us would grace this world with its presence in less than a year.

Would they be immortal like me? A werewolf? Witch or wizard maybe a squib? Either way, I would love them with all my heart and soul.

I need to get some stuff sorted before he or she arrives, I would bond with Clio with blood and form the start of our Noble house! I want my own island that's warded from the outside world, I can't take a pregnant woman or a newborn to Pangaea so a small island off the coast of Scotland or the Faroe islands would have to do. A manor that was self-sufficient so I could raise my kids to be strong enough to survive, the kids can come live with us of they want but now my priorities have changed.

As time seemed to flow normally again I looked to Clio and could see her nerves we're tightening rapidly, her eyes shifted away from me as she looked around the room and her hand gripped tighter on her stomach. Reaching over I placed my hand on hers with a huge smile on my face, she couldn't be that far along as she was showing no signs but I believed her completely.

"C-Clio are you?" I asked with a shaky voice, I was still nervous about what she was going to say, my mind still racing.

"Y-yes" she whispered still not looking towards me at all but I heard it as loud as a shout it was as if lightning had struck me and my body was full of energy, I bolted up and wrapped her in my arms as I swung her around knocking the chair she was in over as I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"I'm going to be a father!!"

Clio was taken by surprise but it drained from her face as her lips arched upwards and her eyes filled with tears that started to spill slowly.

"F-Fenris stop! Put me down" I could hear what she was saying but I couldn't comply.

"Never! This settles it, Clio, tomorrow will you do me the honour of blood bonding with me?" I asked laughing in happiness looking into the beautiful shamrock eyes as they glistened with tears that had yet to fall.

"Of course Fenris! I will!" She cried out in shock but jubilance flowed with her voice.

"Congratulations! But Fenris a wedding takes a lot of planning and you'll need to negotiate with her father and we will need to get witnesses and set a venue you can't just hold it tomorrow" I heard Astrid say just behind me

"Don't worry Astrid it's not going to be a traditional wedding and I don't need to negotiate with Clio's father, With magic and the gods as our witness we just need a venue and I'll set it up tonight while you get Clio ready!" I replied still holding Clio in my arms as I turned and looked at Astrid's smile fall from her face, I must have said something wrong.

"What can't your own family attend?!" She shouted with a scowl and it dawned on me what I'd said!

"Don't be silly Astrid who's going to watch over the ceremony and vows? I was hoping you would ill fill you in on what sort of ceremony it will be later" I urged out as sweat beaded across my brow, Astrid could just impose fear into me.

"Good! Anyway, get off Clio! We have things to do!" She went from a scowl to a bright smile like a flip of a coin as she basically sang her orders at me, I begrudgingly put Clio down and kissed her with more affection than usual, something just changed inside me when I heard her confirm she was with my child.

"Okay, I'll get the venue sorted! I'll let Ubbe and Egil know as well!" I shouted as Astrid pulled Clio away into another room and I made my way outside.

As I opened the door I heard a thud and Ubbe shout "Again!" Walking down the steps I turned my head around the corner to see Egil laid on his back clutching his sword as Ubbe towered over him, I stayed silent for a while and just watched. Ubbe stepped back as Egil struggled to his feet gritting his teeth as sweat had soaked his tunic, letting out rough breaths and finding the footing he stared at Ubbe like he was trying to bore a hole through him.

I saw him grip the handle of his sword slightly and knew what was going to happen next, he took a stride and thrust his blade forward and ubbe parried it away, Egil went with the momentum and started to control a horizontal swing at ubbes gut that was blocked with ease.

"I saw that coming from your first move Egil! Think!" Ubbe shouted as he pushed him stumbling backwards. Ubbe was going pretty easy on him compared to what I received but Egil doesn't heal as fast as me so it's understandable.

Egil got into a low stance with his left foot forward and his sword in his right hand by his hip as it covered his torso, his right foot raised onto his toes and I couldn't help shaking my head, he was giving away all his moves subtly but an experienced warrior would notice them clearly. As expected he drove forward from his right leg and slashed down diagonally as Ubbe took a step back and locked Egils blade to the floor with his own.

I honestly felt bad for the kid at this point. "Okay that's enough Ubbe, Egil I bring news I hope your free tomorrow!" I shouted and they turned to look at me and Egil dropped on his backside trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, Fenris what news?" Ubbe asked raising an eyebrow as he looked at me.

"Well 2 pieces actually" I explained as I walked over with a huge grin and continued to say " 1 I'm going to be a father and 2 I'm going to be bonding with Clio tomorrow with you all as my witnesses"

"Hahaha, that's great news! We should feast and drink tonight!" Ubbe shouted as he slapped me on the shoulder smiling, Egil had finally caught his breath and stood up looking at me strangely

"Congratulations Fenris ill see you later," he said as he walked towards the house but before he could walk off I grabbed his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going Egil? We're going hunting and to set up the venue for tomorrow!" I said and he wiped around looking at me in shock

"A-aren't you mad at me?" He asked and I sighed.

"Let's go we can talk on the way, Ubbe grab a few bows and some arrows we will set off first you know where to find us" I announced and started to walk towards the woods I hunted in as a child,

"Okay! I'll meet you at the edge of the woods!" He replied and jogged into the house

"Egil I'm not mad at you, I'm kind of disappointed, to be honest, you could be so much better if you let your confidence go" I explained in a neutral tone as we walked side by side.

"What does that even mean?!" He shouted getting a bit angry at what I said, sighing I shook my head and explained

"Your so confident your strikes will land you show them before they've even begun, like earlier than the last strike you threw I knew what you were going to do while you were in your stance"

"What? you use magic to know or something?!" His anger was building and it was starting to annoy me

"No, you idiot! Your stance itself gave it away! You raised onto your toes on your right foot long before you drove forward taking a swing! If you had just done everything in one motion it would have been harder to read and you could even make adjustments before you actually swung" I let out in frustration and continued as he fell silent

"And when you went for that backward swing you should have taken a step away and used it to get your eyes back on your target not just swing blindly if ubbe was an enemy he could have opened your back with his blade or kicked you over and stabbed you as your face was in the dirt" I huffed out

"Really you could see all that?" He asked in shock

"Not just me Ubbe could as well, in a fight you have to pay attention to every part of your enemy, while you're looking at his sword whose to say he won't smack you with his shield?" I chuckled remembering when Ivar taught me that with a demonstration of what it's like.

"Trust me Egil the sword isn't what kills you it's the man or woman behind it, a kick or push while your not paying attention can kill you before you even know how it happened," I said seriously as he walked beside me listening in silence for a short while

"Erm fenris can you teach me as well?" He asked shyly

"Haha yeah sure but I'm going back the day after tomorrow so maybe later today" I laughed as we made it to the edge of the woods and I leaned against a tree and started to wait for ubbe.

"In fact, ill ask ubbe for a match and you can watch see if you can pick up our moves" I suggested and a light lit behind his eyes as he smiled.

After a few minutes of idle chatter, Ubbe made his way over to us with 2 bows slung over his shoulder while he carried a quiver stocked with arrows. When he got closer he removed a bow and threw it at Egil who stumbled to catch it being caught off guard.

"So what are we hunting?" Ubbe asked looking at Egil who looked at me confused

"Well, he asked you, so what are we hunting?" I chuckled at Egil

"W-what I don't know deer?" He stammered in reply.

"Are you asking me? Deer sounds good hopefully we'll find a boar on the way" I chuckled again

"Okay deer it is!" He shouted as he started running off through the tree line.

"So what did you talk about?" Ubbe asked as he stepped in line with me.

"I just pointed out him giving away his attacks and he asked me to train him, I suggested we spar haha" I explained with a laugh as Ubbes face contorted

"What?! I don't want to spar you!" He shouted

"Haha don't worry, ill go easy on you, it's just so Egil can try and read our attacks so he can improve, he shows his attacks too early" I laughed it off as I explained my reasoning

"Yeah I know what you mean I saw them coming from his body movement, I just didn't know how to explain it and he's too headstrong" Ubbe sighed

As we followed after Egil, Ubbe and I laughed and joked around until we saw him take a knee a bit away from us, quieting down we took steady steps, avoiding branches to limit our noise. As we approached I spotted what Egil was hunting, it wasn't a deer but a moose it was big enough for a feast we probably wouldn't need a boar as well.

"Okay, Egil take it out in one shot, if it lives, put it out of its misery but avoid damaging the hide too much" I whispered as Ubbe handed him a few arrows.

Egil knocked an arrow and drew his bow as far back as he could, leaning against the log he was peering behind he took a deep breath and let loose the bowstring towards the grazing moose when it heard the twang that let the arrow fly, the head shot up and looked around rapidly.

I watched as the arrow sailed through the air and struck the moose in its front shoulder and it topped over with a whine, Egil shot up and ran towards it discarding his bow and took out his seax and plunged it into it's the heart.

"I got it!" He shouted and birds scattered from the trees cawing in surprise.

Sighing I made my way over after I grabbed his bow from the floor and handed it back to him.

"Don't throw it away again, it's a good job this is a large moose cause there won't be a boar around after your shouting" I told him

"Sorry" he replied rubbing scratching the back of his head while he chuckled.

"Good shot Egil a bit to the left and you would have hit its heart, you did well!" Ubbe claimed as he patted his Egils shoulder.

As I watched them I couldn't help but imagine me doing this with my children, hunting and teaching them things I was taught as a child.

"Okay let's get this thing sorted and go to where the venue will be" I announced with a smile, as I retrieved some rope from my pouch and gathered a sturdy branch from the ground, tieing its feet together over the branch I picked it up and hoisted it over my shoulder.

"What?! How can you carry that?!" I heard Egil say behind me as Ubbe bellowed a laugh at him,

"Haha Egil I told you Fenris is blessed by the gods, he can do many things that seem impossible" he explained and Egil ran up to my side and began pestering me all the way to where I would sort the venue, it was about an hours walk from here so I reluctantly answered his questions.

After an hour of walking and being pestered by Egil, we made our way to a round clearing in the woods, that last of the sunlight beamed through a hole in the trees canopy and illuminated a huge stump, around the stump was wild grasses and flowers, it was a beautiful sight but I wanted it to look even grander.

I set down the moose in the tree line, prepared the image in my mind of what I wanted it to look like and began to manipulate the nature around me, with a wave of my hand plants began to rapidly grow behind the stump and reached the canopy, it looked like a veil of flowers of various colours that clung to vines, another wave of my hand and a pathway of crystals and stone began to emerge with steps to the tree stump as I walked to stand on it.

Standing atop the stump I took out my wand and began to write runes in the air, a magic circle was being constructed as runes rapidly began to form and link together. This Magic circle would draw magic and resonate with the deities names I had inserted, the Irish goddess of love Áine and the Norse gods associated with love and marriage Frigg, Freya, Lofn. I also added Fjörgyn, and Gaea my parents so to say, the mother, the crone and the maiden from the Druids beliefs.

I used Lofn because she had permission from Frigg to arrange forbidden marriages as this wasn't a traditional wedding. I didn't know many Irish deities just the ones Clio had taught me, with her being Irish I had to incorporate them as well.

As the magic circle began to form it took the shape of a pentagram inside with a symbol in each point, a crescent moon, full moon and dark moon took 3 to represent the triple goddess of Druids, the world tree to represent Gaea and Fyörgyn and the last would be our family crest, I chose a wolf howling and 3 birds flying above made of Celtic and Norse knots with Odin's horns at the bottom.

As I embedded the circle into the tree stump magic gathered and began to thrum in the air, petals fluttered and grew vibrant almost luminescent the brown of the tree lightened and looked more alive than before, I put my wand away and began to step away to admire my handiwork, it looked gorgeous like a little paradise in the woods.

I turned around to look at Egil and Ubbe and could see their eyes were wide in amazement with a chuckle I made my way towards them.

"Okay I've finished let's go I'm getting hungry" I announced snapping them back to reality as the took glances back and forth between me and the alter id created.

"That was amazing! Idun and Fyörgyn would love this place!" Egil shouted as I hoisted the moose back on my shoulder with a chuckle.

"Aye they would, Fenris, Clio is one lucky lady, I'm not sure what you did with those runes but this place hums with life" Ubbe agreed with Egil

"Well let's go I don't want to keep the ladies waiting too long and while the foods being cooked we can show Egil how to really fight" I laughed as I made my way back towards the farmstead with them following along, there were a few hours of sunlight before it would fade away and it would take us an hour to get back.

After an hour of walking and Egil asking even more questions we made it back to the farmstead and I prepared the meat and hide and gave them to Astrid to start cooking, giving Clio a kiss and telling them is arranged the venue with a smile I made my way back outside to Ubbe and Egil.

"You ready Ubbe?" I said as I grabbed a training sword from the rack in the yard, Ubbe stood across from me with one in his hand as well and answered with a nod of his head.

"Okay Egil watch our legs first, then the shoulders and hands, after that our whole body and see if you can pick up what I was talking about, I'll fight as you did then move on to fight how I do" I announced as I and Ubbe began to circle each other, I could tell by his face he was being serious.

(Egil Pov)

As I watched fenris circle around dad I paid attention to his feet and I spotted something, he put his weight on his front foot and took a step thrusting but I was too slow to notice till the last second, dad swatted the blade away and his feet rooted in place as he blocked another strike, 'I wasn't watching close enough I missed it! Focus!' I thought as I started to just watch fenris' feet

After a while, I started to notice it clearer he would twist his foot or raise it to his toes before he struck or took a step, so I moved on to his shoulders and hands, I picked these signs up quicker, the tightening of his grip, a roll of his shoulder.

"Okay, Egil ill fight normally now!" I heard Fenris shout as he began to move like water, he flowed with his steps and strikes, it was more like a dance then fighting but I could see he was pushing dad back!

The signs had vanished, he just powered steps from flat feet in a burst of strength into strides and quick flowing movements, I didn't see him raise to his toes again, he made it look easy each step he would avoid and counter dads slashes and thrusts just as dad did the same just not as fluid. Even I could tell who was the better fighter, I honestly thought all the talk about Fenris being blessed by the gods was just that talk, but watching him swing his sword I started to think otherwise.

(Fenris Pov)

"Okay, ubbe that's enough," I told him as I blocked his downward slash head-on without dodging, he was sweating a bit but his breathing was still calm.

"You've got even better Fenris!" He laughed as we grabbed each others forearm.

"I see you haven't been slacking either Ubbe!" I laughed in reply and turned to Egil who was sat at the side with a thoughtful expression.

"So Egil did you catch what I was talking about?" I asked looking at him.

"Yeah! Your feet gave away your steps when you twisted them or when you were going to lunge and your grip tightening when you were going to strike but after that, I had no idea" he shouted with enthusiasm in his tone.

"Haha I still can't see all the signs and I've been in plenty of battles, that's the point! Don't give away your attacks and your opponent won't see them coming" Ubbe laughed out as Egil nodded in agreement.

"Foods ready!" We heard Astrid shout from the window and made our way inside.

A night of laughter, good food and drinks went by, as we were drinking and laughing I noticed Zodry was wearing clothes, he had on a long sleeve blue tunic with black trousers.

"Zodry! You look great!" I shouted and he ran over to me and Clio who was hugging sat together, Clio wasn't drinking much but she had a few with our dinner. I honestly didn't know what to say it was safer drinking ale than water in most places anyway.

"Master! Zodry has clothes for all the elves! Lady Astrid gave them to Zodry and made him wear them!" He had a worried expression and tears filled his eyes.

"Hahaha don't worry about it Zodry I like it! You look like a real servant of house Fyörgysson!" I laughed as he seemed to beam that I wasn't angry or freeing him.