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I was on all fours on the ground and I was talking to myself... and surprisingly, I was not drunk... We drank only a liter of mead with Bojan, such a dose cannot harm anyone.

- Fifteen meters... it's probably not enough, I'd better be twenty-five... I'm faking traces of a dragon, not a fucking lizard. (Ulf)

- What are you doing? (Bojan)

- I'm looking for a door to the forest... what does it look like to you? Dragon traces. (Ulf)

I measured the right distance, focused... my hands were covered with a bright golden light and I hit the rocky floor of the cave with all my might... then again and again.

Rock started to crack ... it was hard work. It took me almost two hours to make one trace that resembled a dragon's paw.

- Now just claw marks... three fingers... that's enough. (Ulf)

- And when your children ask why there are only four marks? (Bojan)

- Fuck off... dragons can fly, if you could fly you would walk? Instead of talking so much, burn the rocks and walls with a torch... and do it higher. (Ulf)

The cave finally started to resemble the lair of the legendary lizard... on the floor there were bones and carcasses of various animals, the air smelled of smoke. After a few hours of hard work, Bojan and I sat down by the fire, enjoying roasted meat and mead.

- What are you going to do next? (Bojan)

- If you ask about caves, it's only entertainment for children. As for our onward journey, we are heading to Constantinople, I intend to establish new trade routes for my ships. If all goes well, I will build a port at the mouth of the Odra River, perhaps also a second settlement inland. (Ulf)

Of course I meant the creation of Jomsborg... I told Bojan about the trade routes, which was true, but I didn't tell him the whole truth. More important than trade to me, was to increase my military influence in the Baltic Sea and surrounding lands and river road will also allow me to organize raids to the south, to the lands of the Byzantine Empire, although the conquest of Constantinople was almost impossible for me, but since an army of Avars and Slavs could invade the Empire, I could do so too.

(Lagertha / Hild/ Yrsa / Arne POV)

- When is dad coming back? (Yrsa)

- He should be back tomorrow... looking for the dragon... how old is he... I got married to a child. (Lagertha)

- And what was Ulf like when he was younger? When I came to Kattegat, he was already a King, but you must have known each other since you were kids. (Hild)

Lagertha thought for a moment.

- I don't know... when I saw him for the first time, he killed his father, then I saw him at matches, but he never played, he was always a referee. One time he came to my father's house to buy grain and that's how we met... a few years later he told me it was a trick to get to know me. He always seemed to think differently than everyone else and did everything his own way... Why are you asking? (Lagertha)

- When I saw him for the first time ... my village was burning, my people were dying, and Ulf ordered to cut my finger... From what you say and from what I already know him, Ulf does nothing without a plan. The son of a slave and a blacksmith becomes king of a large kingdom in the north... do you think that's a coincidence? Ever since Ulf announced Yrsa's engagement, you've treated him differently, but everything he did was for the benefit of you and the whole family, do you think this engagement is different? (Hild)

- ... but when Ulf was an ordinary carpenter, everything was simpler, now every day I wonder when it will end... Ulf won the throne with the sword and can lose everything by the sword. Do you think that whoever wants to reach for the crown will spare Yrsa, Arne, Revna, Bjorn or Ulfhild? (Lagertha)

- Maybe instead of worrying in advance, just trust him... but you're right Ulf is like a little baby, just show him breast and he's happy. (Hild)

- Mom!!! Mom!!!... look at what I caught with Arne. (Yrsa)

Yrsa and Arme came with a small snake in their hand.

- Will the father defeat the dragon? (Arne)

- If he finds him... Sure, your father is strong, he once brought me a whole bear. (Lagetrtha)

- Father is looking for dragons, the daughter catches snakes, an apple falls not far from the apple tree. (Hild)

- I don't know if it's good or bad. (Lagertha)

- Yesterday, it was the first time I saw Ulf hit a child... his child... but at least Yrsa and Arne get along with each other. (Hild)

(End POV)

I woke up in the morning all sore... I think I'm getting old. In the past I could sleep anywhere, now the stone floor seems too hard... fucking Princess and a Pea.

Bojan was still snoring in the other part of the cave... by the echo that spread, you would have thought that there was really a dragon's lair here. Having a few hours of free time, I decided to go for a walk and maybe hunt something before we get back to the rest of my people.

Two hours later I returned with a few piglets and their mother, Bojan was not sleeping anymore and was lighting a fire. He looked at me.

- Did you hunt a sow with piglets? (Bojan) There was a hint of condemnation in his voice.

- I did it with a good heart, if I only killed the sow the piglets would miss her, if I only killed the piglets... I could not deprive the mother of her children. I'm not a monster (Ulf)

- You are a strange man... (Bojan)

- Too bad we don't have chicken and eggs... chicken breast dipped in egg... two generations in one meal. (Ulf)