The Assignment

Ragnar accepted the invitation of Skarde for drinks and went to a nearby tavern, the cheers, and songs sung by the warriors gave visitors a receptive welcome.

Skarde sat across the table with Ragnar at the opposite side, Skarde took charge of the ordering as this tavern served the best ale in Kattegat.

The waiters knew just who Skarde was and he got a lively response.

"If it isn't Skarde…" A voice said behind the counter as he poured ale into two wooden cups.

"Bring the whole bottle, Embla!" Skarde shouted. Ragnar wanted to protest because he was not a heavy drinker nor was he good at holding his alcohol but that would be rude.

Embla rushed to their tables and slammed the cups on the table alongside the bottle.

He was a bald chubby man, in his late thirties and below average in terms of height.

"How much is it?" Skarde asked, reaching for his pockets but Embla stopped him.

"It is on the house, Skarde. Your money's no good here." Embla refused to collect his money and this told Ragnar that these two men shared some sort of history.

"You spoil me, Embla," Skarde responded with a broad smile. Ragnar was taken aback by the kind of man he was for the others were either arrogant or downright disrespectful but Skarde had a certain decency to him despite his blackened eye. Now was the perfect time to ask about the eye as it could serve as a good icebreaker.

"What happened to your eye, Skarde?" Ragnar tossed the question up and hoped it did not hang in the air.

"This? I thought I told you I hit a tree." Skarde said with confidence as he gulped down the cup of ale, but this was not what he told Ragnar.

"He can't even remember his lie?" Ragnar thought to himself with a puzzled expression, he was still sober at this point, considering he just told him mere moments ago that he fell.

"Wait, I think I told you I fell earlier! Damn it! I can't even keep up!" Skarde said with a tired sigh accompanying his words before a slight snicker followed it.

"Do you know about the ways of love, Ragnar?" Skarde asked out of the blue, this did not answer Ragnar's question but Ragnar felt it had something to do with the answer he sought.

"I am married to Lagertha, the most beautiful shield maiden so I will say I do know the ways of love and that of a woman's body as well," Ragnar responded with a smirk across his face.

"I will have to disagree with you there, friend. The most beautiful shield maiden is Herfjötur." Skarde responded, watching Ragnar take sips of his ale like a child drinking for the first time.

"Is that how you got your black eyes?" Ragnar questioned and the most dramatic gasp followed from Skarde, loud enough to draw people's attention nearby.

"How did you know!?" Skarde followed up with a whisper, the volume low enough for only Ragnar to hear. Ragnar could not believe how airheaded this man was but it felt like he was doing this intentionally seeing as he had a few drinks in him already. He was downing cup after cup like he was drinking water and Ragnar was still struggling with his first cup.

"I did not, you just told me, Skarde." Ragnar could not hide his poker face when saying this.

"You sly devil! As expected from a man that King Askild recognizes! I got this black eye because my lady likes it a bit rough…" Skarde muttered with a giggle, he was getting tipsy and Ragnar knew it but his curiosity got the better of him.

"Who is this lady?" Ragnar questioned, he did say she was a shield maiden prettier than Lagertha.

"Herfjötur… Her name is Herfjötur." Skarde said with a sense of pride but the disturbed look Ragnar got was enough to tell that he did not see this coming.

He forced himself to gulp down the cup of ale because the images of them having sex to such a degree that it gave Skarde a black eye were not doing him any justice. It was traumatizing, to say the least because he now looked at both of them in different lights.

-

Ulf heeded the instructions of King Askild and went to find Birger, it was easy to find him because despite being in Kattegat, he was far from free as a multitude of Vikings kept an eye on him and were ready to strike him down should they see him attempting to do anything out of the ordinary. He was in a small house, but it felt like he was under house arrest.

"Ulf Lothbrok? What are you doing here?" A Viking on watch asked him but he did not respond and they tried to stop him despite being hesitant.

"Would you like to tell King Askild yourself why you are disobeying his order yourself?" Ulf questioned, and they all instinctively backed away.

"M-My apologies! I did not know you were here under King Askild's orders!" The apology was one filled with fear and Ulf liked this feeling of power despite it being on a scale as small as this.

He shoved the Viking aside and made his way to the house, he was allowed to enter armed because no one knew what Birger was capable of and they would rather not find out.

But Ulf decided to leave his swords outside. This was not an advisable thing to do, seeing the kind of threat Birger was, but there was nothing anyone could do to stop Ulf.

He knocked on the door but got no response. He could feel the tension around him and this made him wonder just what kind of man he was coming to meet in the name of Birger.

He did not know much about him except for his despicable act against Asger, but this was the first time he was meeting him face to face and Ulf knew he had to make a good first impression.