It was a good day for flying. The old man smiled fondly as he watched the hawk's sharp wings slice through the blueness of the sky. He wasn't too old, his face was lined with distinguished wrinkles and his hair was frosted with silver, but he wasn't ancient. Still, the half-there look in his blue eyes was enough to make a son worry, and that was exactly what Hrolfr did.

"Father is flying his hawk by mother's mound again," Hrolfr informed his brother Ketill. Ketill nodded in understanding.

"He hasn't done much else since she died," the elder of the two brothers said, watching Hrolfr in a half worried fashion. Hrolfr was the younger of the two; the baby of the family. Ketill wasn't sure how Hrolfr was taking it, first their mother's death and now their father's slow slide into insanity. Ketill himself was having trouble dealing with it, but he was a man, he couldn't let anyone know how much it bothered him. Hrolfr was still young, however, young and foolish. But Ketill had to remember that his brother was a man as well, and no longer the boy he remembered him to be.

"I know," Hrolfr glanced behind him, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, and followed the path of the hawk as it slid through the sky.

Ketill and Hrolfr stood in silence for a few moments before the elder decided to break it. "So, Hrolfr, got your eyes on any pretty maids?" he had decided it was time for a change in subject and teasing his younger brother about women was always a good sport.

Hrolfr grinned at his brother. "Always Ketill."

Ketill roared with laughter and slapped his brother roughly on the back so that the younger stumbled forwards ever so slightly before he regained his balance. "I'm glad you think I'm pretty," Ketill replied grinning like a fool. "I was speaking of a wife, however. Father has given you an estate, you ought to be starting a family!"

"I can't leave you to-" Hrolfr started to protest before Ketill inturupted.

"Of course you can! What? You don't believe I can handle the estate and father? You shame my honor brother."

Hrolfr held up his hands in protest. "That isn't what I meant brother, I meant-"

Again Ketill interrupted. "Wonderful! Now all we need to do is find you a wife. What about the princess of Uppsala?"

Hrolfr tried not to look shaken. Rumors flew around that woman. Some said she wasn't a woman. Some said she had access to unknown magics. Some said that she delighted in stealing the manhood of those who tried to conquer her. Ketill laughed at the expression on his brother's face. You would have thought Ketill'd suggested he marry a troll. Still, Hrolfr didn't protest, simply nodded in a numb fashion.

Ketill clapped his arm around his brother's broad shoulders. "It would be the most noble marriage in the Northlands to have the daughter of the king at Uppsala for a wife," he grinned. "But many men have little courage compared to the size of their flesh. It is a shame that you are a man who dares not speak to women." the elder brother goaded.

Hrolfr took the bait. As soon as his courage was pulled into question his brows knit together and he studied his elder brother sternly. "I dare. I must plan." and with that the younger brother went back to find his housecarls. He would need help if he was to woo the warrior princess of Sweden.

Hrolfr's foster brother was Ingjald of Denmark. Like regular brothers, some foster brothers got along, and others didn't. Hrolfr and Ingiald were a pair that got along very well. Ingiald studied his foster brother carefully as he considered what the young man had said. "You wish to marry the princess of Uppsala?"

Hrolfr nodded that his foster brother was indeed correct. He planned to woo the warrior princess of Sweden and make her his bride. "I need your help to do it brother. You have heard the tales, I'm sure."

Ingiald nodded in understanding. "How many men do you have?"

"I have forty men who are willing to help me," Hrolfr said. It was a good number, but according to the tales it would not be enough. It was said that the princess had a large retinue of well trained housecarls who were there specifically to chase off suitors. The princess and her companions would have the advantage here, he was sure, but that didn't mean he was going to give up so easily. "Will you and your men join me?"

Ingiald studied his foster brother for a moment before nodding slowly. "Of course, I will help a brother in need." he grinned. "Now you have sixty men."

"Good," Hrolfr's eyes gleamed. "We leave at dawn for Uppsala."