You may have your revenge – Chapter 4 – A father and a name
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A/N: Hello people! Once again I'm stunned by the amazing reviews and how many of you have liked, favorited and followed this little story. There will be a shorter chapter posted right after this one because I really want this chapter to end where it does even though it's not as long as I would have liked it to be so bear with me, okay?
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I will also tell you that I've tried to do my research on this chapter, most of it's "facts" (if there are any in religion to begin with) and some of it's fiction but I'm hoping I've made it believable enough to enjoy!
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Floki raised his blue eyes from the fire to glance up at the beast laying in front of him. It was resting on the floor right next to the girl, looking back at him as if interested in what he was thinking.
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He didn't think he would ever forget the sight that greeted him when he opened his door that evening, Rollo who looked like he had just seen Oden sprout a pig's head from his shoulder and his slave girl with her hand in the mane of a giant wolf.
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Helga had taken a liking to the beast and was sitting next to it, although no where near as close as the girl and she certainly was not touching it. She simply admired the great animal from a safe distance.
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"So what do you think, Floki?" Rollo asked when the silence became too much for him.
The girl had told them about her dream in the woods and how Lyall had been there when she had woken up. She had also mentioned that the wolf from her dream had been there for her birth and when she explained what it looked like Floki and Helga's eyes met across the flames and they instantly knew they were both thinking the same thing.
"You mentioned that the wolf at your birth told your mother what to name you." Floki said and the girl tore her eyes from the beast at her side.
"Yes."
"I thought you did not have a name." Rollo pointed out. Not that he would have used it anyway but it was common decency to share ones name with each other, especially when they live under the same roof.
The girl lowered her eyes, her reluctance of the topic clear for all to see.
"I do have a name." She said, her voice void of any real emotion. "But the Christians think of it as cursed and punishes those who utter it severely. My mother refused to deprive me of the name our protector gave to me, said it was nonsense that a name could be cursed..."
"What happened to her?" Helga asked gently when the girl went silent, lost in her own memories.
"They made an example out of her." She raised her head, hate and sadness in her eyes. "They took her from me, beat her and disgraced her before they took her head."
The wolf by her side whimpered softly as the girl's grip on his fur grew too tight in anger and throwing him an apologetic look she went back to stroking him gently again.
Floki saw the pain and hatred etched on the girl's face and was not sure how to proceed with his questions and so he decided the smartest thing to do was to get back to his original question.
"What is your name, girl?"
The girl sighed a deep sigh, almost as if gathering her courage before turning her blue eyes back to him.
"'Brynja'." She said. "That is the name the wolf gave me when I was born."
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Floki could feel his heart stop for a second, he glanced at Helga and realized they were once again thinking the same thing.
"Floki, what is it?" Rollo asked impatiently when his friend seemed to know something that he was not telling him.
"You said that the wolf in your dream only had one front paw, no?" Floki asked the girl, completely ignoring Rollo.
"Yes." She looked confused.
"And the wolf present at your birth, it was the same one, correct?" Floki almost stuttered now, he was so excited.
"It was just as big and had no front paw, so I am guessing it is." Brynja looked to Rollo to see if he understood what had gotten Floki so excited but he looked about as clueless as she felt.
"Do you know what your name means, child?" The blue-eyed man asked and Brynja simply shook her head.
"No one in my village knew."
"Of course they did not!" Floki could no longer sit still and his sudden fit of laughter made him sound slightly mad. "Your name comes from the North so the people in the West could not possibly know its meaning."
"Then, what does it mean?" Brynja looked at the man who was nearly jumping out of his own skin, giggling softly to himself.
"It means 'armour'." Helga offered, calmer than her lover. "Do you know of the god Tyr?" She asked, her question directed at both Rollo and Brynja.
Rollo, of course, nodded but the girl shook her head.
"He is the god of battle and games." Helga started telling the story. "It is said that when the son of Loki, the Fenriswolf, went rampant in Asgard and the gods wanted to banish him it was only Tyr who did not fear him. So Tyr, fearless as he was, lured the Fenriswolf to the realm of death, Hel, but once there the wolf got suspicious and demanded the god to place a hand in his mouth as proof that Tyr was not trying to trick him. But when the other gods managed to tie the wolf up he was so angered by the betrayal that he bit Tyr's right hand clean off."
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Brynja felt Lyall place his head in her lap and she felt herself letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. The story made her skin tingle, as if there was something familiar about it, as if she had somehow been there...
"Ever since then it is said that whenever Tyr appears amongst folk it is in the shape of a three-legged wolf. The wolf has since been his symbol, a symbol for bravery and fearlessness, traits which you seem to have inherited." Helga smiled and Brynja felt out of breath, as if she had just run for miles.
"What do you mean?" She asked and Rollo found he could not have asked a better question himself.
"Tyr was there when your mother gave birth to you." Floki spoke again, his voice trembling. "He protected you and led you back to his people. He sent a wolf to watch over you..."
He sat down and looked her straight in the eye.
"He gave you a name, a strong name... Befitting the maiden of war."
"What are you saying?" Brynja felt her vision cloud slightly.
"Brynja, you are the daughter of a god." Helga placed a gently hand on her arm and the girl took a steadying breath as she looked down at the wolf beside her.
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Lyall raised his large head from her lap and looked at her as if saying "I am at your service, my princess."
