The day had come faster than expected. It was reported that the Pagans had reached the edge of their lands. Some men grew silent from the sheer fear of the bloodthirsty barbarians they heard about all the while Millie contained the excitement that coursed through her veins. It wasn't just the idea of battle but because of the idea of seeing ones different from her own. She heard the stories about them. Now she wanted to see for herself just how soulless these men were.

Trotting through a path laden with trees that flanked their sides, the guardsmen came to a halt just by a thicket and observed the intruders. Those at the forefront who were on their horses who barely made a sound listened as Lord Aethelwulf spoke.

"It seems they intend to stay here a while. I had not expected that."

There was a short silence before one of the guardsman spoke just barely out of breath from the thrill to fight. "My Lord, why don't we attack?"

"They have a strong position," Aethelwulf began. "Perhaps if we can make them leave their position-"

Millie drowned the baritone voice as she observed the Pagans. They were dressed in rags, leather, and fur all the likes she'd never seen before. She watched them as they carved wood into spikes long enough to band and stand together as barricades. Rather smart for "beasts" as she briefly caught the word that slipped from her father's moving lips. Some had beards so long they reached the middle of their chest. Some were braided and others hung freely from their chins. Many sported haircuts she'd never paid witness to before. While some had them long and/or braided, others had shaven the underside or the sides of their head. It gave them a wild appearance. She also took note of some women and she couldn't help but smile at the thought of her being able to battle against those of her sex.

Her eyes spotted one man in particular whose head was adorned with a multitude of braids that molded into one and settled between his shoulder blades. The sides and underside of his head was but skin and from the way he presented himself, she assumed he was the leader.

All the while that her father and the men had been talking she took note of the heathens. They knew they were there. They acted as if they were aloof to the guardsmen but their actions spewed pure arrogance and it could not be a coincidence that these men were making the way to show her and her uncle's men that they were full of power. That they should be feared. But soon enough they would learn not to test her and her sword. She would show them.

All but suddenly her attention was pulled away and onto her father who yelled in frustration.

"How dare you argue with me!" His face grew red as he bared his teeth. His jaw was clenched as he stared one of the men down.

She sighed as another made to apologize. "Lord Aethelwulf forgive us. We only meant-"

"I know what you meant," her father growled. "You meant that you are already greater warriors than I am." He chided the men as if they were children and ordered them to ready their camp.

His eyes glued themselves back to the Pagans as the guardsmen looked to one another with a whole new fear in their eyes. The fear of Lord Aethelwulf.

"He is right." Millie's voice was low as she continued to watch the enemy. "We must wait."

Although she wasn't entirely sure of all her father's plans, she did know it was best not to get on his bad side just before a fight plus he'd won many before. Why assume he couldn't gain another win over a band of men who held weapons that were inferior to their own?

They steered their horses around and back to an open area where they previously declared to be their campground. As they left, it was unknown to them excluding the Lord and his daughter that the Pagans began to speak of them. They were just as wired for a fight as the King's men and their leader had to reel them in just as Lord Aethelwulf had to do with his own.

Ragnar Lothbrok and his warriors were nothing short of overly-confident and cocky, but they had reason to be. They would wait and they would be the first to strike. May the gods have pity on the Christian men.

The ride back to set camp was silent and Millie began to wonder what her father was thinking about as he rode alongside her. He no longer looked angry but he was concentrating rather hard.

"All is well?"

Aethelwulf turned his head to watch his daughter. Her hair no longer flowed about her shoulders but was in a loose braid that cascaded down her back. She did not wear a helmet like he and her armor seemed to glisten beneath the sunlight. He smiled at the sight and at the thought that his little maiden would be fighting by his side in what would be considered a rather fierce battle.

"Yes." He nodded with a smile.

"Hmm," she hummed. "What were you thinking about?"

He looked before him and the look of concentration graced his features once more. At first, Millie thought he would not answer her before she heard him take in a breath.

"About you."

Millie raised her eyebrow and gestured for him to continue just when she thought he would stop for good.

"I was thinking about..." He seemed to think long and hard about his next words. "You are 24 now, yes?"

She slowly nodded as they continued their descent to the clearing.

"I was thinking about something your mother and I talked about three nights prior to our leave here." Aethelwulf looked to his daughter and back. "You are at a marrying age now, Millie."

Her heart thumped painfully against her chest with her hands becoming sleek with sweat. She hoped this day would never come and it seemed that plans were already being made behind her back. It wasn't that she wouldn't have liked to marry but not now. A relationship was far from what she wanted at the moment least of all with someone she knew he would arrange her with.

Neither of the two said a word. Aethelwulf could feel the tension emanate from his daughter. He did not regret his words. One day, he would like to marry her off but he feared that her upbringing as a fighter may conflict with that. He wished her reaction wasn't so negative and the hope he held in belief of her actually wanting to listen to what he had to say disappeared.

Drawing closer to the open space just miles from where the Pagans set camp, Millie saw some of the men already pitching their tents. She lightly kicked her horse into action and rode away from her father who sighed in indignation.

Now, of course, would not be a good time to discuss marriage but sooner or later she needed to hear him out. Lord Aethelwulf would sooner lose his life rather than have his daughter lose her own without bearing him any grandchildren.

He would not sway her choice in wanting to be a warrior but he needed her to see his point. God smiled upon her graciously as it was. He would bless her even more so if she took on the path her mother did.

Millie hopped off her horse and tied her to a tree nearby as she helped set up the grounds. She needed to focus on something other than her father. There was no point in getting into an argument with him just before a fight. Their enemy did not lie within the other but in the heathens instead. Still, she took to doing something, anything to wind herself down.

Marriage.

She internally scoffed.

Why? Why now? Why did he have to bring such a subject up now? Why ever?

Her hands moved quickly and roughly as she twisted the rope in her grasp around a stake that was thrust into the ground. The tent by her side shook as she continued to tie it down with animosity.

She loved her father dearly and now she was fearful of him. Surely he would marry her off to someone she would be less inclined to if she were the one to choose. And all for what? Good relations between neighboring towns and kingdoms? And while she will make show on how wrong it was he would somehow try and make her believe it was for her own benefit.

"I think it's wound enough, my lady."

One of the men brought her back from her reverie with a chuckle. Millie looked up at him and down at her work to see there was nothing left to tie. She stood swiftly and nodded.

"Right," she huffed.

Before he could say more, Millie turned her back on him and stalked off. She walked over to the far side of the clearing and into the forest. She did not tread far in case she was needed but enough to put distance between her and the world. It was quiet and she took the opportunity to continue on with her thoughts.

If anyone would hear her they would believe she was nothing more than paranoid. To think so much and so far into her future. Yet it was not so far now knowing her parents were already planning for her to marry.

And many would ask of her to be thoughtful of her father. That he would do no such thing knowing this would hurt her but she'd seen it plenty times before. Fathers and mothers marrying off their sons and daughters only thinking of themselves.

But not my father, she told herself.

He, Lord Aethelwulf. The one man who'd always be kind to her and her heart. The one she would say as a child, would be the one she would marry.

On the other hand, he is a good man. Surely he wouldn't marry her off to any random man. He would choose someone befitting for her. Someone who will care for her as a wife, as a mother and treasure her as a fighter. Someone who would love her romantically and physically at the most appropriate of times.

Not my father.

"Am I interrupting?"

Millie looked up to the man in question. Her father. Yes, he was exactly that. The man she knew so well and not the Lord he was just before. His shoulders were slightly slumped, his posture relaxed. It was just the two of them and he found no reason in having to play a leader.

It was here where Millie dropped all the negative things she thought and wanted to say.

This, right here, was her father.

"You are feeling troubled." He walked over to stand in front of her. "About my words earlier." It was almost posed as a question but he did not need to delve deep into his daughter's mind to know her thoughts.

"A bit," she mumbled.

Aethelwulf looked down at their feet and nodded.

"I knew you would not be happy to hear of this. You've grown to be such an independent woman and now you must feel as if I'm taking your independence away."

"It was," Millie mulled over her next words. "I was a little taken aback."

"A little?" Aethelwulf chuckled. "You haven't stormed off like that since that time I told you that you couldn't keep a rodent as a pet. You nearly shut me out of your life for a week."

"It was a little mouse."

"It was a pest, Millie."

"It was a harmless mouse!" She cried in exasperation.

"We're not talking about mice right now that was ages ago. I want to talk about what was said today."

Millie pursed her lips. Her mind raced with thoughts she could not stop and take time to discern.

She wanted to be submissive. She wanted to submit to her father like her sister did and trust him. It was not that she didn't trust him entirely but there were some matters where she felt quite the opposite. As she did now.

"I'm sorry."

The forest grew silent at her words. Sunlight poured in between the leaves and played patterned shadows across Aethelwulf's and Millie's persons. The air was thick between them as what she said settled deep into her father's mind. She did not mean that she was sorry for being irrational. She only meant to apologize on the fact that she could not and would not accept his terms on her marriage. She wasn't ready for it. Whatever it in the end would be.

A breeze blew around them just as Aethelwulf sighed. It seemed to ease the tension away but neither of the two smiled.

Maybe it was best that they dropped the subject until they returned home. That way her mother could persuade her with their women talk. There were just some things fathers and daughters could not share unlike with their mothers.

"Let us head back," Aethelwulf started. "We have a long day of planning before we strike on the morrow."

Millie did not argue with him as she strode back out into the clearing with him by her side. She knew he would not let the topic of marriage die but for today and tomorrow they will pretend as if what had been exchanged did not happen. They needed their heads clear for the battle.

Not far from where they once stood was the soft sound of a snicker. It continued into a fit of giggles as Floki leaned close into the tree he hid behind. Ragnar had sent him off to spy on the Christians and he found something he believed would be of use.

The leader and the female were having a quarrel of sorts. It was clear they were related. More than likely his daughter. They could use that to their advantage plus they planned to strike tomorrow. Yes, very useful information to tell Ragnar.

He turned to make his way back to the others with a smile. It was a lengthy walk but after finding rather essential information he found it to be worth it.

He made sure he was out of sight when he crept up on the two. They were blind to Floki's presence and that brought an even greater advantage to him and his people. It seemed the Christians were a lot less intelligent than they believed themselves to be.

Reaching back to the others, his eyes immediately went to Ragnar. Said man watched Floki and there was an understanding shared between them in silence.

Ragnar nodded and looked back to Rollo who observed him. His brother raised a brow at him before looking to Floki who neared ever closer. There was a mischievous glint in the trickster's eyes and it dawned on the men and women what this devilish gleam meant.

Rollo felt his lips quirk into a smirk. There were times where he found himself against his brother's word. Earlier he wanted to attack the Christians when they were but feet away from them but Ragnar was against it. His patience ran thinner than his brother's but many a time, as much as it rubbed him the wrong way to admit it, he had to agree with him. The way Floki's eyes twinkled in that little impish way of his assured Rollo that Ragnar was right in having them wait.

"Tell me you found something useful." Ragnar tried in appearing coolly before his people but inside he was raging with a need to grin from ear to ear.

Floki bared his teeth as he gave a wide smile.

"More than you could have ever hoped for."

AN: The battle will happen in the next chapter. Finally Millie and Ragnar will meet and the cat and mouse game will ensue.

In the short amount of time that I uploaded the first chapter I received some favs and follows and I am thankful for that. Hopefully I can retain your attention as we progress further into the story.