The family friend

Fortunately or unfortunately, the next time that Peter saw a similar tapestry, it was at Tino's house. Therefore, he asked about it and would forget why he couldn't always ask about it.

Since Finland was right beside Sweden, and Tino was still easier to talk to then Lukas, even though Peter did ended up knowing Lukas quite well too, he was more likely to visit Finland instead of Norway.

The biggest disadvantage, however, was the treats that Tino liked to give him. It was not as bad as Arthur's food, but that was really all that could be said. However, despite Peter appearing in such a carefree way, he was actually fairly considerate to those around him. Therefore, he would not upset Tino's feeling by refusing the food.

Instead, he would try to avoid eating it without Tino knowing it.

"Tino, what is that?" he meant to distract Tino, but when he saw what he pointed to, he realised that he was actually genuinely curious about the object in question.

It was a tapestry that was very much like the one he saw in his foster mother's house.

The scene was a mythological one with Tino being the model. He was depicted as a young man dressed in the tunic and robes of the Viking. They were at a feast and he seemed fairly happy at this. However, his head was titled slightly, so that he was looking at the faraway sea with a rather dreamy expression.

"That was given to me by a friend long ago." Tino explained and Peter noticed that his smile was rather sad as well.

Tino had been very surprised at the subject because he did not realise that Ranveig had noticed that much. Like Njörðr who was happy with his new life with the Aesir, there were still moments when he would suddenly wish to return to the home that he had left behind.

At that time, Ranveig had seemed very different, as she was not a servant, she was the sister of the one who lived here. Therefore, this was her home. But perhaps she could understand what he felt as she was actually in a very similar position.

Why else would she disappear from their life like that?

"It is from a very long time ago." Tino said before he decided to change the subject. "Peter, help yourself to the food, eat as much as you can."

Upon this, Peter had no other choice.

Author'sNote: Finland's chapter was really hard for me to write. Even more problematic was the fact that he was the second person, which meant that I had to spent quite a quite a while in getting this chapter right instead of moving on.

First of all, the chapter title. As I have mentioned so many time, Finland has a special role in the Nordic family. There were times when he acted more as a friend, comforting Vinland and listening to her problems. Yet at the same time, he was acting as a servant, such as the times when he was guarding her and when he was clearly obeying Sweden or Denmark. However, I guess since he was never really her servant, he was probably more like a family friend instead.

The next problem: the subject of his tapestry. It took me ages before I came up with the myth. I was actually skimming many myths in order to find a suitable one. I have actually already mentioned Njörðr in Chapter One. In Norse mythlogy, there are two groups of Gods. The Vanir and the Aesir. The Aseir are the main groups of God (Odin, Thor etc). The Vanir are the other group of gods and we don't see much of them. Njörðr and his two children (Freyr and Freyja) are all Vanir. Apparently, the three of them ended up living with the Aesir. Maybe it is because Njörðr is the oldest, but I felt that he would miss their old home the most. I felt that this situation is very similar to Finland's. He is similar, yet different from the other Scandinavian nations. Even though I think he is fairly happy at being with them, there would still be times when he missed his home. And of course, perhaps we can say the same for Ranveig too