Chapter 6

Ylva woke up before Halfdan. She began tracing the scars on his chest and biceps with her fingertips. They were stories of his battles fought and won. Her fingers trailed up to his face, following the outlines of his tattoos.

Her movements froze as Harald walked into the tent. Their eyes met as he gave her a knowing smile before turning. He was rummaging through his things before pulling out fresh clothing to change into.

Ylva turned her attention back to Halfdan's tattoos while Harald was changing. She turned back to Harald when she heard him cursing to himself. "Damn brush," he muttered while struggling to brush through his tangles.

She sat up, quickly grabbing the nearest shirt, Halfdan's discarded from last night, pulling it on before calling out to Harald, "come here. Let me help you." She outstretched her hand for the brush.

Harald sighed and handed Ylva the brush. "Sit," she commanded. Harald obliged and sat on the floor before her. Ylva began to gently brush through his hair, ridding it of all its knots. Once she was satisfied with it, she began to braid his long, black hair.

Just as she was tying the end of his braid with a leather strip, from behind her an arm snaked around her waist, pulling her backward. She contacted against Halfdan as he gently kissed up her arms. "Good morning Ylva," he said with a smile. "Brother," he nodded towards Harald.

Ylva relaxed against Halfdan's chest as his lips continued to ghost along her arm and up to his shoulder. "Morning," Ylva responded with a smile.

"Sorry to interrupt," Harald said abruptly. "We have things we must attend, Bjorn has asked to speak to us."

Halfdan groaned, but proceeded to remove himself from the bed to get dressed. Ylva followed, walking over to her chests at the edge of the tent. She pulled out her clothing before she began to remove Halfdan's shirt from last night.

The brothers who had been conversing both paused as Ylva removed the shirt and she steeled herself for the questions she knew would be coming.

"What happened," Halfdan was the first to speak.

Ylva continued to dress as she responded, "masters can be cruel." She felt Halfdan's hand touch her back as she pulled on her pants, "theses scars are just examples of that cruelty."

She felt Halfdan's hand trail the scars that covered her back before she turned to him, exposing the scars that covered her chest and abdomen. "How did I not see them," he asked as his eyes wandered over her scarred body.

She smirked before responding, "men often fail to notice many things when they are thinking with their dick." She broke the view of Halfdan's wandering eyes by pulling her shirt on. "I was a slave, and this was my master's way of eliminating my sense of pain," a cold look took over her face, "I feel nothing I do not want to."

She pulled away from Halfdan and left the tent. She headed towards a group of Vikings that were sparring in an open area near the edge of the camp. She grabbed a sword from the ground before joining them. She needed to rid herself of some frustration. She has had these scars for many years, she was not ashamed of them. They were a part of her past and helped shape her being.

However, Halfdan's gazing upon them made her nervous. She did not want him to look at her any differently. She did not want pity from him, or anyone. She was strong. She was deadly. Her lethality was obvious, as she easily knocked down all the Vikings that approached her on the sparring ground with ease.

She trained hard with them, not taking a moment to rest. Her body was used to this intense training, she had done it for years; although, her past opponents were more formidable than these. As she swung through the shieldmaiden in front of her, she heard someone approach her from behind.

She caught his blade with her own as she turned to face him, "where did you learn to fight like this." She quickly pushed back against him and Halfdan stumbled backward.

"My mother sold me to be a slave when I was a child," Ylva responded slashing against him. "She sold me to a master who trained assassins," she smiled before easily sliding her blade beneath his and removing his blade from his hand. "I am trained to kill," she finished as she held the tip of her blade towards his throat.