The writing in this one seems a little off to me compared to the other chapters, but it gets better at the end. This one is mainly focusing on Lifa and Temperance's growing friendship with a bit of Lifa's relationships with the guys.

And to the a-hole who left a guest review just to say, and I quote, "Lifa is an annoying bitch." F. U. Lifa was in all of one chapter. You don't know her enough yet to make that sort of call, and even if you were, I don't want to hear it. Keep your hateful reviews to yourself. Needless to say your review has been deleted and I will not be sorry nver to hear from you ever again.

For the rest of you, please enjoy this chapter filled with an apparently annoying bitch. :D

(Sorry for all the swearing)

He had been on dozens of battlefields, had seen more dead bodies than he cared to remember, but none of that compared to the carnage he stumbled upon when returning to Northumbria. Cenred was one of the best knights in the King's army. He was in charge of dozens of men. He was a great favorite of the King and was promised to the Princess. One day, he would rule this kingdom. Or at least he was going to, until some monsters came and tore it all away. They killed his king, from her absence amongst the bodies he could only assume they'd taken his princess, his betrothed.

"Sir," one of his men interrupted his glaring at the empty throne.

"What did you find?" he asked without turning.

"There are signs of a ship having been docked on the shore. Just one ship. Not very big. It couldn't have held more than…a dozen and a half men. How could so few cause all this, sir?"

"Whoever they are, they are savages," Cenred turned to glare at the younger man. "They came to our kingdom. They killed our king. They took our princess. They will pay for what they have done."

"But…sir…" the man hesitated, shifting uncomfortably under his superior's heavy gaze. "We have no way of knowing where they have gone."

He took a deep breath to reign in his temper, moving toward the large window overlooking the sea where the monsters had come from, "These barbarians are greedy. We can tell as much at how they raided our king's treasure. They will return for another kingdom's gold, and when they do, we'll be ready for them."

"So she's going to be your wife."

Ragnar sighed, "We have already discussed this Lifa."

"So why is she tied up?" Lifa asked innocently, blue green eyes never leaving the other woman from where she was sitting on the ground in the middle of the deck.

Ragnar paused in cleaning his weapon to gape at her, "What?"

"She's tied up," her hand motioned to where all the Englishmen were tied up against the main mast, including the future Earl's wife. "How is she supposed to do the things a wife is supposed to do if she can't even move?"

Floki started giggling at her odd question and even Rollo snorted in amusement (a victory in itself) while Ragnar simply sighed again.

"It's just a question," Lifa shrugged, pulling a dagger from her boot to clean out the dirt that had gathered under her nails.

"Is this your way of asking me to cut her loose?"

"No," she turned her head to grin at the Earl. "This is my way of telling you I'm going to."

Floki nearly toppled out of the ship from his perch at the front, he was laughing so hard. Asgeir was fortunately able to latch onto his sleeve before he could and tugged him back upright. Lifa grinned at her brother before scooting across the deck to where the other woman was huddled in on herself, trying to keep warm as the harsh winds coming off the sea whipped around them. She was about the same height as Lifa, but more slender with less obvious muscles. With her legs curled into her chest and her arms tightly banded around them while her wrists remained tied, she looked even smaller, younger. Lifa's heart was far from cold and hard. The child-like woman immediately gained all of her sympathy in this situation.

"It's alright," Lifa told her with a reassuring smile, easily slipping into the other woman's native tongue. "I won't hurt you."

Light brown eyes widened comically as the Englishwoman gaped at her, "You speak English?!"

Lifa blinked in confusion as the woman's voice had an overlaying echo. Ragnar had unknowingly said exactly the same thing at the same time in their own tongue. The blonde looked over her shoulder to roll her eyes at the Earl.

"You are an imbecile," she told him, making him frown. "I've traveled many places, including England – where you found me. Of course I can speak her language."

"You can't speak to me that way any longer, Lifa. I am Earl now. You must show me respect."

Rollo rolled his eyes.

"You are also a pain in my ass," Lifa said in English making the woman's eyes widen again as she bit her lip against a smile.

"What did you say? That sounded like an insult." Ragnar pushed to his feet slowly making his way over to the women. It was all for show, Lifa knew. Ragnar had never cared about position or rank when it concerned the four of them. He simply didn't want to look bad in front of the other men. She looked back at the Englishwoman who had cringed back in fear of Ragnar's false anger. A plan formed in her mind that would gain the woman's trust while putting Ragnar back in his place. And it would be fun for her.

With a flick of her wrist, the knife she'd intended to use to cut the woman's bindings was sent flying, landing with a thud followed by a howl of pain. Lifa turned to check where exactly it had landed. She hadn't really aimed, but knew it would hit her target somehow. Ragnar really was angry now. The knife had embedded in the floor of the ship – after going through Ragnar's foot. Floki was nearly hysterical with laughter and Rollo was rubbing his eyes tiredly, too used to their antics to be truly amused any longer.

She turned her back on them again as the Earl yanked the dagger from his foot. Idly she wondered if he'd still have a limp when they docked back home. Her attention was brought back to the matter at hand when she noticed the other woman's awed gaze directed to her.

She gave a wry grin, "What's your name?"

The woman's mouth open and closed several times before she swallowed and forced out, "Temperance. My name is Temperance."

The blonde woman – Lifa, she was called – had untied her with a second dagger she pulled out of her boot. She was gentle as she soothed the red marks on her wrists, almost like a mother taking care of their child. She had even stood up to the leader for a woman she had never met, for a slave. Temperance wasn't stupid. She knew what she was to these men, but the woman seemed different, comforting her with a few gentle words of introduction and teasing to the men around them. She made it seem like everything would be alright, that the men wouldn't harm her. But Temperance wasn't stupid. She wouldn't be fooled by the woman's soft spoken words.

The quiet moment was ruined when a shadow fell across their faces. Temperance shrunk against the wooden pillar at her back but Lifa merely grinned and tilted her face up to the raging man behind her. The leader snarled down at them, saying something in their harsh tongue that had the woman's grin widening. The other man, the one that murdered her father, stepped forward and squeezed the leader's shoulder with a large hand. He spoke more quietly than the others, but his voice had a hard edge that kept people from interrupting him. Lifa shook her head and pushed herself to her feet. Her small hands found her hips as she stared the men down, keeping her tiny frame in between them and Temperance. The leader scoffed and, shrugging out from under the other man's grasp, stomped away. The man eyed Lifa with something Temperance would like to label as affection, but surely one so cruel couldn't feel an emotion so pure. Lifa just smiled up at him briefly before plopping back down to sit cross-legged in front of Temperance.

"Sorry about that," Lifa switched easily to English as though she'd been doing it for years, and waved the murderer away. He rolled his eyes as he turned to join the leader again, completely ignoring the Englishwoman. "Ragnar's ego can occasionally take over his common sense."

Temperance said nothing as a shiver ran through her body. The freezing wind was harsh out in the open sea and part of her wished to get to wherever they were going just to get away from the cold, but as far she knew their home was just as bad. All the men around her – and Lifa, she added – were well equipped with multiple layers and furs while she was wearing nothing but her thin day dress. She supposed she was lucky a storm hadn't picked up and soaked her to the bone.

"Here," Lifa said, shrugging out of her thick fur coat. She leaned forward to wrap it around the other woman's shoulders despite the weak protests. "Can't have you freezing to death."

"Why?" Temperance muttered as she tugged the fur closed around her body. She couldn't deny that the lingering body heat was one of the most wonderful things she'd felt in a long time. "Why are you being so kind to me?"

Lifa sighed sadly, "You don't understand anything that has happened, do you?"

"I understand," Temperance said defiantly, her chin jutting out. Lifa smiled at the sight. "I understand they killed my people and took me as a slave. I understand that one stabbed my father over and over for no reason other than he was king." She closed her eyes briefly to beat back the sobs that threatened to spill from her mouth. Her father would want her to stay strong, to not show more weakness than necessary to her captors. When she opened her eyes again she was staring into swirling blue green eyes, anger rolling off the other woman like the storm Temperance had been wary of.

"Tell me they did not kill him in front of you," her usually soft voice had hardened, taking on a bite that almost made Temperance shiver in fear. She was thankful it wasn't directed at her but for her.

"He did," she nodded sharply, refusing to lie even if it meant some sort of punishment for showing the men in a harsh light. She wasn't sure if that was something they would do, but she wouldn't be surprised if they did.

Lifa's lip curled in disgust, "I'll be right back. There's something I need to take care of."

Temperance watched wide-eyed as the blonde shot to her feet and yelled something in their strange tongue, snatching a stray sword that was laying nearby as she went after the one who murdered a king. The leader grinned at the sight of a fight suddenly breaking out while the other men moved to the edges of the boat, giving the two plenty of room.

The fight was quick and to the point. Lifa yelled what was most likely the man's offense while slashing at him, managing to nick his arm and cut down his left cheek deep enough to scar. The man snarled at her, lunging until he was able to wrap his large arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Lifa struggled as he dipped his head, whispering something in her ear that made her freeze and blink up at him. The sword clattered to the floor as she sagged in his arms, burying her face in his chest. The affectionate gesture was not lost on Temperance, who was more than shocked at the display. She was sure these monsters weren't capable of that. She never been more delighted to be proven wrong as one of the man's hands rose to smooth out the blonde's ruffled locks.