In the mead hall!

A banging headache had never felt so unbearable as Tjorvi woke up with a deep grunt. His eyes had to adjust to the sunlight for a moment, but he could feel a gentle push against his shoulder.

“Tjorvi?” The sweet voice of Natasja Tryggdottir caused his eyes to open up wide as he stared at that beautiful woman, standing over him. She had really grown into a fine woman, but some things didn’t change. Her voice was one of those things – while it had obviously matured, it still had that same sweet ring to it. The kindness was clear, and she was known for it as well. It had already given her some sort of resistance as well, from Vikings who didn’t believe such woman could rule over a town bigger than the huts and farms of her birthplace. Even with Bjor by her side, there were some people who’d rather have a shieldmaiden on that throne. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here! Welcome.” The blonde smiled widely as she greeted Tjorvi. Clearly, she wasn’t bothered about finding him there, more so... She seemed happy to have recognized him.

“I – It’s great to see you as well, Natasja. I wanted to congratulate you, in name of myself and my family.” Tjorvi spoke up, hoping his voice would sound firm and deep even though it was a little shaky. His hand reached down to pull his rusty axe from his belt, and with one smooth movement he stood up just to kneel down in front of the recently married woman. “And I wanted to offer you my axe. I want to join the raiding parties of your family next season, and make a name for myself. That is, if it would be allowed.”

There seemed to be visible confusion on the faces of Natasja as it came very suddenly. Sure, there were plenty of men who were looking for adventure and fame. However, a lot of farmers decided to stay to their own craft, and the young rulers never had to deal with anything like this before.

“Why do you think we’d let a farmer come along on our raids, boy?” Erling Trygg spoke up with his bouldering voice, echoing throughout the quiet hall. There was such a big difference compared to the feast, and Tjorvi looked over at Jarl Erling. Together with the other Jarl, it seemed like he was getting ready for hunting as he was picking out some arrows.

“Father!” Natasja spoke up as she looked to the side, but there was some truth in the older jarl’s words. They had plenty of Vikings, and they didn’t need an extra axe, especially if that axe was rusty like that. “I will talk to Bjor about it, okay?” She promised Tjorvi, making her father groan in an annoyed way. The blonde turned around and soon disappeared into the private quarters of the hall, but only after blessing the young farmer with a peek of her perfectly rounded ass underneath that short dress.

After exploring Yogsta for the rest of the day, Tjorvi managed to find Bjor by himself. Like he would've done for his wife and his father, the young farmer knelt down in the middle of the mead hall to get his undivided attention. “¨My name is Tjorvi Eldgrim. I’ve come from Jokulsa to offer my axe. I want to join your raiding parties next season, and make a name for myself. That is, if you would allow it.” He spoke up with a firm voice, looking up into the drengr's handsome face. There seemed to be some hesitation, but then Bjor came to a decision.

"You are the son of that farmer, right? Natasja speaks highly of you, but you're going to need to prove your loyalty." The son of the jarl seemed to be taking everything very serious, especially since he didn't know Tjorvi. Taking a moment to think, an idea seemed to come to his mind. "Travel back to Jokulsa and tell your father that we are going to need supplies. Bring back as much food as you can, we're going to need it for England."

That didn't seem like an unreasonable quest since Tjorvi's father owned most of the fields around Jokulsa, but if the crops failed this season, the people - and especially Eldgrim Askelson - would be getting into some serious trouble if there wasn't any food left in the storages...