Gunnar

Having been one of, if not the best warriors under King Thurmund, Gunnar had been assigned to train all the young boys in martial prowess. He was now nearing his thirty-fifth nameday and so had seen many a child become a fine viking. He was especially proud of Knud, a tanner's son who had gained the favour of Odin. The boy, now fully grown, could face five men head-on and win. But even he couldn't face the fully matured Valkya, and her spear, Blodbani.

Gunnar sighed, as Knud hit the hard ground, Valkya standing above him, proud and strong. She reminded him of her father when he was still fit enough to go raiding with the rest of the men. The last year, ever since King Thurmund had fallen ill, had been incredibly difficult on them, since he had forbidden them from going on any more raids. The whole island was on edge, it was the middle of summer and yet, they hadn't had any action. The one most affected by this looked to be Valkya as she seemed unnecessarily cruel to her sparring partners, breaking bones and cracking skulls.

The doors to the great hall banged open and out walked the envoy that had arrived earlier that day. He had been sent by King Horik, the ruler of all Denmark except for Bornholm and a few other lands. None of them knew why he was here, the King had allowed no one to listen in on their meeting.

Seeing the smug look on the man's face, the already enraged Valkya stormed towards him, looking more like Fenrir than the woman he knew. None of them tried to stop her, they all felt like doing the same thing at that point. Grabbing the man by his cloak, she tore him to the ground, "Why are you here?" She spat, her spear aimed at his face. Gunnar grinned as he saw the man's breaches darken. "I-I-I-I-I" the man stuttered. Valkya's eyes seemed to burn at that moment and without a moment's hesitation, she plunged the spear into the envoy's face. Her jaw knotted, and letting out an enraged scream she killed the man's horse as well. She then tossed her spear to the ground and stormed off down the mountain.

Gunnar's visage darkened, there would be consequences for Valkya's actions. "All of you, clear them away!" The other men nodded and without a word began dragging the two corpses towards the forest. He had long known that the young she-wolf was overly rash and violent, properties that he would never have even thought of discouraging if they weren't so prevalent. On one of the first raids he took her on, he had seen young Valkya tear a man's jaw off, with her bare hands, presenting it to her father like a trophy. Thurmund had reprimanded her, but as always the young wolf had ignored him, running right into enemy lines killing as she went.

"GUNNAR!" he was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard his King call out to him. "Yes?" he asked, the respect he had had for the man slowly draining away. "Gather everybody I need to make an announcement!" Thurmund said, huffing and puffing. Gunnar nodded, "Of course."

It was a few hours later when everybody had gathered in the longhouse. Everybody was murmuring, intrigued at what their king would say. Unlike all the others, who had their eyes fixed on the sick King, Gunnar had his gaze fixed on Valkya who was leaning against one of the walls, Blodbani by her side. It made him nervous just seeing her have it within reach.

His eyes then moved back to his King as the old man slowly stood up, "Men and women of Bornholm," he mumbled spit spraying with every word, "today I met with an envoy from King Horik. He seeks to unite Denmark under one banner, and has requested me to lay down my crown and peacefully surrender my lands to him." He paused and wobbled on his feet. "I have exempted his offer, and hope you all agree."

The room descended into silence, none could believe what they had just heard. How could Bornholm, an island that had remained independent ever since they could remember, kneel to someone like King Horik? His eyes landed on Valkya, she was still standing at the same place as before but this time she seemed to almost bubble with rage. Knud's eyes met his and they both instantly knew that whatever happened they would stand behind Valkya. She was strong, courageous and smart, three things Thurmund lacked.

It started as a whisper, "How dare you!" Gunnar turned back to Valkya only to see her slowly walk towards her father, Blodbani in hand. "How dare you!" She was now loud enough to be heard at the back of the hall. Thurmund stumbled back and onto his throne. "HOW DARE YOU!" she screamed, planting one foot on the armrest. "HOW DARE YOU BESMIRCH OUR NAME! HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY INHERITANCE! HOW DARE YOU ACT SO WEAK BEFORE YOUR PEOPLE!" Valka's piercing emerald eyes met her father's watery blue ones, but he wasn't able to look her in the eye and so turned to Gunnar, who just stoically kept watching.

Valkya growled and grabbed hold of her father's face turning it to look at her. "I hate you." She said it so calmly and sweetly that Gunnar didn't even notice when she slowly drove her spear through Thurmund's chest. He only reacted when the King began choking on his own blood and was about to rush forward when two of his men stopped him.

He then watched as Valkya wrenched Blodbani from her father's chest and decapitated him with it. Thurmund's head hit the ground with a thunk and rolled till it stopped before Knud. The young man looked down and without a moment's hesitation picked it up and cried, "HAIL QUEEN VALKYA!" and a moment later the rest joined in, "HAIL QUEEN VALKYA!"