"Well what do we have here?"

Kari looked up at the men, all of them looking at her hungrily. It made her want to sob all over the streets until she drowned in her own tears.

If they kept looking at her like that, she probably would.

The man who spoke, his hair yellow and the other side of his head shaved, knelt down in front of her with an amused smirk on his face. His mouth opening to speak a foreign language that Kari thankfully understood after years of learning. "A gift for us?"

The other man, the man who pushed himself to the front, a terrifying man to say the least. He was intimidating. He was what Kari expected a viking to look like. With his braided hair and muscled form.

With the way he carried himself, he was most probably the leader of the small group of men.

He knelt down beside the other man and held her pendant with his fingers. "Where did you get this?"

Kari glared with as much ferocity as she could, not being able to speak, what with the gag in her mouth.

The man saw the problem and immediately removed the gag from her mouth, but she still did not speak.

Instead, she butted her head against his. Hard. Enough to make her see stars but after a second, it was worth it. Seeing the man with a bloodied nose was worth the bruise she would surely develop on her forehead.

The man only laughed, wiping the blood from his nose before reaching out to touch her pendant.

"Don't you dare touch me!" Kari scowled, the foreign language odd on her tongue.

The man looked to his companions, their previously amused looks becoming wary. After all, they did not expect her to know their language.

The man turned back to her. "What is your name?"

"And why should I tell you who I am when I do not even know who you are?" She asked him, her voice dripping with confidence even when she did not feel an ounce of it.

"Tell me your name and I will free you of these ropes." He said, tapping on the bonds binding her feet.

She tucked her legs further within her, away from his touch. "And why should I believe you? Whoever you are?"

"I am Harald Finehair." The man replied, grinning. "If you cannot believe the word of a man, believe the word of a king for that is what I am."

It took everything in her not to roll her eyes. Just her luck, the first viking she was to face was an arrogant 'king'.

She would hate to give them that much power over her but it was only a name and she needed to get free.

"It is Kari. My name is Kari." She said, meeting the man's eyes.

"Kari, Kari, Kari. The god of the North Wind. A good viking name, the language we speak, the gods we worship and yet, we find you in the middle of a Christian town." He answered, looking quite amused. "Tell me. What brings you here?"

"I live here." She spoke up.

"Tied to a pole?" He countered.

She scoffed, raising her wrists up to his face. "Are you going to let me out of these ropes or not?"

He pushed them aside, looking her straight in the eye. It was as if it was only them without a bunch of northmen watching their exchange. It was as if he saw something in them, his gaze so intense upon hers. "Only if you answer my questions."

"I already answered one of your questions! By this rate, we will be here until the dawn of morrow. I do intend to have supper, you know." Kari retorted.

Harald released a short breath of laughter. "As do I. I only have two more questions."

She gestured with her head. "Very well. I will answer them, if you promise to release me from these bonds immediately after I answer your two questions."

"Very well. I promise to release you from these bonds if you answer my two questions." He responded, tilting his head in amusement and tapping the ropes binding her feet once more.

There was something with this man and feet, were all vikings this odd?

"Immediately after I answer?"

"Immediately after you answer."

Kari raised her brows at him. "Ask away, King Harald."

"Where are the others? The other villagers. I know they did not flee." Harald questioned, gesturing to the empty village.

She smirked, a silent challenge. "And how would you know that?"

"A village like this. So very clean for a village left in a rush." He responded, trailing off.

"Just tell us where they are, woman!" One of the others demanded, drawing his axe.

Kari turned to him with wide eyes, preparing for the worse. Harald turned his glare upon the man, silencing him immediately like a tiny hound being reprimanded.

Just who was this man and why did he command such respect, even for a king?

Harald turned back to her, his gaze cooled. "These people, these Christians. They left you here for us to find and kill. Why should you protect them? They are not good people, otherwise they would have hid you with them."

"People do cruel things because of fear."

"Only cowards would condemn someone to this fate because of fear."

She hated to admit it but he was right. Who knew that a barbarian could make so much sense? They have done nothing but say bad things about her and her mother, even going so far as to desecrate her grave.

Kari said nothing. She only turned her eyes to the barn where the villagers were hiding. She felt Harald turn to where she was looking and when she finally looked away, their eyes met.

He nodded to his men, all of them heading to the barn but he remained before her.

Feeling conscious with his gaze, she looked away first, asking him. "What is your other question?

The sound of screams and pleads filled the air but his eyes remained steady on her form.

"Your mother and father. Were they vikings?" Harald asked, tapping his axe upon her bindings.

"My father was a viking. My mother was not." Kari said, pushing away all thoughts of her mother's death, including her father's identity.

He never knew of her existence so why should she want any part of his legacy?

He raised a brow. "And who was your father?"

She tried kicking him with her bound feet but he caught them easily. "It is none of your business."

He laughed. "No, I suppose it is not."

Suddenly, his eyes took on a serious tone and Kari found herself getting nervous.

She did not know what he was thinking.

Harald raised his axe and Kari's eyes found themselves flickering close.

His axe fell down with a loud sound just as the screams stopped.

Then silence.

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