"Poseidon! Stop this madness!" Nerida screamed into the night as the rain stung her face, her hands gripping the wheel of her ship as she saw the giant wave. Her journey had taken an unexpected turn when the clouds formed above her as if Zeus himself was punishing her. She cried out as the harsh unforgiving wave crashed into her ship.

The sky lit up again and again as the waves continued to push and thrash against the side of her crumbling ship. Nerida knew that setting out on her own had been foolish, but no more would she allow her father to take all the spoils for himself. He would toss a few coins at her, but anything of value she had to hide.

Nerida had been at sea for weeks, her food running low as she knew that now, her time had come. She had angered the gods and for that she knew she must pay with her life. A large wave crashed into her ship breaking her stance causing her to roll into the side. She cried out in pain as she felt something stab her leg her eyes going wide as she pulled her small dagger from the wound.

"SPARE ME! I BEG AT YOUR MERCY! SPARE ME!" She cried out into the sky as another wave sent her ship to its side pushing her into the water. Nerida swam as hard she could to the surface, the rain stinging her eyes as she tried to see into the deep darkness. "O Poseidon—father of the sea, spare me! Spare me Zeus!" She cried out once more as she hoisted herself onto a large part of her now sinking ship.

Nerida laid on her back, her arms spread beside her as she closed her eyes and waited for the sea to carry her home.

****

Ivar jolted awake as he heard commotion all around him, his eyes searching for his mother who was nowhere to be found. He crawled from his bed, his legs dragging behind him as he hurried to find his mother or brothers.

"What is happening?" He asked a slave girl who was rushing by him, his hand grasping her dress as she stopped in her tracks.

"Someone has washed up on shore." She said quickly as she rushed from his side, Ivar following as he saw a small crowd gathering at the tip of the shore. He crawled as fast as he could, pushing past his older brother Sigurd. His breath was taken as he saw the figure of a woman laying in the sand, her body clothed in garments that he had never seen before.

"Do not go near her." Bjorn warned as Ivar started to crawl closer, his ice blue eyes darkening as he turned and scolded his older brother with a look. No one was telling him what to do. He slowly crawled through the wet sand, all eyes on him as everyone and everything faded. His mind went back to his conversation with the Seer, a conversation that had at first filled him with doubt for the Gods.

"Tell me, when will I meet the great love of my life? I am so angry and full of hate, so much so that Ubbe and Sigurd say, that no woman will love me. They all look at me strangely, and they pity me! Is there a woman only for me? Or will she always lust for my brothers?"

"The one who will love you, will be a gift of the sea, Young Ivar."

Ivar reached his hand out to turn the body over, a small gasp flowing past his lips as his eyes widened, for laying there was the without a doubt, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her brown hair laid in curls across her head, and her face told him that she was a great warrior. Never in his life had he ever seen a more beautiful woman, a woman that made even his own mother look dull.

"She is a pirate." His brother Bjorn said as Ivar threw him an angry glance, his eyes darkening as he turned away, and focused on the beauty in front of him. Ivar gently laid his head on her chest, searching for any sign that she was alive.

"She is alive! Take her to the Great Hall now!" Ivar demanded as several slaves and servants huddled around the woman, all of them looking white with fear. He did not care that she may have been a pirate, or that she may as well could be a Christian, he had to save her.

"What are you doing? Ivar, I do not have a good feeling about this. Once she is bandaged, I am putting her in shackles." Bjorn said harshly as he quickly walked from Ivar's side, a deep hot angry growing inside him as he crawled back towards the great hall.

"NO! You will not put her in chains! I lay claim to her, she will be my slave and mine alone!" Ivar yelled as Bjorn and his mother stopped in their tracks to look at him in confusion. Ivar had never reacted this way towards anyone, his own heart confused by his infatuation with one woman.

Ivar sat on his chair by her side as the nurse fixed her wounds, a small smile forming over his lips as he pushed some hair from her face. Her cheeks were red and slightly chapped telling him that she had been at sea for far too long.

"She has the markings of a pirate, Ivar. Bjorn is right we need—"

"No mother, no. You will not put her in chains." He said simply as he smiled at his mother, a soft smile forming on her face as she took his hand in hers.

"Do no get too attached to her Ivar, a pirate's only love, is the sea."