Queen Vigdis the Valiant of Leirhofn was many things, a true shieldmaiden who had taken her 7th step in the divine style of Baldr, a consummate politician and great dancer, one of the nine Queens and Kings of the Silver Kingdom, the largest kingdom in the world. But above all else she was bored, totally bored, completely bored, bored stiff, bored limp again, bored into a small circle and pushed down a hole.

“…But of course, if the Queen had been there, we would have slain even greater game!” Said one of the toadies that surrounded her. He was a member of the jarl caste, some jewellers son or bankers brother that she hadn't been listening to, so instead she simply huffed under her breath in a way that could be taken as either a humble denial or an amused acknowledgement without really committing to either. As the bootlicker sidled away looking happy as can be, a second round of jarls closed in on her like a pack of hunting scythers.

“Hail the Valiant Queen, we all wished to hear more about your adventures down the coast, they are so intriguing!”

Vigdis muttered a few diplomatic lies making the woman before her swoon, despite the total lack of detail or fire in her saga. Vigdis had to clench her stomach to prevent herself from throwing up… ok that’s an exaggeration but come on this lot are awful! She was surrounded like an elk run down by a wolf pack but this one in all blue, blue shirts and skirts and hides and everything (the High Queen had worn a blue outfit a few weeks ago and now EVERYONE needed everything in blue, did nobody realise how difficult it was to get blue dye here by rail?!).

Stewing in her hatred of fashion the Queen jerked her head up as something whispered in her ear.

“Queen Valiant.”

Oh thank the Aesir and the Vanir both, he was finally here.

Vigdis expertly deflected a few of the vapider jarls flocking around her then sidled across to a large potted plant that sat very near the dancing hall’s door, even looking at it this close Vigdis couldn’t make out the Crownguard who was hiding… in it? Behind it? She’d never figured out how they did it.

“Yes?” She spoke without moving her lips holding a tankard in front of her face and miming sipping so realistically even a close observer couldn’t recognise the ploy. She hated having to do this but hating something didn’t stop you experiencing it and skill came from experience. And by Baldr did she have a lot of experience with these poisons’ money grubbing…

“The councillors are assembled.” The shrub said before it shivered minutely the Crownguard presumably having left, or maybe he was just shrugging? It was so hard to tell with those guys.

Message received Queen Vigdis steeled herself for this most dangerous step, crossing the hall without getting mobbed. First was the joking and the hand shaking, then a bit of double speak with a few bankers, duck out of the way of a Vracian ambassador who was hunting her down with an intent expression, stand in the shadow of the Jotunheim representative who was an absolutely treasure even if they had been forced to remove an entire wall from her hall just to let her inside. Dancing a few steps forwards and smiling like a Sol above the Queen got into position by the heavy oak door.

With a dazzling farewell and a promise to return soon with more mead Vigdis escaped to a round of applause, behind her the door slammed close and locked with a faint click.

Vigdis sagged against a wall for a moment as one a gaggle of huscarls and hirdmen finished barring the door behind her, the crownsguard had gone to wherever they went when you didn’t keep an eye on them but Vigdis’ own Huscarls fell into step with her as she stormed along the empty pathway away from the mead hall and towards a longhouse that clung anonymously to the hall of her ring fortress.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The Queen slipped inside her personal office and right into an argument. Stood before her were two men and two women, her advisors and Councillors, each of them masters of an art or craft she needed each of them politically and monetarily powerful and each of them just as confused as she was.

“I hear we got the signal?”

Jul was the first to respond, a clearly fake name that the ex-assassin had apparently chosen for no good reason. “Less than ten minutes ago my Queen, the Silvermane expedition set out with full fanfare and after making the proper sacrifices, my agents couldn’t find anything unusual.”

“Like I said! It IS just an expedition!” Bellowed Grand Gothi Andor Andorson of the temple of Vidar the Seeking God. “I don’t see why we’ve kept going back and forth on this, the High Queen wants a trump card ready in case the damn Vracians declare war again so why not go look for one?”

“Why? Because it’s ludicrous, the Fimbulwinter isn't safe with an army of Jotun at your back let alone humans, they must be planning to break along there route and head west, perhaps towards the kingdom of Svarith? Or the Empire of Empty Scales?” And that was Clan Keeper Haldor, a decent sort if a bit high strung.

“Fools all of you!” Said the court cunning woman, the vitki Hulda. “With the right reagents I could have tracked their convoy and we wouldn’t need this argument, just a few diamonds…”

“You say that every single time. We. Don’t. Have. The. Budget!” And now Haldor had dented the Jarls perfectly good table, highly strung indeed.

“Pennypincher.”

“Witch!”

“You’re both wrong, their supplies tallied up correctly so it must only be bending the truth not breaking it, perhaps they are targeting one of the more well-known sites near the edge of the hungry storm? There are rumours that a few Ragnarök era armouries still stand there.” Jul was earnest as always but wrong.

“Those rumours are older than our city spymistress, all the edge sites have been discovered and ransacked centuries ago. I don’t see why nobody else just accepts this at face value, Silvermane profits from our survival as the largest kingdom in Midgard and she’s got a fascination with the relics of the dead gods.” Andor raised a good point.

“And how do you think she found it them? None of the vitki she has contact with are even in the seventh circle, if this temple is what she claims it is then it was built just after the floods receded and Yggdrasil began to regrow, they had tenth circle vitki back then, the wards one of them could make would never fall.” Jul said snidely

“I still think it’s an attempt to move currency across the border, perhaps disguised as food? Is she trying to destroy our economy!” Haldor was getting more and more worked up.

Jul shot Vigdis a comforting look as the Queen forced apart the bickering crowd and collapsed onto her whalebone chair that sat proudly behind her beautiful mahogany desk. She was really beginning to loathe it, not the desk of course no… it was what was on the desk that cause her frequent headaches.

Vigdis glared at the damn map hard enough to make it wilt… or maybe that was it being poorly rolled. She’d known all those years ago that one day she’d regret taking the position of Jarl, but the perks had seemed so good and High Queen had asked her personally, but she already started notice grey hairs a good century before she should. It was all her domain’s fault she was sure, the other queens and kings of the Silver Kingdom ruled domains that were ancient and rich and very well defended. Vigdis ruled over the newest domain of them all, Baiser, the kingdoms breadbasket taken less than a century ago and filled with farmers and not much else. A big juicy target for everyone beyond their borders.

“Please tell me the others aren’t moving?” Vigdis asked the group with an almost plaintive tone.

“The Kings and Queens? Not at the moment but that could change… The two in the north are still feuding and the one we met before, you know her? Well, she’s marrying into one of the great clans and that’s caused all kinds of Hel. The raiders are still keeping most of the army busy and the High-Queen is doing… well whatever she does and the rest don’t seem interested.”

Vigdis didn’t smile but she relaxed fractionally, probably no political backstabbing for a while thank the gods for small mercies.

“So, what should we do my Queen?”

And that was the rub, wasn't it? This was her job, she had nobody else to turn too, her friends could advise her but in the end the decision was hers and hers alone.

After a long moment Queen Vigdis shrugged. “We leave it, if it fails it will teach the High-Queen to call an Althing before organising something like this and if it doesn’t, we get a way to kick in Vracians teeth.”

Her advisors had nothing more to say as Queen Vigdis dutifully melted a lump of wax and pressed her seal ring into it affixing it to the damn map and finally ending the conversation.

“Right onto our next issue… the gradual depreciation of the southern corn fields and the possible effects this might have on our food supply….”