Signy was with his unit, that had a few Earls from nearby kingdoms, he was their leader but only by name as he lacked sufficient experience to lead them but the Earls were not swords under his command and were given the liberty to act freely.
Signy was excited that this was his first taste of actual war and he knew that the expectations that were on his shoulders were high.
Most did not see him as a worthy successor to King Asmund and Signy knew should his father die, he would be trialed to a duel with potential challengers for the crown.
Men with far more powerful names and accomplishments than him so this was his chance to prove his name as the son of Asmund.
But nothing was going on, they had to defeat the forces of his father to reach them but that was highly unlikely because King Asmund was strong enough to defeat Erik unarmed despite being well past his prime, this only showed a fragment of his strength during his prime.
A man that made Askild thread carefully despite Askild being fairly confident in his abilities.
Signy had quite the shoes to fill and he knew that no one might be able to ever fill the shoes of his father.
A man called the name of Signy and what followed was a sense of urgency.
"THEY ARE FIGHTING! WE NEED YOU TO STOP THEM!" A random Viking called the attention of Signy, this forced Signy to run in the direction in which the cheers could be heard.
They were cheering and encouraging the warriors in a bout, Signy knew now was not the time for something so trivial as this could not be the worst timing.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Signy butted in, bringing an immediate halt to the brawl. The cheers faded into silence and all eyes were on Signy.
"Do you think now is the time to distract yourself with such trivial entertainment!?" Signy was furious but the warriors witnessing the fight were no fans of his behavior.
He could tell by the side eyes and the murmurs that followed soon after because while what they were doing was not needed, it was helping with their morale and preparations for the war.
"C'mon now Signy, you should not interrupt a fight between souls." A black-haired muscular man said, stepping forward to confront the younger Signy, he was in his mid-thirties with a mohawk styled in a ponytail.
"Earl Aksel! Are you the one that allowed this?" Signy asked and this only resulted in the Earl raising his eyebrow.
"Allowed this? These are men with wives and children… While you are a…" Aksel stopped short of finishing his sentence as this drew laughter from everyone present.
"You are nothing but a child with a privileged name," Aksel said and only half of those that were laughing remained laughing.
"Earl Aksel, mind how you tal-!" Signy was cut short from completing his sentence.
"Or you will tell the King? The King is fighting on our behalf and you want to play pretend King?" Aksel said. This time he did not sound playful at all and his tone was a lot more firm.
"You stop my men from enjoying themselves then lecture me about respect? We do not share the same culture as you Vestfold warriors." Aksel scolded Signy like a child and the more he spoke, the clearer Signy's mistake was.
"You speak for your men, Signy. You do not speak for mine. Warriors! Continue your fun and if this child wants to interrupt, we will have our own little brawl!" Aksel said. And this effectively took power away from Signy because how he reacted was how he would be addressed.
Everyone was curious as to what Signy would do and Signy was aware of the importance of this moment but was it worth risking potential conflict with an ally or was his pride more important?
"That is enough Earl Aksel," A man stepped forward to quell the conflict that was arising between both of them.
He was a dead-eyed man with his black hair shaved through the middle, and the moment he stepped up, the warriors that were shouting got there quite instantly.
"You disrespect the son of our King, our future king?" The man questioned, he was not a fit warrior but rather on the chubby side.
"This is none of your concern Earl Kjell," Askel tried to dismiss him but Kjell was not having any of it as he stood between both of them, despite his chubbiness, he was a giant by the average standard as he easily stood at 6 feet.
"You think Signy was wrong? If the enemy decided to attack while you were all distracted with this pointless brawl, do you think you can arm yourself quick enough?" Kjell tossed the rhetorical question in the air and the murmurs that followed showed that they agreed with him.
"You fail to realize the threat that Kattegat poses under King Askild, a man that rose to fame by killing his own King in a duel. A man that holds Kattegat with fear alone," Kjell took it upon himself to remind them about the gravity of this war because they all seem to have forgotten.
"King Asmund trusted you a lot with his Kingdom, you better start acting like you are worth that trust. It is not in my place to tell you what to do, but if you want to continue playing around then you can do just that," Kjell said and Signy heaved a sigh of relief because he did not know what he would have done if Kjell did not step in.
He could tell by the look on Aksel's face was one of defeat. Aksel kissed his teeth and left the area in irritation. The brawl came to an abrupt end.
Soon, only Signy and Kjell were in the immediate vicinity.
"You are a lifesaver, Earl Kjell," Signy thanked the man that backed him up.
"Anything for you, young lord," Kjell said but this was a political move should Signy get into power, he wanted to be in his good graces should that come to pass.
This was evident by the honorifics he used for Signy but he knew that Signy still had a long way to go.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter