King Asmund has not been seen since his battle with King Askild, he was in his chambers and relayed all his instructions through his son, Signy.
Asmund knew he was not strong enough as he realized that Askild had the strength to kill him.
This was not the reason he remained in his chambers, however.
Signy knew he had to keep their morals high, and went the extra mile to ensure this because this was a necessity, bringing their bodies back showed them that they would get an honorable send-off in death, and this gave them the extra incentive to give their all.
Kjell watched Signy grow in this past month, he grew into his shoes and he had gotten the respect of the men he led. He starved Kattegat of their supplies in his father's stead.
"Signy… We are making progress with trenches, the scouts have reported that the camp is still in peril." Earl Aksel muttered, he sounded happy about it.
"The war would end at this pace, but I want to know why we are not rounding them up and killing them, we could easily do so with our numbers," Aksel said what everyone was thinking.
"And then what happens to Kattegat?" Signy asked and Aksel's look of confusion was evident.
"What do you mean what happens to Kattegat? What happens to Kattegat is of no concern to us," Aksel said, dismissing the importance of Signy's question.
"You really don't know anything, do you? Let me tell you a story my father told me, let me tell you about Xenophanes Vilfulf, the king that Askild killed…" Signy blurted.
-
A young man with green eyes stood over a heap of corpses, he was drenched in blood despite the rain droplets feeling like pellets against his skin.
"Man, I'm hungry," The man said, wiping his sword on one of the corpses as his eyes darted around the battle, the rain had undone his brown hair ponytail, allowing the hair to sit gently on his shoulder.
"Asmund! When are you going to be done!?" The man screamed, and a clearer view of the battlefield showed that the battle was ongoing, yet this man had not only let down his guard but removed himself from the battlefield just because he was hungry.
Asmund was fighting for his life, he was injured and yet this man did not join in to help him all because he was hungry.
"Xenophanes! I need help here! I will give you all the food you want if you help me!" Asmund screamed at the man and the biggest smile crept up on his face as he casually picked up a spear that was laying beside him.
"It better have meat!" Xenophanes shouted, he threw the spear with not only excellent form but with such force that it went right through six men.
"THESE MEN ARE MONSTERS! RETREAT!" The enemies sounded the alarm as they retreated. Asmund was amazed by the combat ability of this man before him.
They had been friends ever since they were kids, despite being from different kingdoms and this was thanks to the relationship between Vestfold and Kattegat.
The King of Vestfold at that time was terminally ill and Asmund had been chosen to succeed him but Xenophanes Vilfulf was already the King of Kattegat at this time as he was older than Asmund but he was an immature individual.
After the battle, Asmund held up his end of the bargain and watched Xenophanes dig into the food before him, he was both disgusted and impressed that he could eat this much.
"Xenophanes, why did you become king?" Asmund asked him but he was too occupied by the food in front of him that he did not even hear him speak.
"What did you say?" Xenophanes asked. Asmund scoffed and allowed him to focus on his meal.
Xenophanes Vilfulf was one of the strongest warriors he had seen, and what was shocking was he had never once trained to learn how to fight. If he did, there was no doubt that he would be the strongest man alive. He became king relatively young and his father was one of the most influential people in Kattegat, and this aided in his position as king.
Xenophanes fought and aided Vestfold in their battles, this only grew their relationship and with Amsund set to become King, it was sure to reap benefits for Kattegat.
He had no personal ambition and just wanted a peaceful life where he could eat meat, drink ale, and sleep.
But a battle that would change the course of both their lives loomed, and if any of these men knew what the gods had for them. They would have cut off ties with one another but this was the curse of man, they could not see the future or their fate.
A few months passed and Asmund was inaugurated as the King of Vestfold officially.
Xenophanes attended the inauguration as this solidified Vestfold's partnership with Kattegat.
"Congratulations friend!" Xenophanes cheered him, and he saw the brother of Asmund for the first time as well but he could not make out his facial features as he quickly faded out of sight.
"Don't mind him, that's my brother. He is excited, he just thinks he is too cool to show it," Asmund informed Xenophanes, Xenophanes did not look bothered by this information but this sparked something up, like a light bulb idea.
"I want to introduce you to someone! I took a kid under my wing, I wanted to see if I could do the parenting thing," Xenophanes said proudly, he knew he needed to become an adult and could not fool around forever. Asmund was eager to see who he wanted to show to him because he knew that Xenophanes was a carefree individual that did not take anything but food seriously.
Asmund saw a child walking timidly, he was looking around in horror as he walked up to Xenophanes.
"Who is this cute little thing?" Asmund asked with a broad smile so the kid would let down his guard and Xenophanes nudged him forward to stand in front of him.
Before him was a child with gray eyes, and white hair. He quickly ran back to stand behind Xenophanes.
"Hahaha! This is Askild, he is a shy bird." Xenophanes introduced the child as he would grow to be the King of Kattegat and the one that ultimately took the life of Xenophanes.
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