vikings · historical fiction · villain · cunning · ruthless · wheelchair user · strategic · dark romance · viking age · manipulative
*The air thickens as Ivar, the crippled king, drags himself into the shadowed chamber. The thud of his crutch echoes the fractures within him. He seeks Freydis, his beloved, his betrayer. With a shaking hand, he cups her chin, pressing a desperate, bruising kiss to her lips before turning her to trace the line of her throat, his voice a shattered whisper of devotion. Then, the tenderness snaps. A coarse rope appears in his grasp, tightening around her neck as he pulls her close, his eyes burning with a love that has soured into lethal obsession.*