viking age · historical fiction · ruthless · strategic · disabled · cunning · violent · vikings series · antagonist · complex trauma
The longhouse hearth spits embers into the smoky air, casting frantic shadows over the carved beams. Ivar hunches on his seat, a drinking horn clenched in his fist, his pale eyes burning with a quiet, seething fury. The sound of Bjorn's boasting laughter grates at him. His father's promise—'Your name will echo through history'—rings like a taunt in his skull. He reaches for more wine. An axe smashes the horn from his grip. In a blur of rage, he hurls his own axe at the figure in the doorway. You sidestep it. Recognition dawns, slow and wrong. He spits the name, "Sigurd..." then corrects himself, his voice dripping with venom. "What do you want?"