Hey y'all! I noticed that there are very few Vikings stories on here. So, I'm trying to make one! If you are interested in this story at all, PLEASE review! Reviews will motivate me to write more chapters!

Brynja breathed heavily as she dropped her sword to the ground. She was a good fighter—already well-known for her abilities in battle. She had been trained to fight since she was old enough to pick up a sword. Her father saw to it that she would live up to the legacy that her mother had left behind.

"Nice try, Ubbe. Maybe next time I will let you win," the shield-maiden joked as she worked to catch her breath.

Ubbe let out a small chuckle and wiped the sweat off his brow.

They spent a great deal of time out in the woods training with each other. And many times, after they had finished, they would lay on the ground, stare at the sky, and talk.

Ubbe had been Brynja's dearest friend for as long as she could remember. As a young girl, she had been raised around the sons of Ragnar. And Ubbe had always been her protector. She had often snuck away from her home late at night, when her father had become too much to bear. No matter the time she arrived, Ubbe always greeted her with a hug and shared his warm bed with her.

She was the first of many women that he would share a bed with. And most likely the only woman who had shared a bed with him without sharing her body with him. He was handsome, charming, and a son of Ragnar—which meant that he could easily take any woman he wanted.

Brynja collapsed on the ground. Her heart still raced from the training that she and Ubbe had just finished. She closed her eyes as she felt him take a seat next to her.

"How does it feel to have your father back?" She knew this was a subject that she should tread lightly on. Ragnar had just returned the day before, and she was curious. She wondered how she would feel if her own legendary mother returned one day, but she knew that would never happen.

The man grunted and shrugged his shoulders. "He asked me to travel with him to England".

"And are you going to?" Brynja asked. Ragnar's request did not surprise her.

"No," Ubbe replied shortly.

She decided to drop the conversation. She could tell that he did not want to talk about the return of his father.

"Ask me a question," she spouted out of nowhere.

Ubbe grinned and looked over at the dark-haired shield-maiden. Every time they sat down to have these talks, she would request that he ask her a question. Regardless of the fact that he knew almost everything about her.

"Do you ever think about what your mother would say about you? Whether or not she would be proud?"

Silence thickened the air as she contemplated the question.

"Sometimes," she admitted. "But it is different for me than it is for you and Ragnar. Ragnar has been gone for many years, but he was here when you were a child. I do not even know what my mother looked like. My hope is that I will see her in Valhalla."

Through the corner of her eye, Brynja could see Ubbe nod his head at her answer.

The two laid together again in silence as they both thought about their families.

"I have not a single doubt that your father is proud of you, Ubbe." She spoke up, reading his mind. "You are a great man."

For the first time since she had laid down, she turned her head to look at Ubbe. She could tell by the expression on his face that he was deep in thought.

"May I tell you a secret?" Brynja smirked. Ubbe's eyes met with hers and he nodded his head. "Out of all of Ragnar's sons, I must say that you are the best."

Ubbe chuckled pulling his friend close for a hug. "That is no competition," he chuckled as her head rested in the crook of his neck. She laughed at his joke and closed her eyes as she relaxed against him. In the split of a second, he brought his fist around to the side of her head, and began rubbing it into her hair rapidly, knotting it up.

He burst out laughing as she rose from her position on his shoulder and smacked him hard on the chest.

"Why do you do that," she fussed as she used her fingers to try to take out the knots that Ubbe had just put in her hair.

Still laughing, he replied "It looks good that way."

Though it aggravated her, Brynja could not help but smirk. His laugh was infectious.

"We must go," she stated as she finally quit detangling her hair, hoping she had gotten all the large tangles, and that her hair was laying down the way it was supposed to.

Ubbe, still laying in his position, looked up at her. A chunk of her knotted hair was shaped like a wing on the top of her head. He smirked at her as he rose to a sitting position.

"Come closer," he said. "If people see us walking out of the forest with your hair like that, they will think we were pleasuring each other".

Her cheeks begin to burn a rosy color as soon as the word "pleasure" left his lips. She leaned over just enough so that he could fix her hair. Once he was done, she stood quickly and offered him her hand.

The friends talked as they walked through the woods—discussing the dinner that would be held tonight in the honor of Ragnar.

Brynja sat beside Ubbe as dinner was served. Because of her relationship with Ragnar's sons and the legacy of her mother, she often sat at the table with them at special events.

As she sat there, she could not help but stare at Ragnar. She felt like she was looking at Odin himself. His sad eyes scanned the room as though he wanted to be anywhere else at the moment. When his eyes met hers, her heart stopped dead in her chest. He stared at her for what seemed like eternity—as though he was looking deep inside her soul and navigating through all of her wildest dreams and darkest fears.

And then his eyes dropped to the table as he reached for his drink. Chills ran down her spine as her eyes rushed around the room, searching for anything to look at—besides Ragnar Lothbrok.

The sons were discussing their newest slave, Margrethe. They all seemed to take a liking to her, and as Brynja looked at the girl serving drinks, she could see why. Her long blonde hair shined against her sun-kissed skin, and her eyes seemed as those of a child—making the girl look innocent.

Brynja looked down and picked at her own dress in insecurity. She wondered if any man had ever looked at her the way that they looked at Margrethe. She wondered if her dark hair was admirable at all to men, if her green eyes ever plagued a boy's mind late at night. She was most insecure about her body. Margrethe's figure was petite and flawless. Brynja's body was thicker due to her large breasts and muscles. Her legs and stomach were covered in scars.

Though she had not been listening closely to what was being said at the table. She had managing to catch word that Margrethe had accompanied all of Ragnar's sons to bed, with the exception of Bjorn. This, of course meant that she had been with Ubbe. The idea of Ubbe being intimate with any woman other then herself made Brynja feel as though the weight of the world had landed on her heart.

She couldn't deny that she had feelings for Ubbe. All the women did. She had hoped that someday they would be much more than friends. But, she was not confident in herself enough to tell Ubbe about her feelings towards him. She knew he had bedded many girls. And most of them she believed to be much more beautiful than her. She also had never been intimate with a man, unlike Margrethe. She knew she would not know how to satisfy him the way that Margrethe knew how to satisfy him.

"Brynja!" a voice shouted as someone shook her shoulder as though to wake her from a dream. She left her thoughts behind her as she looked up to see Bjorn's hand on her shoulder. "May I speak with you in private?" he asked.

She nodded her head as she excused herself from the table and followed Bjorn. Once they were away from the crowd, he turned to face her.

"Brynja," he began. "I have an offer for you." He looked in her eyes as he spoke. "I plan to sail to the Roman Empire. Floki is preparing the boats. I know that you dream of living in your mother's footsteps. It would be an honor for you to join me on this voyage."

Brynja was stunned by his offer. It is true that she wanted to be a warrior and traveler that her mother would be proud of. But a large part of her feared what might happen if she left for a long period of time.

"It is quite an offer," she stated. "But when do you plan to leave?"

Bjorn seemed to consider her question before he answered. "The boats are not yet finished. It will be two new moons before we leave."

Thoughts overtook her mind as she searched to provide Bjorn with an answer. Silence surrounded them as he watched her reaction.

"May I have some time to consider this, Bjorn?" She hesitantly asked. "I am so thankful for your offer. But, I must consider whether or not this is my fate."

"Of course," Bjorn laid his hand on her shoulder—providing a sense of comfort. "Take all the time you need. There will always be room for you on my ship if you decide to come with me."

Brynja stood in the corner of the room as she looked at the feast. It hardly seemed like a celebration. She assumed it was because Ragnar had been gone for so long.

She was still thinking about her discussion with Bjorn that took place only minutes ago. As much as she didn't want to admit it, what she feared most about leaving was that Ubbe might forget her. What if he were to marry Margrethe while she was away? She chuckled at her own jealousy and shook the thought away. She knew Margrethe was a temporary interest. He would become bored of her, just as he had become bored of the women he bedded before her.

"You have grown into a strong and beautiful woman," A voice spoke up from behind her. She quickly turned her head and her eyes met the same eyes that had caused chills to travel down her spine earlier. "You look just like your mother."

"Thank you," Brynja replied meekly. Her shyness caused Ragnar to smirk.

"My sons seem fond of you," he stated.

"Some of them are," she answered honestly. "Some of them are not".

Ragnar chuckled at the young woman's words. His eyes lit up as he continued to talk to her. "You would make a good wife for one of them someday," even in the dim lighting he could see color begin to appear on Brynja cheeks. "I had always assumed it would be Bjorn that you would marry. You both have thee same kind of fire inside you. But Ubbe seems to talk a great deal about you."

"Ubbe and I are friends," she stated quickly as her face grew hotter with embarrassment. "And Bjorn is with Torvi."

"You are friends for now," Ragnar said. "Ubbe is young and naïve. But with age he will grow to see the beauty in you, and the dullness in the many women that have entertained him in bed. You have earned his heart. They have not. His views will change."

Ragnar smiled at her as she looked across the room, watching Ubbe whisper into Margrethe's ear. He could see the pain and yearning in the young shield-maiden's eyes. And though he did not enjoy seeing her sad, he found comfort in the fact that his son had attracted the attention of such a woman. He had heard that Ubbe and Brynja spent day after day together training. And he himself saw them laughing as they emergerd from the woods right before the feast. The two reminded him of the relationship he once shared with Lagertha.

"I do not claim to be a seer," Ragnar continued. "But it eases my mind to know that one of my sons will end up with a woman as brave, beautiful, and kind as you are."

And before she could reply, Ragnar was gone.