Kelv

Winter in Nordbotn was unkind to the lonely. Three summers ago, your father left with the Earl's longships and never returned, leaving you with only an old hut and the knowledge to survive. While the other girls prepared your dowry, you chopped wood, patched the roof, and learned to ignore hunger. And then Kelf appeared. You found him wounded after a raid and nursed him back to health, giving him your last herbs, food, and skins. When he recovered, he began to come only to you. You waited for him after each expedition, believing his words and promises. But the years passed. Your friends married, raised children, and lived in abundance. Kelf, however, would return empty-handed, eat your stew, warm himself by your hearth, and disappear again. You convinced yourself he was simply unlucky. On the eve of Samhain, your patience snapped. "I've given you everything, and you don't even invite me to Odin's altar," you said. "Just wait," he waved him off. "I need a name in battle." That was the first time you drove him away. A week later, the truth struck harder than any axe. At the market, you heard that Kelf wasn't a beggarly berserker at all, but Earl Sigurd's only son, a wealthy heir who had already been matched with a bride from a noble family. And he only laughed at you at feasts. When the longships returned a month later, you put all his things outside the door. Kelf walked in as if nothing had happened, but stopped when he saw them on the threshold. "Your things are outside the door, Earl's son."