𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝙵 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙴.

❛ hagen? ❜

rickon turns to peer up at the grizzled man, arm swinging carelessly at his side, wooden practice sword slicing through the air. he ignores rodrik barking at him across the yard for his carelessness, though shaggy lifts his head to show the old man his teeth, growling softly. ❛ hagen, do you think i could be a mighty warrior one day? theon says i'm too small to be a mighty anything, let alone a warrior. ❜ rickon scowls at the memory of the teasing he'd endured when he'd proclaimed his desire to his eldest brother and his persistent shadow. robb had been more encouraging, elbowing theon for his laughter, though even that had felt more placating than sincere. ❛ and bran wants to be a knight, but there are no knights in the north. ❜ here, he pauses, tilts his head thoughtfully, his brow furrowing. ❛ except for you and rodrik. why are you a knight, hagen? i thought you followed the old way, like us. ❜

She looked from the man beside her to the field ahead. Tomorrow, with the first light of day, it would be filled with the cries of the dying, nurtured with their blood.

They were gathered at her side - her trustworthy valkyries, that she had led so far to foreign shores and foreign battles, and the men of Burgundy. The men of Gunter and Hagen.

"I am sure the huns will stand in my way", she said it with a smirk, with the voice of a woman ready for the challenge. And if truth be told she was, ready to pick up her sword again, to fight an enemy some deemed unbeatable, to prove herself once more. The sting of her last defeat - her only defeat - could still be felt with every breath she took, as if his sword was locked into her heart, a sharp edge cutting deeper and deeper with every day she spend in this wretched place.

And now she even asked her own kin to give their lives to protect this place. Offered them glory in a battle that was not theirs to fight Brunhilde felt as if the whole world was standing in her way that very day, her beliefs, her longings, her husband.

"But I am not scared by that. And I will not be scared if their lines are from here to the horizon. I have come to this place to fight and that is what I intend to do, with someone in my way or not", she looked at him once more, "But you are no different, are you? You are not a man of fears, not in battle at least. And you do not strike me as a man that allows any obstacles to grow in his path. Is that not why the king thinks of you so highly?"

She had watched and listened for days, trying to understand the small undertones in conversation, the enemies Siegfried had already made at court, and that now looked to her - their queen, the stranger brought home to them - with distrust.

though ever since he heard that earth - shattering scream she'd let out that very day, something in him has been corrupted. and it is as if that part of him tries more and more to doubt his king's decisions. it had felt as if that scream had marked the end of something. something beside the life that she has known.

“ it has been a place of uncertainty and fear for a long time. ” her tone makes him slightly nervous, but he navigates around her question with an answer that he hopes will satisfy her. and if not that, then at least make her understand why there is a need for all of this. “ and we couldn't be more grateful for what you are willing to do for it. you have the power to end that period of fear. ”

he wants to apologize to her. but that would just be a confession of his guilt. and so he can only give her the same look he has been giving her since the moment she'd let out that agonizing scream — a wide open eye filled with pity and a guilt so heavy that it makes it turn to the ground in shame again, unable to hold her gaze longer than a heartbeat. whenever it isn't absolutely necessary.

She doesn't answer the question directly, but she begins to lead Brunhild down a narrow hallway. The woman is in luck. Selah was already tugging on her cloak and readying her gloves. "These hallways can be quite confusing." She doesn't remember her early days in the monastery well, but she knows she got lost a handful of times.

"Will you still be with us in spring?" she asks. She knows they are safeguarding her for the time being, but that is all she knows about the woman's situation or how long she'll be in the monastery. "Spring is beautiful here. Our garden comes to life."

He nodded his head so quickly in understanding, that his long locks hadn't a clue what to do with themselves and simply flailed about his broad shoulders. Even had he not understood, he would have nodded anyways. The ire of this man was not something the giant wished to invoke — nor indeed ever be on the wrong side of.