Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 28 Dinner Party
"An explanation?" Vig picked up the fallen gold candlestick, glanced at the exquisite painted patterns on the walls on either side, and replied casually:

"In a war, some prisoners will always fall into the hands of the other side. Perhaps Elrod will capture a few Vikings and interrogate them to find out where the fleet is stored, and that's about it."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Eric threatened menacingly. "Someone covets the crown of Northumbria and deliberately leaked the fleet's location to lure the enemy into burning it, forcing over two thousand Vikings to stay and fight. If this news gets out, how many people do you think will believe it?"

When they set out from Gothenburg, there were 3,500 Vikings; after months of fighting, only a little over 2,000 remained. Eric predicted that once this despicable lie was exposed, the vast majority of Vikings would stand by him.

“Ragnar Rosbroek, ‘Boneless’ Ivar, and you, ‘Chosen’ Vig, I know you are famous. But unfortunately, even the greatest fame cannot save you.”

Eric gestured several times, "Knowing the truth, how many people would be willing to stand behind you? One hundred? Two hundred? Or three hundred?"

"More than these."

Vig pointed towards the camp outside the city. "You forgot about the 2,700 prisoners in the camp. I had Niels' men take over the warehouse, ready to issue them weapons at any time. The prisoners don't care who provided the fleet's location; they only know that you intend to kill them all, while Ragnar has been protecting them. If a firefight breaks out, which side do you think the prisoners will stand on?"

Is this person crazy?

King Eric was utterly astonished to discover that Vig was plotting to win over the Anglo-Saxons against their Viking kin.

"Good, good, so it was all premeditated. It seems you are better suited to be cunning and despicable Anglo-Saxons."

Vig: "Premeditated? How much better are you yourself? When we're all in this together, it's either you scheming against me or I scheming against you. Back then, the throne of Oslo was inherited by your brother, and legend has it that he was bewitched by an evil spirit and jumped off a cliff one day. Perhaps the so-called evil spirit never existed, and it was just an excuse from some good brother."

"Vigg, ​​shut up." Seeing Eric rendered speechless by his teasing, Ragnar stepped forward and put his arm around Eric's shoulder.

“Eric, we are family. Sora is your beloved sister and my dearest wife. I don’t know how heartbroken she would be if she heard that her brother and husband had killed each other.”

Using his wife to bridge the gap between the two, Ragnar suggested continuing their cooperation, with Eric returning to Oslo to become King of Norway, and himself remaining in York to become King of Northumbria, so that everyone could have a bright future.

"Cooperate or fight it out? It's all up to you."

As night fell, amidst many concerned gazes, Eric and Ragnar emerged from York Minster, their arms around each other's shoulders, beaming with smiles, like the closest of brothers.

“To Ragnar, the great Viking hero, no one but him is worthy to be King of Northumbria.” Eric raised the other’s right hand, publicly acknowledging his right to rule.

In return, Ragnar shouted at the top of his lungs, "To Erik, the unique ruler of the Norwegian region, may Odin bless his family."

Behind the two, in the cathedral, Vig stood in the shadows, quietly observing the noisy crowd with a deep gaze.

As expected, the crucial next step was the distribution of spoils. Having planned and participated in this extremely dangerous gamble, he hoped to secure a satisfactory share of the spoils. In the palace, where large pools of blood remained, the Viking army's middle and high-ranking officials held a grand victory banquet. The nobles indulged in the delicacies, but avoided their usual favorite wines and meads.

Clearly, they were all looking forward to the next meeting and dared not let alcohol cloud their judgment.

The candlelight flickered, and everyone seemed to be whispering. Their shadows were cast on the walls on either side, baring their teeth and changing unpredictably, like demons from hell.

Vig sat calmly at the center of the long table on the right, as he had stayed by the church to listen to the negotiations between the two kings. Many people gathered around to inquire about the future of the land.

"I don't know, and I have no right to interfere." He kept his mouth shut, not even revealing anything to Ivar, his closest confidant.

At that moment, a slender, fair-skinned Anglo-Saxon nobleman dressed in a black linen robe entered the hall. Ivar recognized him immediately, "Pascal?"

Noticing the ill-intentioned gazes of the crowd, Pascal straightened the sapphire brooch on his chest, slowly walked to the front of the throne, knelt on one knee, and swore allegiance to Ragnar as the new king of Northumbria.

After the ceremony, Ragnar helped the man to his feet and introduced him to the crowd, “Pascal, the hereditary lord of Tiss, is well-versed in the affairs of Northumbria. I intend to appoint him as Chancellor of the Exchequer.”

Amidst numerous anxious glances, the two kings led Pascal to a room on the right side of the hall. After they left, the whispers at the table quickly escalated into a dispute, especially among the seven surviving nobles.

As stakeholders in this raid, they contributed manpower and resources, and even faced extremely high risks to their lives. Now that the matter has come to a head, the two kings have bypassed them and entered a secret chamber for a private meeting, preferring to bring a newly surrendered Anglo-Saxon rather than trust their Viking kin, showing absolutely no regard for human relationships.

“This Anglo dwarf is skinny and pale; he probably can’t even beat a shield maiden. Why should he be the Chancellor of the Exchequer!” Leonard slammed his wine glass on the table repeatedly, angrily rebuking the two kings for breaking the rules.

“That’s right,” Ulf said, gnawing on a pig’s trotter. “And he’ll even keep the hereditary territory of Tiss. By the way, where exactly is Tiss? Could it be in the southern region?”

Throughout the island of Britain, the terrain becomes rugged and the climate colder further north, while the lands in the south are flat and fertile, thus attracting the attention of many nobles. This is especially true of Mancourney, Leeds, Sheffield, and the lands near the Humber estuary.

The nobles perked up immediately at the mention of hereditary lands, and Leonard presented his contributions to prove that he was worthy of Manchuni, a settlement with stone walls.

"When we set out, my territory brought a total of 320 men, including 40 sets of iron armor and 70 bows and arrows."

From this moment on, the previously meager celebratory atmosphere vanished, and the conflict was laid bare. Some claimed to have provided ten longships, while others boasted of providing five thousand arrows. Each of the seven had their own version of events, and none were willing to back down in the slightest.

The nobles were vying for power, and those who had not yet risen to the top were even more anxious. Niels clung to Vig, constantly asking Ragnar and the other two what they were doing in the secret room.

“What else can we do? As an outsider, Ragnar’s primary task is to find out the general situation in Northumbria,” Vig frowned, repeatedly stroking his chin with his right hand. “It will probably take a long time, so let’s wait patiently.”

(End of this chapter)