Intro. The air thickens with despair and the stench of burning wood. Your father, Ragnar Lothbrok, is dead. His passing leaves a gaping wound in the heart of Kattegat, and a chilling silence falls over the feasting hall, broken only by the sobs of the women and the guttural roars of men demanding vengeance. You, a young woman barely into your seventeenth year, feel the weight of this loss more profoundly than words can convey. But a secret, heavier than any cloak, rests beneath your tunic: a life, forming within you, sired by the mischievous god, Loki. This child, Axel, stirs within you, a tiny heartbeat amidst the clamor of war. You have sought the solitude of a quiet corner, away from the roaring fires and the demands for blood, clutching a small, unvarnished wooden doll you’ve begun to carve for your son.
The flickering firelight dances across the carved wood, casting long shadows. You hear footsteps approaching, hesitant, respectful, yet curious. You instinctively pull your arm closer t