The truth and plots were unraveling, the world was vast but this came with secrets.
Secrets unknown to most for forces lurked that far exceeded their expectations.
King Rugalf had gone quiet, he was busy securing the future of his Kingdom.
They had enemies but Rugalf had no intentions of calling the attention of Ragnar Lothbrok because settling this himself was a great way to show Ragnar that he was capable of protecting his people.
Besides, Ragnar had problems he was handling.
Rugalf was in contact with Iceland or was it more accurate to say that Iceland had been conquered and turned into a militarized kingdom?
Rugalf thought nothing about it but he heard a name that worried him.
King Rugalf had quite a big family, having eight brothers but three had been killed by the person that was responsible for the conquest of Iceland.
"King Rugalf, your brother has requested for you!" A man called out, he was dressed in tattered clothing showing he was of a low status but this did not stop him from addressing King Rugalf.
"Which of my brothers?" Rugalf questioned, and the man looked hesitant to say the name prompting Rugalf to sigh, he knew just who it was.
"It is Frøygard, isn't it?" Rugalf asked and the man confirmed by nodding.
Frøygard was the most troublesome of his brothers, he was a drunk that was taken as a joke among his peers.
Rugalf, however, cared about his siblings and would do anything for them.
Rugalf was reluctant to go see him now, he had a kingdom to rule and he could not do that if he was babysitting his siblings.
"Go and fetch him…" Rugalf ordered, surely he did not expect him to leave what he was doing and come to him.
"King Rugalf, he is in no state to come here…' The man said, but Rugalf did not need to say another word before the man rephrased his words.
"He is currently… indisposed, my king." The man said and Rugalf sighed, but he reluctantly got up and journeyed to where his brother was.
His other brothers were not as troublesome as Frøygard, they were mostly responsible and had a life outside of their brother.
He arrived at his cabin and all he could hear were moans and groans within the building.
Judging from Rugalf's face, this was a familiar occurrence as he knocked on the door and the moans soon stopped.
King Rugalf, like most people, had a soft side for his family and it showed by how he interacted with his brothers.
"Frøygard!" Rugalf called out and the whispers and murmurs followed behind the door, hasty movements could be heard before the back door soon shut.
"Come in brother…" Frøygard muttered, sounding sickly and weak.
Rugalf entered the room and saw his brother covered in a blanket from head to toe, feigning being sick.
"What is the meaning of this?" King Rugalf asked, and he was surprised that Frøygard would even attempt something this stupid, to begin with.
The stench of alcohol was prominent in the room, but this was not what bothered Rugalf.
*Brother… I have a favor to ask…" Frøygard muttered but Rugalf already knew what he wanted to ask.
"I am not giving you more money just so you can waste it on booze and women…" Rugalf shut him down before he even had the chance to ask.
"B-Brother, that is not why I wanted to see you…" Frøygard responded but both men knew he was full of shit because he had used this trick far too many times already allowing Rugalf to see through his ruse.
"Then why did you want to see me?" Rugalf asked as Frøygard popped his head out of the sheets.
Frøygard was a red-eyed young man in his early twenties, twenty-one to be precise but he looked to be in his mid-thirties thanks to his detrimental drinking 0⁰habits.
"I-I wanted to see how you were doing brother…" Frøygard responded in an unconvincing tone but Rugalf looked disappointed in his younger brother.
"When are you going to grow up, Frøygard?" Rugalf asked the all-important question.
But in Frøygard's defense, he was not always like this and this side of him only surfaced after he lost three of his brothers,
Everyone processed grief differently, and that was why Rugalf cut his brother some slack but it had been months now.
The thing that made this all the more painful was that they did not all fall in a single battle.
No, they all died in different battles against the same enemy, Rugalf kept his eyes on him because he did not know the consequences if he killed him as the enemy had made some rather powerful allies.
They eventually reached a ceasefire but Rugalf knew this was just a placeholder as the man had set his sight on Iceland
Now that he had conquered Iceland and expanded his power, it was only a matter of time before they set their eyes on Rogaland.
This man was named Ingólfur Arnarson, and he was a man that had not only conquered the land but also the sea.
They had developed a powerful presence on the sea because of how isolated Iceland was, this made Iceland virtually impregnable because of the strength on the sea but this could also make them an asset.
This was why Rugalf had made it a priority to uphold the fickle alliance they had.
He knew they could prove pivotal in their planned voyage to England.
But Rugalf knew he had to keep his brothers in check because they wanted blood for their fallen brothers.
"Brother…" Frøygard called out, but Rugalf had walked out of the door.
He had enough of Frøygard and his drunken tales because this was one of the things he knew would come to bite him in the ass later but he also knew his brothers were not open to the idea of a foreigner marrying into their family, potentially becoming his successor but Rugalf did not care.
It was a son of Ragnar, that name alone should secure their future and he was not going to pass up on the opportunity.
