( ➳ ) ── 𝐴 𝐷𝐼𝐹𝐹𝐸𝑅𝐸𝑁𝑇 𝐿𝐼𝐹𝐸

[direwolf.]

a viking 1x1 between ` pearl and direwolf.

[direwolf.]

𝑃𝑅𝐼𝑁𝐶𝐸𝑆𝑆 𝑂𝐷𝐼𝐿𝐼𝐴

female | eighteen | princess of wessex
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daughter of ecgberht, king of wessex. she has a
brother, Æthelwulf, and a sister, eadgyth. she i
-s the youngest child of the three children.

while typically girly and enjoying dresses, she d
-oes have a bit of a wild side. she enjoys sneaki
-ng around her kingdom and trying to blend in w
-th the common folk to see the normal life. she
is known to sneak away from her guards. she is
rather stealthy and light on her feet. she tries t
-o live her life to the fullest despite being a pri
-ncess and stuck doing princess-y things.

she has long brown hair, dark brown eyes, fair s
kin, and slight hourglass figure. stands at 5'4" ft.
────────────────────────────────

[`sappho]

name: saga andersdatter.
nickname: shewolf by the other vikings.
gender: female.
age: eighteen years old.
height: 5'11".

personality: intelligent, passionate, determin-
ed, loyal, self-assured, hardworking, anxious,
obsessive, snappy, takes a lot of risks, overly
protective, hides her emotions.
history: saga was born in norway and her fat-
her is the earl of orkney and is the most pow-
erful man below the king. saga was the second
born in her family, having an older brother na-
med arne. since her father already had an heir
when she was born, she was not his highest pr-
iority. she was expected to learn the arts that
most women would learn. needlework, healing,
and caring for children were meant to be her
priority. however, saga was never really interes-
ted in those pursuits. thankfully, her father allo-
wed her to learn what she wanted to. so she be-
gan to work on her swordfighting, horse riding,
and even learn how to navigate and sail. now t-
hat the vikings are at war with the kingdoms of
england, saga had traveled from orkney to dane-
law in order to help her father conquer the engl-
ish lands and pillage villages in the countryside.
sexuality: bisexual.
crush: no one.
significant other: no one.
faceclaim: olga kurylenko.

[`sappho]

xxxthe sun was just beginning to shine through the green trees as a large party of vikings rode through the forest. the northmen had their faces painted, axes and swords strapped to them. they looked more like they were riding into battle than into a peace meeting. saga was atop her mare, humming the popular tone "i dreamt a dream last night" quietly to herself. "she's humming that damned song again," a gruff voice said with a chuckle. saga turned to the man beside her, her father's righthand man, egil, and rolled her eyes. "do you have another song in mind? or something to do that's more interesting? we've been riding for hours, let me have my fun," she shot back with a grin. "quiet," another husky voice growled from behind her. "sorry, ander," egil responded, the joking tone having left his voice. "we need to focus on the task at hand. this is our opportunity to make peace with the englishmen, we must get this right," ander huffed. saga's father had always been prickly. he was always focused "on the task at hand" and he never wanted to play around or make jokes. it was one of the things about her father that saga couldn't stand. sure, she was hardworking too, but there was always some room for fun.

xxxthe forest finally started to fall away beside them and they were suddenly in the rolling hills. she knew they must be getting close to the meeting point. that was confirmed when saga spotted smoke over an upcoming hill. the vikings made it to the edge of the hill and saw many tents planted in the valley below. it looked like there was a whole army at the camp. it did make saga a bit nervous because if the king of wessex decided now that he wanted to be rid of them, he would have a huge advantage. the northmen rode down the hill until they reached the opening of the camp. they all began to ride into the camp towards the biggest tent where the king would be. "stop! pagans, halt!" one of the guards shouted. they just ignored him and stopped their horses just outside of the tent, waiting to be escorted inside.

[direwolf.]

x
𝑂𝐷𝐼𝐿𝐼𝐴
xx
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female.xxeighteen.xxprincess of wessex.
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xxxxxShe was not looking forward to this day. Odilia had such a short time to mentally prepare herself for what was to come. Her father had suggested that she be used as the key for bringing peace between the Kingdom of Wessex and these.. savages. She was put in such a difficult position, and there was no way that she could say no to this. To say no, she would be condemning so many lives of her people. However, by saying yes, she would be shipped off to live with these savages and rarely see her family, if at all. That is, of course, if the vikings agreed to the proposal. She prayed that the vikings would refuse to accept her as part of the deal but keep the other part of the offer. She knew this was just wishful thinking.

xxxxxShe had spent that morning painstakingly taking her time to prepare herself for the meeting with these vikings. The maids were trying to rush her as she was taking so long, but it was almost like she was in a trance. So many thoughts swirled around in her head. Would she survive in the harsh lands that the vikings lived on? She did not know how they lived. Did they even live in houses? She never cared to learn about the history of these savages, but she would be living with them if they chose to agree with her father's proposal. She could not see why they would not agree. They would be receiving land, after all.

xxxxxAfter an early meal, she joined her father, mother, and brother to their large tent where they would be facing the vikings. Not too much long after, she heard voices outside the tent. Her blood ran cold at the shouts, worried that the vikings had invaded by the tone of the guards' voice. However, it seemed like they had come peacefully, or as peaceful as a viking could. She sat with confidence even though fear ate away at her. Under the table, she gripped her mother's hand.

xxxxxOne of their guards had left the tent to guide the small group of vikings within. Once they had entered, her father rose to his feet with a smile (somewhat forced) and arms spread. "Good morning, my friends. I am glad to see that you have made it. Would you care for a drink while we discuss our terms?" He questioned, waving a hand for a servant to bring forth their best wine while he gestured for the vikings to sit across from them at the large table, so they could discuss.

xxxxxBringing her goblet of wine to her lips, the princess silently gazed at the savages across from her. She did not know which was the man who she would be marrying. Would he be kind? Perhaps he would ignore her all together which she would be fine with. She only had to marry him, not fall in love. Her eye caught a woman among the group of vikings; it was odd to her to see a woman dressed for war. She could only assume the face paint was for war as she did not know their customs.

xxxxx"I would like to offer you the land that you wish. ..As well as my youngest daughter to marry to your son. I think this would show our strength and friendship, and the other kingdoms will see that your people can be reasoned with. If you show that you can follow some of our customs, I believe the other kingdoms will feel more comfortable." The king spoke, clearing his throat slightly. To her right, Odilia noticed her brother's grip tighten around his goblet. She knew that her brother did not agree with this union. "In return, your people will stop pillaging my lands, and you will come to our aid if we are to be attacked." The king continued, offering a smile after he had finished.

[`sappho]

xxxone of the few people that wasn't present in the band of vikings was one of the most important people for this meeting. saga's brother, arne, who was supposed to always be with their father to watch him in diplomatic matters. one day, he would be the earl and their father loved to remind him of this. however, arne had been called back to the homeland, norway. he was actually going to meet the king, which made saga fairly jealous of her brother. saga had only ever been to norway in her childhood before her father become the earl. when she was young, she, her mother, her brother, and her father had all moved to orkney. of course, she knew that norway was her true homeland but all she really remembered was the islands that she had grown up on. the tall cliffs and freezing waters. her father had told her that it reminded him of norway, if the snow wasn't there for most of the year. some of the northmen made fun of her because she had never been to norway but she thought that was ridiculous. how would she have gotten there? her father would hardly ever let her out of his sight, especially when she had begun to learn how to fight. well, now she was finally going to get her chance to go to norway, after this peace meeting, of course. as long as her father didn't decide to continue his pillaging of the english kingdoms then he had promised to take her to meet with the king herself. it seemed like a great deal to her.

xxxsaga marched into the large tent beside her father. behind her, all of the men of her father's war council trailed. they were fairly intimidating to the english, towering over them. even saga was taller than most of the soldiers she had seen. immediately in front of all of them was a long table. saga could see two men covered in expensive-looking fabrics and jewels, one looking much older than the other. she grinned. those were the men who were the easiest to kill. there were also two ladies who sat beside the men silently. she narrowed her eyes, wondering why the king had brought these women. she had never seen an english woman be allowed into a wartime meeting. when the king stood from his chair and made his way over to them, saga tried to figure out what he was saying. she had learned some english but not enough to pick out what he was blabbering about. thankfully, the vikings had brought with them a young monk, aelfnoth, who they had kidnapped away from a monastery. this man had stayed with them long enough that he had become like family. he wore his hair long, had a sword, and even had a talisman of thor around his neck. he also knew both norse and english. he began to translate to her father. all of the vikings stayed silent, waiting for ander. he nodded and picked up a goblet of wine. his men followed. saga shrugged and grabbed a goblet for herself, wondering if they would be permitted to take the golden cups with them.

xxxshe wondered for a moment if the wine might be poisoned but came to the same conclusion as her father. what king would be such a coward to poison his enemies at a peace conference. the king began to talk again and aelfnoth began to translate. saga was able to catch something about keeping their land and also something about his youngest daughter. the vikings were silent, some of them look like they wanted to disagree and as for more. however, ander nodded. "yes, that should be enough to satisfy our requirements. we will keep danelaw and our two families will become one," he agreed in his deep voice. aelfnoth began to translate back to the king. "we will take the girl with us after she bid farewell to her family and our armies will be told to call of their pillaging," he continued. if she were being honest, saga felt bad for the girl. she knew that she could very easily be put into the same situation.

[direwolf.]

x
𝑂𝐷𝐼𝐿𝐼𝐴
xx
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female.xxeighteen.xxprincess of wessex.
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xxxxxHer father smiled as the vikings accepted his proposal. However, all she felt was the sinking feeling in her stomach. She was doing a good thing for her people, but it was costing her freedom, home, family.. the list continued. She would be throwing her life away to live with these.. beasts. "Wonderful! I am glad we have come to an agreement. May our families become one." The king spoke, stretching an arm out toward the viking earl to clasp his arm in a sign of peace and agreement.
xxxxx"Ah, where is your son? I was hoping to have a ceremony here, but if he is not here then no matter. I will ask a priest to bless their marriage anyway." He added, briefly looking to his daughter who was simply watching without a word. The king did not seem to realize that his daughter would be leaving so soon, especially without a traditional wedding. However, it seemed like he would move past that obstacle in favor of shooing the vikings out of his kingdom as soon as possible.
xxxxxDeciding that she needed to speak, Odilia internally sighed before rising to her feet. She dipped low with her head bowed in a curtsy to the vikings. "My name is Odilia. I am honored to join your family." She spoke but even those words, those lies, left a bitter taste in her mouth. The princess tried to see the bright side of things. She always wished to be outside these walls and explore. This was giving her the opportunity to do just that. She would be on a boat, something that she had never been on, and see new lands. Could this be a blessing in disguise? She was not sure how much freedom she would have, but it had to be more than what she had now. She was stuck within the courtyard or her room or somewhere in the palace while her brother was able to go as he pleased; it was not fair. She had many luxuries as a princess, but she did not have the freedom that she wanted.
xxxxxHonestly, she was not sure what to pack. She had so many things, but she knew that she would not to bring it all. Not everything in her wardrobe would be taken. Some clothes, books, a Bible.. She could not think of much else. She could bring some jewelry, but she immediately came to the conclusion that someone would eventually take those shiny things from her. How could she uproot her whole life, the only thing that she knew, and move it far away to a strange land with strange people?

[`sappho]

xxxaelfnoth continued to translate back and forth between the two kings and saga continued to try and figure out what was going on from the very little she could hear coming from the ex-monk's mouth. she felt some pity for the princess what was being sold off by her father to make peace. she knew that could easily be her fate if her father ever needed to make a peace arrangement like this. she honestly felt bad for her brother as well. arne had never asked to be married either and he was not even going to meet his wife until the day that they would be married. she was starting to feel very lucky about her place. "my son, arne, is in norway by order of our king. he will come back to orkney as soon as odin wills it," ander grumbled. aelfnoth looked like he was ready to be finished with translating. "my lord, the king would like to have the marriage blessed before we leave," aelfnoth explained to ander. he huffed. "fine, let their priest and false god bless the wedding, we will leave when it is done," he said, starting to get a bit irritated. the monk translated but in a much kinder manner, telling the king that earl was fine with the marriage being blessed without arne.

xxxwhen the princess spoke, saga flipped her head towards the other girl. aelfnoth translated and ander simply nodded to the lady in acknowledgment. it was obvious that, for him, this had nothing to do with the princess and his son and everything to do with the future of his people and their ability to use danelaw. saga decided that she wanted to talk to the other girl. "heil ok sæl," she said to the other girl in a greeting. "saga, in english they say 'hello'," he instructed her. "hallo," she said slowly, trying to repeat his words. "ek heiti saga andersdatter," she said to the princess. "she says that her name is saga, the daughter of ander," the monk told odilia. if this woman was going to marry her brother, she wanted to at least get to know her. she could already tell that the language barrier was going to be a bit of a problem. she decided that she was going to try to use some of the english she had picked up. while she was trying to think of something to say, she saw a large book in the luggage that the princess had brought with her. she walked over to the pile and pointed at the huge book. "this?" she questioned. saga had no seen many books in her life, she had only seen them when she was on raids because the norse hardly ever wrote and when they did, it was usually carved into stones.