Chapter 21: The Return to Kattegat
They crested the hill overlooking Kattegat at midday, fifty mounted warriors arrayed behind them like a declaration of independence made manifest, and Paul took vicious satisfaction in watching Ragnar's face transform as he understood exactly what he was seeing.
"Not refugees returning for mercy. Not supplicants seeking favor. Equals coming to negotiate."
The town had grown during their absence—new buildings rising from the wealth of successful raids, expanded docks accommodating larger fleets, the general prosperity that flowed from Ragnar's increasingly legendary status. But Paul's attention focused on the great hall where Ragnar waited, flanked by Aslaug and their infant son Ivar, surrounded by the political theater that turned homecomings into public demonstrations of power.
Paul and Lagertha dismounted before the hall with ceremonial precision, their warriors maintaining formation in a display that spoke to discipline and resources. The crowd that gathered carried the particular energy of people witnessing drama that would be discussed in taverns for months afterward.
"The ex-wife returns with her new husband, both wearing jarl's arm rings and commanding forces that look disturbingly professional."
Ragnar emerged from the hall with careful composure, but Paul could see the calculations running behind those pale blue eyes—assessing threat levels, evaluating political implications, measuring the cost of choices made in anger against the reality of consequences he hadn't anticipated.
"Lagertha," Ragnar said formally, his voice carrying to every ear in the gathering. "You've been missed."
His gaze flicked to Paul with something that might have been respect mixed with irritation. "And the seer returns, now wearing jarl's arm rings."
The tone remained carefully neutral, but Paul heard the subtext clearly—you were supposed to fade into irrelevance, not return as a peer.
"We've built something in the north," Paul replied with equal formality. "Independent. Allied to Kattegat, but not subordinate."
"There it is. Thrown directly in his face—I have what you discarded, and I made it stronger."
Ragnar's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, but his nod carried the acknowledgment of political reality. "Then welcome, allies."
Aslaug stood beside him, visibly pregnant again, her eyes tracking between Lagertha and Paul with the cold calculation of someone evaluating threats to her position. She radiated the particular hostility that came from understanding that her predecessor's continued success made her own elevation feel less like victory and more like lateral movement.
"And there's my new enemy. Because I represent everything that threatens her narrative about being an upgrade rather than a replacement."
The formal greeting concluded with all the diplomatic courtesy that barely concealed mutual wariness. Paul and Lagertha were assigned guest quarters befitting allied rulers, their warriors given proper accommodation, their status as independent equals officially acknowledged through the ancient rituals that made political arrangements feel like divine mandate.
But the real conversation came afterward, when Aslaug approached them privately with the particular smile that preceded carefully delivered insults.
"You think bringing warriors makes you equals?" she said quietly, her voice carrying just enough sweetness to make the venom more effective. "You're guests in Ragnar's hall."
Lagertha's response came with the temperature of midwinter ice. "We're allies who chose to come. Guests can leave whenever they wish."
Paul added his own contribution to the diplomatic exchange. "We rule territory Ragnar doesn't control. That makes us valuable, not subordinate."
Aslaug's eyes promised future revenge, the particular enmity of someone who understood that Paul represented everything dangerous to her position—proof that Lagertha remained relevant, evidence that Ragnar's "upgrade" hadn't been necessary, demonstration that competent men still chose his ex-wife over newer alternatives.
Paul activated Success Rate Analysis while maintaining his expression of polite attention.
[QUERY: PROBABILITY OF ASLAUG ATTEMPTING TO UNDERMINE OUR POSITION]
[RESULT: 89%]
[FACTORS: THREATENED STATUS (HIGH), OPPORTUNISTIC NATURE (CONFIRMED), RAGNAR'S DIVIDED ATTENTION (GROWING CONCERN), POLITICAL NECESSITY (ELIMINATE RIVALS)]
[MANA COST: 2 MP - REMAINING: 27/29]
Eighty-nine percent. Enemy for life, as expected.
"Watch her," Paul murmured to Lagertha as Aslaug departed with promises of hospitality that felt more like threats. "She'll strike when she can."
The evening brought the conversation Paul had been anticipating since they'd departed the north. Ragnar found him alone in the guest quarters, arriving with the particular directness of someone who'd run out of patience for diplomatic evasion.
"You left me for her," Ragnar said without preamble.
Paul met his former patron's gaze without flinching. "You left her first. I just had the sense to pick up what you dropped."
"Is that what you tell yourself? That this is about honor?"
"No. It's about choice. I chose her. You chose..." Paul gestured vaguely toward where Aslaug held court with visiting jarls, "whatever that represents."
The tension between them crackled like lightning before a storm, years of shared danger and mutual respect warring with the bitter taste of perceived betrayal. But then Ragnar laughed—a sound bitter as winter wind but carrying genuine amusement.
"You've become more ruthless than I expected," Ragnar said with something approaching admiration. "Good. I need that for what's coming."
"And here it comes. The reason for the summons, the campaign that will define everything that follows."
"Paris," Ragnar continued, his voice dropping to the tone he used for sharing secrets that could reshape kingdoms. "The largest campaign ever attempted. Every capable leader, every ship that can sail, every warrior who dreams of wealth beyond imagining."
Paul felt his pulse quicken with recognition. Paris—the siege that nearly broke Ragnar, the campaign that established him as legend while costing more than victory should require. The historical moment where his knowledge of future events would matter most.
"You're offering us command positions?" Paul asked.
"I'm offering you the chance to be part of something that will be remembered for centuries. The question is whether you're still angry enough to refuse."
Paul considered the implications—returning to Ragnar's service, reentangling himself in the political web that had driven him north, risking everything he and Lagertha had built for the sake of historical necessity.
"But Paris is crucial. Canon event that I can't afford to miss, especially if I want to protect the people I care about."
"We'll consider it," Paul said finally.
That night, as Kattegat settled into the particular quiet that came after dramatic reunions, Paul and Lagertha lay in their guest quarters discussing the future with the careful analysis of people whose decisions would determine the fate of everyone who followed them.
"He's changed," Lagertha observed. "Harder. More desperate."
"Success does that to some people. They keep raising the stakes because they can't imagine any other way to feel alive."
"What about us? Do we follow him to Paris?"
Paul stared at the ceiling, weighing personal desire against historical necessity and the responsibilities that came with supernatural knowledge.
"Yes," he said finally. "But on our terms, as equals. We're not his followers anymore—we're his allies. There's a difference."
"A difference that will matter when the siege turns ugly and choices have to be made about who lives and who dies."
Outside their window, Kattegat slept under stars that had witnessed the rise and fall of countless ambitious men. Paul closed his eyes and tried not to think about how many of those men had believed they could control their own destinies right up until the moment history swept them away.
[SYSTEM POINTS EARNED: 100]
[TOTAL SYSTEM POINTS: 1,825]
[RELATIONSHIP STATUS: RAGNAR - FORMER PATRON → WARY ALLY]
[RELATIONSHIP STATUS: ASLAUG - NEUTRAL → ENEMY]
[NEXT PHASE: PARIS CAMPAIGN PREPARATION]
Tomorrow would bring planning sessions and strategic discussions and all the careful diplomacy required to navigate an alliance with someone who'd learned to see betrayal in every gesture of independence.
But tonight, Paul allowed himself the satisfaction of returning to Kattegat as Lagertha's equal rather than Ragnar's follower, knowing that whatever came next, he'd chosen correctly even when that choice had led somewhere more dangerous than safety would have allowed.
"Not even slightly. Watching Ragnar pretend he doesn't care was worth the entire trip."
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