Blood Moon - Ned your help

"Good thinking," Floki agreed, taking them off and passing them to him before heading in.

----
"And you are both okay with this?"

He put them somewhere out of the way, watching the scene.

Astrid was happily dancing with her sister, before she was pulled into the crowd by Thora who got them both a drink.

"No but what choice do we have?" Ragnar asked.

"You say no, he choices another families daughters to force into an arranged marriage." Freya mumbled.

---
He passed them a drink each before they managed to find one themselves. "Ladies."

Cedric tilted his head to the side as he watched.

Astrid turned to look at him. "Oh, thank you." She smiled warmly as she took the drink.

"Thank you."
______

"Have you tried denying the chief?"

"Anything for birthday girls," Floki hummed. "May I ask you both to join me for a dance?"

---
"No, he and I don't really speak."

Astrid looked to her sister and she nodded. "Yeah sure."
_____

"Believe me it's not a. Good idea."

"Great," Floki grinned, resting a hand on each of their waists and guiding them back to the dance floor.

"Look at this guy, touching her," Cedric muttered to Eadgar in annoyance.

----
"Are you speaking from experince?"

He smiled. "Cool it friend, Astrid is loyal she won't stray."

Astrid looked to Thora as they were guided onto the dance floor and the sisters started dancing.
____

"unfortunately."

"I know that, doesn't mean I don't want to make him see stars though." Cedric mumbled.

Floki grinned and danced with them both, spending individual dancing time with the both of them.

----
"Enlighten me?" Freya whispered.

Astrid and Thora seemed. To be focused on each other as they danced, dancing with each other and him.
_____

"My wife and I were not meant to get married, it wasn't what the chieftain chose for us."

"Right," Freya hummed, "So, obviously you went against him. What did he do?"

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"Now, both of you, do let me in on something about yourself. What is the thing you desire the most in the world?"

"Banished us, my mother begged his forgiveness for us to return when she found out she was pregnant with our first child."

"You bent the knee to save her life." Ragnar told him.
______

"Adventure." Thora told him.

"Love." Astrid told him.

"Why can you not have them both at the same time?" Floki hummed.

Cedric dropped his empty drink and got to his feet, going through the crowd to get more, maming sure he walked through the centre of the dancing area so his fingers could brush against the back of Astrid's hand.

---
"Your on good terms with him now though, and you ended up being happy with your wife before she was taken so I don't see how it is such a tradegy to say no to him."

Astrid glanced towards him when she felt his fingers brush her hand.

"A woman sacrifices love for adventure and advneture for love." Thora told him.
_____

"She wasn't happy here."

"I know of many shieldmaidens who have love and adventure. Perhaps you both need to see the world more, or speak to more people. I can do that for both of you." Floki hummed, frowning when he noticed who Astrid was looking at. "Who is that?"

----
"Then you both had ample oppurtunity to leave. No one is forced to do anything or stay anywhere; to leave yes, but not to stay or do things unless they are slave." Freya hummed. "I am surprised you of all people let yourself be pushed around Mikael," she glanced over her shoulder at Ragnar, smirking playfully; "You, on the other hand, let me push you around plenty so it does not surprise me so much."

"Our honorary brother, he's quite protective."
______

"Mikael wife used to be a slave." Ragnar told her quietly.

"If you loved her so much, and she wished to leave whilst you were married you could of allowed it... Or gone with her. There are always solutions."

---
"A dirty slave with a big ego then." Floki muttered.

"Freya, maybe you should drop it?" Ragnar asked, though the way he phrased it showed that she should really stop.
________

"No he's family." Thora told him.

"So if you want to talk to us, you be nice to our family." Astrid told him before she and Thora walked away.

"Are you at least going to warn the poor girls that you have both agreed to parade them in front of a man like cattle before a sacrifice, or did the scary chief say no to that too?" Freya replied with an eyeroll as she stood up, looking to Ragnar as she added, "It is good to learn it now about you that the Chieftans word is law above even your family. If you can allow this to happen to your sisters then I can only imagine what you would allow to happen to me if it was ever asked of you."

---
Floki smirked as he watched them leave, heading back outside and humming to the Chieftan. "I would like the blonde."

"I thought you would have gone for the red haired, she seemed more your type."
______

Ragnar sighed. "Freya be serious, the chieftain knows that we don't want this for our sisters."

"Yet you still agreed to it. The chieftan is out for the bigger picture and everyone else is simply a means to end." She stated. "Besides, I am being serious. I am not stupid, Ragnar, your family comes first and then it is I, and if you are allowing someone to treat your family this way then how would you allow someone to treat me?"

---
"I've made my choice."

"We will tell Astrid and Thora when it's not their birthday."
____

He nodded. "Then I suggest you enjoy the rest of the party and come back to me in the morning so that we can talk to her brothers."

"I needn't return to the party, I will return in the morning though."

----
Freya just shrugged, getting to her feet and walking away to get herself a drink.

Ragnar walked over to Thora and Eadgar.

Astrid had gone to find Cedric.

Cedric turned around when he hward her approaching from behind him, smiling warmly. "Well, he didnt seem very nice, mm?"

----
As soon as she spotted Mikael alone, Hasley apporached. Resting a hand on his shoulder that the crowd couldn't see and whispering in his ear. "Your not celebrating with them all?"