Author's Note

Two chapters in one day!
Sorry for the length of this chapter. I thought it would be longer.
Also as you can see in the title this chapter will mostly focus on my OC character Juta and what was she doing when the rest of the characters went to Uppsala.

Juta

Myrus sat next to Ragnar, in the empty great hall. It was a beautiful day for those who could spend it outside.

"Every nine years, we travel to the temple at Uppsala." Ragnar began, "To give thanks to the gods, for what they have done. And to give the sacrifices."

He stopped for a moment.

"This year I was not going to go, for there is just too much to do." He continued, "Then my unborn son was cruelly taken from me. It had me thinking, what I had done to anger the gods. What do you Equestrian's do about such a loss?"

"The family members are in the grief, but all surrows passes." Myrus replied.

"In any case, I decided to go." Ragnar stated, "I will take the children for the first time. It is important that they go. Will you come with us."

"Me?" Myrus asked.

"I thought, maybe you want to stay here and worship your own god." Ragnar told him.

"No. I'll glady come with you." Myrus replied.

"Good.'' Ragnar smiled, "I would have taken you away."

The night before the journey, Gyda stumbled out of her bed. She ran into her in the great hall's maib room.

"Gyda what is it?" Lagertha asked, "Can you not sleep?"

"I'm bleeding." Gyda replied.

Lagertha smiled at her, "Then you are no longer a child." she explained, "You're a woman now.''

Lagertha and Gyda quickly cleaned the bed and Gyda was brought back to sleep.

In the morning everyone prepared themselves for the journey. Ragnar had told Juta, that she needs to stay here because one of his most trusted warriors to stay here to defend Kattegat in case if someone would try attack it and there had to be a trusted warrior of his stay and command Kattegat during his absence.

With everyone gone, Juta feared that she might be lonely quickly. Most of the days she spent with her husband or with her friends. She feared to be lonely because her parents were killed by bandits when she was a at Gyda's age.

She knew that as an orphan she wouldn't have have a good life so the decided to left her old village. She traveled for two weeks and one day she found herself on a beach not far from the city town Kattegat.

On this beach she met her husband Vigi who was training with his father. These two quickly became close friends and one day Vigi proposed to her and she happily accepted it.

In the evening, Juta went for a walk around the town. Although many had joined in the journey to Uppsala, the evenings in the town were still full of activity. Well, there were no feasts as usual, but there was always something to discover.

In Uppsala, the group of people that came there entered the temple. The priests had sprinkled everyone with the blood of sacrificed animals. Then, they split up, each moving to the statues of the gods, they needed to pray to.

"Frey, fill me with seed and make me conceive again." Lagertha prayed, "Do with me as you wish, make me blind or deaf, but give me a son."

On the other side of the temple, Ragnar prayed barely audible.

"Odin, Lord of Lord, Father." He began, "Let me understand your will. Is it really true that I shall have more sons? Accept the sacrifice I plan to offer you and tell me this.'' He leaned forward, making sure no one would hear him, "Who will bear me my sons?"

Juta walked through the streets and suddenly saw a little, crying outside a house. The girl was maybe Gyda's age. She had dirty blond hair and was clad in flithy woolen dress. Juta immediately recognized her as a slave.

"What is it?'' She asked the little girl.

"I let the fire go out.'' The girl sobbed, "And I don't know how to start it again. My master will be very angry.''

"Shh.'' Juta tried to calm her, ''It will be allright. Do you want me to show me how to start a fire."

The girl nodded with a hopeful glance in her eyes. They went into the house, where Juta knelt beside the fireplace in the middle of the room. She took the steel and flint stone from her pouch and showed it to the girl.

"You haven't told me your name, yet." Juta said.

"Ohh...I'm Thorunn.'' Thorunn replied, "And you don't need to tell me your name. I know who you are. Everyone in the town know you and your husband Vigi."

"Well, Thorunn, see the steal in my hand?" Juta instructed her, "I'm sure your master has one somewhere. In the other hand I'm holding a flint stone."

Juta struck the stone and the steel together and sparks flew in the air.

"Now we have to catch some of those sparks in the tinder." Juta explained.

She struck the stone and steel again a couple of times until finally, a small spark caught the material. It started to glow. Juta carefully blew it on, then added straw. As she went on, the fire kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it was big enough to be put in the fireplace. Then she added spans of wood and finally bigger wooden pieces. The fire began cracking as it started to fill the whole fireplace.

"I hope you will remember it." Juta said as the little girl hugged her.

"Thank you.'' She said.

"Remember all it takes is practice. But I need to get going now.'' Juta said.

She waved her hand as she left the house and start to walk around the town once again.

As the continued to walk through the town she started to feel sick. She felt like she had to vomit so the quickly ran to the pier and vomited right in the water.

Two days later Juta was on the market. She needed to get a few things. She was looking at the products of one of the traders, as she overheard the trader talk to one of the warriors of the town.

"This year, the festival at Uppsala is going to be something special." The trader hinted.

"What is so special this year?" The warrior asked.

"There is a rumor King Horik will attend the festival himself." The trader explained.

"The king will be there?" The warrior was suprised, "I bet Earl Ragnar will be eager to meet him."

After nearly four weeks, the traveling group returned. Lagertha and her children, Siggy and her daughter Thyri, Floki's lover Helga and Myrus.

Juta greeted them in the great hall. It was wonderful to her to have them all back but she noticed that a few persons were missing.

"Where are Ragnar, Arne, Thornstein, Leif Bjorn and Vigi?" Juta wanted to know.

"Leif is dead. He sacrificed himself to the gods.'' Siggy replied.

"The rest are emissaries for King Horik." Lagertha explained, "Gotland is almost on the way from Uppsala to Kattegat."

"Ohh...I was hoping to tell Vigi now..." Juta said as she placed her hand at her belly.

"Tell him what?" Helga asked.

"I'm with his child." Juta declared.