Spirals

 

Valkyrie searched Sten's eyes as he spoke, weighing the heft of his claims versus the little bit she knew about him and trying to decide the merit of the the words of a seiðmaðr. She was a firm believer in fjölkyngi and knew the value of traditional practitioners. A male practitioner, though... It was hard to set aside the beliefs she'd been raised on.  If he wasn't a man in the traditional sense, how much did honor mean to him? Would his predilections make him unafraid to work against his band mates? Lie, cheat and steal for his own gain with no thought to dishonor?

Perhaps her mind was treating him unfairly. After all she herself wasn't keeping entirely with tradition. Her eye wandered to women as often as it did men and she had allowed without so much as a side eye her aunt to bring a woman into their home.

She would give him a chance. If he spoke truthfully it was what the Allfather intended. The old ways were important and they'd stood the test of time for a reason, but, like a vísendakona bending fate, Valkyrie too was free to influence the flow of things. Bending the time honored values without forsaking them altogether.

Valkyrie found herself nodding slowly. "He is wise in ways we can't always see. You are here for a reason, that much is clear to me, but whether it is for our benefit or our detriment I don't yet now." She studied him, her gaze open and without a shred of malice even though her choice of words wasn't exactly hospitable. "I will give you a chance. Welcome to Hjarrandi, Sten, may your time be well spent and your wealth..." A ghost of a smile came into play here. "Fill the people back home with envy."