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Summer brought relief to the north in some ways but not in others. The temperatures were mild and enjoyable but the drought was not helping anyone. Drífa rested inside her den, near the mouth of it. Gazing out at a lovely summer morning, the birds chirping and singing. She had set the day aside to rest a bit from her last long journey. Now that summer was here she planned to keep to the north and work on gathering the herbs native there. True, she had journeyed southward out of a curiosity to see what the plant life was like in other regions but the drought had hit hard farther south. She concluded her best choice was to remain in the north and work with what she had.

Brynhildr stirred behind her, the lovely white raven lifting her head, her blue eyes fixing on her wolven companion. The raven hoped over to Drífa and gazed out at the land. "It is shaping up to be a lovely day. Are you thinking of going for a walk?" The older woman shook her head and raised her hind paws which were still sore and swollen from her long journey. "I think it is best I let my body rest. I do not want to push things to far to quickly and end up paying a greater cost down the line." The raven nodded gently then smiled. "You know, I've been working on a little something. Its a game I'm sure you'll enjoy. It is called King's Table. An old game of the north. There is much to it but if you'll give me a moment I can bring in all that we need to play." The bird flew off and Drífa watched her curiously with a soft smile on her face. It had been ages since she'd sat down for a game of King's Table. She trusted her companion to refreshen her memory as to the rules and the set up fo the game. There were many forms of the game and many ways to play and she was curious which method Brynhildr had been taught. Either way it sounded like a good way to pass the time to her. True she could always continue to sort and care for the herbs she had gathered but it wouldn't hurt to give her mind a rest every now and then.

Soon the raven returned with a piece of rolled up deer hide. She hopped inside the entrance and carefully unrolled the hide to reveal the board. "I know this game is different from the one of your people but I would love to share it with you. We call it Tablut." The piece of hide bore a 9 x 9 square grid upon it with the center square being filled in with what Drífa guessed was elderberry juice so that it was darker than the rest of the hide. The squares branching out in the cardinal directions were colored with a brownish color from what she guessed was from red clay. Drífa grinned. "No, no Brynhildr this is exactly like the game I used to play as a child though it's been ages and I've seen many variants. Although perhaps I should wait til you finish before I put my paws in my mouth." The raven chuckled and flew off once more. Drífa reached out a paw to lovingly pat the board.

Brynhildr returned soon with a small deerskin pouch full of what Drífa could only assume was the pieces. The raven opened the bag and dumped out the pieces, her skillful beak quickly sorting the pieces. The bird placed a small bird skull in the center square, this was to be the king. On the brown squares she placed a dark grey river stone. The dark gray stones were to be Brynhildr's warriors. She had sixteen warriors where as Brynhilder who would play the king had only eight white stones. It was an unusual game in this aspect. In most games that Drífa played the players had equal footing in terms of the pieces they had but in Tablut the king started outnumbered. It had always been an interesting facet of the game to her. Almost as though it was telling a story. A story of a king taken by surprise, outnumbered and surrounded. Could his men possibly defend him? As the player of the king her goal was to have him escape the ambush. She needed to get the king to the edge of the board or establish a clear route to the edge of the board in which she could yell Raichi to declare herself the victor.

Drífa sent up her pieces and the game began. The pieces could move horizontally or vertically any number of squares. The pair moved their pieces, Brynhildr capturing one of Drífa's warriors when pieces occupied both adjacent squares in a row or column next to her warrior. Outnumbered the warrior was assumed dead and Brynhildr took the piece off the board. Drífa was rusty and in the end her king was captured when all four squares around him were occupied by Brynhildr's pieces.

She sighed but smiled genuinely at her friend. "Thank you, that was fun. I don't suppose you'd be up for another game?"