Today had been a worrisome day for Erik’s household. The hall’s female rulers had made it a habit to all sleep together on the enormous bed placed in Erik’s chamber, much the same as they would when their man was at home.

This supposedly helped cultivate a sense of closeness and sisterhood among them and provided a safe place for them to gossip and settle disputes among themselves away from the thralls’ ears. And it also allowed them to help each other whenever a certain urge presented itself.

On the whole, they presented themselves to the outside as a united front on friendly terms. So when Sigrun was woken up by a worried Kitten pulling her shoulder, Skadi’s disappearance caused a major uproar.

Nobody woke up when she left the bed and none of the thralls stationed outside to guard their master’s private quarters had seen anyone leave.

Sigrun didn’t forget to check the hidden Altar to Slaanesh to see if Skadi was up to something there, but the undisturbed layer of dust on the hidden door’s handle was evidence enough she hadn’t gone that way either.

It was like she had vanished into thin air!

“Should we go outside and ask around? She must have gone somewhere or someone must have seen something, right?” – Ri spoke her opinion.

“Oh no, we cannot do that! She might have run off with some man outside but we cannot allow Erik’s reputation to plummet! Getting cuckolded while away isn’t a reputation that’ll do him any good…” – Her twin-sister Ra ‘rebutted’.

Yes, to the outside Erik’s women presented a united front and feigned friendliness, but the twins made it clear they were their own faction within the household. Perhaps the rare advantage of being a pair of identical twins gave them that sense of superiority, but Sigrun and Skadi at least knew Erik well enough that he held no special affections towards them.

If it wasn’t because the children they carried were undoubtedly Erik’s, they wouldn’t have been so easily accepted into the household as official concubines. Too bad Erik left on the First Raid of the new year only a few weeks after they joined, or he could have smothered their self-importance by a continuous dose of passion to have them fully integrate in his growing harem.

Snorting, Sigrun gave them a foul eye and strongly defended her close sister:

“There’s no way Skadi could do something like that. And I mean that quite literally: she physically cannot cheat on our man. A level of devotion certain others could learn from. And most likely will learn once Husband returns with the ships!”

Behind closed doors, snide remarks and quick retorts similar to this exchange had often occurred.

‘If only they weren’t pregnant right now… See how I’ll deal with you two later!’ – Sigrun couldn’t help but think.

She truly had done her best to foster closeness with the twins and while there was some initial success, Erik had simply left too early for the bond to firmly cement itself. It didn’t help matters that Sigrun as the ‘longstanding’ main wife hadn’t gotten pregnant while the newly added concubines joined precisely because of their pregnancy.

The twins saw Sigrun as a barren placeholder, waiting to be replaced and thus not worth wasting their friendship on. What if their friendship with the previous wife impacted their relationship with the next main wife, or decreased the chance of one of them taking that title?

Still, Sigrun made some inquiries outside with the help of her mother, but no sign or shadow of Skadi’s could be found. Sigrun became increasingly worried about her friend but with no clues to go on, she could only wait helplessly.

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Later that day one of the guards stationed to watch the sea for approaching ships came clamouring into the settlement, loudly announcing the arrival of a large fleet of ships.

This was always a frightening moment. Most likely, the ships carried their men and loved ones home from a successful raid but there was always a chance the approaching ships carried hostile warriors aiming for sparsely defended settlements.

Ships carried flags, of course, but in the strong winds of the North it was difficult to make out the designs and say for sure it was their own ships returning home.

Soon after however, a second guard came down to deliver the words the tribesmen wished to hear: It was their own ships, and they lay deep, fat and slow in the water from being burdened by loot!

Immediately, a festive atmosphere descended on the Frost Wolf camp.

Sigrun too felt relief at the men’s return, but still that relief was marred by the missing Skadi. Would Erik be angry with her? Skadi just had to disappear today! Sigrun didn’t blame her, how could she? But it still put her in an awkward spot as the matron of the household.

Everyone with family on the ships quickly gathered at the vast empty piers to welcome home their menfolk. Drums, pipes and cheers greeted the returning warriors as the sleek ships slid home into port.

Wooden gangways were laid between ships and shore as eager hands securely tied the anchor-ropes.

People who spotted their family and friends waved and shouted to get their attention as the Marauders happily jumped ashore to reunite with them after around a month of absence.

And as Sigrun searched the large ships for her husband, she suddenly felt herself taken into a tight embrace from behind as a familiar scent wafted up into her nose.

Smiling, Sigrun turned around to face her ‘captor’ and with a longing gaze gave Erik’s handsome face a long, deep kiss.

Erik had been one of the first to jump ship after almost immediately spotting Sigrun among the crowds, while she was searching through the crew of another ship.

Closely followed by two cloaked figures, Erik then went behind his beloved wife and began their public show of intimacy.

“I’m home!” –He said.

“Welcome back!” – She responded.

Seeing a hint of worry in his wife’s eyes, Erik threw away the idea of teasing her about Skadi’s disappearance, which he was sure had riled her up since the morning.

Gesturing behind him, Erik pulled the hooded figures forward and quickly resolved Sigrun’s worries.

“Skadi is here, don’t worry. She- They are safe and sound. I did something stupid yada-yada, I’ll tell you later.”

Leaving Skadi to reassure Sigrun further, Erik turned his attention to his other lovers. The large Tykira, which had made it easy for Erik to spot his family among the crowd, truly had become large. Skadi wasn’t joking when she said it looked like Tykira’s pregnancy had progressed rapidly to the point Erik wouldn’t be surprised if she went into labour at any moment.

And Kitten too of course had progressed another stage in her regular pregnancy, a very obvious bulge neatly protruding through her clothes.

Erik kissed them both in turn and ruffled their heads, not dissimilar to petting a beloved pet, before turning towards the twins. Through their clothes only a slight hint of their pregnancy was yet visible and Erik didn’t neglect to kiss them either.

Just that Skadi had told him some things about what was going on back home while he was away, so Erik couldn’t help but feel a bit distant from the twins.

‘Bah, I just need to spend more time back home for a while and I’m sure something will change for the better. And if not, it’s just two more mouths to feed and more children for me to personally pamper and spoil.’ – Erik had already thought some things through and decided to watch & see for now.

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After the grand reunion at the docks was over with, it was time to unload the spoils.

Already, rumours of Erik’s role in the capture of a Brettonian stronghold were spreading among the tribe’s wider populace and Sigrun proudly held her head high as she glowed in her husband’s honour.

An endless stream of hay bales, produce, livestock, horses, all sorts of metalwork stuffed into sacks and thousands of newly captured thralls was paraded from the ships’s holds into the settlement.

Most thralls were immediately led away to their new homes, be it the longhouses and halls of their personal masters or the public thrall-pens meant for the most basic thralls.

Erik of course hadn’t just sampled a few beauties here and there, but he had also picked up a few decent artisans from among the captives to add to his household’s autonomy. A weaver, seamstress and nanny were among the new thralls Erik directed towards his home. The majority of them being female was just a… coincidence. Yeah, just a coincidence Erik convinced himself. (Not like he might have dipped his privates into them and then learned the women had a skill besides bed-warming…)

In truth, the only men Erik had picked were a blacksmith to help forge some basic necessities like cutlery, chest trims and whatnot as well as a couple workers to deal with work in the ever-more full warehouses on Erik’s property.

Meanwhile Skadi was busy translating the expectedly tense introductions between Sigrun and Isabeau. Tense because Isabeau now stood face to face with her ‘superior’ (she and Skadi at least were at an equal rank as Erik’s concubines) while Sigrun was faced with someone she recognised as having had a rather similar life to her own, pampered from birth by her well-off and powerful parents complete with a headstrong personality to match.

In some aspects, the two were indeed quite similar if it weren’t for the obvious differences brought about by different cultures and convictions.

Still, it seemed that with Skadi playing the mediator the two were off to a good start at least. Sigrun was already mightily relieved to see her closest sister alive and well while Isabeau had already begun seeing Skadi as some kind of senior-figure and was eager for her teachings.

It was somewhere around four o’clock when the Frost Wolf fleet docked in the harbour and after everything was unloaded, it was already dark outside. The rest of today would be spent by everyone to celebrate their family’s reunion and tomorrow they would begin preparations for the ‘welcome-home’-feast!