Night had fallen yet it felt as if all the lights in the world were focused on Kari as she walked into the camp.

She kept her eyes facing forward, but she could still feel everyone's gazes coming to fall on their small group.

They were all probably wondering why there was a thin pale girl walking with a group of rugged vikings.

Outsider.

It was as if she could feel the word echoing in everyone's minds, their lips barely forming the word.

It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that she did not belong. From the oversized wool dress to the messy unbraided hair. She was an outcast.

Even here. She always had been. Maybe things were never meant to change.

Caught up in her own thoughts and losing the rhythm of her steps, she ended up bumping into one of the others in their group.

"Sorry," Kari muttered, fearing the worst. After all, it was only Harald who bothered speaking to her at all. The others probably thought of her as the enemy.

"Don't think about it too much." The man whispered to her softly before she could quicken her pace.

This made her pause in her steps slightly before she fell into stride with the man.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, turning to look at him.

He was the same man who had found her. The yellow-haired man with a tattoo on the side of his face.

"The staring." He replied curtly, glancing at her for a second.

"Why? Do they often stare at people as if they want to eat them?" She drawled sarcastically, coaxing a laugh from the man.

He shook his head. "They only stare because they find you interesting."

Kari rolled her eyes. "Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, I know that is the reason for their eyes to follow me everywhere." The man answered.

Their gazes met and soft laughter emerged from the two of them.

"My name is Kari." She said after their laughs had subsided.

"I know." He grinned. "My name is Halfdan."

Kari smiled, amused. "And how have you come to be a part of King Harald's company?"

"Well, I assume I would be part of my brother's own company," Halfdan said, meeting her smile.

At that, her smile faded slowly from her face. She was talking to that man's brother.

"Brother?" She raised a brow, trying to discern an answer.

"Yes, Harald is my brother." He answered. "He is the boring brother, of course."

Kari turned her eyes to the man walking ahead of all of them, his head held up high, greeting those he would pass. "Of course he is."

"He's not as bad as he looks," Halfdan whispered in a conspiratorial way.

"Sure he isn't." She replied sarcastically, not being able to help herself.

"I admit, he looks pretty horrible but he's not as horrible as you might think he is." He said, bumping his shoulder with hers playfully.

Under her breath, Kari murmured. "Now why do I find that so hard to believe?"

"What was that?" Halfdan asked, looking over at her for a moment.

She immediately shook her head, eyes wide, almost like an animal caught in a snare. More like a woman caught insulting the man who held her fate in his hands. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."

"Would the both of you stop whispering like a couple of gossiping maids?" Harald snapped, stopping in his steps and turning around to face them.

Halfdan laughed, walking towards his brother to bump shoulders with him before whistling and going on his merry way.

As for Harald, his eyes never left Kari, not for a single moment. He tilted his head, and what looked like anger lingered in his eyes.

Kari only raised a brow, not letting it on that her heart had begun to beat furiously in her chest.

She couldn't even imagine a reason for it. Perhaps she was afraid, afraid of how he looked at her with such strong emotions in his gaze.

It was as if he had a war going on inside his head, much like the confusion ravaging her mind.

She was almost fascinated by him. That was, until he stomped over towards her, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to keep moving.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kari protested, attempting to pull her arm away from him, but his grip was tight and unwavering.

Harald grunted. "You are moving too slow. You're attracting too much attention."

"Oh, I wonder why that is so. Perhaps it is because I am dressed like a Northumbrian and I do not look like a viking at all." She rolled her eyes, continuing. "Also, I do look quite famished so they are all probably wondering how they should cook me first, maybe in a stew."

He huffed frustratedly. "We will find you some clothes."

"And supper?" Kari fluttered her lashes innocently.

Harald looked at her intently, his steps slowing. "Are you doing all of this on purpose or are you truly this irritating?"

She pulled her arm from his grip. "Well, will you feed me or eat me?"

If she didn't know better, she would think that he was actually considering both options. The nerve of this man.

Right before she could raise her hand to smack some sense and maybe some manners into him, he opened his mouth to call out to someone. "Bodil, get this woman some clothes and bring her some supper while you're at it!"

A plump woman, with a nervous expression, appeared right beside her nodding at Harald's every order. "Yes, King Harald."

Kari raised an eyebrow at that. What an arrogant man.

Harald only crossed his arms, staring at her with a challenge in his eyes. "Are you satisfied, my lady Kari? Will all that be to your liking, almighty Kari?"

She stepped closer to him, making his stance wobble for just a second. As if she knew what she was doing, she took another step, their breaths almost mingling.

Just as he was about to step away or move even closer, she did not even know, Kari's hand drifted to his braid, pulling on it really hard.

"Ow!" Harald complained, shock filling his orbs, to be followed by anger, indignation, and finally denial.

Kari only let out a laugh, following the woman called Bodil and leaving King Harald with a headache and perhaps, even something to remember her by.

However painful it might be.

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