Who was Ragnar's closest confidant?
In this second life of his, his beautiful wife Gyda and his young children were his world; he loved them more than his own breath.
But Louis held a profoundly unique place in his heart.
Yet now, Louis the Stammerer lay flat on his stomach amidst a sea of scattered papers.
The Frankish prince was bound, his hands and feet tied tightly behind his back with leather straps, and a filthy cloth shoved into his mouth as a gag.
When Ragnar talked about flying machines, electricity, or moving massive metal carts on iron rails, Erik would just laugh and ask if it could kill someone.
Leofric would nod blindly and respectfully, treating it like magic. But Louis?
Louis didn't understand everything Ragnar poured into his mind, but he listened. He sat by the fire, chewing on the end of a charcoal pencil, genuinely trying to comprehend the impossible future.
