Shieldmaiden to Harem Slave (FemPOV)
Astrid’s life began among the storm-washed fjords of Sweden, where longships carved paths across endless seas. Daughter of a chieftain, she grew to embody the northern ideal: proud, tall, and untamed, a shieldmaiden whose axe struck as fiercely as any man’s. Yet unlike her kin, Astrid’s fate was not bound to the frozen north. Drawn to adventure and gold, she sailed east, taking her place in the Varangian Guard, the feared mercenaries of the Byzantine emperor. Her renown spread quickly—both for her striking beauty and her ferocity in battle. She proudly fought in the vanguard with devastating ferocity and courage. Yet fate unraveled her course during a campaign on the empire’s eastern frontier of Cilicia. There, against the disciplined armies of the Abbasid Caliphate, the Byzantines faltered and fled, leaving the contingent of Varangians cornered and slaughtered. Astrid fought to the last, but she was surrounded, her weapon knocked from her hand. Unlike her fallen comrades, she was not slain.