1921 [MODERN IVAR BONELESS]

CHAPTER TWO

The word about Freija's arrival had spread like a wild fire through Kattegat, reaching everyone's ears. Nothing good had been said about the new woman, everyone talking about how she dressed like a man and took freedom she wasn't allowed to. She was apparently rude, she had been violent and she desperately tried to be something she never could be. Those were the words that had gone from a simple pant wearing woman to a rebellious and dangerous woman. Women had rolled their eyes and more men had laughed hysterically when they tried to imagine a woman in pants with their small nut sized brains.

Curiosity had spread as well and it would be filling the Farmer's pub just as the doors opened to the local bar. Everyone wanted to see the towns new spectacle. The freak neither one of them knew yet judged like they did.

The word had without a doubt spread to the large Ragnarsson mansion, the family owned mansion slightly on the edge of Kattegat. It had more than eight bathrooms and bedrooms, one large ballroom, kitchen, wine cellars and offices. It had been Ragnar Lothbrok's home until he was murdered barely a year earlier. His sons nowadays used it for family gatherings, or bringing prostitutes or having what on the outside looked like legal charities. All the son's had their own apartments close to their office in the middle of the pulsing city. All five sons had their own office, everyone shared one secretary named Margrethe Sørensen. The second oldest son of Ragnar Lothbrok, Ubbe had kept his mind occupied on Miss Sørensen, as his other brothers yet Ubbe's intentions were more serious.

All the sons and Margrethe had gathered in the conference room. Deep red walls were surrounding them, the whiskey filled glasses had stained the round mahogany table. Everyone was looking at the small boy, Erik, that was twisting his fiddler hat in his small hands. Smoke was creating a white fog in the room yet neither one seemed to bother about it.

"What did you see?" Ubbe asked as he blew out the smoke from his nostrils. His brunette hair was cut short on the sides and a smaller bun was holding the slightly longer hair on the top of his head. His lean yet firmly built body was dressed like the other men in the room, in a black suit with a vest under his jacket. He noticed his slightly younger brother Hvitserk glancing at Margrethe with a smug smile on his face, his previously locked up hormones now flowing freely. Without a word he glanced back at the young boy.

"A girl or a boy but I think it was a girl." The boy said. "She visited Alfred at the Farmer's pub." He said and looked at them. The poor boy had been running errands for the Ragnarsson's, he was a bird that kept his tiny ears and eyes open for anything bitter in the air in Kattegat. He was payed a few pennies he could by whatever he wanted that his family couldn't afford.

"A girl or a boy?" Björn questioned the young lad.

"Alfred's getting a barmai—" Ivar was cut off by Erik.

"She wore pants." Erik said and they looked at him with slightly wide eyes.

"Pants?" Hvitserk questioned as he tugged at his slightly longer light brown hair that was laying slick against his scalp. "Sounds rather unflattering." He added and his other brothers glared at him. Ivar only sucked on his teeth before looking back at the young boy. Hvitserk took a drag from his cigarett.