Chapter 188 Trust Or Deceit?

Kolbeinn listened to the story and kept quiet, he looked excited about the other parts but the moment Tyr mentioned a man with a broadsword slaughtered Thorvald. A shift of energy that Tyr noticed because he was paying especially close attention to Kolbeinn during his narration.

He left out some information. He did not go into details about the kind of training he did with Thorvald nor did he speak his name because he did not know anything about him, including enemies he might have nor did he say what his life was like after he trained with Thorvald.

"This man with the sword…." Kolbeinn spoke and everyone's attention shifted to him. The joyous look on his face had faded.

"Did he have a slanted scar across his face?" Kolbeinn asked Tyr in a stern voice.

"I could not tell. Not only is my memory fuzzy, but it is also been so long. I could also not see his face clearly," Tyr said but he knew whoever killed Thorvald had some sort of connection with Kolbeinn or he would not react this way otherwise.

"What can you tell me about this man?" Kolbeinn pressed on with the topic and this all confirmed that this piece of information was something that he coveted.

Tyr could play this to his advantage, he now had something Kolbeinn wanted and Kolbeinn had established from his story that they had a similar person of interest.

"He had a very slender build, he was tall but I remember thinking about how such a slender person could wield such a big sword," Tyr gave him the missing piece of information he needed to identify this person of interest.

"I knew it…" Kolbeinn muttered under his breath, everyone knew story time was over and returned to doing what they were doing before the story began.

"You knew what? You know the man that killed my teacher?" Tyr questioned, he could tell by his face that this was not someone he was on friendly terms with.

"Those men were not savages that you encountered under Skol, Skol's weapon is what you use now. The man you saw was Gissur Þorvaldsson, the Chieftain of the Haukdælir Clan," Kolbeinn said and Tyr was glad he was sharing information with him, this meant he had gained a certain level of authenticity with him. But he knew he could not be hasty with his plans because if he took over Kolbeinn as leader of this clan, he would not be able to use them to their fullest potential if he entered some sort of truce with Kolbeinn. He could not only learn how to use them but gain useful intel on the other Chieftains from Kolbeinn.

"H-He is a Chieftain? Why would a Chieftain hunt down a man that was barely surviving himself?" Tyr inquired, Thorvald was not a threat to them and stayed on his own most of the time. Kolbeinn did not answer, instead looking Tyr right in the eyes before slamming a cup hard on the table.

"What is with this dull atmosphere? I must welcome my guests properly!" Kolbeinn exclaimed but Tyr was happy with the progress he had made so far.

But he noticed the moment Kolbeinn said this, the women soon came close to him. Like always, two women made their way beside Kolbeinn, they had large breasts which Kolbeinn was not shy about fondling, he sunk his hands in their respective articles of clothing and began to squeeze on them as if they were stress balls. Tyr noticed two girls coming to sit beside him as well and they looked at him like they were expecting him to do something but Tyr had no experience with girls and simply offered them a drink.

Both ladies giggled amongst themselves as they tried to grab Tyr's arm but the warrior in him reacted instinctively, he restrained both ladies immediately and with force.

"Have you never been with a woman?" Kolbeinn asked Tyr, there was no reason he would be so aggressive with girls that merely tried to offer him comfort.

"I-I am sorry," Tyr immediately released them but Kolbeinn did not seem to mind this.

"It is fine," Kolbeinn gestured for the ladies to leave Tyr's side and two men soon came to take their place.

"You are more comfortable around men, are you not?" Kolbeinn asked Tyr, not understanding the context behind the question, Tyr nodded.

"I do," Tyr reaffirmed with his words, he confirmed he did prefer the company of men.

"I do not judge your way of life, I believe everyone should be free to explore their desires," Kolbeinn said, showing support for Tyr but once again, Tyr did not understand the context.

"I have done things with men on the battlefield, it was all over before I knew it. I trust them with my back as they do me," Tyr said and the problem was that this had two interpretations. Tyr meant one thing but they understood something completely different from it.

A man beside him soon slipped his hand onto Tyr's lap, he did not flinch but he soon realized what was happening the moment the man tried to move his hand higher up his thigh.

Tyr immediately grabbed his wrist, he looked horrified because he could not believe he could not read the situation.

"Fuck no! Absolutely not!" Tyr cussed out, stumbling back. Kolbeinn chuckled, his reaction was a tad bit over the top considering pleasure is a pleasure regardless of gender.

Something that most people did not understand, Kolbeinn did not see anything wrong with a man laying with a man or a woman laying with a woman, it was all about pleasure in the end.

"Tyr, I think a man of your skills would be very useful in this war my clan has found itself with. You might have the title of Chieftain but you do not have the men for even a unit. I will allow you full command of your men and not only that, you will be only second to me as you will outrank everyone here but you do not command my men. If you could beat Inskan, you are in no way weak and I need all the help I can get. I did not know Gissur Þorvaldsson had entered these parts, I do not know how long he has been here or surveying the area but that man is mad as he is smart. He is always a step ahead no matter what I do," Kolbeinn said, and Tyr knew this was a golden opportunity and he would most likely never get another. Tyr accepted his proposal, but the gravity of the situation made Kolbeinn overlook one thing, and that was Tyr being a threat to him.