Freya waits impatiently at the great hall for Bjorn, who arrives hours late and still drunk from the previous night. Liv, the healer, fills Freya in on Bjorn's backstory: as a child, he was kidnapped by King Harald of Nordeland to be used as a hostage against Snorri. His mother, who was also the seer who spoke the foretelling about Freya, was burned alive during the kidnapping. Snorri only began rescue attempts after learning Bjorn's magic had manifested, needing that magic to find the prophesied shield maiden. Liv also reveals that Ylva's son Leif, age fifteen, is Snorri's second-born but preferred by many as heir, explaining the tension between Ylva and Bjorn.

When Bjorn finally appears, he is surly and resentful about being forced to serve as Freya's protector. He takes her to the docks for training, beginning with a grueling exercise of holding a shield aloft. As townspeople gather to watch and mock Freya, her temper breaks and she demands real combat practice. Bjorn obliges by slamming his shield into hers repeatedly, nearly knocking her off the dock, while venting his fury at being chained to her side. He insists the prophecy linking their fates is just Snorri's manipulation, and that protecting another man's wife is beneath him.

Freya retaliates by invoking Hlin's power, launching Bjorn into the fjord with a magic-enhanced shield block. She confronts him about his behavior, arguing she didn't choose this fate any more than he did, and that she sacrificed her freedom to protect her family. She demands he direct his anger at Snorri, not at her. Bjorn eventually apologizes—though not before tricking Freya into the water as well—and the two reach a grudging truce.

Floating in the fjord, Bjorn reveals he spent the previous night trying to learn Snorri's plans for Freya, but no one knows anything. He shares that he swore blood oaths as a child not to escape Nordeland, and confirms that Snorri's rescue was motivated by needing Bjorn's fire magic rather than fatherly love. He confirms the seer who spoke the foretelling was his mother, but refuses to discuss her further, saying her gift was her downfall. Their conversation is interrupted by Snorri arriving on the dock with news that Bjorn's half-brother Leif has returned.