Freya, Bjorn, and Snorri return dripping wet to the great hall, where Leif—Snorri's younger son by Ylva—greets Bjorn with obvious affection. Leif asks about the battle against Gnut's warriors, and Bjorn credits Freya for setting the ships ablaze. Leif is polite but cold to Freya, offering stiff congratulations on her marriage to his father. He then announces they captured a spy.

Ragnar, an older warrior who brought Leif home, explains the captive is a woman who refuses to speak and tried to escape twice. Ylva advocates torture, while Bjorn suggests the woman may not speak their language. The bickering between Bjorn and Ylva prompts Leif to openly complain about their constant fighting, and Snorri orders them both silent before telling Ragnar to bring in the prisoner.

The bound, hooded woman is brought before Snorri, who removes the sack from her head. She blinks once at Freya—and Bjorn instantly beheads her with his axe. He reveals her name is Ragnhild, a sworn follower of King Harald with a tattoo marking her as a child of Hoenir, a god whose followers can send visions to the bearers of their tokens. Bjorn explains that Harald wears Ragnhild's dried tongue on a cord around his neck—her only token—meaning she could communicate only with him. The tongue was cut out by her former master, whom Harald later killed.

Ylva is furious, arguing they lost the chance to extract intelligence, but Bjorn counters that Ragnhild had no tongue and could not be made to talk. His priority was preventing her from sending Harald a vision of Freya, buying Snorri time to prepare alliances before Harald inevitably attacks. Leif openly questions whether keeping Freya alive is worth the danger to their family and Halsar, a suggestion that causes Bjorn's axe to flare with fire before vanishing. Despite the threat to her own life, Freya privately admires Leif's reasoning, noting he values lives over ambition.

Snorri insists they stay the course, arguing the gods would punish them for rejecting their gift and that killing Freya would be seen as cowardice by enemies. When Bjorn presses for a concrete plan to secure alliances quickly, Snorri reveals that all the jarls of Skaland are already gathering at Fjalltindr for a religious observance. He orders everyone to prepare to ride there, intending to convince the jarls to unite under his leadership against Harald.