Steinolf Helgisson

Profile

• Name: Steinolf Helgisson
• Age: 39
• Height: 1.80m
• Sexuality: Heterosexual
• Status: In a relationship with Randvi

Life Excerpt

He’d seen her getting up on Eivor’s horse, Pride, the day before. She’d looked happy, albeit slightly apprehensive, when they’d headed off, out of the settlement. It was now early morning and he’d just seen Randvi walk into the longhouse on her own. She’d still looked fairly happy, but Steinolf couldn’t help but feel like he’d seen some uncertainty in her facial expression as well. He couldn’t be entirely certain, of course, because he’d been several meters away from where she’d been walking. He now found himself arguing with himself about whether he should go in there and talk to her or not. Would she appreciate the gesture, or would he just make a fool out of himself? Whatever he decided to do it would have to wait though, because right now he had duties to tend to. As one of the Ravensthorpe guards it was his responsibility, along with his fellow guards, to make sure that no one, that wasn’t supposed to be there, tried to get into the settlement and cause any problems for the clan. And ever since Steinolf had been taken off of Sigurd’s raiding crew, due to injuries he’d sustained during a raid in Norway, he had taken great pride in his new job guarding the clan, and making sure that the home of the Raven Clan was safe and secure. It was just as important to the clan’s survival as any of the other occupations that you could have. He chuckled a bit as he was walking past the house where Alvis and his brother Holger lived. All occupations were important to the clan, apart from whatever it was that Holger did. He considered himself an artist, poet and storyteller, but for as long as Steinolf could remember nothing that Holger had ever made had ever been particularly impressive, or artistic for that matter. But, he was a part of the clan, for better or for worse.

After doing his normal rounds around the settlement Steinolf returned to the longhouse after a few hours. He hesitated for a moment at the side opening of the building. During his round he’d decided that he was going to approach Randvi and ask if everything was okay. But now that he was back here the doubts about the whole thing came rushing back to him. What if she didn’t appreciate him asking her about it? What if all that would end up happening would be him making a fool out of himself, asking about the wellbeing of the wife of the jarl? Not that Sigurd could reprimand him about it anyway because he wasn’t even here. But still. Steinolf was sure that some people could probably misunderstand his intentions. He let out a sigh and shook his head. No. Sigurd and the others be damned. He couldn’t just let this slide, just because of potential reprimand down the line. He was genuinely concerned about how Randvi was doing. He took a deep breath before walking into the large building. Compared to outside it was pretty dimly lit in here so it took his eyes a few seconds to adjust, but once they did he could see Randvi moving in the map room. The room that she spent most of the day in, every day.
As he reached the valve that led to the map room he stopped and watched her for a moment as she stood there reading a document, which he assumed was a scout report from either Sunniva or Norvid. He cleared his throat, which made her jump a little. She clearly hadn’t even noticed him standing there. Steinolf gave her a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his neck.
    ”Sorry, Randvi. I honestly didn’t mean to startle you.” Randvi smiled and shook her head.
    ”No need to apologize. My mind was somewhere else completely, that’s all.” She turned to face him and cocked her head to the side a little. “Did you need anything, Steinolf?” He shook his head.
    ”I was just going to ask how you were doing.” Randvi gave him a quizzical look.
    ”How I’m doing? Why would you be wondering about that?” Steinolf took a step into the room, which meant that he was now twice as close to Randvi as he’d been previously.
    ”Well…when I saw you come back this morning you had a look of…uncertainty about you.” Randvi raised her eyebrows and was about to say something, but Steinolf quickly added. “I saw you go off with Eivor yesterday, and you looked so happy then that when you came back this morning the expression you wore at that time seemed so…far removed from how you seemed to feel yesterday…” He paused because he realized that he was basically rambling right now. Randvi was just looking at him, blinking. Her eyebrows weren’t raised anymore though. Steinolf took a deep breath before adding. “I…well, to be perfectly honest I was worried that something had happened yesterday when you were out with Eivor.” Randvi looked away for a moment before looking at him again.
    ”Something did happen…but it’s not really something that I…want to talk about. Or even should talk about, to be honest with you.” Steinolf nodded.
    ”Fair enough.” He looked around the small room. “How do you do it?”
    ”Do what?” Their eyes met again.
    ”How can you stand being in this tiny space all day long? I, personally, would go stir crazy if I had to do that.” Randvi chuckled.
    ”And what makes you think that I don’t?” She smiled. “That was why Eivor insisted on our outing yesterday. Because he felt that I needed some time away from this.” She made a sweeping hand gesture to indicate the maps and reports in the room they were in. Steinolf gave her a warm smile.
    ”Then, maybe, I can help as well?”
    ”What do you mean?”
    ”Well, all I do every day is walk around the settlement, making sure that it is safe. No offense to the other guards, but I could do with some better company on at least some of those rounds.” He winked at her. “Would you do me the honor of taking walks with me, every now and then?” She gave him the most radiant smile he’d ever seen on her.
    ”That sounds like a wonderful idea, Steinolf.”

Weeks went by and the two of them ended up taking walks around the settlement together every other day. Sometimes they were completely silent walks, and sometimes they talked about all manner of things. And sometimes they ended up sitting on a fallen tree trunk, by the stream, above the waterfall talking and enjoying the sunshine. Steinolf liked those days the most because sitting on the tree trunk gave him an excuse to be closer to Randvi than he normally would be. This was one of those days. She was sitting so close to him right now, with eyes closed, enjoying the sun on her face. A smile spread across her face.
    ”How long are you going to stare at me?” He could feel his face heating up as he looked away. He had no idea she knew that he’d been watching her. Then he heard her laugh a little bit, which made him look at her again.
    ”I…I didn’t mean to stare. I was just…thinking that it’s nice to see you happy again.” She smiled at him.
    ”Still curious, huh?”
    ”Well…yes.” She sighed.
    ”At the end of that outing that Eivor took me on, I…well, I misjudged the situation and…” She shook her head. “I kissed Eivor.” It felt like Steinolf’s heart stopped as she said those words. He, obviously, knew that Randvi and Eivor were close, but this was something else entirely. Not to mention the fact that Randvi was married to Eivor’s brother, the jarl of their clan, Sigurd. He noticed that Randvi was looking at him, as if searching for an answer in his expression. “I’d say that you look about as shocked as Eivor did after I kissed him.” Steinolf shook his head.
    ”But wait, you already knew that he was with Tarben though.” She let out another sigh.
    ”Yes.”
    ”Then…why would you kiss him?” She shrugged.
    ”I guess a part of me was hoping that things weren’t that serious between them. Plus, I…I had to know if…if there could ever be anything between us…” That last sentence had been uttered so quietly that Steinolf had barely heard it, and with such emotion that it tugged at his heart strings. He had to know.
    ”Do you…do you love him?” He hadn’t meant for his voice to sound as insecure, and emotional, as it did. And Randvi had definitely picked up on it judging by the look she gave him.
    ”I definitely have feelings for him. Deeper ones than just the friendship that we share. But…he made it clear that he does not share those feelings. And, even if he did, he wouldn't act on them because of Sigurd.” Steinolf nodded.
    ”He would never do anything to, deliberately, hurt, or betray, his brother.” Randvi smiled, although there was definitely a sadness in her eyes.
    ”Yes. Loyal. That is the Eivor that the whole clan knows and loves.” Her voice was full of emotion, not just sadness but also love and admiration. And she was right. Eivor might not have started his life as one of the Raven clan, but ever since he’d become a part of it everyone in the clan had welcomed him with open arms. And he certainly deserved everyone’s love and admiration. He was an incredible warrior and wise beyond his years. Steinolf smirked. He certainly couldn’t blame Randvi for falling for him.

They kept the walks up and as time went on they grew closer. Randvi grew to trust Steinolf more than she had before and even saw him as someone that she could confide in. One night, during a feast, Randvi gave Steinolf a look to tell him to go outside with her. She then got up and left the longhouse, after being stopped a few times along the way by clan members that simply wanted her to join in their fun. After watching her walk out of the building Steinolf made his way out of the building as well. He could see her ahead of him and knew that she was headed for the fallen tree trunk that they so often visited together.
When he reached it she was already sitting there, waiting for him. He sat down next to her, and to his surprise she immediately moved closer and leaned her head against his shoulder. For a moment he froze, not sure of what to do next, but then he slowly put his arm around her. The only thought running through his mind was “Am I dreaming?”. After a few minutes Randvi lifted her head from his shoulder and turned it so that she was facing the side of his head. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his temple.
    ”I was tired of being stuck where I was. In that room. In my life. In my…marriage.” Instinctively Steinolf held her tighter after she said that last bit. “Then Eivor started to open my eyes to the world around me by taking me on that outing to Grantebridgescire. And then…” Steinolf’s heart almost stopped as he felt Randvi nuzzling her nose gently against his cheek. “Then you happened. You stepped up to the plate just when I needed it the most. You’ve been…everything to me these last few months.”
    ”Randvi…” He was interrupted by her gently turning his face towards her and then kissing him. A small part of him was yelling at him to stop it, that he was betraying his jarl by kissing her. But the rest of him loved every second of that kiss.

Credits

Story by me. Overlay by CORE. Human art & minion overlay by Laurence. The base on which I created Steinolf (Eivor) belong to Ubisoft, and the Assassin's Creed franchise.