The Warrior and the Halfenwraith

Halfdain nodded agreement. “They were wedded as soon as Lord Ericson could stand on his leg. Two fine children they have now, with another on the way.”
“And your Lord Erlot holds a grudge against Leif for the loss of his eye?” I asked, again already guessing the answer but I was eager to change the subject.
Halfdain barked out a laugh. “Oh, it’s far more than just a ‘grudge’. Lord Erlot has sworn bloody revenge on Erickson for taking both his eye and the woman he wanted for his own.”
Halfdain then turned to a frowning Swanhild. “It might be best, lady, if you do not mention Leif Ericson to Lord Erlot—for just the man’s name sends him into a rage.”
“Never fear, good Halfdain,” I assured him. “On that count we shall be as silent as the grave.”
“Yet I would know more of this ‘woman’ that Leif and your lord fought over,” Swanhild said, the coldness of her words as crisp as newly formed ice.
“Deirdre the Fair people called her,” Halfdain said; “for to look upon her was to see a golden sun-kissed field of wheat on a summer morn. Kings, princes and warriors of renown,” Halfdain continued, “all clamoured for her hand — but it was the famed hero Leif the Lucky that she loved, and she openly spurned all the rest.”
He paused then, clearly uncomfortable with what came next. “My Lord Erlot is a very powerful and wealthy man. Over a hundred spearmen and fifty swordsmen eat freely at his table each night — and that doesn’t count myself and the other twenty hand-picked warriors who are his personal guards!”
“No-one is disputing the fact that your one-eyed lord is a rich and powerful man,” Swanhild said impatiently. “But it’s this ‘golden haired beauty’ that I’d here more of! How came she to be the prize that both Leif Ericson and your Lord Erlot came to blows over?!”
Here Halfdain showed himself to be more than just the handsome, well trained killing machine that I had first thought him to be — for despite him being hopelessly bewitched by Swanhild’s beauty, he none-the-less found her obvious jealousy of Deidra to be amusing! His next words proved me right, and brought a smile to my own lined face.
“With beauty such as hers, my lady, how could she not?!” Halfdain said with all the innocence of an unmarried man. “To look upon Deirdre is to look upon the rising sun! Few are the men that can see her radiance and not be moved by it. Some fall instantly in love, some are overcome by lust and some, like my Lord Erlot, are consumed with a burning desire to possess the maid and jealously keep her all for themselves.”
“Was that why they fought?” Swanhild asked. “For possession of this ravishing ‘sunrise maid’?!”
“It was indeed, my lady,” Halfdain said with a knowing smile. “And what a fight it was! Long into the night it lasted, with both combatants becoming battered and bloody! But it was Leif Ericson who won in the end — both the woman and the match, leaving my master one-eyed and swearing to the gods that some day he would have his revenge!”
Halfdain took a moment to collect himself, them did his best to smile. “So please, lady, for your own good, when you meet Lord Erlot, do not mention the name of Leif the Lucky, for my lord can be rather ‘extreme’ when angered.”
I saw Swanhild stiffen, her dark eyes flashing defiance, but she wisely held her tongue — at least for a while.