After months of hardship, the more than one thousand members of the Royal Guard returned to Gothenburg—only to find the houses ruined, the population nearly gone, and morale plunging.
In the lord's hall, a captain spoke up first:
"General, what now? There's nowhere to live. We'll freeze to death once winter comes."
Niels yawned.
"Come winter with me in Denmark. I hear the winters in Schleswig aren't that harsh. We'll wait there for His Majesty's next orders."
The Royal Guards agreed immediately—none of them wished to stay even one more moment.
At noon the same day, they set sail for Denmark.
Halfdan, however, did not leave.
He remained behind to hold the half-abandoned settlement, fearing that the unreliable coalition might attack during winter.
Letters of Excuses, Lies, and Blame
As autumn deepened and the fighting ebbed, a flood of letters arrived in London, catching Ragnar completely off guard.
Every letter contradicted the others; each writer tried desperately to shirk responsibility while discrediting everyone else.
Eric Junior's letter:
"Uncle, Aunt—did you like this year's polar bear pelts?
My father is in excellent health; he's actually better after abdication.
Rumors of usurpation are nonsense—no one loves him more than I do.
And Niels attacking Denmark has nothing to do with me."
Oleg's letter:
"Your Majesty, the brothers can't hold on much longer.
I am not at fault.
The main problem is Halfdan's reckless stupidity, and General Niels acting on his own. The conquest of Sweden is now impossible."
To gain the king's favor, Oleg wrote three full pages—detailing Niels's betrayal, Oleg's heroic landing at Gothenburg, his smashing of the coalition army, and how the disasters at Kalmar were entirely the consequence of Halfdan's negligence.
In summary: Halfdan is reckless, Niels is treacherous, the officers are useless—only Oleg is loyal and competent.
Niels's letter:
"Uncle, the boys were too restless—they kept shouting to raid nearby lands. I merely went along with them. I never expected the Danish lords to be so fragile. Before I knew it, the whole region had fallen.
You, of all people, know how greedy soldiers are.
If you don't feed the wolves, they'll turn on you.
Rumors that I crowned myself king are false!
The crown was crafted in secret by Horst—he planned to usurp the Norwegian throne.
I have never had such ambitions.
My sole desire is to serve you and your heir.
As for the failures in Sweden—blame Halfdan and Oleg.
They had fifteen hundred armored guards and hundreds of berserkers, yet they still let the coalition trick them and capture Gothenburg.
Then they cowered in Kalmar until I came to clean up their mess.
Two fools—equally useless!"
Halfdan's letter was the simplest:
"Father, I've learned my lesson. Please help me one more time."
The fifth letter was from the Swedish coalition, with the seals and thumbprints of more than fifty nobles:
"Great King Ragnar, your name is revered from Ireland to the Caucasus.
We accept your rule—on one condition:
Restrain your barbaric hide-wearing berserkers.
If they continue to ravage our lands, we would sooner burn our fields, poison our wells, and slaughter our livestock than submit."
From each writer's perspective, they all appeared righteous, their actions "forced by circumstance."
Taken together, Ragnar felt they were all liars—every one of them.
The letters were full of excuses, distortions, and slander.
"Is there truly no one in this world who is honest and reliable?"
He set the letters aside and turned to Horst, standing among the nobles on the right.
Ever since losing Schleswig, Horst had twice tried to raise rebellion—each time crushed by Niels—before fleeing to London seeking protection from his sister, Queen Sola.
Ragnar asked,
"Lord Horst, what do you think I should do?"
Horst stepped forward eagerly—this was his chance for revenge.
In his version of events, Eric Junior and Niels were equally vile.
Eric encouraged the army to ravage Denmark and even staged a coup to seize the throne.
Niels was worse—only chasing his own gain, practically a traitor.
As for the crown found in Schleswig, Horst swore he had never seen it in his life.
"Your Majesty, grant me an army, and I will take Denmark for you.
I will capture Eric and Niels—those two heartless traitors."
Ragnar sneered inwardly.
Another liar.
With so many tangled interests, he decided to wait and watch events unfold.
Denmark – Calm Before the Storm
Under the protection of the Royal Guard, Niels crushed resistance across Denmark.
Every skirmish was easy—local rebels were poorly armed and demoralized.
A single charge by armored guards shattered their shields; the rest was just rounding up captives.
Victories brought loot and slaves for the guards, land for Niels's men.
Niels took nothing for himself—his only goal was eliminating dissent as fast as possible.
Over time, Royal Guards began approaching him, requesting to become his vassals.
After all, Denmark had huge territories available after less than half a year of conquest.
"Not yet," Niels thought.
Conquering Denmark was already a case of disobedience in wartime.
If he also tried to take the Royal Guard for himself, Ragnar might literally tear him apart.
After long consideration, he declined:
"You serve the king.
You swore in the temple.
Next year, you must return to Sweden to help Prince Halfdan fight.
It's not appropriate to swear loyalty to me."
He spoke out of caution, but his refusal enraged many of the guards.
The atmosphere in the army turned strange.
Some soldiers—those without families—were ready to risk everything.
The Mutiny Erupts
One night, Niels was drinking in his tent with several surrendered Danish nobles when heavy footsteps sounded outside.
Fully armored guards surrounded the tent in layers.
They demanded the general come out and explain himself.
Lifting the tent flap, Niels felt his stomach drop.
Firelight flickered across the massing soldiers—more and more arriving by the minute.
His palm went cold with sweat.
"Brothers… how have I failed you?"
A burly guard shouted:
"General!
We refuse to go back to Sweden!
We've been fighting for half a year and haven't earned a thing!
Halfdan is an idiot—follow him and we'll die for nothing!"
Another chimed in:
"In merit and in strategy, you're far above Halfdan!
We want to stay here in Denmark—with you!"
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