Hallkatla remembered it so well the day she and her sisters were playing in the fields with this elderly boy called Oskarr. He gave them all names after flowers. Ragnhild beautiful as the Fireweed, strong and the first flower to arise after all kinds of fire. Thorild sweet as bluebell, the sound of the bells could call out for all the faeries in the lands. Yrja pure as the Waterlily, creating harmony and love.  Hallkatla,  tough as a Thistle, protector of the surroundings. Even if Oskar meant well, Hallkatla did not like the comparison it made her feel less beautiful and adored.

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She was the eldest of four sisters born and raised in one of farmsteads outside  the village Firnstayn. Her younger sisters were considered quite learned and were gifted with beauty. They were often around their homes helping their mother with duties. At several occasions they have been the object of many men's admiration. Both from the wealthy kind to the more poor ones.

Hallkatla  remained in the background and was more contained and shy as a person. She was the oldest child in the house of Hjalmarr and she got an early start knowing the concept about responsibility and loyalty. She also started to help out the smallholding with joining her father down by the lake inside the village. She was thought the ability to prepare fish and sell to it to travelling traders. She was hidden in bulky clothing and fishing attire and very few would see it was a fair young woman hiding behind all that.

It was relatively peaceful where she lived and there was a female Jarl who ruled the village with warmth and compassion. She admired this woman who had manage to gain respect and much power, despite the fact she was a woman.

There were few events outfolding in the village and there was much peace surrounding the folks who lived there, but a scent of fear were still shown in their eyes. Latest rumour said there were Easterlings invading the lands around Firnstayn. It made Hallkatla a little unsettled and uncomfortable, but as an outcome of this she became more vigilant and kept a close eye on her family.

One by one, her sisters got proposals and there was men from the upperclass family wanting a wife. Her parents did not want to force their daughters to do something they did not want, but by convincing and preaching what was best for their family. One by one of her sisters agreed to trust their parents judgements. They were all underneath twenty years when they left home, while Hallkatla was twenty-two years old and had a small cottage on the waterfront.

Many times she was seen as a loner, but she was quite happy about that. The melancholy she embraced and even if sometimes made her felt sad, she saw it as a beautiful thing and her eyes got more open to her surroundings. Yes, she did not have a huge house, wealth, own family and marriage. But she got so much more by appreciating the small things in life. - like breathing in fresh air and feel the breeze from the Fjord. She also felt content when she sang by herself and wrote small stories. That made her happy...

Sometimes when she was alone she combed her hair and decorated it with rose-petals and put on her only dress and then she felt beautiful. It was good to feel like a woman and look like one, even if she did not feel completely comfortable ... But who would care about it anyway?

She knew she wanted to see more of the world and be the woman she was,  but for now she was happy to be the woman hiding in bulky fishermen clothes with messy hair and working by the lake. Like the thistle they were calling her.