Askeladd leaned forward, a low whistle slipping past his lips—half impressed, half amused. His icy blue eyes swept over the young woman, slow, deliberate and unhurried.

He never bothered with women after raids; claiming them was beneath him, and selling them off was routine business he left to others. They weren’t worth his time. But this one… she was different enough to make him pause.

“You’ve got flawless skin,”

he murmured, a sly grin curling at his lips as he stroked his goatee. His gaze lingered, not with hunger but with calculation, as though tallying her worth.

“And those teeth—gods, pristine. Not even the highborn girls back home keep them like that.”

Leaning back, he clicked his tongue, eyes glinting with mischief.

“Shame I don’t usually bother with women. Otherwise, you’d fetch a fine price.”

The words were half-playful, half-cruel—teasing her with the thought, though he had no real intention to act on it.