This was no gentle healing. Rollo's gut churned and his vision blurred with the effort to stay conscious, as molten lava ran from his shoulder to the very tips of his fingers. He gritted his teeth; he would not cry out—he couldn't stand to be thought of as weak. Especially by her.

Kara pulled her hand away and swayed. "So… much… pain. Oh Rollo, I'm so sorry."

"Kara." He had no idea why he had been compelled to speak her name out loud.

Her knees buckled and she collapsed in a heap at his feet. Well, shit. He poked her with his staff. "Kara?". Rollo bent his left arm experimentally, the pain was now just a dull ache, and the limb was atrophied and still felt weak, but it also felt… normal. He poked her again. "Kara?" There was no response so, supporting himself on his staff, he crouched down beside her. "Now would be a good time to turn into a raven, Valkyrie. Of my four limbs, only one works properly."

Kara's eyelids fluttered, and the air thickened. Rollo picked her up by the leg, and struggled to his feet. "Do not shit everywhere." He crossed back over the threshold and dropped her onto the floor next to his bed. Sitting down heavily, he raised his eyes to the rafters. "What am I supposed to do with her, Odin?"

"Rollo?"

He hadn't noticed her changing. Rollo smirked as she struggled to a sitting position. "You're not very good at this, are you?"

"I'm a Valkyrie, Rollo. I take the essence of the fallen, I'm not meant to give it away." She ran her hand across her forehead. "It weakens me."

He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her up onto his pallet. "Why did you? What made you think you could heal me? Or did you not care? Is that it, Valkyrie? Were you so envious of Freya, that you would rather I spend my days as a burden on others, than let her have me? Are all the maidens in Valhalla like you? Because if they are, I'm not sure I'm so eager to get there."

"And you, Rollo? What of you? Why is it that you strive so hard to get noticed on the battle field? Could it be that you all you desire is to outshine your brother? Do you not want his fame? His position?" Her eyes narrowed. "Lagertha?"

"Close your mouth, bitch." Like a serpent striking, his hand shot out and he grabbed her throat. Rollo squeezed, just enough to let her feel his power. "You know nothing about me."

She was weak-he could feel it- but her eyes flashed defiantly. Brave little imp. "I know you, Rollo Lothbrok. On the battlefield no one is braver or more magnificent. But away from it, you are a boorish, stubborn, arrogant pig." She laughed-he had his hand around her throat, and she laughed-Rollo growled at her disrespect, but she just laughed louder. "Your arm is much improved, I see."

~o0o~

If she hadn't recently endured the storm, with its icy shards of rain and it's wild, biting winds Kara would have called a curse on Rollo Lothbrok and happily flounced off to make her own way in this realm, alone. She could easily find a ruined cottage to inhabit. There was the small matter of no one but Rollo being able to see her, but the lighting of a hearth fire by a hand unseen would spread rumours of a ghost, which would at least ensure that she would be left alone. She would not be in danger from marauding thieves, since none could see her.

She saw no reason why she should put up with Rollo's capricious and childish temper.

But she had endured the storm, and she had hated every sodden second of it.

She hadn't hated it enough to allow Rollo to strangle her.

But she missed Valhalla and its never-ending summertime. She missed the laughter of her sisters. She missed the bawdy revelry of the warriors. She missed warmth and friendship. She missed feeling like she belonged.

Now she was reliant on the whim of this… this… ass. She was beholden to his capacity to forgive her.

Kara had thought herself miserable when she had sat under the dripping pine bough, but she found new depths to her despair now. The very last thing she wanted was Rollo's forgiveness, because he did not deserve the effort she would have to make to earn it. But without it, she was forever barred from her home and her family.

Kara hadn't even realised that the first tear had fallen when the others spilled from her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.

~o0o~

Rollo withdrew his hand. How could she go from laughing to crying in a blink of an eye? He'd always believed that women were slightly insane, and clearly Valkyries were no different.

"Stop that."

"I can't." Her eyes shimmered. "All I wanted…." Kara gulped and her sobbing intensified. "I just want to go home."

"Fine." He pushed himself to his feet, and shuffled to the table. "I forgive you. There, I've said it, now fuck off back to where you came from." The sobs turned to wails, and now there was snot. No wonder Odin was so eager to get rid of her. Rollo poured some ale into a cup and held it out to her. "Here, drink this, and wipe your nose."

Kara sniffed and took the cup. "I hate it here." She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "And I hate you."

He hated her too. He would hate her until the day he died. So no one could have been more surprised than Rollo, when he sat back down and pushed her hair away from her face. "Poor little imp."

He didn't want his eyes to meet hers as she looked up at him; didn't want to admit to himself that she had power over him. He focussed on the fingers on his left hand as they curled into a fist. "Does it hurt you to heal me?"

"Yes… No…. I don't know." She took a deep shuddering breath. "I… I don't know how to explain it to you. I don't even understand it myself. "When… when my essence enters you, there is a moment when I don't know where I end and you begin. I… I feel everything you feel." Her eyes shone in the dim light. "I am sorry for what I did to you, Rollo."

He could kiss her now. He could run his fingers through those soft tresses and force his tongue between those soft, pink lips. He could run his hands along her body and feel her skin under his fingertips. She wouldn't resist as he ripped apart her trews. She would be wet for him. He could…

No!

Rollo stood so abruptly, he nearly pitched forward onto his face. She was doing this to him. She was playing with him. Using trickery and magic to bend him to her will. He curled his lip as she gazed up at him. She may have been an immortal, but she was still a woman. And he'd never met one who wasn't a calculating, manipulative, whore.

"Enough of this! You do not get to play your games with me, Valkyrie. I…."

"Rollo? Who are you talking to?"

Rollo turned to the door so quickly, he nearly fell over his own feet. "I…." The air thickened, and he pointed to the furs on his bed. "A… a raven. Why are you back so soon?"

Bjorn exchanged a look with his mother. "You were talking to a raven?"

"It flew in, I can't get it to leave." Thor, he sounded so pathetic.

"So, kill it." Lagertha picked up an iron poker.

Kara squawked and Rollo stepped in front of her. "No. I… I think I'll keep her - it. It will be company for me when you are away."

"You wish to keep a raven for company?" Rollo would've liked to slap the smirk from his nephew's face. "Does she have a name?"

"I shall call her…" Rollo grinned. "Imp."

Lagertha sighed and shook her head. "Well we'll be here for at least another day, there's another storm approaching and the pass is already flooded. So you'll have no need for the companionship of a bird."