The entire ride back to Kattegat neither Ivar or Iona spoke to each other. It was an uncomfortable silence, one that they needed in order to look back at the events that happened the past couple of weeks. Although Iona's hatred for Ivar had died down a little bit, she still didn't feel like he could be trusted.
Ivar spent most of trip sleeping, due to his seasickness. Iona enjoyed watching the waves, and taking in the fresh air. After being trapped in a cell for who knows how long, she realized how much she really loved the outdoors.
When the boat finally arrived to Kattegat a couple of villagers helped her out of the boat, her body weak from the lack of food and warmth. She gave a nod to Ubbe and Sigurd, who stood at the dock ready to get their little brother.
In her case, she was doing much better than Ivar was. Ivar got out with the help of his brothers, his face pale and trying his best to hold onto his two brothers with as much strength as he could muster.
...
For Iona, the couple of weeks since she arrived in Kattegat were spent training. Her and Ivar were back to being strangers. The two would ignore one another, as if they had a mutual agreement to not acknowledge each other.
Iona heard about him, about how he went up to Queen Lagertha and challenged to fight her. He was crazy now, the death of both his parents taking a toll on his mentality. Even his own brothers were unsure of whether they could control what he was going to do. Maybe that was a sign, he was just so far out of reach that there was no point in even trying anymore. Their best choice was to forget about anything that happened between each other.
She sat next to Ubbe, sharing a drink with him as Ivar sat across from them. It was a quiet morning for the brothers, something that hadn't occurred for a long while. The three of them sat at the table in silence as Sigurd stood by the door, sharpening a piece of wood.
Iona watched as Ivar finally broke the silence, picking a fight with Sigurd over the knife that he was using.
"I want it." Ivar said, getting off of the chair and crawling towards Sigurd. "I will kill Lagertha with it."
Sigurd turned the other way stubbornly, shaking his head. "Well, you can't have it."
"That's enough." Ubbe intervened, shaking his head at his two little brothers.
The stool Sigurd sat on was suddenly pulled away and thrown across the room, causing him to land on his back and onto the hard floor. Ivar tried to grab the knife, but Sigurd sat up and straightened his arm to the ceiling, as if trying to prevent a child from getting something dangerous.
Iona and Ubbe shared a mutual look before they both got up to stop the two from hurting each other.
She went to get Sigurd, trying to pull him up by his shoulders. Suddenly, Ivar had head-butted him, causing the knife in Sigurd's hand to dig into her side, before finally being thrown onto the floor. Iona stepped back from the unexpected pain as Ubbe pulled the two away from each other.
"Get up! Hey!" Ubbe helped Sigurd up, looking at him warningly. "We have important decisions to make."
Ubbe went to grab the items that had fallen on the floor, his eyes moving to Iona and trailing down to her blood-covered hand.
"Are you alright?" Ubbe asked, he moved towards her, examining the large wound that was bleeding on her right side.
Iona let out a heavy breath, giving Ubbe a small smile. "I'm fine. Just resolve whatever conflict is going on between you and your brothers. I'll take care of it."
Ivar watched as she walked out of the room, his guilt growing as he noticed her struggling to keep the pain hidden.
Iona let out a hiss, grabbing a water-soaked cloth and cleaning her wound. She just wanted her father to come home so she could finally get out of this village. There was no reason for her to be here anymore, now that Lagertha was the new Queen of Kattegat.
A sudden knock on her door had caused her to stop. After putting on her shirt, she allowed whomever it was to enter. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she watched as Sigurd walked in. "Do you need something?"
Sigurd gave a grimace upon seeing her blood soaked shirt lying on the bed. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't dying because of me, the wound looked bad."
Iona went in the back to grab a cup and poured some water in it for Sigurd, grateful for his concern. "I'm fine, thank you for checking up on me."
Sigurd took the water, taking a sip of it as he looked around her small hut. "We spoke about our plans of revenge for our father. We want to make a great army, twice the size of the one my father took to Paris, and we want to go to England. So-"
"So you want me to convince my father to bring his men to join your army." Iona finished, and Sigurd nodded.
"I can try." Iona said, giving Sigurd a small smile. "But I don't have much authority over my father. He does what benefits him most."
"It's better than no help at all." Sigurd answered, before making his way towards her door. "Thank you."
A few days had gone by and Sigurd agreed to show Iona to the place where he usually had his axes made and upgraded, since she needed to get her daggers sharpened. Walking in, she and Sigurd mutually ignored Ivar, whom was sharpening his axe to the right of them.
"I still have a bone to pick with you, Sigurd." Ivar suddenly spoke as Sigurd handed his axe to the worker. "Why were you silent when I demanded justice from Lagertha?"
Iona looked up at Sigurd for a moment, watching as he let out a sigh before speaking. "We have different memories of Mother. She doted on you and she ignored me. She had eyes only for you, and for Harbard. To me, she was cold and distant."
A smirk grew on Ivar's face at his brothers words, "So you feel sorry for yourself?"
Iona looked back at Ivar, giving him a warning look to which he ignored.
"Poor little Sigurd." He continued, his voice fake with sympathy.
Sigurd grabbed his axe before putting it into his holster. "You're wrong, Ivar. I don't feel sorry for myself."
"Yeah. Right. No. Of course not." Ivar said sarcastically, "That's why you have to sleep with Harald's daughter, right? Just to feel as if you matter."
Before she even thought about doing it, Iona had thrown a dagger that was merely centimeters away from Ivar's head and landed into the wall behind him. "Don't bring me into your idiotic quarrels. Grow up."
Ivar chuckled at her response, "Ah, so you two are sleeping with each other?"
"I'm going to go get something to eat. I'll see you later, Sigurd." Iona scoffed, not wanting to involve herself with Ivar's stupid assumptions.
Walking out, she gave Ivar a glare.
Before she even knew it she had returned, "Don't forget our usual place, okay?" She added, a chuckle coming out when she noticed Ivar's eyebrows furrow in anger.
...
Iona, Ubbe, Margrethe, and Sigurd were sat together, the four discussing when the best time would be to kill Lagertha. To be fair, Iona didn't care much about whether or when Lagertha would be killed, but there wasn't much else for her to do in Kattegat.
"I'm not saying we shouldn't do it," Sigurd argued, "but think about it. If we-"
The door suddenly open, Hvitserk walked and his brothers immediately got up to greet him. Iona smiled at the reunion, wishing she was as close to her family as the brothers were.
"I heard you freed Margrethe. You want to marry her. I'm glad." Hvitserk took the time to walk up to the blonde and lightly brush her chin. "Just don't keep her all to yourself."
Hvitserk turned and his eyebrows raised at the sight of Iona and he gave her a smile, "Iona, glad to see you're getting along well with my brothers."
She mirrored his smile, "Great to see you again, Hvitserk."
"Your father should be back by now. You should go find him, I'm sure he's looking for you." Hvitserk said.
"Or you can just say you want me to leave." Iona said jokingly, getting up to leave.
Iona made her way to the docks, looking for anyone she was familiar with through the crowds of people. A sudden hand on her shoulder made her turn around, a smile making it's way onto her face when she realized that it was Gunnar.
Immediately, she was pulled into his embrace. "I missed you, a lot."
"I could say the same, but I was having such a great time here in Kattegat that I completely forgot about you." She smiled playfully, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him towards the hall.
Iona spent the almost the entire time telling her friend about what happened in England, minus the Ivar parts. The two sat at the table together, telling each other about their different adventures and stories. Although, her stories ended up with her being scolded by her tall friend for being stupid and risking her life.
"King Harald is here," Gunnar said, gesturing to her father and uncle who were making their way towards the two.
Iona got up and gave her uncle a hug, about ready to sit down before getting a warning look from her father. Right, they were being watched. She gave her father a hug before a fake smile plastered on her face and she greeted her family.
"Gunnar, you wouldn't mind if I stole my daughter to speak to her alone, would you?" Harald hadn't even waited for Gunnar's response before leading his daughter outside to an empty spot behind some shops.
"Do you have anything to tell me?" Her father asked, a serious look on his face.
Iona shrugged, "No."
Before she knew it, her cheek was stinging from the sudden slap by her father. "Not only do you neglect your duties, but you don't think I heard from the villagers that you went to England, with Ragnar Lothbrok, of all people?"
Iona let out a breath, not responding to her father. Another slap. She clenched her teeth as she gave him a glare.
"You are the daughter of a King. Do your job properly. If you ever embarrass me like that again, I will not hesitate to have you killed. Do you hear me?" Harald spat onto the ground, his eyes moved to the girl, waiting for a response.
"Yes, Father." She said through gritted teeth. A weapon. That was all she was.
