Healing
Floki entered the room, Lagertha following behind. She set down the bowl of herbs and removed the bandages so Floki could examine the wound.
"You tried to heal this with fire?" Floki confirmed.
"Yes," Lagertha nodded, "We cleaned it first and then sealed it, but Bjorn came out last night and told us Athelstan was ill. The wound was filled with pus so we drained it and have been trying to keep his temperature down all night." Floki nodded as he prodded the wound gently.
"This will probably hurt priest," he said as he took some of the herbs he had mixed and pressed them into the wound, causing Athelstan to hiss in pain. Floki ignored hnim and continued with his meditations. When he was done he took a cup offered to him from Lagertha and held it to Athelstan's lips.
"Drink this," he instructed and Athelstan did so, grimacing at the taste.
"Wrap the wound," Floki said, "And then change the bandages tonight and out more of the herbs on it. It will take a couple days for him to recover, but so long as he rests he should be fine.
"Thank you Floki," Lagertha said and Ragnar clapped his friend on the back. Lagertha sat on the edge of the bed while Floki and Ragnar walked out of the room with Ragnar promising Floki a drink. Lagertha began wrapping Athelstan's arm again as he lied their quietly.
"Thank you for helping me," he said quietly and she looked at him through her lashes, but said nothing.
"I asked Ragnar this before, but I was hoping to ask you too," he continued.
"Ask what?" she asked as she finished with his bandages.
"I was wondering why you are helping me?" he asked and Lagertha paused.
"You have changed since my husband brought you here," she started, "When you first arrived you were scared of everything and wanted nothing more than to escape. However, over time you have changed. I have seen you learning about our ways and even though it is obvious there are still things here that frighten you, I can tell you want to learn. I am helping you priest because you remind me of my children. I see the curiosity in your eyes and I see how helpful you are around here. I am helping you priest because you are no longer just a slave here." Athelstan didn't know what to say. He had never heard Lagertha speak like the before and he didn't know how to respond.
"Th-Thank you," he said and she smiled at him before leaving the room and instructing him to rest.
Alright, so one of the things I love about the show is how badass Lagertha is, but within five minutes she's gentle and caring. Since there's been such a huge change for Athelstan from going from the monastery to living with Ragnar and his family, I figure she would kind of see him a scared child and would be a bit gentler with him, especially when he heard protecting her actual children.
Hope you guys liked this chapter! Thanks for reading! Last chapter up tomorrow!
