A/N: Since this book is a crossover with the show, Vikings**, this chapter serves as a peek into their world, introduces some characters for later on and gives a little bit of background story.
This chapter is important for later on so please DO NOT SKIP THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE IT DOESN'T INVOLVE ROBIN OR EVA. I wanted to introduce some characters now before they meet up with Eva because when they meet, there will be a lot going on and I won't be able to fit in much background stuff on them.
That is all! Enjoy! :)
Kattegat, Scandinavia
Peering between the barricade of bones near the entrance of the hut, Ragnar watches the cloaked man as he bends over the small stone surface before him. He waits until the man straightens, his unseeing eyes facing forward as he speaks.
"Once again, Ragnar." The man says, sensing his presence. The corners of Ragnar's mouth curl upwards but he says nothing as he remains where he stands. "I know, never as King. Never as King Ragnar." More silence as he continues. "What does a King require from a simple seer?"
Regardless of being the other person in the hut, Ragnar glances around nervously before pressing his face against the barricade.
"There's a city called Paris." He whispers.
"Paris, yes." The Seer nods. "I have seen its gates."
Ragnar's eyes gleam with curiosity as he steps around the barricade and into the little hovel.
"And I see that its gates are already here, to my eyes." The seer adds.
Ragnar lowers himself down to sit before him. "What does that mean?"
"It means exactly as I have said." The seer says plainly. "I do not lie about what I see, King Ragnar, only sometimes I withhold things, for human beings cannot bear too much reality."
Hiding his annoyance, Ragnar looks away for a moment. "Hmm." He mutters. He turns to look at the man, choosing his words carefully. "Then if you can see…" He says, pausing for a moment to gauge the seer's reaction. "Tell me if I will conquer Paris."
"Godless and stained with blood, one shrouded in darkness will seek the help of a King and will lose life at tip of a blade."
Ragnar's brow furrows. "Godless and stained with blood?"
Ignoring this, the seer smirks. "I can also see that not the living, but the dead, will conquer Paris."
Ragnar thinks about this a moment, before his lips also curl up into an amused grin. "Not the living but the dead?" He repeats
Nodding, the seer continues. "I see that the bear will be crowned by a princess which does not bode too well for you, King Ragnar." He laughs but Ragnar barely hears him as he thoughts are preoccupied with what was previously said.
Standing, he glances at the seer. "Thank you, ancient one." He says, distracted. "I know now what I must do."
Without awaiting a response, he turns on his heel and strides out of the room.
The hall is buzzing with activity when Ragnar returns. He nods at those who greet him as he makes his way up to his chair which awaits him atop its platform. As he rounds his chair and flops down into it, somebody off to the side notices and calls for silence.
Ragnar waits until the room is quiet and for those turned away from him to face him before he speaks. "I have made up my mind." He announces, his eyes scanning the crowd before him. "And this year, we shall attack Paris."
Whispers erupted from around him and he nods.
"Paris?" His brother, Rollo, asks mockingly as he carefully rises from his seat. "What is Paris?"
Ignoring his brother's snide tone, he leans forward in his chair. "That is a good question, brother." He looks around at his people. "Paris is a city in the country of Frankia." He waits for anymore snide comments from his brother but Rollo remains silent. "Next!"
His gaze lands on his ex-wife, Lagertha as she gives him an icy glare. He quickly looks away as his son, Bjorn stands up. "Why haven't you told us all about this before?"
He glances behind him as some of the other men behind him voice their agreement.
Feigning surprise, he looks at him. "Because I'm telling you now." He smiles as laughter ripples through his audience. He quickly jumps up from his seat and climbs down from the small platform and up onto a nearby table. "I understand that this will not be easy. By all accounts, Paris is a huge… walled…well-protected city!" Rollo casts an annoyed glance at his brother as Ragnar continues his speech and walks from table to table. "This is something that our people have never attempted or dreamt of before." He pauses and squats down near his friend, Floki and his wife Helga. Glancing at Floki, he lowers his voice to a whisper. "But I have…begun to think…" He places a hand on his friend's head, petting his hair lovingly. "and dream of it." Floki smiles at this and looks as Ragnar points off into the distance at a man leaning against a wooden pillar. Seeing his old friend point to him, the man smiles.
"Athelstan." Ragnar say. As he speaks his name, everybody turns to look at the Englishman curiously. "Come!" He beckons him.
Athelstan glances around the room at the people staring, some with curiously and some with distaste. Ragnar stands and walks toward Athelstan and Floki's eyes cast downward. His lips form a grimace and his expression darkens as his friend turns his attention to his rival.
"Come!" Ragnar beckons again.
Helga watches her husbands steeled expression as he glares at Athelstan before looking downwards once more.
"Athelstan has been to Paris." Ragnar continues. He crouches on the table once more, pulling Athelstan to his side as he speaks. "And the wanderer who first told me about England, he too told me about this city." A mutters sound from behind them. Ragnar looks around before slamming his hand down on the table. "We must find him!" He exclaims.
Athelstan chuckles to himself and walks back to his previous position and somebody yells from the far side of the hall. "Yes!"
Ragnar grins as he scans the crowd once more. His gaze lands on a wide eyed little girl standing behind the table he's standing on. "For it is good to travel with hope and with courage." He says, offering the girl a small smile. She returns his smile and he picks up a cup from the table. "But it is still better…" He says standing up. "to travel with knowledge!" He raises his cup in the air. The crowd cheers and he lets out a loud cheer of his own before throwing the liquid up into the air and letting rain down on the nearby fire. Other people happily throw their drinks in the air as well while Helga grins happily at her friend while Floki forces a smile before shooting a glare at Athelstan.
"We will take this place!" Somebody from the crowd yells causing more cheers. Rollo sits back down and pours himself some ale, ignoring all the cheering in his weakened state.
Amongst the smiling faces, Lagertha remains solemn and waits for Ragnar to step down from the table. He finally does so and wraps an arm around Athelstan's shoulders, beaming as he says something to him before he's stopped by an angry looking Lagertha. His grin melts away and Athelstan excuses himself.
"What about your promise?" She fumes.
His brows knit together. "What promise?"
"To visit my Earldom." She says. "To go to Hedeby to speak to the usurper."
Realizing what she's talking about, he smiles. "Let us go then!"
When they arrive in Hedeby, Lagertha wastes no time. She quickly dismounts her horse and charges toward the hall and pushes through the doors. Ragnar quickly jogs behind her to see her walk up to a group of men talking. Their leader and the Usurper, Kalf, is sitting on his chair and talking to one of the men and looks over at Lagertha and her trailing party as they enter.
"Kalf!" Lagertha exclaims, striding up to him. "You know why we've come."
Kalf sets the cup he was drinking out of on a nearby table before standing and walking over to stand before her.
"You have usurped my rights and my lands, to whom you were sworn in fealty and trust." Lagertha states. Kalf's attention drifts as he sees Ragnar stride in behind her. "I expect you to hand both land and title back."
Kalf glances at Ragnar before looking down, chuckling to himself.
Amused, Ragnar speaks up. "Hello, Kalf." He greets. He glances at Lagertha for a moment before stepping forward. "Perhaps we might discuss these matters… privately."
Hearing this, Lagertha casts an annoyed glance at him. Kalf glances at Lagertha before nodding.
"As you wish, King Ragnar." As Kalf turns and walks back to the next room, Ragnar steals a glance at Lagertha behind him. Seeing her annoyance, he purses his lips, nods and continues after Kalf.
As the two men leave the room, the remaining men in the room turn to look at Lagertha and an uncomfortable silence falls over the room.
"Please." Ragnar smirks, his back turned to Kalf. "sit." Kalf does as he's told and Ragnar looks at the curtains hanging around the room. He sniffs and turns to face him. "I would prefer to avoid the unnecessary loss of lives fighting a civil war with you." Walking over Kalf, he takes his drink from his hand and drinks what is left of it before chucking the cup into the fire. Kalf flinches
"Do you mind if I call you Earl, Kalf?" Ragnar muses. Kalf begins to reply but Ragnar cuts him off. "Uh-huh!" He exclaims, turning away to look at the curtain. "Come the spring, I will be invading a country called Frankia." He looks at the curtains and pulls them together, noting their quality. "Hm…"
Kalf carefully watches him from his seat.
"And I would like to invite you, your men and your ships, to join me on this expedition."
Kalf looks away as he considers this. "And if I refuse?" He asks, curiously.
Ragnar grins. "You will lose everything."
"Even my Earldom?"
"You mean my Earldom." Lagertha points out as she appears behind Ragnar. Startled, Ragnar spins around to see her behind him. His eyes widen before he turns his attention back to Kalf. "Hm…." He mutters, stepping back from his ex-wife.
"That is between you and my ex-wife." He says. He starts to walk past her and pauses. Her icy gaze pierces through him and he glances at Kalf and then back. "And good luck with that."
She glares at him and he quickly leaves them to talk. As he walks away he hears Lagertha's voice rising with each word and he grins to himself.
Striding back into the hall, he passes Kalf's men to stand near his own that traveled with him. "Is everything alright, King Ragnar?" One of his men say, casting a suspicious glance at Kalf's men.
Grinning, Ragnar clasps a hand on the man's shoulder. "I think it's safe to say that this is now Kalf's problem." He looks at the others. "Let's return home."
Rollo sits before the seer, angrily twisting the arm ring around his wrist. "Ragnar was always chosen over me." He mutters. "By my father, and my mother, then by Lagertha..." He sneers. "Why would I not want to betray him? Why would I not want to scream at him, "You see, I am alive too!"" He looks away. "Being alive is nothing." He spits. "It doesn't matter what I do. Ragnar is my father, he is my mother, he is Lagertha, he is Siggy." He says. He frowns for a moment as he thinks of Siggy. Aside from when she betrayed him and slept with King Horik, he loved her. He loved her and now she's gone. Anger roars up inside him. Why did she have to drown in the icy lake? Why was life so unfair? Why did Ragnar always end up on top and always got what he wanted? "He is everything I cannot do, everything I cannot be." Rollo fumes. "I love him; He is my brother. He has taken me back after I have betrayed him…." His voice shakes. "But I am so angry! Why am I still so angry? You tell me, wise one! "
"Hmm." The seer begins to say but he is quickly cut off by Rollo.
"Or I will tell you!" He exclaims. "It is because I am useless, feckless, hollowed-out by failed ambitions— by failed loves." He shakes his head. "Nothing good can ever come of my life now."
As he says this, the seer begins to laugh. Rollo glares at him. "What is there to laugh about?" He growls.
"Oh Rollo, if you truly knew what the gods have in store for you, you would go down now and dance naked on the beach." He says, erupting with laughter. Rollo's brows knit together in confusion.
"I don't understand." He whispers.
"I tell you, as I told Ragnar. The bear will marry a princess and I can tell you, that you will be present at the ceremony." Rollo is wracked with confusion and waits for an explanation but the seer waves him off. "Now go and leave me."
Reluctant, Rollo stands up and casts a glance at the Seer before turning away and exiting the hut.
** Most of this was taken directly from the show (Season 3, Episode 5) with some alterations to fit with the story. As with Robin Hood BBC, I do not own anything from the shows themselves. Credit goes to their respective owners.
