Hvitserk sat next to Unnr on the benches: "You've been pretty quiet these past few days."

Unnr shrugged as she fed Erik. "Sorry, I know I don't always make the effort to speak if I'm not spoken to."

"It's alright;" Hvitserk said. "I just wanted to make sure that you're feeling alright."

"Of course, I'm alright, Hvitserk," she smiled. "Get me some more ale?" she handed him an empty cup.

He fetched the ale immediately and without question. When he returned the cup to her along with his own, he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. His arm gave off a comforting heat and she couldn't help but lean into it.

"Má Má!" Erik cried.

Unnr had learned this meant grandma – his attempt to say mom mom – and set him down on the floor. He toddled off towards the backroom where Áslaug slept, leaving Hvitserk and Unnr alone. She leaned into him and yawned.

"Tired?" he laughed.

"Kids are exhausting."

He tentatively kissed her temple. Unnr didn't pull away, in fact she thought it was sweet. But she didn't remember making the active choice to kiss him back. And then she was on her back in another room and Hvitserk was trailing gentle kisses down her neck. She had never done this before and liked the feeling of him pressed against her between her legs. She fumbled with his breeches while he moved her dress up around her hips. He entered her slowly, thrusting gently while he kissed her collarbone. Any excitement Unnr originally felt about having a naked Hvitserk on top of her dried up immediately. Her mind wandered away from the moment, but when he groaned her name she snapped back to reality. Guilt washed over her for thinking about someone else and managed what she thought a moan of pleasure should sound like. She even added his name connected to a gasp, hoping he wouldn't notice she was faking. Hvitserk grinned into her neck and kissed her sweetly on the lips as he pulled out. He rolled off of her and kissed her shoulder in an attempt to show her gentle affection. Unnr, on the other hand, fixed her dress as casually as she could manage while internally panicking that she may have just lost a friend because for a single moment she had let loneliness consume her.

Unnr woke early that morning, she thought before anyone else, but as she walked through the hall she saw Ivar sitting on the benches.

"Have a good night?" he sneered.

"No," she squeaked and sat in to a seat across from him. "Please, I don't know why you've been ignoring me, but I don't think I can handle you being mad at me for this."

"Hel, was he that bad?" Ivar scoffed.

Unnr frowned. "I got bored," she whispered. "Shit. I don't tell him I said that. Don't ever repeat that."

"It will never be repeated," Ivar promised, suddenly feeling a lot better. "Unnr-" he began, but never finished his thought as he spotted his brother. For a brief moment he wanted to trust her has she had him; confide in her.

Hvitserk emerged from where they were sleeping and kissed the top of Unnr's head. "Good morning." He acknowledged them both and grabbing a piece of bread, continued out of the hall.

"You ought to talk to him," Ivar said.

Unnr groaned, but knew Ivar was right and reluctantly followed Hvitserk from the hall. "Wait up!" He stopped and waited for her to catch up to him. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course," he smiled and kissed her cheek.

Unnr stepped back. "I'm sorry."

"Is it Ivar?" Hvitserk frowned.

"No, it's not Ivar," Unnr sighed. "Last night; I thought it was just last night and this morning you…I think we want different things."

"Yeah, I guess we should have talked things out beforehand," he tried to smile. "Shit happens."

"Please, tell me we're still friends," she said.

Hvitserk chuckled and hoped it was enough to convince her. In his ears he could hear his pain and prayed he had imagined it. "Of course we're still friends. Now go back into the hall before Ivar decides he needs to murder me for ploughing his best friend."

Unnr laughed at his choice of words. That was not ploughing. In fact, she never imagined sex could be that gentle. When she returned to her seat near Ivar, they were still the only two in the hall.

"I think I'm supposed to talk to you, too," Ivar said, he convinced himself that he did need to be honest with her if he was going to keep her. "If you promise that it stays between us, I can't have my brothers learning that I'm not completely unfeeling."

"I promise," Unnr said.

"I was wrong…" he began

Unnr gasped. "You were wrong? You can't be Ivar," she grinned.

He rolled his eyes at her and continued. "I never forgave you for getting me left behind during the hunt and that pushed you straight into Hvitserk. And I won't stand for someone to take you away from me."

Unnr chuckled. "Ivar, no one is gonna take me away from you. Even if I did like Hvitserk, I wouldn't stop spending time with you."

Ivar frowned. "That's impossible. There's a finite amount of time in a day. In order to make time for someone else, you need to take time from someone else."

"Maybe I'll just stop sleeping."