A/N: Here we go, Vikings Season 2!
Three years have passed since the raid on Lindisfarne, which would make Sansa 18 or 19 years old in this chapter...
A big thank you to those who reviewed! Also to my new subsribers!
Warning: Graphical Violence ahead! This is a battle themed episode...
Jarl Borg is invading King Horiks' lands...
Disclaimer: I do not own Vikings and Game of Thrones. They belong to their rightful owners.
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Chapter 10 Brother's War
The army was camping in the hills of King Horik's lands. Ragnar and King Horik were holding their counsel. Thorstein came over, clad in a fur covered cloak, as all the others.
"There is still no sign of him", Thorstein said, "Maybe he won't come."
"He will come", Ragnar assured him, "For Jarl Borg has many reasons to come."
"We will wait for him here", King Horik decided, "And for your brother. Unless you have heard from Rollo?"
"It is true, I've had no message from my brother", Ragnar admitted, "But I still believe in my heart that he will not betray me. For he has no reason."
"Who needs a reason for betrayal?" Floki warned him, "One must always expect the worst, even from your own kin. That way you avoid too much disappointment in life."
Later in the morning, Ragnar was washing his face, when he heard the sound of a horn. He looked up and saw men standing on the next hill. They were carrying shields, covered in the characteristic colors of Jarl Borg, orange and green. One of them was Rollo.
"There is the treacherous one", Floki said behind Ragnar, "I was right."
In the camp of Jarl Borg, the men were getting ready for battle. Borg stepped beside Rollo, both in bare chests.
"Any regrets?" Borg asked.
"No regrets", Rollo told him.
"Then let us fight", Borg said, "And let the gods decide the outcome!"
They both stepped to the priest who accompanied the army. He tipped a brush into a bowl of goat's blood and sprinkled it over the warriors' chests. They both took a hand full of mushrooms out of another bowl and quickly ate them.
"Rider approaching!" the guard called.
"What is it you want?" Borg asked.
"I am here on behalf of Ragnar Lothbrok" Arne said, "I want to speak to his brother. Rollo, you and I have fought together many times. I think of you as a brother."
"But over there", Arne continued, "Is your real brother. Your own flesh and blood. Do you really want to raise your axe against him?"
"Tell Ragnar, I shall answer him with blood", Rollo told the One-eye.
Finally, the two armies faced each other on the sandy battlefield, surrounded by hills. Both waited for the other to make the first move. King Horik had left the command of the battle to Ragnar, although he and his men made up a great portion of the allied army.
"Shield wall!" Ragnar finally ordered. Immediately, everyone held their shields together, forming a tight wall.
"Shield wall!" Jarl Borg ordered on the opposite side. His men followed.
"Spears!" Ragnar shouted. The men in their ranks holding spears held them out to the front of the shield wall. On the other side, Borg's army followed their example.
Ragnar waited for another moment, readying himself for the fight. Then he ordered, "CHARGE!"
Both armies ran forward, closely packed, trying to break the enemies shield wall by the force of the impact. They collided and the melee began. Rollo was swinging his large axe with both hands. He cut down one of Horik's warrior's.
"Form a wall!" he ordered.
Some of Jarl Borg's men tried to jump over the fighters in the middle of the battleground. The first ones were hit by spears. Other's came through and were cut down by the men in the back of Ragnar's shield wall, like Floki or Arne.
Thorstein, Ragnar and Horik were in the front line. They wielded their swords and cut down Borg's men, one by one.
Finally, Rollo jumped over Horik's shield wall, his axe connecting with one of Horik's warriors. He swung his axe around and hit another one. Then Floki looked over his shoulder, seeing Rollo stand behind their shield wall, he attacked him with his hatchets. Rollo parried the attack with the handle of his axe. Floki fell to the ground and was just quick enough to grab one of the shields lying around, before Rollo's axe came hammering down. Two other warriors formed a small shield wall, protecting Floki.
Rollo cut them down, first the left one, then hit the right one on his head with the axe. By now, Borg had broken through the shield wall. He circled the shipbuilder. Floki drew his knife from his belt and tried to stab Borg. Borg avoided the hit and tried to hit Floki with his axe. Borg and Rollo were pushed back by Floki's attack, aimed at them both. They somehow avoided being stabbed and Rollo finally held Floki's hand fixed. He hit the boat builder's arm with the wooden handle of his axe as the axehead was broken off before. The bones in Floki's arm broke as his hand was twisted around. Borg hit Floki with his axe on the shoulder, before Rollo scored another hard hit to Floki's head with the axe handle. Floki fell to the ground.
Borg and Rollo were attacked from behind by Thorstein and Arne, while Ragnar carried Floki away. Suddenly, Arne found himself alone facing Rollo. He paused for a moment then charged at the other man, swinging his axe and shield with all his strength. Rollo effortlessly parried the attack with the handle of his axe, then pushed the One-eye back. Rollo discarded the broken handle and waited for the next attack. Arne picked up a spear lying on the ground. He aimed and ran towards Rollo, who stepped aside and avoided the hit. He trapped the spear in his hands and pulled, until he had finally knocked it out of Arne's grip. He turned the spearhead around and ran it into the one-eyed warrior. As Arne began to spit blood, Rollo raised the spear, lifting Arne's feet off the ground, impaling him at the top of the spear.
Ragnar returned to the battlefield, followed by Thorstein. Rollo was looking at the dead body of Arne, not sure how he felt. He had been an enemy, but it was also true, he had been a close friend. Now he was dead. Rollo was awoken by the returning Ragnar and quickly pulled the spear out of Arne's body. The spear at the ready, he faced Ragnar.
"Is this what you really want, brother?" Ragnar asked him.
Rollo tried several times to get himself to run the spearhead into Ragnar's unguarded chest. He failed. He had to admit it to himself.
"I cannot fight you", he said loudly. Rollo threw away the spear and stood there, unarmed. He fell to his knees, at the mercy of his brother.
Ragnar was sitting on the campfire, warming his hands. He was still encrusted with blood from the battle. Floki was lying on the ground, badly wounded. Rollo was kneeling in chains, guarded by Thorstein.
Jarl Borg and several of his guards entered the camp. They approached Ragnar. King Horik came out of his tent, walked over to the campfire where he sat down next to Ragnar.
"Without being defeated, we have grown weary of the slaughter of our young men", the King announced, "So, Jarl Borg, I offer you one third of the profits on the disputed land. Unless you continue to challenge my claim."
"I would rather go back fighting than accept such scam justice", Borg answered.
"So you will not accept my fair offer?" the King queried.
"No", Jarl Borg replied.
"Why do we continue to look inwards?" Ragnar wanted to know, "Why do we fight each other about this piece or that piece of land? Why don't we look outwards? I have already found a passage west. We have found wealthy lands over there. If we raided together, we would not need to kill any more of our young folk. But instead offer them land, to farm."
"My mind tends the same ways as Ragnar's" Horik stated, "I want to sail west with him. What do you say, Jarl Borg?"
"Yes", Borg agreed after a moment of thought, "I want to see this land to the west. And so I accept your offer."
After Jarl Borg had left the camp, Ragnar walked over to Rollo. "Not that you'd care, brother", he said, "But your niece Gyda is dead."
The two ships returned to Kattegat. The women of the town were cheering on the pier as the boats came nearer. The cheers ebbed, as they could see how few actually returned, who was missing. They docked to the pier and Floki and the other wounded were carried ashore on stretchers. Then Rollo was guided onto the pier, his hands in chains.
Later in the evening, Ragnar was eating, while the others listened to the news.
"We fought all day", he began, "Jarl Borg would not give in, neither would we."
"One-eye died", he told them, "Rollo killed him."
Siggy looked up as if she wanted to say something, but was not able to speak.
"And Floki may not survive", Ragnar added, "For he is so badly wounded."
"This was not your quarrel", Lagertha said, "This should have never happened."
"No man can walk through life without things happening to him", Ragnar told her.
Lagertha decided it was not the time to press this further. Instead she needed to know something else.
"Who is Aslaug?" she asked.
Ragnar's reaction was strong. He threw his cup in the corner of the room.
"Who is Aslaug?" Lagertha repeated.
"She's a Götland princess", Ragnar told her, "We met her over there."
"You just met her?" Lagertha kept digging.
"Lagertha, stop", Sansa cautioned her.
"What has the boy told you?" Ragnar asked back.
"It does not matter what Bjorn told me", Lagertha said furiously, "What are you saying?"
"I say", Ragnar began, "We should not wash our dirty clothes in public."
He stood up and left the room. Lagertha followed him. As they reached the bedroom, Lagertha took a cup from the table and threw it at Ragnar.
"Did you have sex with her?" she yelled.
"Yes", Ragnar admitted. Lagertha slapped him in the face.
"How many times?" She wanted to know.
"Once", Ragnar said, catching her hand before she could hit him again, "I don't love her."
Lagertha tore her hand free and let her fist connect with Ragnar's nose.
"How can I make you let this go?" Ragnar asked, trapping Lagertha against the wall.
"Never see her again", Lagertha fumed, "Never again."
"Done", Ragnar agreed.
Sansa watched as Siggy sat next to Rollo who had been put in chains at the town square. Ragnar had told her before, he was not able to judge his own brother for his treason. Therefore, they would have an assembly and they would bring Rollo to what was called the 'law rock'. There his fate would be decided.
She could not help herself, she had to think another time about all the trials she had witnessed in King's Landing. Where Joffrey had sentenced men to have their tongues torn out, or hands cut off. She had to admit, Ragnar and Lagertha had since their rise to power been fair rulers, always looking for a consensus. Yet she was not sure how she wanted Rollo's fate to be – death was an acceptable sentence for treason, there she agreed. But she also remembered, how she felt when her father had been the accused. No matter whether the sentence was just (in her eyes it was not), it had hurt her a lot to see him beheaded.
The population of Kattegat had assembled at the foot of the giant, rocky hill, called the law rock. Rollo was brought forward by Thorstein, who was still nursing the cut on his head he had received during the battle. Rollo knelt in the grass, next to the executioner's block.
The lawgiver appeared on top of the hill. He was an old man, wise from the years. He served as Judge whenever the Earl excused himself from making a judgement.
"I have been asked to determine the fate of this man", the lawgiver began, "He chose to fight with our enemies. He killed many of our sons, fathers, brothers and friends. What hope is there for him?"
The crowd argued loudly for his death, until the lawgiver raised his hand, silencing them.
"This man deserves to die", the lawgiver agreed, "But the gods have made their own judgement. If they'd wanted him dead, he would have died in battle. I conclude therefore this man to be set free!"
Thorstein stepped forward and murmured to Ragnar, "We should kill him anyway."
"We must obey the law", Ragnar countered.
"Who is the lawgiver?" Thorstein asked, "Just an ordinary man!"
"Not when he stands on his sacred stone", Ragnar reminded him.
Sansa watched as Rollo's chains were released. No one seemed to be satisfied with the decision, not even Rollo. Yet, no one else protested against the sentence.
Several days later, Sansa was searching for Ragnar.
"There is someone coming", she told him.
Ragnar quickly went to the pier and immediately retreated to the great hall upon recognizing the guest. When the guests arrived in the hall, Lagertha scrambled out of their room.
"I had no idea that she would come", Ragnar tried to calm Lagertha, "I did not ask her to come. You must believe me."
They both stood side by side when the guest entered the hall, accompanied by guards. When the guards stepped aside, they revealed a heavily pregnant woman. Lagertha threw an accusing look at Ragnar and bit down an angry comment.
"Lagertha, princess Aslaug", Ragnar introduced them, blushing.
"Thank you, Ragnar", Lagertha said, "I know who it is."
She locked her eyes with Aslaug for a moment, then said, "Come, eat, rest. You must have had a tiring journey."
In the evening, they were all sitting together at the table, feasting and drinking. Lagertha tried to entertain Aslaug by a little small talk.
"Bjorn told me that your mother was the shieldmaiden Brynhilda of whom we've all heard?" she inquired.
"It's true", Aslaug replied, "Although she died when I was very young. I barely remember her."
"And your father?" Lagertha wanted to know.
"My father was Sigurd", Aslaug declared.
"Sigurd? Just Sigurd?" Lagertha kept asking.
"No, I mean he was the Sigurd", Aslaug explained, "Who according to the sagas killed the dragon Fafnir."
"Then your father is also a hero", Lagertha complimented her.
"I am proud that he was my father, but I never knew him", Aslaug said, "Do you remember me, Bjorn? How we stood together under the tree of life?"
"It wasn't Yggdrasil", Bjorn pouted, "It was just an ordinary tree."
"That's true", Aslaug agreed, "We both know that. It creates a bond between us."
"There is no bond between us", Bjorn said angrily, "I don't want any bond with you."
Sansa had been listening to the awkward conversation. Although it had happened before she was born, she imagined that Lagertha must be feeling similar to what her mother had been feeling when her father had brought Jon back from King's Landing.
The next day, Lagertha and Siggy were busy weaving.
"What do you know about this woman?" Siggy asked her friend.
"I only know what Bjorn told me, which is not much", Lagertha admitted, "He did not want to be disloyal to his father."
She checked the threads in the comb. "I did not know that she was carrying his child", she told Siggy.
"Do you believe it?" Siggy queried.
"I do not know", Lagertha said, "Ragnar believes it."
"And what are you going to do?" Siggy asked. Lagertha remained silent.
Outside the hall, at the pier, Sansa stepped next to Ragnar.
"What will happen?" she asked, "Will you ask her to leave?"
"I don't know yet", Ragnar told her, "But this woman is carrying my child. I can't abandon her."
"I keep thinking about how Lagertha must feel like my mother felt, when my father returned from the war, with an infant in his hands", Sansa told him.
"What happened?" Ragnar wanted to know.
"It was long before my birth. I grew up with him, but no one ever talked about that" Sansa recalled.
"Do you think I should ask her to stay?" Ragnar inquired.
"I really do not know", Sansa said, "Neither is it my place to tell you."
Ragnar and his son were visiting Floki. He was still lying in his bed, too hurt and weak to even sit upright.
"Floki", Bjorn said sadly.
"I'm not dead yet ", Floki murmured with his eyes closed, "No thanks to you, Ragnar."
"Say what you want about me", Ragnar smiled, "I'm just glad that the gods were stupid enough to save you."
"The gods, and Helga", Floki agreed.
"You must regain your strength", Ragnar told him, "There is a lot to do – a whole fleet of boats to be built."
In the evening, everyone was sitting at the table again. Aslaug, followed by her guards walked in and placed several meals on the table.
"I hope you will accept what I have chosen and prepared for you", she said.
"I did not expect you to go to so much trouble", Lagertha told her.
"It is no trouble if it is pleasing you", Aslaug smiled.
Aslaug took her place at the table and the feast began.
"To tell you the truth, I did not imagine you could cook", Lagertha complimented Aslaug.
"I can't", she answered, "My women cooked. I just bought the ingredients."
"Looking at you both together here in my hall", Ragnar began, "I see no reason why you should not get on together. I have heard that similar arrangements exist all over the country."
"What arrangements?" Lagertha asked with clenched teeth.
"That a man can live with more than one woman", Ragnar suggested, "In fact it is not unusual. It works to the benefit of everyone, especially the children – of both marriages."
"It's true", Aslaug agreed, "I know of many such instances."
"Is that what you are suggesting?" Lagertha asked.
Stroking her hair, Ragnar replied, "If I were, what would you say?"
The next morning, servants began to load a cart with the different chests, which Lagertha packed. Lagertha was in the back of the hall, still packing. Thorstein entered, followed by Floki who was using a stick as crutch.
"You are leaving then", Floki stated.
"Of course I am leaving", Lagertha confirmed.
"Is Bjorn coming with you?" Thorstein wanted to know.
"That is up to Bjorn", Lagertha told him.
The wagon was loaded, everyone was there to say goodbye to Lagertha, except Ragnar.
"Bjorn, you have to choose", Lagertha told him, "Say it now."
"I choose my father", Bjorn sobbed.
Lagertha hugged him tightly, then said her goodbyes to Siggy and Sansa. They both wished her luck. Lagertha climbed upon the wagon and began her journey.
Ragnar rode into the town. He stopped his horse in front of Thorstein and Bjorn.
"Mother's left", Bjorn told his father.
Ragnar forced his horse in a fast gallop, trying to close in on the wagon. He overtook it, and dismounted from his horse.
"Are you really going to abandon me?" Ragnar wanted to know, "Without even saying a word?"
"You insult and humiliate me", Lagertha spat in his face, "I have no choice but to leave you. And divorce you."
They were interrupted by Bjorn, running up to them. Catching his breath he said, "I've changed my mind. I'm coming with you."
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A/N: How will Aslaug contribute to the further events in Kattegat? The next chapter will be covering the wedding...
What do you think? I feel like I am getting a good grip on the battle scenes by now. And there will be lots of battles... Do you agree?
Don't forget to review!