A/N: Vikings Season 4
This chapter is only focused on Vikings, a stranger is arriving in Kattegat...
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Chapter 37 Yol
Ragnar dove up from the water of his bathtub.
"Death intrigues me", he stated, "Death of children, death of friends. But my own death escapes me."
Aslaug's new slave was carrying a bucket of water to him.
"In my world, you must have had your life worth living, before you can even consider death", she said.
"In my world", Ragnar told her, "I am constantly torn between killing myself or everyone around me."
"I am a slave", the slave reminded him, "I have the same feelings."
"A king and a slave", Ragnar laughed, "Who would have thought? We have both the duty to serve others – whether we like it or not."
The slave attempted to lift the bucket and fill the water to the bathtub, when it slipped from her fingers. A puddle of water appeared on the floor and she was feverishly trying to clean it. Ragnar looked at her in mock disapproval.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Yidu", the slave answered.
In Wessex, Queen Kwentrith of Mercia, King Aelle of Northumbria and King Egbert of Wessex were sitting on the table.
"So, how do we deal with this ruling Council?" Aelle asked.
"You must invade Mercia", Kwentrith pointed out, "Overthrow the ruling council by force."
"And you are queen again?" Aelle asked, "With your son as the heir to the throne of Mercia?"
"Of course, King Aelle", Kwentrith smiled, "And I would have to thank you for it."
"The son of Ragnar Lothbrok", Aelle stated, "I once swore an oath before god and all his angels to kill Ragnar Lothbrok for his unprovoked and merciless attack upon my people."
"And would you kill his bastard son as well?" Kwentrith wanted to know.
The whole of Kattegat sounded from the drums and the cheers, as the men brought a big log to the great hall. They placed it in the fire, before they turned to Ragnar and his family. They were all seating on their chairs.
"May the gods smile on you, King Ragnar", one of them said, "And may the fire in your hearth warm you like the love of your people!"
Everyone cheered. Yidu, the slave stepped out of the bedroom and approached Aslaug.
"Ivar is awake now", she whispered, "He's crying for you."
Aslaug stood up and walked to the bedroom, Ragnar following closely. When he entered the room, Aslaug was holding Ivar in her arms.
"Ivar, look! That's mistletoe", Ragnar said, placing a branch in Ivar's small hands, "It's magical."
He took the boy from his mother's arms and carried him over to the door.
"Put it in there", Ragnar encouraged him, "Just like your brothers."
"I don't want to", Ivar complained.
"Give him to me", Aslaug said, taking him back into her own hands.
"If he wants to be like the other boys, let him be like them", Ragnar said.
"He's not like the other boys", Aslaug cried.
"If you treat him like a cripple he will be one", Sansa said as she entered the room.
"He's my responsibility", Aslaug insisted.
"I love him just as much as you do", Ragnar told his wife.
"You don't act like it", Aslaug told him.
Rollo was standing next to Gisela, when the door opened and a man in a long, red cloak entered.
"Duke Rollo", he began, "By the power invested in me by his holiness, the pope, I have come here to serve you the papers ending your marriage with the Princess Gisela. Since the marriage has not been consummated, according to Christian law, it doesn't exist."
The cardinal turned to one of the Parisian Priests.
"Abbot Lupus", he addressed him, "I understand that this… Northman doesn't understand me?"
"What do you know?" Rollo barked, "I understand everything. I have learnt your language."
Rollo turned to the princess.
"Princess Gisela, I beg you not to do this", he pleaded, "I know that my destiny is to be with you. And like you, I am prepared to defend Paris to the death."
Gisela had listened with her mouth open in surprise, now she tried to gather her thoughts. "Leave us", she ordered the others.
"I have come all the way from Rome", the cardinal protested.
"Surely you will find refreshments somewhere else in the palace", Gisela told him. The cardinal, Count Odo, the priests and guards all left the room, leaving only Rollo and Gisela.
When they were alone, Gisela turned to Rollo.
"So you've confessed your love and devotion", she stated, "I don't pretend it doesn't touch me that you've learned our language. Let me ask you something: What is more important to you – our marriage, your appointment by the Emperor or your Viking soul?"
"Did I not kill all of my own warriors?" Rollo reminded her.
"Yes", Gisela agreed, "And I think that's a very Viking thing to do… It may not have meant anything to you."
Rollo thought for a moment, then pulled his armring off his wrist.
"This means something to me", he said as he handed it to Gisela, "This is personal – Do with it what you will."
Aslaug was sitting on the bed, next to Ragnar.
"I saw you looking at my slave Yidu", she said, "Don't pretend to be asleep, I know that you can hear me."
"If you want to spend some time with her, I can arrange it", Aslaug offered, "I wouldn't mind. I won't be jealous."
"If that is what you want", Ragnar murmured.
The next day, Sansa sewing on one of her dresses, when she was pushed over by Sigurd.
"Sigurd! Stop it!" Sansa laughed as the boy tickled her.
Pouting, he sat down next to her.
"But I want to play", he insisted. Sansa smiled down on him.
"I know, but I don't have time right now", she told him, "I have to finish this dress."
Ragnar watched as Yidu desperately tried to herd pigs together in a hold. She was cursing loudly in a foreign language. When she dropped her shoulder is despair he walked over and dragged her away on her arm.
"Tell me how you became a slave", he commanded, "Obviously, you weren't born into it. You're not very good at it."
"I was sailing with members of my family", Yidu recalled, "Pirates came aboard. They slaughtered some, others they kept for sale. They separated me from my brothers and they…"
"Raped you?" Ragnar asked.
"No, they did not dare to rape me", Yidu told him, "They took me on a long journey. For days and weeks, and now I am here – wherever here is. It has been so long since I knew where I was or where I belonged. I guess it is stupid for a slave to worry over such things. A slave does not really exist."
Ragnar draped a blanket around her shoulders.
"I want to show you something", he said.
Bjorn finished the new tattoo on his forearm. Then he packed all his gear together and opened the door of the hut. It was a clear day, no snow falling from the sky. Looking back, he stepped outside and closed the door for the last time.
Yidu entered the dark house on the far bank of the fjord, a long walk outside of Kattegat. Mice were squealing on the floor and Yidu was startled, when the door was shut loudly behind her.
Ragnar quickly walked over to the hearth in the middle of the room. Using a flintstone and a piece of steel, he quickly lit it.
"What is this place?" Yidu asked as she tried to see something in the twilight.
"Mine", Ragnar said, as he blew carefully on the straw, "Although no one has ever come here, it is the only place where I feel never alone. If you want, you can come and go as you like."
"What about my duties as a slave?" Yidu queried.
"They're no longer wanted", Ragnar told her, "I dismiss you as a slave. You're useless."
"Is it true?" Yidu wanted to know.
"Yes, you are a useless slave", Ragnar said with a smile.
"No, I mean that I can come and go as I want", Yidu inquired. Ragnar nodded in agreement.
Bjorn was walking through the frozen woods as an eerie feeling crept upon him. Looking around, he drew his axe from his belt and carefully walked on.
A warning from his instincts came just in time to let him duck before a sword almost took his head off. He swung his axe at the attacker, missing him completely. He parried a second swing of the sword with his axe, but before he was able to retaliate, the attacker had vanished before his eyes.
Always looking over his back, Bjorn walked on through the woods. His attacker appeared before him, swinging his sword and hitting Bjorn in the face, leaving a nasty cut on his cheek, missing his eye only by a little. Bjorn turned and faced his attacker, blocking the next blow with his axehandle. The force of the blow tore through the wood and the axehead flew away into the snow. Bjorn looked down at his useless weapon, then had to jump backwards to avoid a cut aimed at his belly. He scrambled away, and the attacker disappeared again in the fog.
His dagger ready to defend himself, Bjorn prepared his fishing hooks as a weapon. He tied several of his lines together, like a whip with metal hooks on the ends. Putting his dagger back into its scabbard, Bjorn made his way through the woods.
He looked down when he felt something tug on his pants. He had almost stepped into one of his own traps. Luckily, he had only triggered it and his foot had not been trapped, only a piece of cloth.
Bjorn looked up, when he heard loud laughter in the distance. He must be watching me, Bjorn thought. Carefully, he stepped around and ducked behind a large stone.
He hadn't waited long, when he saw a man run past, a sword in his hands and looking to all sides. The attacker smiled when he realized where Bjorn was hiding. He charged at Bjorn and Bjorn charged at him. Bjorn threw a rock, hitting his attacker on his head, before drawing his dagger. In full speed, Bjorn ran at him and buried the dagger in the attacker's shoulder.
When the attacker merely laughed at the wound, Bjorn pulled out his fishing lines. The attacker's face showed fear for the first time when he saw the sharp hooks. Bjorn threw it at his face, the hooks tearing into the flesh. Bjorn pulled and walked around the tree behind the attacker, tying him to the tree.
Bjorn took the dagger from the attacker's hand and saw a rather valuable ring on his finger. Likely payment for my death, Bjorn realized. He pulled the ring of the finger and stepped in front of the man.
"Who sends you?" he asked. He repeated the question several times, the attacker refusing to answer. Bjorn pulled a little on the hooks, causing the attacker to moan in pain.
"Who sends you?" he asked again. To Bjorn it became obvious that the man was not going to answer his question. Without hesitation he stepped forward and ran the knife into his belly, opening the bowl from the hip up to the ribcage. The attacker's guts spilled out while he cried in pain, while Bjorn merely shrugged and walked away.
Sansa was sitting in the great hall. Ragnar had gone somewhere she didn't know and Aslaug had taken Ivar to Floki's, where they had made an agreement that Floki was to teach Ivar about the ways of the gods. According to Aslaug, it was impossible for Ragnar to teach him, because he was too open to the Christian gods.
Arya and Gyda were chasing each other around in the great hall, causing their mother to smile encouragingly at them. Their skirts were flying around their ankles and Sansa was happy.
Ragnar was holding a rat in his hand and eyed it carefully. He was in his hideout house, Yidu standing next to him.
"I have something for you", she said, "It's an ancient Chinese medicine."
"I'm not ill", Ragnar refused.
"But you are still in pain", Yidu objected, "In here."
She placed her hand gently on Ragnar's head, offering some leaves with her other hand.
"You think I want to poison you?" Yidu asked. Without hesitation, she bit off a bit of the leaves. Ragnar swallowed the rest. After a short while, they fell both back on the bed, giggling wildly.
Ragnar and Yidu kept dancing around in the house, Ragnar wielding torches, while Yidu snuggled close to him or alternatively, jumped in wide arcs around the room.
Hedeby had grown in the past years, just as Kattegat had become an important trading station. Although Kattegat was bigger, Hedeby had become a great town of its own, a wooden wall spanning all around.
The door of the great hall opened and a man, clad in a fur jacket entered, his hood over his head. Lagertha, Kalf and Erlendur looked curiously at him, until Bjorn pulled back his hood and revealed himself. While Lagertha embraced him tightly, Kalf shot Erlendur an anxious glance, unseen by both Lagertha and Bjorn.
"Why haven't we offered the son of Ragnar Lothbrok a drink yet?" Kalf urged the servants. He handed Bjorn a big horn of Ale, which the young man hungrily drank.
"I'm not sure, my visit is so much reason to celebrate", Bjorn told him, "I came for two reasons. Firstly, to visit my mother. Second, I want to take Torvi back with me to Kattegat."
"You are talking about my wife", Erlendur reminded him angrily.
"She is your wife", Bjorn agreed, "Yet you treat her like a slave."
"Torvi is free to make up her own mind", Kalf intervened, "Where do you want to go, Torvi?"
"I want to go with Bjorn", Torvi said.
"Very well", Elendur smiled, "But you must leave the child. Guthrum stays with me. Otherwise I will not release you from your vows."
Torvi began to cry as Bjorn waited for a decision, carefully stepping towards the door. Lagertha embraced her.
"If you want to go with my son, then go", she told Torvi, "We have only one life. I will look after your child here."
Emperor Charles looked over his glass at Rollo.
"Where is my daughter?" he asked, "No one should be late."
Before Rollo could answer, Gisela walked into the room and looked down the table towards Rollo.
"Gisela, will you not join us?" Charles asked.
"I am not hungry", Gisela smiled, "Can I speak to you alone for a moment, husband?"
Rollo stood up and bowed before the emperor, then followed Gisela out of the room. They both snuck into a small storage closet. Closing the doors behind her, Gisela kissed Rollo hungrily.
Back in the main room, the looks on the nobles ranged from confused to amused, to blushing, as the sound of moaning was heard from outside the room. Finally, Count Odo's lover, Therese raised her glass and with slight amusement in her voice wished all, "Happy Christmas!"
The night over Kattegat was enlightened by the torches carried by everyone. The procession moved through the whole town, ending on the main square. The blood of the sacrificed animals colored their faces and clothes, when Ragnar stepped forward and finally lit the fire. Everyone cheered as the sparks flew high in the air.
Sansa watched as all the others, cheered as all the others. Arya and Gyda were standing next to her and she was holding her young niece Siggy in her arms.
A strange ship approached Kattegat. On the first look, it could have been any regular long ship, but no one in Kattegat had ever seen this one before. Most of the ships of the allies of King Ragnar were well known, but this one was different. Instead of the carved dragonhead on the prow, there was a skull of a deer fastened. The shields on the sides were painted yellow and were decorated with a symbol, to protect the wearer and install power within him. The man standing high on the prow was wearing a bright red tunic and a cloak of wool, draping wide behind his shoulders.
"Mother! A stranger has come!" Hvitserk cried when he entered the great hall. Aslaug looked up.
"A stranger?" she asked, "Where is he?"
"He's here", the man in the red tunic answered from the door of the great hall. His face was entirely covered in tattoos, his hand was resting easily on the hilt of his sword.
"Queen Aslaug", the man bowed slightly, "Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Harald, but my people call me King Finehair."
"A King?" Aslaug looked at him in surprise, "Then you are most welcome to our hearth and home. Come warm yourself by the fire."
"My men?" Harald inquired.
"They will be taken care of", Sansa told him, stepping beside Aslaug, "Are you hungry?"
"Tell me, King Harald", Aslaug began as a servant handed Harald a cup of ale, "Why have you come here?"
"The poets sing praises on your husband", Harald explained, "His raids upon England and now Paris – he's a famous man! Why would I not want to meet such a man, talk to him? But where is he?"
"You will meet him soon enough", Sansa told him, "My father will likely be back this evening."
"Then you must be the famous Sansa bloody-hair", Harald smiled, "Your part in the raid on Paris is almost as far told as your father's fame. Forgive me, but I have to ask, was it intentional that you were wounded and captured?"
In the evening, Sansa and Harald were playing a game of Hnefatafl, watched by everyone in the hall.
"Why have you really come here?" Sansa wanted to know.
"I made someone a promise", Harald replied.
"Who?" Sansa queried.
"A girl", Harald smiled, "A princess. I wanted to marry her, but she turned me down."
"You didn't just take her?" Sansa asked.
"I decided I needed to be worthy of her", Harald said as he made his move, "Be smart."
Sansa thought for a moment, then made her move.
"How would you do that?" she inquired.
"By making myself King of all Norway", Harald explained, "Then she would marry me for certain."
"But to become King of all Norway, you would need to overthrow my father", Sansa smiled, before taking Harald's king from the board, "You lost."
Ragnar entered the great hall through the side door. He stepped next to Bjorn who had only arrived shortly before him. Bjorn was still clad in his fur jacket, Torvi standing next to him.
"Look who's back", Ragnar greeted him. He shot a sideways glance at Torvi.
"You're well looked after, I suppose", he said.
Stepping towards his high chair, Ragnar looked around. Finally his eyes settled on Harald.
"And who are you?" he asked.
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A/N: I hope you liked it, even though this one is close to the Vikings episode.
Next chapter will focus entirely on Westeros...
Don't forget to review!