There was one more event that needed to happen before the royals from Wessex, Mercia, and Northumbria could leave Thetford. Sigurd had to convert to Christianity and be baptised with a new Saxon name to be known as king. The priest who had married Sigurd and Blaeja had been put in charge of baptising Sigurd, and once Sigurd was converted with his Christian name, he'd be officially crowned the king of East Anglia.

At dusk, a large parade of people left the Thetford castle and towards a river outside of the city walls. I walked right beside Ivar as he limped after the group. I stayed by his side as the group got farther ahead down the small and gathered around the edge of the river.

Ivar stopped limping and let out a heaving sigh. "Let's stop here, Augusta. We can see from here."

I stepped closer to him and wrapped an arm around his waist, partially supporting him stand upright. "How're your legs feeling?" I asked softly. Ivar used his free arm to wrap around my shoulders and he tried not to let me see him grimace.

"Drinking this morning was a mistake," Ivar grunted. He narrowed his eyes down at the priest as the priest moved forward to the river, raising his arms to bless the ceremony. I looked up at his expression.

"You still don't like this, do you?" I asked.

Ivar shook his head. "Sigurd is turning his back on our entire way of life. Look around, Augusta, other than my brothers, there are no Vikings here."

He had a point about the lack of Vikings. None of the Vikings who stayed in the castle had wanted to come and the warriors and shieldmaidens had glared hard as we left the city. The Saxons here were all highborn, kings and their courts. I could see King Aethelwulf talking to Queen Kwenthrith, their head bent close together. Magnus was the only one of Kwenthrith's children present, finally having been convinced to leave with the Vikings. King Ecgberht and Queen Judith were holding onto each other, Blaeja right beside them. Lady Alodia was without her baby, and she stood alone and glaring at Sigurd and the priest as they spoke. Ubbe and Hvitserk stood at the far edge of this group, both of them still wearing their hard leather armor and their weapons sheathed at their sides. When the priest turned away from the river, he reached out his hands and waved for Sigurd to finally come closer.

I sighed slightly. "You do understand why Sigurd has to do this, right?"

"I understand." Ivar replied, sounding slightly defensive. "If Sigurd does not become Christian, he cannot be a real king for East Anglia. Just because I understand it, doesn't mean I have to like it."

I shrugged at that and squeezed Ivar's side a bit, causing him to jump slightly. Ivar looked down at me and smiled softly. We only looked back to the river when we heard splashes; the priest and Sigurd had waded into the river and now I assumed the priest was explaining what Sigurd was supposed to do.

Ivar was glaring at the priest and Sigurd, looking suspicious and more than a little angry about Sigurd choosing this. When the priest put his hand on Sigurd's forehead, Ivar's grip tightened incredibly on my shoulder.

"Don't hurt me, Ivar." I muttered and he immediately loosened his grip.

"I'm sorry, Augusta." Ivar started and he flinched as the priest helped Sigurd fall backwards into the river water, concealing him completely. I glanced over to Ubbe and Hvitserk, to where the two of them looked very uncomfortable. I glanced up to Ivar, who was looking just as uncomfortable as his brother.

When I looked down at the other Saxons, they all looked completely fine. This was standard baptism. Blaeja had stepped forward a little bit, so that she now stood at the edge of the water. I shifted on my feet as I suddenly noticed two more people standing at the edge of the crowd, somewhat close to myself and Ivar.

The man and woman stood beside each other, but they kept about a foot of distance between them. The man was easily recognisable, for I had been with his sons every day for the past several months and had memorized his features by being near his sons.

Ragnar Lothbrok looked younger and stronger than he had the last time I had seen him. His head was still shaven and his beard was long but his beard was no longer gray but the familiar shade of dark blond I was used to. The tattoos on his head were dark and new looking and I could see his ice blue eyes shining brightly from here. Ragnar Lothbrok was stronger looking in death than he had been when he was at the end of his life.

The woman took longer to recognize. Her long blond hair was braided and went down to the bottom of her shoulder blades, and from here I could see threads of colored leather braided into her long hair. She was also tall, just a couple inches shorter than Ragnar. Her dress was very long and she wore a cloak made of some sort of thick white fur. Her eyes were lined with thick black lines, the same way Helga had lined her eyes with kohl.

At first they were both sort of fuzzy, but the longer I stared the more in focus they became. I stared particularly hard at the woman, trying to figure out who she was. It wasn't until she finally turned her head and fixed me with a stare with eyes of a brilliant green, did I recognize her.

She had the same green eyes Hvitserk and Sigurd had. Sigurd looked alarmingly like her now that I could fully see her face, they even had the same shade of blond hair. Queen Aslaug was the image of her third son, and right now she was glaring hot daggers at me.

There was a loud splash from the river and I broke my stare with Aslaug's ghost to see Sigurd launching himself out from under the water, gasping for air and rubbing furiously to get the river water from his eyes. The priest patted him on the back and helped him to shore.

I looked back to where Ragnar and Aslaug had been, but the new king's parents had disappeared without a trace.

"All hail the new king of East Anglia!" The priest shouted at the top of his lungs, back on the shore with Sigurd kneeling beside him. "All hail King Athelstan of East Anglia!"

Athelstan, I thought. Sigurd had chosen the name Athelstan to use as his Saxon name. I smiled without thinking, shuddering slightly at the thought of ghosts watching this ceremony.

"Augusta?" Ivar's voice snapped me back. "Are you cold?"

Did I tell him that I saw his parents standing a few feet away? I had already told him before of seeing Odin in the tent...As the people below us on the hill started towards Sigurd to congratulate him, I gently pulled Ivar's head lower so that I could whisper what I saw into his ear and we wouldn't be overheard by anyone farther down the hill.

Ivar seemed shocked when I finished telling him. "You saw my mother?" He asked softly.

"She looked a lot like Sigurd," I told him. "And once our eyes met, I kind of just knew. I don't know how to explain it, Ivar."

Ivar brought me into his chest with the arm that was slung around my shoulders and he kept me tucked there tightly. I hugged him back for a moment as he spoke softly so that only I could hear. "Did you know that my mother was a volva?" When I mumbled that I didn't know what that was, Ivar explained. "A volva is a woman with the ability to make prophecies, she can see the future and try and warn us of outcomes of war. They are able to weave magic into their weavings, sometimes turning tides of battle. My mother was a volva, and I think if you saw her today, it was because she let you."

With his descriptions of volva, I had been getting nervous with where he was going with the conversation. I liked the idea that Aslaug intentionally showed herself and her husband to me, but the look on her face hadn't been friendly.

But then I felt the muscles of Ivar's arm tighten around me as he squeezed me tighter and the thought of a disapproving ghostly mother figure left my mind.

Ivar and I waited for the group of people to start coming up the hill; now that Sigurd was fully a king, the royal families could leave and go home. Blaeja had joined her husband the moment he had been proclaimed king, and Sigurd had kissed her deeply the moment she had gotten close enough. I saw Lady Alodia shake her head hard before leading the way up the hill, looking disgusted by their public display of affection.

Ubbe and Hvitserk joined me and Ivar as we waited for Sigurd and Blaeja to start walking. "I'm not calling him Athelstan." Ivar told his brothers the moment they were within earshot.

"I wouldn't expect you to," Ubbe replied. He gave a glance to Sigurd and Blaeja, where they were the last ones to leave the riverside. The other Saxons were already passing us with glances that they thought were subtle. Ubbe sighed. "It finally hit me."

"What?" I asked, looking up to Ubbe to where he stood beside me.

"Sigurd really can't come home." Ubbe said, his voice sounding genuinely sad. "He's king now. He has a wife; maybe they'll have children within the first year of living here. Sigurd already has a life set up here, and Kattegat has no place in his new life."

Hvitserk narrowed his eyes at Ubbe. "How cheerful of you, Ubbe."

Sigurd and Blaeja finally reached us and Hvitserk immediately dramatically fell into a deep bow. "All hail, King Sigurd-stan!" Hvitserk announced and Ubbe gently kicked his brother's knee.

"Shush you," Ubbe snapped. "Leave King Sigstan alone."

I chuckled along with the others as Sigurd rolled his eyes at the sky, soaking wet and wrapped in a dark gray blanket. Blaeja had twined her arm around Sigurd and she looked up at him with affection gleaming in her light brown eyes.

Our group started walking together, slow enough for Ivar to keep up easily. Sigurd and Blaeja led the group, Blaeja holding on tight to her husband and now her king. Hvitserk walked on Ivar's other side, just in case his brother needed it. Ubbe was on my other side, dwarfing me as I stood between him and Ivar.

All of a sudden, something in my mind yelled at me to turn my head and look over my shoulder. When I did, I saw Aslaug again.

Queen Aslaug was standing alone this time, and she looked much sadder at the sight of us walking away from her. Her eyes were looking at the four men walking with me, and I felt a pang of pity for her. But then I blinked and she was gone.

Early the next morning, Lady Alodia was the first to leave Thetford. She took her daughter Guinevere with her, having to leave her three year old son to be fostered here. The handmaid named Maynild stayed with him and they waved goodbye to Alodia and baby Guinevere.

Soon after them, King Aethelwulf left. I got to hug him tightly and I got to wish Alfred good luck, knowing that the next time I saw him, he could be a king. Queen Judith pointedly ignored me when she said goodbye to Blaeja and then she entered the wheelhouse without giving me a single glance.

Queen Kwenthrith stood on the side as I said goodbye to Aethelwulf, her light eyes shining brightly at Aethelwulf. Behind her stood her three daughters, with the oldest Verona holding the youngest Coventina. Aethelwulf finished his goodbye to me with a kiss on the head before going over to the queen of Mercia.

"Do you think we will see each other again?" Alfred asked me.

"I think we will." I replied. "We are both still young, Alfred. You'll be safe, right?"

Alfred huffed in amusement. "I'm a little more worried about you, Augusta."

"I'll be safe, Alfred." I said, squeezing his shoulders reassuringly. "I don't think Ivar or any of them will let anything happen to me."

Alfred smiled sadly and he pulled me into a hug. "I hope you end up happy, Augusta."

"And I hope the same for you, Alfred." I said back, holding him tightly for a moment before Alfred and I let go of each other.

Alfred left me standing there to get on his horse and I looked back to where Aethelwulf was kissing Kwenthrith's forehead goodbye. Aethelwulf gave Verona a nod and the two of faced each other, and for a moment I saw their hazel eyes meet each other.

Realization hit me like lightning. Verona had looked familiar the last time I saw her, the first real time I had gotten a look at her. Verona and Aethelwulf had matching eyes, their hair color was the same.

Kwenthrith locked eyes with me from across the way and when we met eyes I could tell that she knew that I knew. Her daughter was Aethelwulf's...Did Aethelwulf know? Judging by the way he politely nodded at Verona, he didn't.

Kwenthrith shook her head at me once, signalling me to not say anything. I blinked as Aethelwulf quickly rubbed Kwenthrith's arm and then he turned away to mount his horse.

I was standing by myself for a moment, as the court of Wessex left the courtyard of Thetford. Kwenthrith joined me at my side, looking between the retreating Aethelwulf and where Verona was going back into the castle.

"I believe I told you that I loved your brother once." Kwenthrith said quietly. I nodded slowly, watching the wheelhouse with Judith in it leave. "Your brother doesn't know. Verona doesn't know." She paused and looked at me completely. "You and I are the only ones on this green earth who know about Verona's father."

"What now then?" I asked, keeping my voice as low as hers. "Are you ever going to tell Aethelwulf?"

Kwenthrith shifted on her feet, looking nervous for the first time I had known her. "And tell him what? That he has a fourteen year old daughter? I can't see that conversation going well, Augusta. Not with his wife."

I opened my mouth for a moment before closing it. Judith had had her own bastard child, a child that Aethelwulf had accepted and adopted at King Ecbert's insistence. Would Judith be able to accept her husband's bastard when the mother was someone like Queen Kwenthrith? That kind of affair would be very public if people knew about Verona's parentage.

"I won't tell anyone about it, if you don't want me to, your Grace." I assured the older woman. Kwenthrith looked down at me and smiled softly.

"I appreciate your silence, Augusta of Wessex." Kwenthrith replied, grabbing my closest hand and holding it with both of her hands. After a moment of silence, "My daughters should all be finished packing by now. Just promise me one thing before I go."

Kwenthrith turned and turned me as well, holding onto my hand as if it was a life line. "Watch out for my dear, Magnus. He does not want to go with you and your Vikings, but he must. A boy should know about their father." She paused and looked guilty for a moment before she shook her head firmly. "Promise me you'll take care of him."

"I promise," I said, not wanting to say no to her. Kwenthrith's smile in response was grateful, and before I could think about a proper response, she moved her hands from my hands to my face and she pulled me in for a kiss, kissing me gently and deeply for a brief moment before letting me go and turning abruptly to go back into the castle. And then she disappeared and I was left alone.

Queen Kwenthrith and her daughters left a half hour later. And after them and saying goodbye several times to Blaeja, King Ecgberht rounded up his court so that they could be on their way, seeing as they had the longest journey to go.

Lord Pierce of Dornsaete had stayed behind with the Northumbrians instead of going with his countrymen from Wessex. Henrietta of Wessex stood at her father's shoulder, waiting patiently for her fiance to finish saying goodbye to Blaeja and Sigurd.

If Henrietta and her father were going to Northumbria right after this, their wedding would be fairly soon, I realized. I watched from a balcony as Blaeja gave her little brother one more embrace before the young king mounted his horse. Henrietta bowed politely to Blaeja before getting ushered into a wheelhouse, Lord Pierce getting in there with her. I thought of Ubbe's comment of him being too fat to sit a horse and I chuckled to myself before going back inside.

Now that all of the royal families were gone, the castle was a lot quieter. And tomorrow it was going to get even more quiet, I thought with a pang of nervousness. Tomorrow the Vikings finally set sail to leave England. Tomorrow, I'd be sailing to the land of the Vikings.