Bonnie folded the final sheet and slid the paper into the last envelope. A knock sounded at the door. She inhaled and released the air in a slow deliberate exhale. Pushing herself away from her dining table, she rose and then moved across the room to answer the caller. Rollo stood upon her welcome mat. A single soldier flanked him which was just as well. She knew he planned to seek out Lagertha and Bjorn. The less who knew about his plans the safer they'd remain. She stepped to the side and allowed him entrance into her home.
"Many apologies for the disturbance this late in the eve. Yet this time will serve us well in pilfering you away from Kattegat. Ivar, Hvitserk, and the rest of the warriors have been laid low by their cups." He stared about her keep with a bit of urgency motivating his glances. "Gather only the things you may require. We must make haste if we're to be fruitful in our attempts." His searching gaze crash landed back on her and paused to study her. The pressing panic which locked the muscles in his face drained away. "Yet this is all for naught. For you refuse to come away with me."
Bonnie stared at Rollo as a sad smile took possession of her lips. Though she couldn't seek out her freedom with him it moved her he even cared enough to try. Especially since his switch in faiths landed him a nice cushy spot in the land of Neutrality.
"No," she uttered, shaking her head. "But you're being here isn't for naught." She held out a stack of envelopes to him. "I know you're planning to seek out Lagertha and Bjorn. Guthrum will be among them. If you can ensure these discover their way into his care then it would be the second best thing to me regaining my freedom."
He took them from her. "Ivar has a mind to usurp you as Supreme. He means to name his betrothed as Most High. Next eve before he enters into matrimony with the deceiver he'll have you match your sorcery against hers." Her eyes rolled at how far her ex planned to go on his journey for revenge. "I know you're weakened. Though your divinity is still very palpable, I sense your mystical energy wanes."
Her shoulders bobbed. "I'm growing a tiny half-human baby. The tasks a bit more complicated than it looks." She placed a hand to his cheek as a small smile perched itself upon her lips. "Don't worry about me, Rollo. Bennetts always land on their feet and in the oft chance we don't, well," her head dipped a bit to the side, "we know how to dust ourselves off and get back up."
He turned his face into her palm and inhaled. "You'll see me once more before I depart from these shores for a final time. Until then, have a care for yourself and be wary of my nephew's ambitious betrothed. What she lacks in mystical energy, she bridges the divide in guile and duplicity."
"Fare well in your journey, Rollo," she said, refusing to waste words or time on Freydis. She'd dealt with more than a few doppelgängers in her time and she doubted if the echo in human form had even a tenth of Katherine's ingenuity or all around bad assness.
Bjorn's chest pained him. The ache scattered his thoughts. It distracted him from the weightiness of their situation and isolated him within the depths of his guilt. For what Sigurd now thundered at them all resonated with undeniable truth. They'd committed an act of cowardice when they chose to leave Bonnie behind. She'd never have done the same if it had been any of them in her place. No matter what they demanded of her.
"May Loki take you all!" Sigurd roared kicking a bucket of waste across the crumbling great hall at Ubbe. "Release me! I care not for my life. Without Bonnie I wouldn't even have one!" Once again he yanked on the chains that secured him to the stone wall at his back.
Ubbe sidestepped the soaring pail and it crashed into the wall at his back. "Halt in your childish fits or your feet shall also bear the burden of chains!" He whirled about to jab a finger at Sigurd. "Now still your tongue before I have a mind to bind your mouth as well."
"Oh please do, Ubbe," Sigurd seethed as he slaughtered Ubbe with a glare. "Venture close enough so you may bind my mouth and feet."
Ubbe chortled to himself, before snatching his gaze away to continue in his pacing of the crumbling keep. During his monotonous jaunt, Ubbe speared him with a pointed stare. "We can't linger here for much longer. Ivar will soon be upon us."
"For now we must," Guthrum said without affording them a glance.
He sat upon a boulder near a wide opening that had once claimed the privacy of a wall. The absence of the stone divider now offered a view of the entire North side of the land. Which they each took turns keeping watch over. Something his stepson should've been doing. Instead he doted upon a large white tailed eagle, murmuring things to the creature no one else could hear. Bjorn cared not what Bonnie thought, the boy was strange.
"Why, Guthrum?" Torvi clasped her hands together. Tears polished her golden gaze. "Why must we remain here in danger?"
Sigurd's bellowing halted as his questioning stare darted to Guthrum.
"It is our Supreme's will."
"Bonnie?" Torvi questioned as hope instilled life into her gaze. "How could you know such a thing?"
Everyone's gazes swept to Guthrum. Even Sigurd considered him through narrowed eyes. After a moment of scrutinizing the boy he scoffed. "She bound him to her!"
"What?" Bjorn's head swung from left to right to assess the measure of them both. When he could discern nothing from their soundless confrontation, he demanded an explanation. "What does this mean?"
Guthrum stroked the wide breast of the predacious bird, speaking more soft words to it before launching it back into the heavens. His stepson's indifferent stare then moved to him. "I should've died on the battlefield at Hvitserk's hand, but our Supreme altered my fate by binding my path to hers. Now we are one."
"Then how could you seek your leave of Kattegat without her?" Sigurd growled from the clench of his teeth, jerking on his bindings again.
Guthrum's unbothered stare settled on Sigurd. "Because she asked it of me and her will is greater to me than my own."
Hvitserk watched Bonnie enter the hall. The lush green gown she donned enriched the verdant hue of her stare. His heart quickened and he despised himself even more for still being moved by her. She walked with her back straight and her head high. Her gaze remained fixed upon Ivar and Freydis who stood before the high priestess. His brother could not conceal just how taken he was with Bonnie. Not even his betrothed missed the longing swimming in Ivar's gaze. For hatred seared the former slave's glare as her slitted eyes swept from Boneless to Bonnie and back.
Bonnie's gaze strayed from Freydis and Ivar to him. Her hand moved to palm the swelling mound of her belly. Something in her jeweled tone stare flickered. The glimmer gave him pause. Before he could consider the weight of such a suggestion she snatched her gaze away.
"Bonnie, do you know why you're hear?" Ivar questioned moving away from Freydis to lean on his iron crutch.
"Yes." Her eyes rolled as she waved a hand at Freydis. "You wanna prove your over me by marrying this one here. So can we get on with it already? My feet has swollen two sizes bigger than the shoes I'm wearing. The smell and sight of this hall is unsettling my stomach. I didn't sleep well last night and if truth is being professed, I'm about two winks away from being considered narcoleptic."
Harald snickered at his side. She cast the Vestfold king an amused glance. Hvitserk cut his gaze at Finehair who'd dedicated his sole focus to Bonnie. His chest burned. Liquified heat hurtled through his body. When had she and the hollowed crown king become bosom acquaintances? He tore his glare from Harald to regard Ivar whose face had ripened to a blood drenched hue.
"Hmm," Ivar chuckled to himself as his mouth twisted itself into a scornful smirk. His head dipped in a slow nod. "Yes, you are here to celebrate Freydis' and my entrance into matrimony, but your also here to prove yourself as the Supreme of my people."
"Yeah, no," she said, cocking her head in challenge. "I'm not doing that."
Freydis pressed herself further into Ivar's side as a sneer dallied with her lips. "She's afraid."
"Are you afraid, witch?" Ivar mocked, wrapping his arm around Freydis' waist.
The corner of Bonnie's mouth quirked. "Yeah, that's exactly what I am. Now that's settled are you gonna marry the damn girl or am I done here?"
Hvitserk's eyes slitted. She truly didn't have a care for Ivar replacing her with Freydis. Heartless bitch! Had she ever truly loved them or just used them to bide her time until fate returned her to Bjorn's side?
"Have you noted she willingly relinquished her title to Freydis, Priestess?" Ivar seethed through the slits of his teeth.
"Well, I-I," The priestess huge eyes hurtled to Bonnie. "Is that what you've done, Supreme?"
Bonnie chortled to herself. "I've done no such thing. If King Ivar no longer accepts me as his Supreme then that is his right. If he wants to name his side line turned main chick the new Supreme in his life," her gaze drifted back to Ivar's and lingered. A current passed between the two, before she snatched her stare and returned it to the priestess. "That's also still his decision. However, my place in the supernatural procession was given to me by the Goddess of All Creation. Unless she has a mind to strip me of the title, then it's a burden I'll bear for the rest of my eternal days."
"Hmm," Ivar curved his lips into a closed lipped grin that seeped scorn, before looking to the horde. "People of Kattegat this eve is an eve of a great many things. Not only will Freydis join me in matrimony, from this day forth she shall be known as your Supreme." Murmurs rippled through the guests. "Bow before your one true Supreme!" He roared.
Confounded by Ivar's declaration, the festers looked to the other for the meaning missing from his brother's senseless words. When no one moved to bow Boneless lifted his hand. Warriors left their assigned places at various posts in the hall to do his bidding. His personal soldiers began shoving the horde to their knees. One approached Bonnie and her eyes flickered gold. The young soldier backed away.
Freydis not favoring the warriors show of wits stepped forward from the shelter of Ivar's arms. "This one is no greater than the others. She should be made to bow before me as well."
"No, you claim to be the Supreme. Make me kneel!" The power in Bonnie's voice alone drove the former slave back into Ivar's arms. Bonnie stepped forward. Her verdant eyes still flickered gold. "Learn this and know it well, Doppelganger," Freydis' already flared stare increased in size and darted to Ivar, "I'll never bow to you or your delusional soon to be husband. Not even if I were as weak in the knees as he used to be. But you…" A hint of a wicked smile took possession of her mouth. Hvitserk's prick swelled in his trousers. "Kneel!" Despite Ivar's attempts to keep his betrothed on her feet, Freydis fell to her knees. Her face angled itself towards the planked floor. "Aww, look how well you've done for yourself. Your betrothed is sooo humble, Boneless."
"Enough!" Ivar slammed his iron crutch down on the wood planked floor.
"Yes!" Bonnie swayed a bit as blood trickled from her nose. "I have had enough. From now until I give birth leave me to my own companionship. For all of this," she waved her hand to Freydis as her feet staggered in place, "comes really damn close to violating our agreement."
She spun about to seek her leave and tumbled towards the ground.
"Bonnie!" Ivar nigh stumbled over Freydis' still kneeling form to reach their former mate.
On instinct Hvitserk moved to catch her, but Harald reached her first. She folded into his arms with the look of one who no longer dwelled within the realm of Midgard.
Guthrum cast his gaze over the hills of verdant which rolled beyond sight in every locus. As he watched for movement in the distance his senses reached for Bonnie. Something he'd done over much since becoming one with her. Fear consumed her emotions. Along with pain, annoyance, and frustration. Leaving her had tested his faith. For like his stepfather he wanted to carry her away from Ivar and Hvitserk. He knew they both had minds for vengeance. With ease they'd cut down many warriors under Bonnie's dominion. So his decision to carry out her will troubled him. He pondered if Sigurd's judgement of him rested upon balanced scales.
A loud crash at the back of the keep tore him from his musings. Without hesitation he hurried in the direction of the disturbance. Near the swine enclosure Ubbe and Bjorn struggled with a now liberated Sigurd.
"Leave her, Sigurd!" Ubbe roared, attempting to force Sigurd to his knees. "Her mind is addled with sickness."
Bjorn twisted Sigurd's arm behind his back, and then yanked him about to regard a dung stained Margrethe who cowered in the far corner of the swine stables. "Sight her, brother! Sight her well! Vengeance would be wasted upon the likes of her."
"Yet I seek it just the same," Sigurd growled as moisture bubbled from the corners of his mouth.
"It is not just, we shall leave her here for Ivar to do with her what he will." Ubbe captured the sides of Sigurd face to meet his gaze.
Sigurd slammed his forehead into Ubbe's nose and the struggle morphed in to a battle of blows between Ubbe, Sigurd, and Bjorn. Margrethe watched with glee glittering in her eyes. She reveled in the discontent among them. The madness which fogged her mind would usher them all to their end if they allowed her to linger among them. Much depended upon their survival. Guthrum refused to leave their paths in the hands of the hollowed. Snatching his ax from his trousers, he hurled it at Margrethe. The weapon hurtled through the air and met its end at the cradle of her breasts. The fighting among the sons of Ragnar halted. Their widened stares darted to a dying Margrethe, and then moved back to him.
Sigurd yanked himself free of Bjorn's and Ubbe's loose hold. He spun to walk back to the keep. As Snake in the Eye passed him he offered him a nod. Guthrum returned the acknowledgment with a nod of his own.
"Guthrum, why would you do such a thing?" Bjorn questioned between pants as he straightened.
Ubbe waved a hand at the now dead once again slave, while shaking his head. "This was senseless. In what way does her death serve us?" Guthrum only stared. He'd done what Ubbe should've done long ago many times over. "We're no better than the enemies who pursue us."
"Horses approaches, horses approaches!" Hali yelled, while rushing from the keep.
Guthrum spun about and hurried back around to the front of the ruins. He'd relinquished his guard for but a moment and now riders had discovered them unawares. By the time he arrived in front a man with the look of a foreigner was dismounting his horse along with a Frankish soldier.
Lagertha stood at the front of the hovel considering the foreigner. "Why have you come here, Rollo?"
"May we speak among ourselves?" The former queen watched him with a guarded eye before inclining her head.
She waved her hand towards a secluded place just beyond the keep. A place where a stone arch once stood, but now lay scattered about broken in piles. As Rollo passed him to follow her, the duke's gaze narrowed. His steps faltered for but an instance to search Guthrum's face. Whatever conclusion he drew forced him to altogether halt in his trek after Lagertha.
"Are you Guthrum?"
His head bobbed once. "Yes."
Rollo withdrew a leaflet of folded parchments and handed them to him. "The Supreme tasked me with delivering these to you." The duke studied him a moment longer, before offering him another nod, and then continuing after Lagertha.
Guthrum glanced down at the envelopes covered in Bonnie's hand. His heart swelled in girth within his chest. For he didn't relish departing from those shores without her, but for the sake of Bonnie's purpose he knew that he must. Dragging the pad of his thumb over his name on one of the envelopes, he exhaled a sigh. He then placed the letters in his tunic.
"What did the traitor say to you?" His stepfather demanded as he hurled glares more threatening than broad ax blades at the duke's back.
Guthrum raised his gaze to meet Bjorn's. "After Rollo seeks his leave of this place, we'll do the same."
"So we're no longer being made to wait to depart?" Annoyance saturated his stepfather's tone.
"No, father." Hali squeezed between them and lifted his face to his father. "The man has arrived as Ayanna said he would do so. Now we must depart or risk being discovered."
Guthrum lifted his gaze from Hali to regard Bjorn who gawked down at his son. "While Lagertha speaks with Rollo, we should gather the others and ready ourselves for the journey to England."
"I don't understand," Freydis watched as Ivar relieved himself of the iron contraptions on his legs. His brows bunched as he cut an eye up at her. "Why must we wait to marry?"
He forced air from his beautiful mouth. His gaze rolled from hers. "What don't you understand, Freydis? My reasoning is not one which baffles and I spoke plainly did I not?"
She bit back a retort that brimmed with disrespect. Taking a deep breath she tried again, "Why is it so important that your former betrothed see us enter into matrimony? It's not as if she sent you a summons to her wedding ceremony to king Harald's brother."
"This is of no concern of yours. You only need to worry yourself over plotting the details for our matrimonial ritual." He dropped the last contraption upon the floor and then writhed himself up to the head of the bed.
"Does she still have a claim upon your heart?"
"Don't be witless, Freydis!" Once settled he held out a hand to her. "Now, come join me." She only stared at him. "Please, I wish to hold you." The corners of his mouth turned downwards, while his beautifully hued eyes pleaded with her with such sadness.
Unable to deny him anything she crawled upon the mattress with him. He wrapped her in his arms and brought her close to his chest. A sigh of contentment bubbled from her lips as she sought peace in his embrace. For several moments after settling into his arms she attempted to seek out her contentment. Yet the feeling of ease wasn't forthcoming. Not when she didn't know his mind concerning the dark witch.
"I'm very unhappy with your decision to-,"
His mouth covered hers with a passionate fury she'd never known with any other man. He wet her netherlands with only a glance and sent her into the heavens whenever he deigned to touch her. The memory of their coupling in England still set the walls of her mind to flames. Oh sweet Goddess she had to have him. Her hand slipped over his hard gut to grip his manhood. Before she could claim her trophy, he tore his mouth from hers and took hold of her wrist.
"I can't," he said tossing her hand away. "And well you know."
Her breath left her body in pants as her wits attempted to discern his words. She wrenched free of his hold. "So she does still have a claim upon your heart! For why else would you not couple with me if not for that woman?"
"This is not true," he insisted, attempting to pull her back in his arms. "My affections no longer dwell with Bonnie."
"When I carried your babe and you refused to give yourself to me you said it was because she held your heart. Now you say that no longer holds true," She turned on her side to face him full on. "What excuse shall you present before me now?"
"There'll be no excuses if you believe your ears capable of bearing the burden of my verity." He took her hand in his as his gaze crept over her face in a stirring caress. When she offered him a pointed stare to continue, he released a sigh. "It is because I do not desire you."
"Yet you desired me well enough in England," she insisted not believing him for a moment.
His head dipped a bit to the side, while his mouth flopped open and closed. "It was the will of the gods."
"And now it's not?" She demanded.
He shrugged once more as he cast his gaze away to consider something unseen. "Perhaps, for I no longer have any desire to plow you."
"And what of the dark witch? Do you still desire her." Her gaze crept over his face and her heart nigh halted when she witnessed the instant flare of lust shimmer through his gaze.
The muscle in his jaw twitched as he turned his back to her. "Why must you seek answers you don't wish to hear?"
Her heart crumbled, his meaning well received. "Do you think her more beautiful than I?"
"You shouldn't compare yourself to Bonnie, Freydis. For there is no comparison." He turned back to her and placed his hand on hers. Relief flooded her at his reassurance. "Bonnie is no mere woman. To compare you to her would be like placing a flickering flame next to the sun. Such a comparison would place the scales out of balance and not in your favor."
From the cut of her eye she spied a towering in his trousers. The unexpected bestowal forced her to misremember the ache in her heart his careless honesty provoked. For if she could seduce him once more and manage to carry for him, her place at his side would be fixed. This would please her Goddess to no end and weakened the dark pretender.
She reached for his erected manstand. Soon as she wrapped her palm around the impressive width it deflated in her grip. Ivar removed her hand from his prick, while shaming her with a censoring glare.
"I don't understand. Why don't you desire me? I'm your Supreme! My will and power is greater than your Gods!" She railed, misplacing her patience.
He studied her for a moment. His censoring glare turned to a look of pity. "Yet we both know you're not. Bonnie is the true Supreme. Of this I have no doubt. You're no more than a Saxon slave who managed to elevate their-,"
"False! I'm the one who delivered you Kattegat and your love on a dinner trough." Her eyes narrowed. "When you arrived you discovered me standing over her lifeless body, not the other way around."
"Freydis, what I will not allow for is any deceptions between you and I. I'm aware you have no place in the supernatural procession." He waved a hand. "Of this I care not. My only concern is ripping away all that Bonnie holds to her breast. Just as she did me when she allowed my mother to be slaughtered by Lagertha."
"She cherishes the babe she carries. Ripping the filthy spawn from her insidious womb will achieve your goals," she said, slowly turning to him once more.
A cold sneer masquerading as a smile slithered across his mouth. "I'll not rip the babe from her body. This would violate the agreement of our vow. No," he glanced away from her to consider something unsighted by her, "her babe shall be born in great health and before the seer places the child in her arms, the point of my dagger will stop the pound of the babe's beating heart. Only then will she know the excruciating agony of being on the wrong side of betrayal."
Layers of darkness peeled away from Bonnie's field of vision, while flickers of glowing light ate away the remaining obsidian patches. A dull ache throbbed between her temples. Every muscle in her body burned like they'd been gasoline drenched and set to flame. Fifty-eleven sharpened pricks stabbed at her lower abdomen. The taste buds on her tongue felt more pronounced in its drier than sand paper state.
She struggled into an upright position as her hands moved to cradle the small bump of her belly. An upsurge of motion spun her world like a sadistic carnival ride. She swayed unable to catch her balance even in her awkward half-lying and half-sitting position. A familiar scent and strong hands grasped her arms to steady her.
"H-Halfdan?" She pleaded rather than asked.
"No, Bonnie," a hoarse voice rasped back. "It's only Harald. You collapsed in the great hall this eve. I brought you back to your keep to recover."
She massaged her temples, attempting to relieve the pounding. "This is exactly what I get for being so damned cocky. I shouldn't allowed Ivar and his—for the castle—side chick to snatch me out of position."
"You're weakened," he stated moving to take a seat on the side of her bed. "Why?"
She pulled out of his hold to lean against her head board. "Since becoming pregnant, I've been unable to take offerings. The taste of most people's blood now sickens me. Though if I'm to utilize my sorcery I have no choice but to accept blood offers."
"From the pudge of your belly and if you speak the truth about the babe's fathers, then you're four new moons into your confinement." His gaze dropped to her baby bump and moved back to recapture her eyes. "I sighted you make use of your magic on the battlefield without any lingering mishap. You must've had an offering since becoming with child."
She exhaled. "Sigurd provided for me during the changing moons leading up to the second battle. And Bjorn made an offering on the battlefield to save my life. I'm not sure why I was able to tolerate their offerings and not others." Her shoulders rose and fell. "Perhaps it had something to do with them having a blood relation to the baby or maybe she just has a blood type preference. Who the hell knows?"
"Without the use of your sorcery, how will you manage to keep you and the babe safe?" Harald demanded in a tone that bordered on accusing.
"I'll see to myself the way I've always done. Even before I had any magic to brag about," she said meeting his gaze.
Without asking permission he reached out to cradle her belly in his palms. "And how did you manage such a hardship?"
She placed her hands over his as she glanced down to regard their contrasting appendages. "The best damn way I knew how."