AN: Warning this chapter contains sensitive subject matter that some may find triggering. If you must forgo this one I completely understand. See you on the other side!
Ivar watched Odin lead Bonnie from his personal quarters. Unease stirred within the inner reaches of himself. He'd made a grave misstep. Traveled too far in his journey for vengeance. Without aiming to do so he'd misplaced himself along the way. His heart misremembered the value of the one supreme being he'd treasured more than his own broken life. His love. He tore his gaze from the entrance and spun on his wife. She cowered next to him, her bulging stare still trained upon their beaded doorway.
Unable to even stomach a glance of her he gripped her by the throat and glared into her eyes. "Do you know what you have done, Slave? Do you know the retribution that now stalks you…us?!"
Her head gyrated in small shakes as she attempted to no doubt rasp more lies pass his clench upon her throat.
"Is what she say true, Ivar?" Lord Hvitserk ripped the hanging beads from the entryway and stood before them in full battle rage. When Ivar took too long in his response an ax hurtled a hair's breadth between he and Freydis' faces and buried itself in the wall. "Whose babe does Bonnie carry?"
Ivar shoved Freydis away from him. Instead he attempted to slaughter Hvitserk by sight alone. "Who do you think? Were you not there and hearing when she demanded you give unto her a living testament of your affections?" His ever mounting rage and frustration discovered his brother to be an acceptable target as any. "You and you alone shoulder the burden of blame for this, Berserker! For had you not relinquished your wits in favor of scornful anger the moment Bjorn spoke of Bonnie's carrying you would've known the babe nestled in her womb as ours!"
"What?" Freydis uttered, while clawing at her chest. "No!"
Ignoring the worse thing he should've never known, Ivar attended his dullard of a brother. For several moments a battle of glares ensued between them. Then Hvitserk ripped his eyes away. Appearing a man possessed by a legion of the exacting, his brother tore his personal quarters to bits with only his bare hands to aid him. When everything lay broken and in a disarray about them, he snatched his sword from his trousers. Hvitserk marched towards the bed. His slitted stare fastened upon Freydis. The intent in his glare plain. Ivar wanted nothing more than to know the feel of her blood upon his skin. Even more so after her attempt on his daughter's life. Yet the babe she carried for him remained ever innocent of his mother's schemes. Reluctantly, he placed his body before hers to shield her from Hvitserk's attack.
"Brother, spare her!" Ivar pled with his tongue and eyes. "This babe is innocent of Freydis' plots." Hvitserk's expression didn't crack nor did his pity appear to be forthcoming. "You now know the endless agony of losing a babe. Will you settle such a fate upon me…once more?"
Pain fissured Hvitserk's mask of stone. Rage and regret waged a bitter battle in his glare as a growl tore from the depths of his gullet. He sheathed his sword. "I shall spare her for now, but do not mistake my show of restraint, Ivar. For after she's birthed her babe into Midgard her heart will meet the cleaving edge of my sword."
After skewering Freydis with one final glare, he spun about and sought his leave of their personal quarters.
Why didn't she tell him? Why hadn't he known? Those two thoughts bandied about Hvitserk's mind in a litany deafening in its silence. Ivar had the right of it. He'd allowed his bitterness to cast him as a fool. For she'd come to him. Even begged him to help protect her—their babe, and he'd turned her away. This is why the gods had allowed Thora to miscarry their son, why they'd taken her womb. His treatment of their Most High had angered them. They'd judged against him and now Thora would be made to suffer for his sins. He never should've reached for her. He never should've desired something more than fate had already ordered for him.
As he approached Bonnie's keep Odin stepped from the shadows to block his path to the door. "I'm here to call upon Bonnie. To sight the state of her and…her babe."
Odin laughed. "Even now that you know the truth of the baby's paternity you still can't manage to call the child yours." He tsked. "Myrieteris, yet you stand before me profoundly unaltered." The All-Father's laughter turned sneering in nature. "Seek out your leave, Lord Hvitserk." He opened his mouth to protest, but Odin's voice thundered. "Keep the same energy you had when you refused to help Bonnie keep your daughter safe."
"Please, I only wish to know how my daughter far-,"
"Your daughter is dead," Odin hissed, while closing the distance between them. An all-consuming fury slashed through Hvitserk. Searing heat scorched the inner lining of his sockets. A perceptive glow lit the All-Father's gaze and reflected within his smirking lips. "Greetings, brother. Was wondering when you planned to stop hiding and make an appearance."
"You will allow me to sight my mate and know the true welfare of my progeny," A voice that wasn't altogether Hvitserk's rumbled from his throat.
Odin's eyes flashed methane bright as two cloaked figures halted next to them. Potent Mystical energy which could be likened to Bonnie's flared about them. "You two shall not total out your sums against each other at this moment in time!" One of the figures bit out in a lowered hissing tone. "My descended daughter will suffer greatly this eve. What she shall not suffer is the pride and pissing sports of men. I won't allow it!" Her glare cut to him, her large dark eyes turned mournful. "Your business here is done, Son of Ragnar. You've chosen the trail upon which you mean to travel. I suggest you go trek it." Her gaze then moved to Odin. "Do not linger long here. She shall soon awaken and have need of you. Come, Ingrid, we have much to attend before it begins."
After the two figures entered the keep Odin's blood hued gaze rediscovered him. "Go home to your wife. Ayanna's right, brother. Your business here is done."
With that said he turned and followed the two others inside. Not knowing what else to do with himself he did as instructed. He returned to his keep. When he entered Thora waited near the hearth. Upon sighting him, she rushed into his arms. He held her close needing her comfort.
"How is the Supreme? How does she and the babe fare?" She questioned while angling her face up to stare into his eyes. "I've heard much talk in the pathways. People are saying Queen Freydis sent warriors to harm the Supreme and her babe. If this is true…" Her words drew to a halt as her scrutiny searched his face. "What's wrong, husband? Has something more come about?"
"When Bonnie went to the long house to confront Freydis, I heard her say she carried the babe for me and Ivar." He released her to sit next to the hearth. "After she sought her leave I questioned Ivar about her claims and he confirmed what she spoke to be true."
The instant shine which polished Thora's eyes nigh shattered his heart. "Now that you know this to be true, do you wish to leave our marriage to return to the Supreme?"
Hvitserk shook his head and held out a hand to her which she readily accepted. He pulled her slight frame into his lap. "I could never break a vow. Especially a vow I made to you, My Joy."
"I release you of any vow you've given me. I can no longer bear your children," she said, meeting his gaze with a raised chin and an unwavering stare. "And a name such as yours should-,"
He exhaled. "Thora, that is not something I want-,"
She placed a finger over his lips as tears leaked a path down her cheeks. "Once ease has returned to our lives and you have settled your mind upon being the father of the Supreme's babe, offer me your vow again."
He kissed her and then cuddled her close to his chest as his mind turned to the one he'd loved once before. "I turned Bonnie into someone worthy of my hatred. Someone my heart would readily forsake." Glancing away, he considered the thin air before him. "I couldn't risk forgiving her. Not if my forgiveness only led me to more suffering. So I made her into a monster deserving of my loathing and she allowed this, upheld it even. In this her thoughts and plots were likened to mine." He laughed to himself even though no humor presented itself. "From her entering into matrimony with Halfdan the Black to allowing us to ponder the worse of her. All of the transgressions committed on her part was done so to repulse our need to claim her. For she'd failed in concluding her own desire to possess us. She thought overcoming the Lothbroks would make her a better Supreme to her Sons and Daughters. Why didn't I see it all before?"
"You were broken and needed time to heal." Thora grabbed the sides of his face and pulled until his eyes collided with hers. "I can't imagine our Supreme not forgiving you. She's merciful and her heart is unconditional."
Hvitserk rested his forehead on hers wanting to believe his wife's words. Yet he knew Bonnie in a way her trusted never would. She loved hard and revenged even harder. "If our daughter enters Midgard this eve cloaked in stillness then never again shall I feel the warming mercy of our Supreme's forgiveness."
Bonnie hummed as she swayed back in forth in the rocking chair. She stared into her daughter's faultless face with a tiny smile perched upon her lips.
"She is beautiful, My Treasure," Ragnar's voice drifted to her from over her shoulder.
She cast her gaze over a shoulder to lock eyes with his blazing methane blues. Her smile doubled in size as a sense of complete contentment overran her. "That's because we work well together, My All. Of course our daughter would enter Midgard as perfection personified."
"Our daughter," his fingers skimmed the hollow of her cheek. "Oh how I long for this to be true."
The skin between her brows wrinkled as a menstrual cramp on steroids dipped in speed ripped through her pelvic. "Agh…what'd you mean?"
"Don't be afraid…"
Bonnie awoke screaming. The pain which shredded her lower back and abdomen snatched the breath from her lungs. She struggled to an upright position as the mattress beside her dipped. A hand slipped in hers, while an arm wrapped around her shoulders.
"Bonnie, I'm here," Silas' voice pierced the veil of torture that imprisoned her. "Don't be afraid. The baby is coming."
"The baby's…c-coming," she managed to sputter between gasps.
His head dipped twice. "Yes, but everything's gonna be fine. Ayanna's here too and we're going to get through this, Bennett. I vow it."
Her head bobbed as her gaze caught sight of the cloaked figures pulling various items from a satchel. "O-okayyyyy!" She wailed.
"Splay her legs so I may check her progress, Immortal," Ayanna's voice drifted from underneath one of the cloaks.
Bonnie wasn't sure which because she found it difficult to center her focus. As Silas moved to do as Ayanna instructed, her eyes rolled and specks of black dotted her vision until only blackness remained…
A radiant light fell upon rolling emerald hills, snowcapped cliffs, and aqua oceans. Peace wove itself through the atmosphere of the Eden like utopia. Birds chirped their soul stirring songs in harmony. Each lending a lilting melodic soundtrack to the overwhelming sense of rapture. Bonnie didn't know how she'd come to exist in such bliss. Yet a splinter wedged in the back of her mind agitated her awareness. The mental disrupt led her to believe she'd just been delivered from hell.
The sheer white sun dress she wore connected with the breeze and swirled the soft wispy fabric about her thighs. Amber jasmines scented the air. She inhaled. The fragrance was her favorite. Upon closer inspection everything appeared almost identical to a mental refuge she used to retreat to in her head as a child. She spun to take it all in once again. What was this place? Nirvana. Her sorcery whispered.
"How do you grow even more beautiful every time I see you?" A familiar voice halted her twirling.
Her heart froze. She dare not hope… "H-Halfdan?"
"The one and only," he whispered next to her ear.
Bonnie spun around and discovered herself in a pair of arms for which her soul still longed. Her mouth collided with his. After several long moments of nearly sucking his face off, he laughed as he broke the kiss. Joy radiated from his face as if he gazed at the very thing that kept his universe turning.
"How is this possible?" She questioned, cupping his face in her hands.
The joy faded from his features as he took hold of her wrists to entwine his fingers with hers. "You weave in and out of the veil."
"What…why?" The splinter at the back of her mind increased in size a now jugged at her thoughts with the force of a shard.
Halfdan's eyes drifted downward to gaze at her flat midsection. Wait…flat midsection? That didn't seem right. A monster of a cramp tore at her uterus. She squeezed her eyes shut as she huffed and puffed her way through breathtaking agony. The hell? Another womb decimating spasm followed on the heels of the first. This pain buckled her knees. A scream ripped its way free of her throat.
"What's happening, Half-," Her eyes flared open and she locked gazes with Enzo St. James. "Enzo?"
He pressed a kiss to her forehead as a mournful gleam lit is eyes. "I love you, Bonnie Bennett. Remember, no matter the situation or enemy, you're stronger than those who think to make you weak. You'll survive this, you'll survive it all."
She shook her head as she gritted her teeth against another cramp. "I don't understand."
"And I wish you never had to…"
"Why is this taking so long?!" She heard Silas bellow.
"How long do you believe it should take for one life to give over another, Immortal?" Ayanna questioned in that cutting tone of hers.
"She's awakened!" Another voice informed she didn't recognize.
The mattress dipped. "Bennett, I'm here," Silas said as she felt fingers push strands of hair from her forehead. "Ayanna says you're almost ready to push."
"Almost?!" She rasped as her eyes parted enough to see his face hovering over hers. "Is my baby alright, Odin?" A thought gripped her mind and refused to let go. "She's breech isn't she? That's why it's taking so long, isn't it?"
His face crumpled as he glanced over his shoulder. "Bonnie-,"
"This will take as long as it'll take. Do not burden yourself with troubles that are not yet yours to claim," Ayanna said, appearing at Silas' side to place a wooden cup to her lips. The taste of green tea filled her mouth and slid down her throat. "Now rest, you'll need your strength when it's time to push the babe from your body."
Bonnie's lids grew heavy…
She walked down a long dim hallway. Wails of the disheartened met her ears. Despair tainted the air. Wasted time dwelled in the Ancient of Day's Purgatory, trapping the occupants who remained there in an endless loop of more waiting. Such a place gave her bad vibes. It agitated her sorcery. For no one should be made to wait to know the forecast for the rest of their eternity. Normally under any other circumstances, she wouldn't have entered the Christian in between, but one of hers called out to her.
The second door to the last swung open near the end of the corridor. Inside the barren room a figure crouched in the corner. Her sorcery flared and filled the tiny cell with a gilded light. Heahmund's hands shot to shield his eyes from the ethereal radiance illuminating all four square feet of the space. When he chanced a peep through is fingers his sobs added to the cacophony of wails pouring in from the hall. He scurried over to her on his hands and knees.
"Intercessor," he wept as he wrapped his arms around her legs and rested his face on her boots. "Has our father reconsidered his judgement of me? Will he now allow me entrance into his kingdom?"
She reached down to pull his face from her feet and knelt in front of him. "I'm sorry, Heahmund. I've come because your essence cried out for me to do so." Placing a hand to the center of his chest, she peered into his inner depths. What she saw there confirmed a truth she already knew. A truth she'd known since the first time he'd called her to him in England by way of his mind. She opened her eyes to gaze in his eyes. "Heahmund there's a verity between you and I of which I'm sure you're very much aware. A verity which the Goddess has all but reaffirmed. Yet like the Ancient of Days she believes your will is free. So you have a decision to make."
"A verity and a decision?" He questioned as his reddened haggard stare searched her face.
She pulled away from him to stand, and then reached down to help him to his feet. Once he towered over her, she entwined his hand with hers. "Come, Heahmund. Let's take a walk and have a conversation." She led him from the cell and down the corridor. After they'd walked for a while, she began to speak. "When we first met do you remember what you told me about yourself?"
"Though I only spoke a few truths about myself to you, I'm unsure to which truth you refer." His grip on her hand tightened as his anxiety rose. Purgatory had a way of triggering ones unease.
"You told me you were a warrior of god." She placed a hand over there joined appendages. "In this assumption you are right and wrong. You are a warrior. A defender of the faithful even, but your fight is for the Goddess. Not the Ancient of Days. Your name never resided in his book of life. It's scribbled across the ether that marks the dawn of our kind. A resounding proclamation engraved by fire upon her mystical energy."
He shook his head as disbelief resided on his face. "I love my lord, and though I'm only a man I strive to keep his commandments."
"And I'm not questioning your dedication to him. I know of the Ancient of Days grace…of his love and forgiveness. Yet I also know just like the Goddess he knows the heart of his children and those meant to be his." She paused to see if he received her meaning. "You know his word, Heahmund, and yet you twist it to suit your agenda…that's a big no. By doing so you are violating and corrupting what is sacred. For you know as well as I his word has life."
"I walked his path when the world allowed and I adjusted to secure the church victories! A great many victories!" his voice rose as his passions soared.
"He'd rather have you hot or cold. If you're lukewarm, he'll spew you out," she said, stopping at a set of double doors and then turning to face him. "Heahmund as I said before, you have a decision."
"A decision?" He uttered as his gaze strayed to the double doors.
She nodded. "You can either remain in Purgatory and perhaps one day walk through the gates of Heaven, or you can become one with me as you were always slated. And when I have the means I'll bring you back."
Intrigue flared his eyes, before another thought creased his face into a series of furrows and lines. "And what of Lagertha?"
"I'll not lie, Heahmund. Once you become one with me your affections for her may change." Her shoulders rose and fell. "I'm not sure. To my knowledge, Sigurd never loved another before me and Guthrum…"
Her voice drifted off because she still felt a way about how things unfolded there.
His eyes narrowed as they crept over her face. After a moment of scrutinizing her, he stepped into her space, while imprisoning her eyes in an unwavering clash. "If it is truly my decision then I choose to become one with you, Inter—Supreme."
Upon his decision the double doors swung open. Lucy appeared poised ready to enter. Astonishment snatched her face when she noticed them. After several seconds of gawking she recovered enough to offer Bonnie a sad smile with glistening eyes to match. "Hey, Cuz. We didn't expect you to come. Not with…all you have going on. In fact, I was just coming to get him myself."
"I-It's fine, Lucy," she said as a twinge of pain rippled through her lower abdomen. "I heard his energy calling out to me." She turned to look at the former Bishop. "Go with Lucy and when I'm able I'll bring you back."
His face puckered a bit as his head took a slight tilt to the side. "You look—are you unwell?"
"Come, Heahmund," her cousin said, stepping forward to entwine her arm with his. "I'll show you around Nirvana."
As the doors closed after Lucy and Heahmund another cramp seized her midsection in a downward shred. "Oooohhhh my…"
"Goddess!" Bonnie screamed as the agonizing contractions drove her in an upright position.
Silas climbed on the mattress behind her, cradling her body between his thighs. He interlaced his fingers with hers. "It's gonna be okay, Bennett."
Ayanna withdrew her hands from Bonnie's core and nodded. "You're ready to push. Upon the next bout of pain you're to begin pushing."
She felt Silas rest his forehead on her shoulder. He inhaled, and then exhaled. "Alright, you got that, Bennett? On the next contraction you're gonna push."
"Damn it I heard her!" She snapped, wanting nothing more than to jump the damn gun and begin pushing before the pain. The pressure bearing down on her lower regions felt as if she were about to give birth to a Hummer.
For the next hour or so Bonnie pushed and tore her body apart to bring her baby girl into the world. By the last push Silas had become her back bone. Her own personal cheerleader. When she believed herself too weak to carry on he spoke of her strength. He told her he considered her the very definition of the word. His invaluable support urged her right over the finish line and beyond.
"One more push!" Ayanna roared at her.
Panting like a dog, she locked hands with Silas and pushed until the pressure ripped from her body. Silence descended on the room. The absence of sound met her ears in a loud as hell clash. Ayanna's usually stoic expression wavered. Had she blinked she would've missed the crack in her normal impassive mask. Yet her sight had remained unflinching and she'd witnessed the fissure. Her foremother set about detaching her baby from her body, and then wrapping her in blankets. Silas buried his face in the crook of her neck, while the cloaked figure turned away altogether.
"What's wrong?" Bonnie questioned as renewed energy filled her body. She wrenched herself out of Silas' hold. "Why is she not crying, Ayanna? Is something wrong with her?"
"Bennett…" The hurt in Silas' voice provoked her chest to ache.
Ayanna turned to her with the bundle clutched close to her breasts. "The babe is still."
"Still?" She shook her head a bit attempting to shake lose some understanding. "What does that mean?" Her gaze darted over her shoulder to Silas who refused to meet her stare.
"The babe was born without life in her b-body." Her foremother's dark brown eyes glistened.
"What?" A gasp nearly snatched her tongue down her throat. The force of the rising wail from her sorcery is the only thing which kept the tenuous muscle in place. "Give me my baby!"
"Bonni-," Silas began.
"Now!" The walls of the keep shook as the floor shifted.
Ayanna walked over and placed the bundle in her arms. Her baby's weight felt so slight. She couldn't have been anymore than five or six pounds. Such a tiny little thing to have suffered so much in her short existence. Inhaling, she pulled the blanket from her face. Her beautiful daughter appeared to be sleeping. Yet just as Ayanna warned she sensed no lingering life within her baby girl. The revelation tore a scream from the depths of her soul. Her sobs decimated the silence of the room. She'd tried. Goddess, she'd tried so hard to save her and she failed. In that moment she wanted nothing more than to give back her eternity so she could follow her daughter from this life to the next.
"No, no, no," she uttered as she crouched down to press kisses to her baby's face. "Please, no…this can't be…Goddess, please you can't let this stand! Not my baby…not my baby!"
"Supreme," a quiet familiar voice pierced the depths of her distress. She raised her gaze to discover a watery vision of Aslaug holding a squirming bundle in her arms. "The Gods grieve this day. For a mother should never suffer a loss such as this. Yet with everything you've come to experience throughout your existence where is your faith? You must already understand nothing is ever truly lost to one such as you."
Bonnie's stare lit upon the bundle Aslaug held. The squirming mass radiated she and Ivar's mystical energy. Ayanna took her lifeless daughter's body from her. Before she could raise an objection, the former queen placed the swath of blankets in her arms. Huge aqua eyes stared up at her. Her baby girl. She was perfect…and alive.
"How?" She whispered unable to remove her eyes from the miracle in her arms.
Aslaug offered her a sad smile. "Though darkness managed to take her life, her essence and energy is mystical. I crossed the veil to show you in Nirvana she thrives…and one rising when she's ready, she'll be reborn to you."
"Wait—what?" Her glare shot to Aslaug. "You can't take her!"
"My apologies," Her would be mother in law whispered. "Our time on this side draws to an end. You should fare her well until next you meet, Supreme."
Even as Aslaug spoke she felt her daughter's essence fading from that realm. Fresh tears sizzled the ducts of her eyes as she lowered her gaze to her vanishing baby. "I'm so sorry for not being strong enough for you, Faith. Letting you down will be my biggest regret. Yet when next you decide to brave this world their will be no repeats of this failure. This is my vow to you."
Moments later Faith completely faded. A hole inside of her soul opened she knew wouldn't be filled until she cradled her daughter in her arms once more.
Aslaug clasped her hands together. "Bonnie you must not misplace my words to you. The ones I spoke to you so long-,"
"If forgiveness is the only remedy to ease the burn of your sons' betrayal then I'd rather suffer!" Her proclamation shook the very foundation of the keep.
Aslaug ducked her head, and then began to fade from their existence. "Yes, Supreme." Her voice lingered.
"Would you like me to see to the burial of your babe's mortal body?" Ayanna questioned.
"Faith…her name is Faith." She released a weary exhale. All she wanted to do was find a corner and die. "And I'll see to her burial. That is my responsibility as her mother, and the one who failed her."
The cloaked figure crossed the room. "Oh no, Supreme-,"
Ayanna grabbed her arm and snatched her backwards. "Come see to the babe while we ready the Supreme, Immortal."
Silas wrapped his arm about her shoulders from behind. He gave her a squeeze before releasing her and climbing from the mattress. Once he took the bundle from Ayanna's arms he left the room. Her foremother and her companion then proceeded to dispose of the afterbirth. They then washed her clean. Though she still felt far from it. After they readied her to lay her baby to rest, she took her daughter's body from Silas. Each of them rallied around her as they departed from the keep.
Outside, her trusted held vigil in front of her home. Thora and Hvitserk stood among them. Her mystical energy shredded her insides for release. The ancient sorcery craved retribution and she wanted nothing more than to overindulge its hunger for vengeance. Yet there was a time and place for everything and her daughter deserved to be laid to rest in peace. So she ignored him to walk the pathway which led to the forest.
For the next thirty minutes Bonnie trekked a trail to her daughters final resting place. Soon her trek came to an end near her beloved cove. In a clearing just at the break in the tree line, she lifted a hand. Dirt shot from a small plot of land. The soil parted and placed itself in a neat pile at the edge of the hole. An utterance of a thought crossed her mind and shattered her heart. Fractions of a second later a pearl white infant coffin floated in front of her. She gazed down at her daughter's beautiful face for a final time. Although, Aslaug had given her hope that her babe would one day find her way back to her, this beautiful baby girl never would. Bonnie pressed a kiss to her forehead and lips. She then placed the bundle in the coffin and allowed her magic to close the lid.
After saying a silent prayer that the Goddess guide her to Nirvana, she let her sorcery lower the baby into the freshly dug hole. Silent sobs shook her frame as she watched her magic refill the hole. Silas pulled her into his arms. One after the other her trusted placed flowers, jewelry, cloths and other things of value on Faith's grave. Thora placed a blanket among the offerings. She'd embroidered the Bennett crest in the top right corner. The fact she'd divined the crest hundreds of years before it became known to the supernatural world spoke much of her foresight. Hvitserk placed a wooden rattle which looked to be fashioned for a boy. A toy more than likely meant for the babe he and Thora lost. She shook her head. Goddess, Faith deserved so much more than what she received.
When the last of her faithfuls offered their respects and condolences, Bonnie displaced a slab of black granite from the twenty-first century. Mystical energy flowed from her in a surge to shape, etch, and brand the rock. Closer than she and her magic had been since she discovered her power, they worked in concert to pay tribute to a short life that forever changed theirs. Once she'd bled her loss dry all over the headstone her sorcery withdrew to swirl about her. Gasps, murmurs, and awes hurtled about the clearing. An etching of Faith sleeping in angel wings showed in the bottom corner of the stone, while the words paired next to the sketch read…Here lies Faith Bennett, a true gift this world didn't deserve. Rest In Peace, Little One…She then crystalized the entire plot of land to preserve the gravesite.
As everyone searched out their leave, Bonnie lingered. She noticed Hvitserk did as well. What could he have to say to her after everything he refused to say when she needed him to speak the hell up? Whatever words he had for her she wasn't there for them. She did what she'd come to do, now all she wanted was a nice quiet hole to crawl in and fall apart. Her very essence hemorrhaged from the gouging wound inflicted upon it from losing her daughter. Unless his woes of regret could place Faith back in her arms, then he might as well talk out of his ass because his words were no better than shit to her.
Bonnie pressed her lips to two of her fingers, and then placed them on her daughter's headstone. When she turned to make her way back up the cove, Hvitserk fell to his knees in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his forehead on her now achingly empty belly. Like a distraught child, he sobbed and wept into her wool dress. She stroked the sloppy French braid at the back of his head, and then cupped his chin in her palm to angle his face upwards so he stared in to her eyes.
"I am sorry," he sobbed. "Truly sorry. I should've done more…listened when-,"
"Bottle those tears! Perhaps they can help put out the fires you'll one day burn in Hvitserk Lothbrok, Son of Ragnar," she hissed as liquid heat scorched the inner lining of her sockets. "They do me, my daughter, or yourself no good and they will never earn you my forgiveness for the role you played in this fuck show. For you have failed us. You have failed me as a mate, Faith as a father, and yourself as a Sentinel." She placed the flat of her hand to the side of his head. Everything she endured from the moment she discovered herself pregnant replayed in his head. The emotions she wrestled with from one rising to the next. Even the fear…especially the fear! She poured it all into him, concluding the vision with their daughter's huge aqua eyes staring up at him so trustingly. "You once told me I was dead to you. Well for me it'll be as if you never existed at all. After today my eyes will no longer see you and my ears will no longer suffer the sound of your voice. You'll be no more noticeable to me than an ant is to a stampeding army."
Bonnie wrenched herself free of him and allowed Silas to guide her into the unending bleakness which masqueraded itself as her eternity.