Drunken laughter pounded the walls. Slurring skols bled together in a cacophony of voices. Revelers, warriors, shieldmaidens and even harbor women filled the hall to nigh bursting. Everyone wanted to praise the boneless king on his defeat against Bjorn Ironside. They all wanted to bask in his greatness. If they only knew him. Really knew him the way Freydis knew him, then they'd seek out another way to squander their eve.
King Ivar! The slaughter of babies, and the bruiser of those he deemed weaker than him. There was nothing neither godly, kingly, nor daring about him. His gods should've never allowed him to triumph over his enemies that rising. Such unwarranted good fortune bequeath to the likes of him turned her innards. Why wasn't he made to suffer? The same way she suffered every rising she awakened in a world without the benefit of her children. Were it in her power, had she the means, he'd never know a moment of peace or contentment.
Freydis raised her chalice to guzzle down more of her mead. Her stare flicked over the throng of people and collided with a woman who watched her with an aqua stare. She stood at the edge of the celebration near the private quarters of the long house. Freydis' breath caught. Had she returned with Baldur? The woman's stare lingered a moment longer, before she turned to walk further into the personal quarters.
Freydis glance swept the hall until it landed on her disgusting husband. By then he'd sunk so deep in his cups he'd embraced slumber upon one of the tables. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment. When assured he'd met his match in his tankard and he'd not follow, she left the bale of hay he'd replaced for her throne. She trailed the woman to the back and discovered her in her bed chambers staring out the window. Before she could inquire of her sweet baby the woman spoke.
"I'm told you have a mind to redeem yourself for the crimes you've committed against the innocent." The sound of the woman's voice gave her pause, but the sight of her when she turned to face her nigh provoked her to flee. The pagan's Supreme. "Does this still hold true?"
She clasped her hand in front of her to still her nerves and clear her throat. "Yes, this is still my mind…Supreme." Freydis now knew the deity before her was indeed who many claimed her to be.
In her foolish attempts to be more than her lowly birth offered her, she'd bargained with an evil spirit. Used her blood to enslave an English kingdom and to become a Viking King's wife. Yet in the end, she'd sacrificed more than she'd gained. Oh how witless she'd been! She'd allowed her ignorance, jealousy, and anger to make an enemy of the mother of all supernatural things.
The Supreme watched her with an unflinching stare which skewered Freydis' head until she too knew of all her mistakes and regrets. "And what will you have in exchange?"
Freydis shook her head. For nothing remained in life she wished to claim. Everything she held dear now dwelled out of reach just beyond the veil. "I only ask for peace."
"Hmm." The Supreme abandoned her place at the window to close the distance between them. Her expression was severe and unyielding. "Steal away to the opposing army's camp while everyone is still well with in their cups. While there, speak with Bjorn Ironside. Tell him to take as many men as he can without being noticed to my cove. There next to my daughter's grave he'll find a solution for getting pass Kattegat's defenses."
"What if he doesn't believe me?" She sputtered, reconsidering her go at redemption. "He'd surely gut me on sight!"
The Supreme withdrew a gilded bracelet from her cloak and held the ring out to her. "Give him this and tell him, his Mystical One didn't stop wearing his sacred arm ring because she no longer believed in the spirit of our vow." She paused to fix her gaze on the bracelet, after a moment of silence she continued. "The reason I stopped wearing his sign of protection is because the loss it represented proved too great of a burden to bear."
The Supreme moved passed her to seek her leave. "I know that it matters not, but I'm so very sorry for…" she couldn't even bring herself to speak the words. The Supreme halted in her leave taking, and then turned about to regard her with a slitted stare. Freydis hastened her words. "I thought you killed my daughter…for lying with Ivar."
In a matter of steps the Most High stood before her once more. Scorching rage crackled across her face. "I would never harm a baby!" The Supreme spat at her. Fury ignited the leafy pigmented hue of her eyes. "Only the vilest of monsters can premeditate and act out taking the life of an innocent child." A legion of accusations congregated in her glare as she burdened her with a glower that nigh buckled her knees. "Do as you say…carry out this task without fault and I vow, you shall have the peace you so crave."
Relief forced a breath from her mouth before she thought better of her situation. "But how will I get pass the guards at the gates?"
The Supreme brush pass her once more in search of her leave. "Oh, I'll leave that bit to you." Halting, the Most High angled her head to sneer at Freydis over a shoulder. The divine woman's jewel like gaze then swept her from face to boots. "I'm sure you'll think of something."
Bonnie stepped from the in between into her bedroom. A blend of foreign emotions engulfed her. Emotions she'd locked away over a Solstice Cycle ago to avoid. Though the affection blazed through her in the purest form of love she'd ever experienced, her memories of times gone by forced her heart to remain reluctant. Cherished recollections provoked her to suffer guilt for inappropriate feelings she'd never wanted.
The view twinkling from the open doors of the balcony beckoned to her. She crossed the distance to offer the sight her regard rather than lending her attention to the waiting distraction lingering in her room.
Once on the balcony she gripped the railings and scrutinized the inky horizon beyond the harbor. After a moment she spoke, "You being here before the city is reclaimed is dangerous, Guthrum. You shouldn't have risked your neck like this!"
"I can no longer feel you and you haven't acknowledged one of my letters in months," his calm voice drifted to her from her bedroom. "Such a loss cripples me. It makes me feel…not whole." Her eyes closed as she braced herself against the thrill the edge of his voice stirred within her. "For I can't remember when I didn't feel you. Even during your prolonged time in England I still felt you with me."
A tear trickled down her cheek. She'd closed herself off from him and Sigurd on purpose. Her loss wasn't theirs to grieve. She loved them too much to damage them in such a way. "My pain is unthinkable and I hurt all of the time." She shook her head and cast her gaze down. "I don't want this for you."
Moments later she felt him at her back. Though not touching her, his nearness felt like a caress. "Looking after me is no longer your responsibility." His head dipped and his nose grazed the crook of her neck. "As your inquisitor…as your one, your protection is now my priority." Moving upwards along her neck, his lips brushed her earlobe. "More so, it is my existence."
Bonnie's breathing tumbled from her mouth in faint pants. Dipping her head sideways, she served him up unrestricted access to her neck. As he took advantage of her offering and his lips grazed the sensitive unguarded skin near her nape, her grip tightened on the railing. A whimper betrayed her attempts at decency, eliciting a long drawn out vibration that rippled through her from the depths of her chest to the base of her throat.
Goddess what the hell was wrong with her? This was Guthrum for fuckery's sake! Her Jedi. Yet her draw to him was real and present, damn near igniting literal sparks between them. An essence disturbing attraction snatched her down. The clawing need of him weakened and urged her to give in to what now was. Unable to continue standing near him without touching him she leaned in to him to bring her back to his chest.
"Someone approaches." He stepped back, taking with him his warmth as well as the temptation to give in to him. "I'll seek out my leave now, but when next we meet we will come to a resolution."
Moments later the door to her bedroom opened, and softly closed. A tsunami of guilt took her under. Bonnie sobbed as more tears fled her eyes. Oh Goddess why him? Why Guthrum? Someone she'd once loved as a son. Her heart had deceived her mind by changing the tone of her affections for him. Now she wanted him in a way to which she had no right. Those wants sickened her. The fact she no longer saw him as Guthrum the boy she'd once doted on, left her feeling as if she'd lost yet another child.
"The gods are no longer with Ivar, and yet we still failed!" Bjorn slapped his hands together, while his bellow filled the strategizing covering from wall to wall. "Our failure this day will be song about for summers to come. He made us all appear as pathetic fools!"
A sneer claimed possession of Hvitserk's mouth as his glare stalked his brother's fitful steps about the covering. Ivar didn't make them appear as anything! Bjorn had revealed himself the fool turns of the hour glass before the battle began. For only a fool would toss away a securing battle strategy.
King Olaf's brows cavorted high upon his head as his gaze darted from he to Bjorn. "What shall we do now?"
"I don't know," Bjorn answered. He stopped pacing about to turn and face the table on a whole. "Yet I do know we cannot surrender our attempts until our means are met."
King Harald leapt from his seat, and then slammed a clenched hand down on the table. "Of course we are not to surrender, but you cannot mean for us to repeat this rising's foolery, Ironside!" His glare took an end ushering turn. "And make no mistake, it was you who made jesters of us all upon the battlefield this rising not Ivar." The Vestfold King pointed a condemning finger at Bjorn. "Because of you, we've failed the people of Kattegat and our Supreme!"
One of the shieldmaidens who arrived with Bjorn and King Harald, rose in his brother's defense. "Bjorn Ironside fought bravely this rising! If there is fault to be found then we need look no further than ourselves. For we all failed him as warriors and shieldmaidens."
"Oh believe her not!" Disregarding the addled shieldmaiden, King Harald pitched forth on his planted fists. His glower still fastened upon Bjorn. "Because had you not tossed away the battle strategy bestowed upon you by our Supreme then we would've liberated her and reclaimed Kattegat!"
"You don't know this for certain," Bjorn said without conviction burdening his words. His gaze then drifted to the addled shieldmaiden. "Yet King Harald does have the right of it, Amma. My command has ensured the death of many of our warriors and a great loss."
"Your admission of fault does not serve any of us well," Hvitserk said, finally lending his voice to the plots. "What will, is to know what you're minded to do going forth, because I'm prepared to steal back into the city to present Ivar with his end."
Bjorn scoffed. "This is a horrible idea, Hvitserk!"
"Then settle upon me a better one!" He demanded slapping his chalice from in front of him. The contents in the tumbler splashed the addled minded shieldmaiden before soaring to the opposite side of the sitting. "My wife still dwells behind those walls and Ivar will harm her for my betrayal." His gaze then moved over everyone gathered in the strategizing covering. "I know many of you are concerned over the well-being of our Supreme, and this is understandable. Yet despite the threats Ivar levels, he'd never harm Bonnie. Thora, however, is different." His stare hurtled back to Bjorn. "And because of her I cannot allow this siege to persist."
The entrance of the cover flapped open and a warrior marched inside. His stare swept from King Harald to Bjorn and back. "There's a woman here from Kattegat. She claims to have information about the city's defenses." He then cast a pointed gaze to Bjorn. "But she'll only speak with Ironside."
"Show her in," Bjorn demanded.
The warrior inclined his head, and then hurried from the covering. Hvitserk rose from his place at the table to pace near the far wall of the tent. His emotions had him in hand and he needed to wrestle back control of his fears. Why had he left Thora behind? He knew his betrayal would incite Ivar. Once again the entrance flapped open, and the warrior from before marched in followed by…Freydis! Hvitserk battled against himself to remain in place and not gut the bitch. Bjorn, however, appeared enamored by the sight of the whore beast.
"Bjorn Ironside?" Freydis questioned once she stood before the strategizing table. Bjorn's mouth flapped open and closed without the benefit of an answer. Yet he managed to nod. A relief driven smile dimpled her cheek. "I'm Freydis, Ivar's wife."
The taken expression fled his face for one of despise. "You're his wife. The Saxon whore responsible for Bonnie's babe being born still!"
"Never mind as such," Harald sneered as he waved him on from his place at the opposite end of the table, "instead continue preening and burbling about over the whore who meant ill towards our Most High!"
"Please, an evil spirit possessed me. I myself am a mother. I could never harm a babe," she lied with clasped hands clutched firmly to her breasts.
"Why are you here?" Bjorn rounded the table to narrow the space between them. "You have to know anything you mean to tell me of Kattegat's defenses shall be a betrayal and a certain end to your husband."
Freydis' face descended into a collection of folds, furrows, and creases. "My husband is an evil man who deserves nothing less than betrayal and an end for all of the endless monstrosities he's committed. He not only set to flames all of your Supreme's trusted along with your brother's wife, but he also killed my son!" She halted in her screeching to spit upon the ground, before continuing. "He should be made to suffer. To suffer just as I do now!"
"What did you say?" He demanded, still holding himself in place.
She glimpsed him over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Hvitserk, but it's true. Thora is dead."
Those words darkened the last bright spot within his essence. Everything good he'd once held close had somehow slipped through his fingers. Now he truly had nothing.
"You both should spend the remainder of your existence languishing away in the most tormenting vat Helheim has to offer!" Harald roared. He appeared moments from lunging across the table.
"Apologies, King Harald," Bjorn's wife cleared her throat as she placed a restraining hand on his arm. Her pointed stare moved to regard Freydis. "You claim to now loathe your husband, but do you despise him so you'll aid us in overcoming Kattegat's defenses?"
Freydis hoisted her chin higher. "Your Supreme says the solution to the city's defenses resides in her cove next to her daughter's grave." Her gaze rediscovered Bjorn's. "She believes you'll know exactly where."
"Ack!" Bjorn slapped the air between them as a scowl ate away at his face. "I don't believe you. What you speak of is more than not a plot fashioned by Ivar to destroy-,"
"She wanted me to give you this to aid in proving my claims." She offered him what appeared to be a gilded arm ring. Bjorn closed the distance between them in a few paces, and then snatched the trinket from her. "She also wanted you to know, she didn't stop wearing it because she no longer believed in your vow…she stopped wearing it because the loss it now represents proves to great of a burden for her to bear."
Bjorn nodded at her once, before turning away to seek his leave of the tent. Gunnhild tore her stare from his departing back to spare Freydis a glance. "Thank you."
Freydis dipped her head and spun about to leave. Hvitserk stepped from his place at the back of the covering. He plunged his sword into the cradle of her breast until her chest met the hilt of his weapon. Shock resonated in her dimming stare. Warriors leapt from the table as roars and disbelieving shrieks swelled within the covering. Yet he lent the chaos no focus for he had a vow to uphold.
Gunnhild thought to hurtle towards him. Harald caught her mid-stride. "Leave him!"
"Did you forget that I gave you my vow, Bitch?" With the last fading strength she possessed she managed to shake her head. He pulled her close in a lover's embrace to whisper in her ear. "This is good. For I'm compelled by a force far greater than me to always honor my vows. On the strength of Faith and Bonnie may you rot in your Saxon hell, whore."
Hvitserk twisted the blade. A rattling gasp escaped from the split of her gaping lips. Pleasure hurtled through him as he snatched the sword from her chest. Freydis' life's essence spurted from the jagged wound. She slackened in his arms. Her eyes rolled to greet the back of her head as blood fled her mouth upon her last breath. With profound satisfaction he threw her body to the ground, spit upon her meaningless form, and then stepped over her.
Warriors and shieldmaidens moved about the camp with more zest in their step. Word had spread. The tides of battle had shifted in their favor. The following rising they'd lay claim to Kattegat and see their Supreme liberated. This gladdened Gunnhild as well. For they'd suffered much loss at the hands of Ivar the Boneless. She looked to the moment they could repay him in kind. After how his wife spoke of his treatment of their son, Lord Hvitserk's wife, and the Supreme's faithfuls he deserved a pointless end. Men such as he had no rights to the gilded gates of Valhalla!
Gunnhild moved towards the hearth near the center of the camp. She'd skipped first meal and discovered herself drawn by the fragrance of the stew which brewed over the fire. The heady attar all but placed the toothsome sustenance upon her tongue. As she approached she noticed Amma sitting near the hearth. The younger woman cast longing gazes towards a shadowed area near the lake. She followed the girl's sight, and her stare collided with the slumped shoulder outline of her husband sitting alone. Gunnhild's eyes spun about in her head. She released an exhale. All-Father save her from the spangled gazes of hero worshiping shieldmaidens.
After plating two bowls of stew she crossed the distance to join her husband at the lake. She knew his mind not only wrestled with their loss, but also their Supreme and the gilded ring the Saxon woman had given him. His eyes spoke many verities of how much the tiny circlet meant to him…how much their Supreme meant to him. She witnessed the whole of his affections when he sighted her. Love oozed from his stare and lingered within his tone. He'd never looked nor spoken to her in such a way. In that moment she knew the battle for his heart was already lost to her.
When she stood before him the creases across his forehead, and the furrows between his brows heralded him to be in the depths of his thoughts. It took him a few grains through the hour glass to realize she lingered. Once aware of her he offered her a smile that didn't meet his eyes. In turn she offered him a bowl he readily accepted, but just as readily set to the side.
"Thank you," he murmured, before casting his gaze away once more.
She knelt in front of him and took his hands in hers. "What troubles your mind?"
"After the loss we suffered this rising how can you ask?" He snatched his hands from hers to run a palm over his sheared head.
She abandoned her place in front of him to sit at his side. "Yes our loss was humiliating. Yet if you're not attempting to learn from our failure then why must you dwell upon our defeat?" He turned to her once again. This time curiosity lingered within his gaze, so she continued. "You made a mistake and the rising which follows this one you'll have the opportunity to redeem your errors." His gaze dropped to his hands and she noticed the gilded arm ring rested in his palm. Her heart descended a bit more in her chest. "The Supreme is more beautiful than her likeness in York. Although I did imagine her taller." He remained silent with his stare still trained upon the ring. Her thirst for knowledge got the better of her and sent her in search of the fountain of awareness. "What's the meaning of that arm ring? Why do you value the trinket so?"
"It represents a vow Bonnie and I once shared," he spoke while turning the ring over in his palm. "A vow I foolishly tossed to the side when she dared to place others' lives before her own. For how could she believe another's life to be more precious than hers and expect me as her protector to agree!" He finally tore his stare from the ring to regard her. "I never should've minded her biddings. I never should've took leave of Kattegat without her at my side. I swore to protect her and in this I failed not only her, but also her daughter." His chest caved a bit, forcing his shoulders to slump a little more. "This regret shall ever remain."
Regrets sought out addled minded soldiers and unimpressive lesser sons. Not Bjorn Ironside! Her husband was too great of a being to don the title of pathetic. She refused to allow him to behave as a man lesser than she knew him to be. So she placed her bowl in his lap and the ladle in his free hand.
"The next rising will be upon us soon." She turned his face about by the chin so his gaze met hers. "Then you shall have the opportunity to force Ivar to answer for all of his misdeeds against Kattegat and our Supreme. Now eat, because for this task you will surely need your strength."
Bjorn and Hvitserk along with several of their best warriors stood in Bonnie's sacred cove. He'd tasked King Harald, Guthrum, and his wife with launching attacks on Kattegat's fore and rear gates as a distraction, while they stole away to the forest to discover Bonnie's aid. Now they stood before her daughter's grave, staring at her likeness. She was comely with more of the look of her mother than her fathers.
Bjorn grieved while Hvitserk moved about the clearing in search of the means for their victory. When he'd covered the distance of the cove twice over, Hvitserk whipped about to glare at Bjorn. "I sight nothing that will aid us in defeating Ivar!"
Without a word, he moved close to the babe's resting place, and then stomped twice. Instead of hearing the thud of a solid foundation a resounding hollowness met their ears. He then stepped back, unsheathing his sword as he went. With the point of his blade, he tore away the grass and soil to reveal a wooden planked door. Mutters rippled through the warriors as disbelief stirred them.
Hvitserk hastened his steps to stand next to him. "How did you know?" He demanded.
"It is the very spot where we consummated our vow," he said, before kneeling down to unlatch and open the make shift door. "Bonnie stood here, and I over there upon the exact place her daughter is buried."
He descended the stairs to discover a well-lit corridor which appeared to lead back in towards the city. Had this been what she'd meant to show him afore? Not wanting to ponder on how much of a fool he'd been, he climbed back up the stairs to gesture for Hvitserk and the warriors to follow him down.
When Hvitserk joined him, his gaze darted about the earth hollowed corridor. "Did Bonnie do this?"
"I know not," he said shaking his head. "What I do know is she's indeed offered us a means to thwart Kattegat's defenses and in turn a victory against Ivar."
As Ivar donned his tunic blaring horns sounded. He laughed. Though Bjorn and cleverness never congregated in the same company, he and persistent stupidity had proved to be quite the lasting bed mates. The beads covering the entrance of is quarters swished, heralding a visitor. No doubt one of his personal warriors there to warn him of the enemies at his gates.
"So they're back at it again, hmm?" He chortled a bit more without turning. Instead he moved to pour himself a bit of mead. "At this point do you even have need of me on the first line?"
"Th-This just soared over the w-wall for you, King Ivar."
The tremulous quake in the warrior's voice spun him about. A pale faced soldier who'd seen fewer summers than he met Ivar's sight. Freydis' severed head hung from the guard's fist by her blood caked tangled hair.
"My wife!" A genuine smile curved his lips. Pleasure bloomed within his chest despite the possible meaning of such an act. "Come now, Freydis. We've spoken of this many times. There's no resolution to be discovered in losing your head."
"King Ivar, many apologies for your wife!" A beaten and torn Sheila limped through the beaded covering. Distaste twisted her face as she glared down at Freydis' horror stricken expression before turning to meet his gaze. "Yet her death is no more than a distraction to lure our forces to the fore gates. While Bjorn Ironside and Lord Hvitserk enter the city by other means."
"What?" Ivar roared, before his glower drifted to the swinging head of his dear wife.
The fork tongued whore! She'd betrayed him and in turn pilfered away his just right of sending her to a tormenting end. His back teeth clenched. Sheathing his sword, he took hold of his iron crutch. He then hobbled about to exit his chambers. After exhausting haste and breathtaking effort he crossed the great hall. Sheila swung open the doors to reveal a night terror he'd wrestled with since Bonnie foretold the end of his rule.
Outside battling warriors overran the pathways. The loud clang of weapons jarred him to the bones. Screeching battle cries threatened to bleed his ears. Yet none of those verities harrowed him as much as the sight cavorting before his eyes. Bjorn. He fought as if he were possessed by a legion of berserkers, cutting down anyone who dared hinder his path. A path he'd no doubt set for the long house. Ivar tore his glare from his eldest brother to Hvitserk who'd just taken three heads in one swipe of his blade.
More enemy warriors poured from the fore gates led by King Harald pilfered Ivar's focus. That's when he noticed a warrior who not only maimed many with an ax, but who also wielded sorcery. He'd even blood-eagled one of his best soldiers without the benefit of a blade. Disbelief and resolve swung his head about. There was no way he could win this. The time of retreat was now upon him. He hobbled around and reentered the long house.
Bonnie stepped from the in between into Ivar's bed chambers. The battle raging outside shook the walls of the long house. Soon Bjorn's warriors would breach the great hall and send Ivar's rule tumbling down around him. And she'd be there for it, she'd be there for it all! Not seeing her, Ivar hobbled pass to snatch a travel bundle from the corner. A sneer plucked at her lips.
Tsking she closed the distance between them. "Don't tell me you're leaving so soon, Lover. Not when this little reunion has only just begun."
He spun around. Relief lit his face before scorn shaded his features. "I'm not seeking my leave, My Love…we are." He hobbled even closer to her until the toes of their boots touched. His aggrieved eyes bore into hers. "Freydis has betrayed me to Bjorn and Hvitserk. And for doing so, she managed to lose her head for her efforts."
He gestured toward the corner. A head tangled in matted hair gawked back at her. She wanted to rejoice that her daughter's murderer had received her due, but the emptiness which rippled open in her chest embezzled the fucks she had to give. Freydis' death wouldn't reinstate Faith's life, so the end of the bitch meant less than nothing.
"Leave?" She laughed as she turned back to him. "Why would I ever? Especially not after how I practically twisted myself into a slip knot to ensure our family get together went off like a Jerry Springer blindside. Oh, and checkmate by the way. I do believe that's game, Lover."
Rage exploded from his eyes and went nuclear on his face. He threw his bag to the ground and snatched her to him by the throat. "You betrayed me?!" He roared.
"I convicted you!" She thundered back. Her sorcery blasted from her pores and blew him backwards. He landed on his ass a couple of paces from her. He dares! Smite him! Expression demanded. "All in due motherfucking time!" She stalked forth. Each of her steps promised retribution. "As your Supreme I find you, Ivar Lothbrok, guilty! In verity your entire existence is nothing more than a crime." Tears borne of fury scorched her gaze as she attempted to commit death by sight. "The fact you still breathe and my daughter doesn't is an offense! It's an offense against nature and supernature alike!"
"It is no offense, it is a defiance!" He bellowed, refusing to buckle down in the face of her rage. "For I exist to love you defiantly, devotedly, and without end. This has been so since my seventeenth summer. I even loved you more than our child." His eyes shone with liquid pain as he continued to spew his truth. "Everything I did here was because I only strived to be enough for you. Even after you betrayed my mother and lied to me of carrying another's babe. Still, I sought to fashion myself into more than the cripple youngest son of Ragnar." He slapped a palm to his chest as his voice continued to soar.
"I did all of this to become a god worthy enough to stand next to you as a true mate and not the broken man you constantly have to hoist up." He reached out and touched her ankle. "You say you loved me more than yourself. Well I love you more than my entire existence and if you believe me guilty then go on, level your judgment. Carry out my sentence." His shoulders rose and fell. "It matters not. I'd rather wither away in Helheim than linger another rising in Midgard knowing I've been cast out of your affections and barred from the path Fate set for me with you.
Tears drenched her face as she knelt before. Not believing his claims, she placed her hand to his chest. The weight of truth which burdened his testimony damn near flattened her. How could someone so clever be so damn thoughtless? She cradled his head in her palms. His eyes slipped closed.
"Then this will be your sentence…to exist in Midgard without the benefit of even a single doubt. From this moment on truth and discernment will be your penance," she uttered, before bringing forth the unbiased truth his misconceptions had protected him from…
Unable to avoid the gravitational pull from the searing heat at her periphery, she slanted a gaze in the direction of the ever-intensifying powder keg and collided stares with eyes so fiery blue the irises glowed as if they were lit from within by flames. Ivar. The spell was cast. For a full eight seconds her world refused to spin, leaving her trapped in a single moment. A true prisoner of the intensity which was him.
"I'll wager you're pondering what a cripple could possibly be considering as he gazes at waters he can never be minded to tread."
"You're considering how far you'll go," Her words brought his disbelieving blazing stare to hers, "But you don't have to worry because you'll go far, Ivar. You'll go further than you can ever think to dream or imagine."
"You bother me, Ivar. The last time a man bothered me I fell in love with him."
"You mustn't do something as foolish as to offer me your heart, my love," He cradled her hand in both of his. "I may do something as equally foolish and accept it."
She lifted her head from his shoulder to study his face. What she saw there was the strike of lightening she'd waited twenty-seven years to see. How did one come back from Nirvana and settle for the lack-lusterless of reality?
"Queen Aslaug, please reconsider leaving. Your death will break him, irrevocably!"
Queen Aslaug spun around on the wooden stool. "My death will transform him into the strategic warrior you'll need him to be. It'll lend fury and focus to a passion which now is only listless in its blaze. I have seen it!"
"I've seen it also, and this will ruin him. It'll fracture your family." Bonnie hissed in a lowered tone. "If they're divided then we can't stand. And if we can't stand how the hell are we supposed to rise?"
"My faith is in you, Bonnie," the queen said, her eyes wide and earnest, "and I have no doubt you'll find a way to repair what my death will have broken."
Ivar scrutinized her with unblinking eyes and a smile softened her lips as she spoke, "Love comes without rhyme, reason, and definitely not obligation. Where you may see weak and feeble, Thor may see strength of mind, strength of character and a phenomenal strength to not only survive, but also thrive. I dare you to come into contact with a force of this nature and still be in possession of your soul let alone your love, shield maiden. To do so would truly take a work of heart. Which, if you've not been paying attention, no longer belongs to you."
She also submerged his mind's eye with visions of Freydis. In first person he witnessed her plots from the moment she tricked him into believing the first child she carried was for him to the moment she conceived the second child on top of his unconscious form with his personal warrior. Together they watched his wife place poison in his mead every eve, and then saw him awaken each rising further from the man they'd once known him to be.
Bonnie then shared every beautiful and nightmarish part of her pregnancy with him. He even witnessed the heart ripping moment when she learned her daughter had been born into the world lifeless. By the time the visions faded her forehead rested on his and bone wrenching hurt flooded both of their faces.
"I didn't know, My Love," he sobbed as his tears mingled with her own. "I swear I didn't know."
Ignoring his apologetic pleas, she spoke. "So you see, why would I have ever wish for a god when I believed you to be greater than those you worshiped." She sniffled to slow her running nose. "Back then you were all I ever wanted, and much more than I expected."
He turned his face into her touch to press his lips to her palms. "You once told me misunderstanding and miscommunication would make a falsehood teller out of me." His gaze searched hers and the piece of her which once belonged to him stirred. "You also foretold that pain, rage, and pride would keep us divided even when our confusion cleared."
"And you told me not to fear because your heart would always overrule your head and bring you back to me. Just another lie of yours to add to the many." She pulled her forehead from his to settle back on the heels of her feet. "Pride and memory, hmph. The core ingredients for unforgiveness."
Without warning, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She'd love to believe his kiss no longer had any effect on her. Yet his mouth on hers still burned in that familiar way. Aside from the tang of longing, regret, and remorse which now enhanced the flavor of his lips, he overall still tasted the same. Every inch of her yearned to run back time to the moments when they belonged to each other, but every piece and part of her brain knew that all things did go. Especially, things which have been left to fester. Breaking the kiss, Bonnie pulled away from him.
With a ton of unresolved bullshit weighing on her, Bonnie climbed to her feet. She then shook her head to clear the clutter in her brain and disavow any emotions for him that lingered. "I can never…" Her words trailed off as she struggled to order the contents of her mind. His bobbing head however seemed to indicate he knew what she meant to convey. Yet she still needed to verbalize her meaning. "We can never be who we were…what we were again." She managed.
"This I know, My Love." He nodded once more, while sorrow ripped at his face. "I've wronged you, Faith, and Fate. For this, there is a debt which must be paid."
Bonnie spun around to walk away, and then paused. She angled her head until her chin was parallel to her shoulder. "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone, though."
"I already do," he replied before the last word fled her mouth.
One of Kattegat's personal warriors burst through the doors bloody and battered. He stumbled to a stop at the sight of her and managed a clumsy warrior's bow. "Supreme," the young warrior uttered.
"Help your fallen king out of the city and to wherever else he has a mind to journey," Bonnie ordered.
She called for Kattegat's household sword. When the silk wrapped weapon appeared in her palms, she then moved to have her leave of Ivar's personal quarters.
"Thank you, My Love."
Ivar's broken utterance trailed her into the great hall and threaded itself into her essence. A premonition struck her third eye. A horn blared, battle drums sounded, and Kattegat's shores bled red. Bjorn would fall never to rise in Midgard the same again. Her step froze mid-fall. Without being told, she knew she stood at the proverbial crossroads. If she left Ivar alive then Kattegat would not know peace for some time and her protector would die. Yet if she ended him now…her heart froze. More tears poured from her eyes. For she couldn't do it…she couldn't kill Ivar. Not even if it meant saving…another. Yet save him she would, but on her own terms.
She continued on towards the great hall's doors, her mind set. Her road chose. Though she and Ivar's chapter may have come to a close, they were far from done. She'd see him again one day. Under what circumstances? That remained to be seen...
Qetsiyah watched their Supreme march out of the great hall. What she'd witnessed unfold in the long house snatched her tongue. Bonnie had shown Ivar compassion. Something she'd neglected to do the first time around.
"She didn't cast him out," Markos sputtered, astonishment present in his tone. "Do you know what this means?"
She shook her head, while her stare remained trained on the great hall's doors. "I-It's too soon to tell."
"But-," Markos began.
"It's too soon to tell!" She insisted.