Happy Holidays, Bennett Fandom…
The next rising Gunnhild gave Bonnie a tour of the training grounds. She watched the queen lead warriors and shieldmaidens alike through a few exercise drills. Though she thought some of the changes implemented ingenious other aspects fell breathtakingly wide of the mark. The defenders of Kattegat appeared softer than she remembered. Many fell back in their attack in fear of taking a blow. While others dawdled so slow in their footwork, they'd put a one leg senior citizen pushing a walker to shame.
Without travelling far into her deliberations Bonnie knew when the Russ arrived on those shores they would eat. Kattegat's shortcomings, however, no longer concerned her. Silas had spoken his weight in mystical energy. Interfering in battles already decided caused more harm than her assistance aided. This time around she'd not raise a blade against their opps. When Ivar revisited those lands he'd be met with her absence and a shit ton of opportunity. For she intended to follow Ubbe and Torvi to the Icelandic settlement. She wanted to reconnect with Floki, Helga, and Reyher. To see the community they'd built in the name of love instead of broken dreams.
Gunnhild concluded the tour near the weapons armory.
Ingrid, who she'd witness training with a group of shieldmaidens earlier, came to stand with them. "So what'd you think of the progression of Kattegat's defenses during your time away, Supreme?"
"I find the efforts here adequate," she answered as honestly as she dared without bruising prides or stepping down on egos.
Gunnhild and Ingrid shared a guarded stare before glancing back to her.
"Adequate?" Gunnhild questioned as if the word sat wrong on her tongue.
"Yes," she repeated herself, doubling down with a bob of the head.
"Then perhaps you should instruct us on the errors riddling our defenses," Bjorn's booming voice slammed into her back. "After all, adequate warriors and shieldmaidens do not secure victories on the battlefield."
"Many apologies, My King." Bonnie spun about to face him, and then glanced down at the sun dress she wore. "I didn't come dressed this rising to spar."
"A hinderance which can be remedied with ease," he said raising a hand to wave a shieldmaiden over. "I'd be more than pleased to provide you with whatever battle attire you may require."
Bonnie's back teeth clenched. "That won't be necessary. I'm more than capable of seeing to my own requirements."
Without further protests, Bonnie went to change into her battle gear. When she returned five shieldmaidens and five warriors waited for her in the training circle. Each fighter appeared more seasoned than the next. They all looked to have something to prove. Whether it be dominance among the pack they stood or to demonstrate they still had one more moment of glory left in them for the next battle. What she'd believed would be a simple exhibition now seemed to have suspect undertones.
"What is this?" Guthrum demanded as he forced his way through the sea of Kattegat warriors to stand at her side.
Bjorn bared his teeth at him in the guise of a smile. "A mere scrimmage between our Supreme and Kattegat's best fighters." He waved an indifferent hand at the training circle. "I only mean to sight if Gunnhild's training is indeed only adequate."
Guthrum's face turned to stone as he drew his sword.
"Move!" Ubbe shoved his way through a horde of warriors, battle ax in hand.
Ingrid abandoned Gunnhild's side to stand next to Bonnie. Scarlet turbulent sorcery seeped from Ingrid's pores to radiate over her like a second skin. Bjorn scoffed, while Gunnhild looked on the verge of devastation. A dry laugh rose from the edge of their gathering. Bonnie glanced in the direction and her eyes damn near kissed the dirt. An almost unrecognizable Hvits polluted her sightline. Her old flame hadn't only hit rock bottom, but it also appeared rock bottom had dropped kicked his ass back. Next to him stood a plain faced shieldmaiden who'd more than likely taken on the role as his enabler.
"Fools the lot of you!" Hvitserk spat at them, while pointing a crooked finger at her. "If you believe ten fighters to be enough to beat remorse and humility into that one."
Not engaging with his younger brother, Ubbe's glare instead hurtled to his eldest. "Is what he speaks true? Is that your mind?"
"I only wanted her counsel!" Gunnhild assured as her eyes pled her innocence. "I'm uncertain of Bjorn's intent here. He never even ventures to the training fields anymore."
"It matters not!" Bjorn exploded. "It is my right as king to know the state of the defenses in my kingdom."
Everyone began yelling at once. Bonnie stepped away from the verbal jabs to enter the training circle where the warriors and shieldmaidens waited. Before she could place a leathered boot over the line Guthrum grabbed her arm. She lifted her gaze to his. For several long moments they stared into each other's eyes. Something within her gaze must've reassured him, because soon after he released her.
Once she stood inside the training circle the bickering outside of it came to a halt. Bjorn stepped forward with a raised hand. "Dobi will be first, then-,"
"No!" Her roar shifted the ground beneath their feet. "I will face them all!"
"No!" Bjorn bellowed back. For the first time since he arrived alarm showed clear and present on his face.
Ignoring him she looked to the fighters who appeared to be assessing her for weaknesses. Good, they weren't completely without training. She lifted her hands. "Come."
And come they did. Bringing all they had to the table. Yet they must've missed a few particulars about the assignment. For instead of standing like predators they all fell like prey and she ate. In less than five minutes she cut down ten of Kattegat's best lines of defense. And this pissed her dry. Where were the raiders…the hardened soldiers…the stone hearted Vikings who'd once defended the gates and borders of Kattegat?
Bonnie pointed the blunted blade of her sword at the sovereigns of Kattegat. "You proved your point, My King. I stand corrected!" She dipped forward in a taunting bow. "These warriors and shieldmaidens aren't even adequate. They are an embarrassment! None of them are prepared for the hell which will soon darken your horizon!" She pitched her sword at him. The weapon soared through the air to plant itself blade first into the ground at Bjorn's booted foot. "The next time your enemies come knocking at the gates of the city, do the good people of Kattegat a favor and just let them in." With that said she stalked off.
Undiluted fury floated her all the way to her keep, and then discarded her on her bedroom floor. There she crumbled…
She cast her gaze over the many mangled bodies that covered the field. The number so numerous she could barely see the blood drenched land. The brutality of the battle sickened her. Many warriors and shieldmaidens were broken to the point of disrepair. Others were critically injured, while the majority now dwelled beyond the veil.
"There's so many of them…too many…many more will go…they're all ghosts…ghosts…" She mumbled to herself, while pulling her knees to her chest. Back and forth she rocked to the rhythm of the screams in her head.
Within seconds four of the sons and daughters under her dominion were dead by her blade. Guilt and grief came for her like it had a fucking open invitation. Yet her sword never stopped swinging. How could it? For every one of their warriors, there were ten of Ivar's and Harald's. To lay down her arms would only mean more deaths of her sons and daughters.
She could see each one of their faces. Hear their cries as her blade severed them from life. "I'm sorry…" she whispered as her mind's eye continued to bleed.
Through all the blood and gore swirling about in Bonnie's head, two blessed hands appeared. They reached inside of her and pulled her free of the wrecks which littered her past. Guthrum! He cuddled her close, and she clung to him. The rhythmic pounding at his chest upon her cheek soothed her.
Moments later he placed her in the center of her bathroom, and then began to relieve her of her battle armor. Once he stripped her bare he helped her into the bath tub already filled with steaming water. With painstaking thoroughness he washed every inch of her. When he finished bathing her, he helped her out of the tub, and then oiled her down. Massaging moisturizer into every hill, dip, crevice, and cleft that made up her body.
He then led her into her bedroom, placed her in bed and tucked her in. When he turned to leave. Her anxiety rose once again. "Will you stay?"
Nodding once, he climbed in bed behind her, tugging her back to his front. Soon the morning caught up with her, and the Sand Man decided to be merciful. As she began to dose off Guthrum pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. "You deserve so much more than you've been offered. Even more than my means can manage. Yet I'll never halt in attempting to give you what you are worth."
Over the next several risings Bonnie noticed a shift between her and Guthrum. Their relationship took an intimate turn. They never strayed far from the other's side. In some respect things reminded her of risings from long ago. Things between them, however, couldn't have been more different from those pilfered moments. She now anticipated him. From the way he stared at her to the rough texture of his palms upon hers. Even the rise and fall of his voice when they discussed trivial topics ensnared her. If she knew where the brakes were, she'd slammed down on the peddle with both feet. Break whatever inappropriate attachment which compelled her to him. Yet as much as she wanted to do right. To deny her problematic affections. She found herself expecting him…craving him as if she had a right to do so.
Whether she embraced the changing path between them or not, the troubling way continued to turn. Fate's will propelled them ever closer to an end she'd since come to realized couldn't be avoided. All too soon said end came to past. And although she saw the crash coming, she still discovered herself unprepared for the concluding blow it inflicted. The attraction moving between them peaked in a place she always equated to comfort. Her sacred cove.
On one blue and bright rising they took Hali and Asa there to swim. The morn progressed as expected. While the others swam Bonnie took time to clean off her daughter's grave. Not long after she'd begun Hali joined her. Together they worked to sweep away the leaves and debris. Several minutes into the task, Hali slaughtered the silence between them.
"Bonsie?" He called to her in a softer tone that he often used as a child.
She dumped a hand full of leaves in a neat pile away from Faith's grave. "Yes?"
"I saw you defeat those fighters at the training field," he said with his gaze fixed on Faith's headstone.
She slapped her hands together to relieve them of dust. "Did you?"
"Yes, and the way you…" he began. His voice trailing off as he inched around to look at her. "I'd favor learning to wield a blade as such."
She gave him a sideways glance to search his face. "Why?"
"To one rising be a great man like my father and his father before him," he said, with a blinding intensity sparking from his eyes.
"Hali, I can teach you how to fight." She turned from her daughter's grave to lend gravity to the next words she spoke to him. "I can even teach you how to be a great fighter, but only you can decide what kind of man you're going to be…and that journey begins here." She placed a palm on his chest where his heart beat.
A flood gathered in his stare. "I'm sorry for not treating you well when you returned, Bonsie. It angered me when you left."
"Oh, Yoda, you're forgiven," she uttered as she pulled him in her arms. "Of course you are."
They continued to enjoy their afternoon at the cove. They played games, she went over a few training exercises with Hali, and scrimmaged with Guthrum to demonstrate different fighting styles. His skills had grown since last time they'd sparred together. He even surprised her a few times with moves which allowed him to get the best of her. The more they engaged in contact sports the more tension between them soared. Soon she could barely see anything for all the visions of them that consumed her third eye. At one point she almost gave into the beast gnawing at her better judgement and kissed him right there in front of Asa and Hali. Right then and there she decided some things had to change.
To establish boundaries and reestablish a semblance of normalcy, Bonnie kept her distance from Guthrum over the next passing risings. Instead she spent more time at her table in the marketplace. She reacquainted herself with the citizens. Through mild chats and idol gossip she caught up on the lives of those she'd known before she sailed to England. Even Lagertha had taken to coming to sit with her. She also helped with running the table. They often reminisced on times gone by, people no longer with them, and shared traumas from their pasts they'd never shared with anyone else.
"And you never told Ragnar?" Bonnie questioned as she stared at the once Queen.
Lagertha shrugged. "How would him knowing have aided anything? The scoundrel was dead and Bjorn wasn't harmed. Telling Ragnar would've only filled him with guilt and harried him to no end while he was away."
"Yeah, but the bastard killed Earl Haraldson's sons and tried to do the same to Bjorn," Bonnie said, stunned to the edge of her seat. Lagertha gave her the, I don't know what to tell you, head tilt. Blown away, Bonnie shook her head. Talk about back story for your ass. "Well did you at least tell Siggy?"
"As some scars are best left undisturbed, the same sentiment holds true for scarred people." The great shieldmaiden cast her cerulean gaze away to watch the procession of citizens and foreigners as they passed. "I think I'll soon seek my leave of this place. Search out the place where for just a moment in time I was a wife and mother. Not Lagertha the shieldmaiden." She cut her eyes at Bonnie. "And Supreme or not had you come down from the mountains with Ragnar I would've fought you to claim him."
Bonnie laughed. Of course she knew. "I have no doubt." Her moment of amusement sobered as Lagertha's confession to retire at the homestead sunk in. For she knew once the former queen took leave of Kattegat she wouldn't be long for Midgard. "You'll be missed, Lagertha."
A familiar burn at Bonnie's tear ducts forced her to snatch away her gaze. She regarded the people passing by as she wrestled her emotions back in check. Goddess, it felt as if all she ever did anymore was cry! Just when she believed she had her feelings settled Guthrum strolled pass her sight line. Her heart damn near beat out of her chest to tear after him.
"You love him," Lagertha uttered next to her.
Bonnie's mouth flapped open and closed in search of a credible denial. The former queen touched her hand. Warmth oozed from Lagertha's touch, and then laid to rest the firestorm of nerves whipping about in Bonnie's gut.
With ease her tongue unknotted, and the words she'd struggled with before crept from her mouth. "I didn't choose this…for me or him."
"This I know," Lagertha uttered, while regarding her with a fleeting smile and sorrowful stare. "But a wise woman once told me love comes without rhyme, reason, and definitely not obligations."
Bonnie once again opened her mouth to plead her case. To spell out the uneasiness of loving Guthrum in such a way would mean.
Lagertha cut her off once more. "Bjorn!"
Bonnie followed Lagertha's gaze. The king of Kattegat approached them with sagging shoulders and uncertain steps. She couldn't even begin to imagine what he wanted. They hadn't spoken since the shit fest at the training field.
As Bjorn entered her covering he dipped his head to Lagertha. "Mother."
"Greetings, Bjorn," Lagertha returned, before swinging her gaze to Bonnie. "Forgive me, Supreme. I've grown weary and I think it best I seek out my leave." She then rose with more vigor than the weary would be allowed.
After they watched Lagertha disappear into the passing horde, Bjorn took the seat next to her his mother abandoned. With his stare fixed on the passing people he spoke, "I have missed you these past solstice cycles." Her breath caught and held. "And I'm sorry that I've allowed my pride to force us apart."
Her hand rose to rest at the cradle of her breasts to assuage the sharpness of the ache there. For the responsibility for their current state wasn't solely his to bear. Both of their prides bore the fault for the fuckery wrought upon their friendship.
"I'm sorry as well," she uttered, turning to gaze at the stubborn clench of his jaw.
"I never should've retreated from Kattegat without you." He finally turned to look into her eyes. Guilt and shame dimmed the brilliance of his Lothbrok stare. "Doing so shall be my biggest regret until I enter Valhalla and well beyond."
She shook her head. Any other outcome would've meant certain death for him. For them all. "Bjorn-,"
"Fate has decided upon us," he took her hands in his. "I see this now and this is something I've come to accept. Yet I still need you, and I shall accept you however the Gods and fate will allow me to have you." His grip tightened on her hands. "For Midgard is a strange unwelcoming place without you." He then released her hands to reach into the waistband of his tunic. Seconds later he withdrew the sacred arm ring he gave her so many years before, and then replaced the bracelet on her wrist. His gaze then rediscovered hers. "Never remove it again." No longer able to hold her emotions in check, she allowed the tears to fall as she wrapped him in her arms. "You once told me I'd one rising be a great king."
She rested her cheek on his shoulder and sniffled a bit. "You will be."
"Only with you at my side," he murmured into her hair.
Bonnie stood in her bedroom gazing at the flames in her fireplace. She sipped on a tumbler of Klaus' blended whiskey. For several risings she'd wrestled with herself for the answers concerning Bjorn and Guthrum. After fifty eleven hours of searching her mind, energy, and essence she'd come to a conclusion, or perhaps an epiphany. Pain begats life. No one new better than she how much she suffered to simply be. Yet she still dwelled among the dead. Nursing memories which invalidated the suffering she'd endured to exist. Her self-oppression, however, held no place in her new narrative. The time had come for her to relinquish all of her ghosts to their fates beyond the veil and lay her guilt to rest.
Bonnie's bedroom door opened, and then closed. She didn't have to turn to gauge her visitor's identity. His unique scent revealed him before any greetings could. He'd grown tired of being side lined and she'd ran out of excuses to keep him off the field. The magnetism between them had reached critical levels. She could no longer avoid this moment. His light footfalls drew closer. Soon Guthrum stood next to her. His penetrating stare bore into the side of her face, visually tracing her profile. Bonnie took another swallow of the blended whiskey, and then placed the tumbler on the ledge of the fireplace.
She then turned to face him. "My feelings for you has troubled me since we've become one. When the dynamic between us changed the shift snatched a bond. A bond I've always cherished."
"I've never looked to you as a mother," he said in an unshakable tone cemented by sheer conviction.
Her head tilted a bit as a smile doused in somberness discovered her lips. "But I've always loved you as a son." Pain ripped across his face as his eyes slipped closed. "Yet my world has ended, restarted, and moved on. Midgard on a whole has changed since the time I knew you as my Jedi…and so have my feelings for you." His eyes flared open once more. Hope brought life back to his face. "Somehow unbeknownst to me I managed to do the unthinkable. I managed to fall for you with a heart that's beyond broken." She reached up to cradle his face in her hands. Her stare bore into his to gaze at the depths of him. "You're so special, Guthrum. The Goddess sent me a thousand blessings when she sent me you." She shook her head. "And I don't wanna miss out on you because I refuse to allow my heart to resurrect."
Bonnie pressed her mouth to his. The move was an exploration of sorts. For all of the bravado and words she still remained a prisoner of her own mind. He was Guthrum for shits sake! Yet she didn't expect his essence to be gasoline and her energy to be fire. Instantaneous eruption. A sweltering heat likened to the ones which burned in the pit of hell soared between them. He snatched her to him, and she scaled him like a mountain. She gripped him by the roots of his hair. He angled his lips just so, allowing her to deepened their kiss. A low moaning growl vibrated the back of her throat. His mouth tasted of mint leaves and honeysuckles. Damn she wanted to slurp him down to the last drop.
Guthrum ripped at her nightie until she stood before him bare. He paused and allowed his gaze to move over her. After minutes of nothing but staring on his part, she closed the distance between them once again. Together they made quick work of his clothing. When no more barriers stood between them they came together in a clash. He lifted her, and her legs readily wrapped about his waist. Inches of firm twitching muscle pressed between her dripping feminine lips. Debilitating need and raw instinct provoked her to grind against the rigid thickness trapped between them. The eye crossing sensation wrenched groans and moans from the bases of each of their necks. Each of their hedonistic cries blended as one in the midst of their twining tongues.
In a blind search of the bed, Guthrum crashed them into a wall. Her back slammed against the silken draped concrete as his uncompromising frame pinned her hips in place. Deciding there position to be as preferrable as any, he plunged into her until his pelvis bone met her clit. Tiny fissures of pleasure resonated from her mons to her lower abdomen.
"Goddess!" Guthrum froze. He rested his forehead in the crook of her shoulder, while releasing a humming groan in to her neck. "Your clench feels more wonderous than I've ever imagined."
A bittersweet throb wrenched serial spasms from the depths of her core. "Guthrum, p-please…" She gasped, attempting to shift her hips from side to side as a means to a fair end.
"Yes, my everything," he whispered as his lips grazed the length of her neck to her ear. "Ask of me anything and all I have is yours. Especially, every bit of…"
He thrust into her again as if her good-good were home and he'd be coming there for lifetimes to come. Damn, she could feel him in the deepest part of her essence. Hurtling and whipping through her in concert with her sorcery. Unable to unpack the faultlessness of how they fit together, she peered into his spellbinding sapphires and caught sight of his amber fire center. What she saw there overwhelmed. There's no way anyone could love someone as much as he loved her! Yet with every pounding thrust he attempted to prove her wrong. To rebuild the broken organ the ones before him trashed time and time again. In his arms she rediscovered a second wind for life, and in turn her heart was reborn
Since Bonnie's return to Kattegat following her about had become Hvitserk's routine each rising. When she slept, he turned to his ale and mushrooms to fill those empty moments. Indulging until he appeared no better than a pile of muck on the stable's floor. In verity, he had much to which to raise his chalice. Watching her fall in love with Torvi's whelp, had forced him to the bottom of his tankard several times. Yet turn away from the sight he could not. She had a hold over him. As if she'd bound him to her with chains forged by the gods. Chains they'd no doubt willingly provide. In their sight he deserved no less for his treatment of her. Their Supreme!
The dirty lot of them had judged him guilty. Now he haunted Bonnie's steps as a disregarded ghost. Cursed to watch her affections flourish for another. And flourished they did. Yet he couldn't fault her. Hel, he had no one to fault but himself for her opening her heart to someone other than him. For who could love him. Especially, after the wreck he'd made of himself. He was now nothing more than a shadow of who he'd once been. A sad man who stood outside of her circle gazing within the gates of her monstrous keep. All while knowing she languished within those lavish comforts offering herself to another!
"Hvitserk, come away from here," Amma pestered him, pulling at his arm in an attempts to force him to follow her.
He snatched himself from her bothersome grasp as the All-Father's voice pounded against the walls of his mind…How does it feel to know you'll never have her again, brother? That the universe no longer chooses you to share her essence. To exist at her side. Look at what you've become…a disgrace! Do everyone a favor. Find a tankard of ale and embrace your end at the bottom of it.
Confusion inflicted itself upon Hvitserk's mind. He knew not of what Odin spoke. In fact the nonsense Odin spewed provoked his surroundings to spin. The All-Father's words whipped backwards in his head. Blots of obsidian dotted his vision until a tarry sea consumed his sight…
Aapo clutched the Chia to his chest through his robe. His entire village had been destroyed by the legion of empty. His daughter, grandchildren, and son-in-law all slaughtered by the followers of an evil which had managed to triumph over the death god himself. She'd wanted the Chia. A hallowed relic his family had guarded since the azul ball of fire split the sky many sacred rounds ago.
Now he a weathered man was forced to abandon the only land he'd ever known in order to safeguard an entire world he'd never seen. Though there were more k'ins behind him than before him, he had no choice but to undertake this task. He prayed the Creator judged for him. That the great one kept him in the land of life until he discovered another guardian for the Chia. For Inadu had decimated his line. Not one after him remained of his people to bear the burdensome weight of the universe.
Aapo continued to watch the fading embers of his burning land. As the boat drifted further away, he uttered a prayer to the great creator. "Itzamna, please fill my body with enough life to see the Chia to where it was always meant to be. Then once this is fulfilled guide my path back to the ancestors."
Ingrid moved about Bonnie's temple in the fields. She arranged grains, cloths, flowers, and berries the citizens of Kattegat had left her in offering. Devoting her risings to maintaining Bonnie's altar offered her mind another recourse than pondering Gunnhild's every act. Ingrid hadn't sighted or spoken with her since the King and she set Kattegat's best fighters against the Supreme. It mattered not their Most High proved victorious against their plots. No the intent placed behind the action more than sufficed the ire the deed inspired.
As she moved to place another bundle of flowers near the small stone likeness of their Supreme, the woman who refused to abandon her mind entered the temple. With her head hung low, the queen honored the Supreme's altar with a supple bow. She appeared as beautiful as Ingrid remembered. No! Freya take her beauty! A firm shake of the head recentered Ingrid's course. Though Gunnhild's eyes matched the exact pigment of field flowers in the first throes of spring, Ingrid wouldn't give into her…with ease. Not after the offense she thought to commit against their Supreme while aligned with her loathsome husband. Instead of rushing into her arms as she so often did, she continued in her duties as if she hadn't sighted her at all.
"Ingrid, I am sorry for whatever I've done to make you turn away from me," Gunnhild said as she moved further into the temple. "If my loss of favor with you is because of Bjorn, you must know it was not my intent-,"
Fury and pain hurtled through her as she turn about to face the woman to which she'd surrendered herself. "You're here making amends with me!" She waved her hand about Bonnie's temple, "In this place! Have you even had the mind to offer your apologies to our Most High? For it was she whom you wronged not me."
"No," Gunnhild admitted, lifting her head to meet her gaze. "But that is my intent. Though such a task will be difficult." Ingrid opened her mouth to protest the slight, but Gunnhild raised a hand to halt her defense. "Not because I wished harm upon our Supreme. Yet her presence is a reminder of my part in the loss of my babe."
"How do you mean?" The distress upon Gunnhild's face provoked Ingrid to move closer.
"Before we married Bjorn spoke to me of his feelings for the Supreme, but I cared not," Gunnhild settled down upon the stone bench next to her near the altar. "I knew Fate had joined his path and my own. So I didn't harry that he believed himself in love with our Most High." She bobbed a shoulder. "After all, many other men of note have declared such claims."
"Yes, but for as long as I can recall, Bjorn Ironside has loved our Supreme," Ingrid joined her on the bench. "It is the most consistent verity about the faithless dog."
Gunnhild offered her a hint of a smile. "If only it was you I faced upon that Wessex battlefield, My Other, then my chest would've known warmth better than pain." She cast her gaze away to look somewhere far beyond the temple in which they now sat. "When we returned to Kattegat…when our Most High lingered within his reach, I knew then the error I'd made in believing Fate would be strong enough to hold him to his path."
A tear slipped from her eye and Ingrid slid closer to her on the bench to take her hands. "There's no reason to continue."
"I know, but this is something I want to speak of with you," Gunnhild uttered, giving her hand a pat. "When I discovered myself with child I was overjoyed. Finally, I believed Bjorn would see how Fate had thoroughly decided upon us. Yet he cared not for me or our babe. He only cared of the Supreme's leave taking and I only cared that he did not. I had no care for myself or that of my son." More tears coursed from the brave Warrior Queen's eyes. "And even in this I am less than she, for she fought for her child. While I allowed mine to fade for the sake of spiting his father."
"Such a burdensome truth to profess, but even more so to bear, Blessed," Ingrid said as she pulled Gunnhild in her arms and allowed her queen the cleansing healing of her liquid pain.
Bonnie's return had shifted many verities in Kattegat. The relationship between Ubbe and his wife being among the many. They rarely spoke anymore and if they did their discussions cavorted along the lines of strained. He also couldn't remembered the last time they' laid together as husband and wife. Being without the warming comforts of her sheath for so many risings wrung his mood to foul. Such neglect also placed an aching burden on his manstand. For he'd always been a lusty man, and to be denied what the Gods claimed to be rightfully his made him want to lift the girdles of the first serving thrall who was willing.
Perhaps Torvi's abandonment of their marital bed wouldn't have been so troublesome if Bonnie was giving unto him. He'd yet to physically sate himself on his Valkyrie, but if what they shared beyond the veil offered a telling of the treasures he'd soon be afforded then he looked forward to being wrapped tight in her divine clench. Due to his wife's second face nature, however, she'd assisted in once again snatching Bonnie out of his reach. Now instead of claiming her as his bride as he'd always wanted, he had to watch her fall in love with his stepson!
Ubbe's gaze moved over the crowded hall. With great disinterest, his assessing stare passed over all the familiar revelers who sought every meal at the long house. Nothing of vast import roused his notice. That is, not until Hvitserk's haggard state tumbled into his sightline. His younger brother slumped at a lesser table in the corner of the hall. He nursed his head, while Amma doted upon him as if were but a child. The sight sickened him almost as much as the state in which Hvitserk had permitted himself to fall. Bonnie's and Guthrum's avoidance of the hall somewhat relieved him. Their Supreme shouldn't be subjected to such a sight.
The doors opened to the hall and tore his regard away from his brother. Torvi entered, shackled his gaze with her own and marched toward the great table with purpose. Not long after she stood over him.
"Ubbe, may we speak?" She asked, before giving a nodded greeting to Bjorn and Gunnhild.
Without answering he rose and stalked towards the personal quarters. Though soundless in her steps he knew she followed. Many long house revelers dipped their heads as they passed, while others cut their eyes and whispered behind their hands. He heeded not even one. In verity, he was gut sick of all there in attendance. Ubbe wanted nothing more than to be liberated of them, their king, and Kattegat altogether. The Icelandic settlement had become more of a curiosity for him. So had the lands to the distant west even farther than England. It was a place a stranger had spoken of to him a few moon cycles ago. A countryside which glowed like shone gold under the morn sun. He wished to witness such a sight with his own eyes.
When he reached the dining area in the private quarters, he turned about to face his wife. Without urging she spoke. "Over these past moons I've sensed your discontentment with me as your wife."
"This is a concern I've more than made plain with my actions, Torvi," he said, still upset of what her sole decision cost them as a whole.
A sigh rose and dropped her breasts as her head bowed more in appeasement than agreement. "And this is why I'm willing to denounce our matrimonial vows so you may be free to pursue…other matters."
Her words snatched the strength from his knees. In that moment, he knew with great certainty that he didn't want to divorce Torvi. He loved his wife. Deeply so!
"No!" His bellow caused her to jump. "No one here will be denouncing their vows. It matters not how petulant and childlike one of us has behaved."
"So," Torvi's stunned stare doubled in size as she gave her head a dawdling shake. "Denouncing our vows isn't something you want?"
"I'm sorry, Torvi." The apology slipped with ease from his lips. "You've always chosen my side without question even when your decision to stand with me placed you in direct opposition with our gods." He closed the distance between them. "I should've afforded you the same turn you've shown me so many times afore."
A becoming grin to possession of her lips as she angled her face upwards to his. "Well blessings be to the gods, you're not without an opportunity to seek out such a path paved in redemption, husband."
"Blessed be, wife," He murmured, before allowing his mouth to descend upon hers.
Happiness threatened to burst Guthrum's chest wide. He'd loved Bonnie from the moment she'd stepped onto the harbor with Bjorn. Even in rags she was the most miraculous vision he'd ever sighted. She remained so until this day. Now there she clung to him…him! Reminding him she'd freely offered herself to him. In every way he never thought she'd be minded.
"This will be weird won't it?" Bonnie questioned as they approached the great hall doors.
Guthrum raised their hands to his lips and press a kiss to the back of hers. He then whispered, "It's the will of the king, and his decision is not only intelligent it's just. You're our Supreme. What other place is there for you?"
Right before they entered she yanked him to a halt. Balancing herself on the tips of her toes, she placed her delectable mouth on his. What she meant to be a quick kiss, he prolonged by slipping his tongue between her succulent lips. He tugged her close until the tight press of her body awakened his.
"I love you, Guthrum." Her whispered utterance between severing pecks set his chest to flames.
He rested his forehead on hers and gaze deep into her eyes down to her essence. "And I love you, My Everything."
Reluctantly, he allowed her to pull free of his hold, and then tug him in the long house. Every voice in the great hall fell silent upon their entrance. Soon as he sighted them Bjorn rose from his throne. He beckoned Bonnie forth with a gesturing wave. His favored girl offered his hand a squeeze, before letting go to cross the hall to the king. As she passed, revelers offered her bows. When she reached Bjorn's side he took her hand, before sweeping into a formal bow of his own. He then turned to the hall on a whole.
"Citizens, I hear by name our Most High the Keeper of Kattegat." He paused to allow his gaze to move over every person in the hall, before continuing, "She will be the commander of Kattegat's army, and she will also advise me alongside Ubbe."
The declaration welched Gunnhild's face of its pigmentation, offering her the look of a wraith. While his stepfather who dwelled with his mother near the entrance of the private quarters appeared nigh relieved. Shock rippled through the horde of revelers on a whole before raucous cheers swelled to a pinnacle which almost brought the walls down around them. Guthrum and Ingrid exchanged pleased glances. Pride for Bonnie barreled his chest. The citizens reaction to the king's news was just. For Bjorn had bestowed more authority upon Bonnie than the queen, while also likening her power and influence in Kattegat to that of his own.