"Where has Helga gone?" Agi questioned bluntly.
Floki gazed up from his breakfast, looking falsely startled. "Helga is gone?" he mocked.
Agi's lip curled in a frown at Floki's giggle. "A bad joke." she informed him crossly.
"I am nothing if not a jokester Agi. Why do you want to know where Helga has gone?" Floki responded, tilting his head.
Agi broke eye contact momentarily, debating how best to phrase her answer. "...I miss her. And I wonder what her thoughts are, on the arrangement you made with Ragnar..."
"What did I arrange?" Floki challenged. "I only agreed. Helga would think the same thoughts as your own."
"Tell me my thoughts then." Agi pressed, pushing her plate aside.
Floki studied Agi a moment, his mouth twisting to chew the meat off the bone. "You ask where Helga is, but wonder why have I not bedded you in her absence."
Agi felt her jaw unhinge. "That's not..."
Agi paused as Floki continued, though Floki shifted his focus onto his food. "You despise and desire Ragnar - far more wonderment spent on fucking him than Athelstan." Floki gazed up at Agi's wounded stare. "That is why the decision to leave with us, is not a hard one to make." he finished.
Agi swallowed the vile coating her throat. Floki saw her so vividly, yet Agi was hapless to predict anything of him. Deciding denial would be futile, Agi squared her shoulders to relieve her anxiety, and responded. "What will stop me from fleeing the moment we reach foreign shores?"
A smirk compressed itself along Floki's lips. "You will not flee Agi." he remarked knowingly.
"How can you be so certain?" Agi asked.
Floki sat forward, and spoke slowly. "Because you miss Helga."
Floki leaned back giggling at Agi's scowl. "Where is she?" Agi persisted.
"Visiting an ill friend upriver. Should be home before nightfall." Floki replied, getting to his feet. Floki stood and stared at Agi, until she looked away. "You carry such shame Agi, why would I add to it? I think the weight of your shame would sadden me if it weren't so funny." Agi glowered up at him, but Floki wasn't laughing. "Do you know what your name means in our tongue?" Agi's eyes narrowed. "The Seer did not tell you? Heh." Floki sparred a single giggle.
"I am not going back to him." Agi stated flatly.
"Go and ask Priest then. Ragnar has taught him more than he should." Floki retorted, starting toward the door.
"You named me." Agi said, halting Floki in his tracks. "You should be the one to tell me its meaning."
Floki turned sideways without moving his feet. "You are right. But this way is more fun." he told her.
Athelstan was outdoors, gutting fish when Agi found him. Bjorn's dog laid at Athelstan's feet, his fur caked with mud. Athelstan smiled when Agi approached. "Agi." he greeted.
"What does it mean?" Agi asked pointedly. "My name, Agi...it is a Norse word, so Floki claims...what is its meaning?" Apprehension circulated within Athelstan's gaze. "Please Athelstan, I wish to know." Agi added, her tone softer.
"It is an emotion that overwhelms. Fear, wonder, dread, admiration...it means all of these things..." Athelstan explained.
"...Awe..." Agi murmured to herself, lowering her gaze onto the mutt.
"Yes. In our common tongue it is 'awe'." Athelstan confirmed. Agi laughed dryly. "...I hesitate to ask but..will you abandon it, when you are made free?" Athelstan pondered.
"You were told of that?"
"I was."
"..No. I am the embodiment of agi...so Agi I will remain." Agi decided, crossing her arms. Athelstan attempted to smile, but faltered. Agi noticed. "Are you disappointed? Did you want to make a child with me?" she marveled.
Athelstan gathered the fish to busy himself. "I did not give it much thought." he replied.
Agi doubted the truth of his remark. "In another life perhaps, Athelstan." she mused. Athelstan glanced sharply at her, proving Agi's doubt correct. "A life in which we did not meet in slavery."
A wicked laugh, belonging to Lan ruined their moment. "What slavery do you speak of?" Lan spat. "Either of you could've fled at any time. But why flee from the safety and shelter of Earl Ragnar? Life could become cruel were he not your master!"
"I am not Ragnar's slave." Agi responded.
Lan laughed again, more thorough than the first outburst. "You truly believe that?"
"One does not have to believe, what one knows."
"Then you know nothing, Dianthra."
The mention of Agi's true name startled her, and Lan walked away satisfied. Agi closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and turned toward Athelstan expectantly. "You knew her from before." was his only remark. Agi nodded. "And Jai?" Athelstan pressed.
Agi shook her head. "No, I did not cross paths with Jai. Lanolin was the town shrew."
Athelstan's eyebrows rose. "Lanolin? She was named after sheep oil?"
Agi smirked and shrugged. "Fated to be a bitch at birth I suppose."
Athelstan laughed, and Agi mirrored his merriment. "It is good to see this side of you, Agi." Athelstan told her, earnestly. "You've a beautiful smile."
Agi felt her cheeks warm into a blush. "Mustn't fawn over me Athelstan. Floki detests you enough already." she responded lightly.
The addition of Ragnar's voice distilled Agi's good vibe. "There is no harm in fawning over someone surely." Ragnar watched intently as Agi reluctantly faced him. Her body was tense with anger, but Ragnar spotted arousal in her weary gaze. "Have you reached a decision Agi?" he questioned.
"Yes. I will sail." Agi said, her words rigid.
"Then tonight we may chart the course in the Great Hall." Ragnar said with a sly smile.
"Why tonight?" Agi asked cautiously. "Why not now?"
Ragnar delayed his response, holding her gaze firmly. "...Because now you must begin training." he said at last. "Torstein!" he called, disappearing around the corner of his home.
Athelstan had noticed the change in Agi's demeanor while she conversed with Ragnar. It troubled him. Athelstan gingerly touched Agi's wrist. Agi jumped as if his touch had burnt her and gawked at him as if she'd forgotten he were there. Athelstan's concern grew. "Agi?" he whispered worriedly.
Agi forced a laugh into existence. "Foolish to chart the course now. The ships need at least another two weeks to be sea-worthy." she said lamely.
Athelstan frowned, but didn't press her. "Floki may surprise you."
Agi sighed. "Doesn't he always?"
Torstein was drinking with Rollo, outside the tavern when Ragnar approached. "Torstein, I've a favor to ask you." Ragnar greeted.
"Name it." Torstein replied.
Ragnar clasped his hand onto Torstein's shoulder, and spoke quietly. "I need you to train Agi in combat."
"Agi? Floki's slave?" Torstein repeated blankly.
"She will not be a slave much longer. That is why I need her trained." Ragnar explained.
"Turning the slave into a shield maiden, brother?" Rollo remarked, his disapproval potent.
"She is not far off." Ragnar said, his eyes flicking only briefly onto Rollo.
"Would Lagertha not be a better choice?" Rollo asked. "Or would you only degrade Torstein to train a slave girl?"
Ragnar retracted his hand from Torstein, his steely gaze on Rollo.
"I'll do it." Torstein said. "There are worse favors an Earl could ask, than to rustle about with a pretty thrall."
Ragnar smiled. "Knew I could count on you." Ragnar's smile remained, even as his irked irises darted onto Rollo.
To Agi's surprise, she grew to like Torstein after one training session. Torstein was uncomplicated, he was a man pure and simple. He did berate her or intimate her, as she feared he would. Perhaps he would act differently, when Ragnar's children weren't watching, though Agi felt that was unlikely. Nightfall came sooner than Agi wanted it to, and after biding Torstein goodnight, she walked to the Great Hall. Agi paused outside the door, cursing herself for not refusing the meeting place. Nothing would happen, Agi assured herself, she would not let anything happen.
Ragnar stood by the fire, the map was still laying on the table as it had been the day before. He looked from the fire to Agi, the embers dancing in his eyes. Agi walked straight past him to the table. Her eyes wandered the empty space beyond the table, and for the briefest moment, she re-imagined the cage from her dream. Ragnar's footfalls deleted the dreamscape from her mind, and Agi scrutinized the map carefully. "We are North. My village was roughly here...so..." Agi's breath caught in her throat, as Ragnar loomed over her shoulder.
"Continue." Ragnar said plainly.
The map tumbled from Agi's shaken grasp, though she smoothed her palms out as if she had dropped it on purpose. "Must you be so close?" she asked haughtily, staring at the parchment.
"Does it bother you?" Ragnar asked, his breath tickling her ear.
Agi slammed her fists onto the table, and spun around. Mere inches separated him from her, but Agi leered up at him as if he were on a balcony. "Gods smite you Ragnar. I am not a bauble for you to breathe on - I am not yours at all!"
"You are right. Yet, not once have I looked upon you, without the words of the Seer haunting me. I am to have many sons, Agi." Ragnar said, his fingertips tracing the angle of her jaw.
Agi wanted to bite his hand off, but she settled for closing her hand around his wrist. "Lagertha has already given you children." she reminded him.
Ragnar nodded. "But none with red hair." he responded, plucking a lock of her hair around two of his fingers.
Agi smacked his wrist aside, and the motion made something within Agi crack. Her hands balled into fists and those fists rapidly coincided with Ragnar's chest, again and again, until he began to back away.A jaded smile gleamed on Ragnar's face, and then in a blink of an eye, he had Agi's wrists pinned to the small of her back, the side of her face compressed against his shirt. "Do you want to kill me Agi?" Ragnar asked, his voice carrying over her head.
It was maddening to have his arms wrapped around her own, to be pressed against him, to smell the fire, and sweat that radiated off of him. "Yes." Agi hissed into his abdomen.
Agi could not see his face, but she envisioned it easily enough, how his smugness was likely overlapping his lips. "Is death all you want of me?" he wondered. Agi's arms struggled beneath the vise-grip of Ragnar's hands. The jerky movement sent a thrill between them, but after a moment Ragnar released her. Agi stumbled backwards, surprised. "A question better asked when you are a free woman perhaps." Ragnar mused, resting his weight against the table.
"We are not having this conversation again. You will not touch me again. I am not a toy, Ragnar, you do not get to handle me as such." Agi responded bitterly.
Ragnar smirked, and leaned forward slightly. "I did not handle you as a toy, I dealt with you like a little girl throwing a tantrum."
An excited intake of breath from the doorway, drew their attention away from one another. At the entrance stood Helga, in a lavender cloak with the hood up. "Forgive me Ragnar." she greeted.
"It is alright Helga. We were finished talking." Ragnar responded. When Agi glanced at him, Ragnar straightened, ushered a hand around Agi's neck, and kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, Dianthra." he murmured into her scalp. Agi's blood ran cold, losing herself in the ocean eyes Ragnar possessed.
Agi was unable to sleep that night. She kept hearing Ragnar speak her name, as if he had shouted it from the top of a mountain. Agi felt defiled - her name being breathed by the man who had destroyed the life she once lived. Strange that something so petty, could bother her so much. Regardless, Agi had a difficult time maintaining a level head during her training with Torstein the following afternoon.
"Agi, you must watch carefully." Torstein instructed, circling her. Torstein struck out, Agi ducked, dodged and bashed him with her shield. Torstein shrugged it off with a follow-up strike, that Agi barely managed to block. "Again, Agi."
Agi noticed Rollo approaching, before he opened his mouth. "You are being too easy on her Torstein. Take a break, I will teach in your stead."
"Your brother asked me, Rollo." Torstein replied.
"You do realize you will spend your days training this thrall until we set sail?" Rollo responded. He and Torstein exchanged a look, then Rollo's gaze strayed to a female several feet away. Torstein had been eying her since she first stepped outdoors to clean her clothes. "Go." Rollo encouraged, nodding in her direction. Torstein grinned, handed Rollo the sparring blade, and dashed off. Rollo observed Agi with his dark disdainful eyes. "What's the matter little wisp? Scared?" he asked condescendingly.
"You're certain you're related to Ragnar? You look and sound nothing alike." Agi retorted, in an effort to conceal her nerves.
The insincerity of Rollo's laugh jutted deeply in his throat. Then he lashed out full-throttle, causing Agi to careen side-ways to avoid him.
Rollo did not slow his attacks, nor did he stray his blade from slicing into Agi's flesh. He cut her face, her legs, her right shoulder, her left arm and either side of her waist. Agi wanted to retaliate but she was naturally timid of what Rollo's reaction may be.
Agi grew tired, and still Rollo struck. Rather than beg him to stop, Agi discarded the shield.
"That a wise choice, slave?" Rollo said, his face contorting into a snicker. Agi did not have the energy to respond. Rollo smirked, and lunged forward. Agi's sword clanged against his,and she attempted to parry his follow-up. The sword skirted from her grasp across the ground. Agi rushed to retrieve it, but Rollo tightened an arm around her stomach, pressing her bent form against his groin. Agi sank her nails into his iron-like forearm with one hand while elbowing him in the jaw with her other. The blow connected, but Rollo barely winced. Instead he grabbed her by the elbow and latched Agi's arm around her own neck, holding it in place with his biceps. Agi's worn muscles thrashed to their best capabilities, but Rollo had capitalized on the shallow wounds his sword-work had bestowed her. His scratchy beard ruffled Agi's hair, his lips trembling against her earlobe. "Do you ever wonder late at night, what would've happened had Floki not found you first? What I'd have done to your lithe little cunt. Agi?"
"No..I waste not one thought on you Rollo.." Agi responded brazenly. Her ribcage felt as if it had turned to glass, fracturing with each beat of her frightened heart.
An ill-smile creased Rollo's mouth. His hand grazed the wound on her waist, Agi buckled in pain, allowing Rollo's hand to soar beneath her shirt. "And now?" he jeered, crushing her nipple against his thumb.
Versatile tears began to blur Agi's vision. "Release me or..."
"Or what, slave?!" Rollo challenged, squeezing her breast in his palm. His other hand yanked Agi's hair, maneuvering her neck so that he could glimpse her face. "You will run to my brother? Cry to Floki? What will become of you when they reach Valhalla?" Rollo demanded, hardening against the underside of her thigh.
"They will outlive you."
"Will they?"
"Yes. Because your soul is made of nickel." Agi spat.
Rollo released Agi's arm, his hand jumping to her throat. "A time will come," Rollo whispered, his hand leaving her breast and venturing downward. "When nothing will save you, not even your pride."
"ROLLO!" shouted Lagertha, her feet stomping upon the ground.
Rollo dropped Agi from his grasp, as if she were a stack of logs. Fear and exhaustion prevented Agi from catching herself, and her face pummeled into the earth where darkness overcame her.
Rollo's hand clasped around Dianthra's throat, pushing her to the ground, pinning her into the mud. Her failing fists rocked against his chest and chin, to no avail. She felt his coarse palm against her thighs, and then he was inside her. Each thrust was a stab, and each stab made her sob. Three feet behind Rollo, stood Ragnar. Ragnar met Dianthra's gaze, and then he turned away. Dianthra's horror-strucken eyes searched the horizon for salvation. A yard away, she could see Floki fighting Lon. Their weapons clashed, and Rollo's fingers tightened against her throat. "Look at me slave." he growled. He yanked her head straight, and as he did, Dianthra watched her brother's towering form run past her. "Nothing will save you." Rollo whispered.
Agi awoke to unfamiliar surroundings, but before panic would seize her, Lagertha stepped forward. "Be still, you're safe." she informed. Lagertha knelt beside her, studying Agi's eyes. "How does your head fare?"
"Fine." Agi murmured, tracing her swollen nose. She noted her face was absent of dirt, and that a basin of filthy water was situated nearby.
"Good. I will get suave for your cuts." Lagertha said, standing.
"I thank you Lady Lagertha...but you should not be so kind to me.." Agi mumbled.
"Why not?" Lagertha responded, her hands stirring clay mortar and pestle. "Because my husband is infatuated by you?"
Agi struggled to sit up, but after a moment relented. "...Yes."
"Have you bedded him?" Lagertha asked, her tone even. Agi shook her head. "Do you want to?" she added.
Agi was unsure what would damn her more, the truth or a lie. "...Only if it would end with indifference..." she compromised.
"And if it didn't?" Lagertha pressed. "What would you do if the Gods chose to bless you with his seed?"
"..I would do as you wished Lady Lagertha.." Agi said honestly. "Be it death or life, for myself and the child."
Lagertha's smile was bittersweet, as she turned to the side, addressing someone Agi could not see. "You were right Athelstan, she is a good woman." she remarked. Lagertha handed Athelstan the object her hands had been busied with, and urged him toward Agi. Athelstan smiled with traces of sheepishness.
The suave was applied in silence, mostly by Agi herself, although she did allow Athelstan to tend to the cut on her cheek.
"Were they told?" Agi asked, shattering the quiet.
"Yes." Athelstan answered, setting aside the clay mortar and pestle. "I do not know what will come of it."
A/N - Not quite where I wanted to end the chapter, but I was unsure when I'd be able to post it otherwise.
Rollo's been gone for far too long, but I hadn't forgotten him, just as he hasn't forgotten Agi.