A/N - I've written fics on and off since 2009, yet somehow someway, this lil story has seen the most glory. I thank each and every one of you who support it. Trust me when I say, it's truly you reviewers that keep me motivated. I'm incredibly grateful and though I can't list everyone, I must name a few. Many thanks to the uber passionate newcomer Shantigal and many more thanks to wabi-sabi1090, Silently Tearful, and Flowerchild23, who have read and consistently reviewed my story, since I first published it over a year ago.
Forewarning - things get a bit hot and heavy early in this chapter! Slight trigger-warning with Rollo.
Agi could not recall a previous time, when she had ever cried herself to sleep. Slowly, though surely, her mind seeped into consciousness; she became aware of the wind tussling her hair, the smell of dirt beside her face, and most of all, the irked voice of Floki. "Comfortable Priest?" he spat. Abruptly Agi's entire neck jostled, and Agi's eyes drew open, just as Athelstan carefully recoiled his arm from beneath her temple. Athelstan had been laying beside her, evidently allowing Agi to use his arm as a pillow.
"I didn't have the heart to wake her." Athelstan explained, as Agi pushed herself up into a sitting position. Floki stood a mere foot away from Athelstan, glowering down at him with a furious sneer twitching on his face.
"..Of course not..." Floki hummed. "Every-time you touch her, you risk infecting her with your Christian plague, but you knew that already, didn't you?"
Frowning, Agi rose from the ground. "Floki, if that is how you feel, why then did you agree to Ragnar's terms - that I would've been expected to bear Athelstan's child?"
Floki shifted his gaze onto her, and the chuckle that exhumed from his lips, sounded like a scoff. "I knew once I told Ragnar, that the Gods had led me to you, that the matter would be settled."
"You didn't tell him outright?" Agi marveled.
Floki's angered face softened in surprise. "What for? The Goddesses appeared to me, not Ragnar. I told him, only after he confessed to his concupiscent dreams, granted by Hnossa herself."
Athelstan glanced sideways at Agi. "Did you not wonder how the notion to make you shield maiden came to be?" he murmured.
Floki grumbled haughtily. "It was wrong of Ragnar to tell you; you did not need to know."
"Athelstan had a right to know," Agi argued. "You were wrong, the matter was not settled once Ragnar knew. I was given a choice, remember?"
Floki turned his full attention onto Agi, the sneer resurfacing slightly on his face. "Forced choice, is not choice." he quoted, earning a startled stare from Agi.
"You were there that day...when Ragnar first kissed me, and you didn't intervene?" Agi mumbled in shock.
"Would you have thanked me if I had?" Floki countered. Agi's brow scrunched, a frown outlined her lips, but she did not respond. "That does not matter," Floki continued. "What does matter is Hnossa and Geresemi may've been sisters, but they were different deities. Yet together they branded you - Ragnar wished to know why, so he tested the will of the Goddesses. That you wished to pillage, means the favor of Geresemi, is no less strong than the favor of Hnossa. You desire treasure, but also you are treasure to be desired. Understand?"
"...But I don't desire treasure.." Agi murmured.
Athelstan said. "Not all treasure is gold and jewels, Agi."
"Why are you still here Priest?" Floki snapped.
Athelstan's response, became drowned out by the sound of a child laughing. Agi's head swiveled in the direction of the source, her auburn eyes closing in on a boy of about four years of age. His hair was reddish, cheeks still pudgy, dressed in dark green. He stood in the forest perfectly at ease, his grey eyes alight with glee, his gaze upward, focused on the branches of a tree. Floki was hunched among the branches, pretending his arm was stuck, much to the enjoyment of the little boy. Sneakily, Ragnar approached the child from the opposite direction, and hoisted him into the air. A short scream was overshadowed by a fresh burst of laughter, as the little boy reacted accordingly to the surprise. With his trademark giggle, Floki hopped down from the treetop, and a smiling Ragnar lowered the child back onto solid ground. It was then the child, looked straight at Agi, and cheerfully began running toward her. It was also then, that both Ragnar and Floki met her gaze. Agi blinked, and the imagery was lost.
"Don't touch her Priest, she is having a vision!" Floki snarled. "What did you see Agi? Was it the same as before?"
"No." Agi stated, though a scowl had scribbled itself on her mouth.
"No? How was it different?" Floki pried.
"It just was. I want to go home.." Agi responded, crossing her arms. The sun had started to set, the warmth of it, was swiftly declining. Floki was clearly unhappy at her indifference, but Agi, still weary from her emotional breakdown, did not have the energy to care. Still hugging herself, Agi began to retreat from the forest. A few moments passed, before she could hear Floki and Athelstan following behind her.
On the threshold of his home, Floki grabbed Agi's arm. "Why won't you tell me what you saw?" he demanded, though his voice was soft. "And do not tell me it does not matter!"
Shrugging free of his grasp, Agi retorted. "I saw my child, you and Ragnar were playing with him, and you were all quite happy. Satisfied?"
Floki studied Agi's face intently. "No." he replied stoutly. Before Agi could think of a response, Floki had scooped his arms beneath her thighs, pinning her against his midriff, as he shimmed indoors. No sooner had the door swung shut behind him, Floki had Agi pressed against the wall, his mouth tangling with hers. Though weary, Agi was strangely hungry, her tongue thrashing feverishly against his. Floki's hand swooped beneath her blood-drenched undershirt, clenching her breast. Agi relaxed her hips, and Floki hurriedly shifted her undergarment to allow him access. A frenzied whimper tumbled from Agi's mouth, as Floki entered her. She saw him smirk before his mouth was upon hers again, his knuckles knotting in the weaves of her hair. The wall scraped harshly against her back, but Agi was fixated on Floki's fingertips routinely trailing from her ankle to her rear end.
Agi severed the kiss to whisper. "Lay down."
"Is that what you want?" Floki whispered, not slowing his pace, regardless of how her thigh flapped into his hip.
"Want, you, to." Agi panted.
Floki gingerly buckled to the ground, causing a delighted cry to throb in Agi's throat. With one hand clenched to the small of her back, Floki maneuvered himself backwards onto the ground, and once he was down, Agi's arms uncoiled from around his neck. Her palms cupping his collarbone, Agi straightened atop of him, seizing him fully, her eyes closed as she started to grind. His nails dug into her waist, carving a path up to her shoulders as Floki beckoned her down into a kiss. Her mouth embraced his, and did not stray, until Floki cried out, her entire body shuddering in the wake of his ecstasy. His eyes stared past her to the ceiling, and with a contented sigh, Agi rested her head on his chest.
"What will you do, those months while Ragnar and I are away?" Floki asked.
Floki could feel Agi clench her jaw, although she remained stationary. "..I will have Helga.." Agi murmured.
Floki snickered in disbelief. "You can't fool me Agi, you care for Helga but you crave the touch of men. Who will you bed? Athelstan or Arne?"
"Who is Arne?" Agi mumbled.
"Arne One-Eye...surely you've seen him..."
"I do not pay attention to those who are not you or Ragnar."
Floki sniggered a bit. "...You did not answer my question."
"Did Arne always have one eye?" Agi asked, curious about the man's prowess over the years.
"No." Floki answered.
"Then it would be Arne..." Agi paused, lifting her head to stare at him. "But only if the months become unbearable."
"And once we have returned?" Floki pressed.
"Never again." Agi promised, nuzzling his chin.
Agi began to rise off him, but Floki's hand clamped around her forearm. "Did you only tell me what I wanted to hear, Agi?" Floki asked, sprouting confusion on her face. "You've never seen Arne One-Eye, how do you know the sight of him won't repulse you?"
"Because if he were truly repulsive, then I would remember him." Agi responded. "You know I have no sexual regard for Athelstan."
"Yet you always seek his comfort, and he is always there to give it." Floki pointed out.
"That means nothing." Agi argued, separating herself from him.
"Oh?" Floki challenged, sitting up as Agi stood. "You told me once, that it didn't matter how Ragnar felt toward you, because you are mine. But I always knew, you thirst for him, just as he does for you."
"Do you think it is easy for me to thirst for Ragnar? To thirst for you even?!" Agi groaned.
Floki tilted his head. "Is that you would've deceived us to the marshland?" he asked.
Agi remained silent a moment. "...Yes. I have done my best to put the past behind me, but a few days ago, it returned to stare me in the face. Do you not realize how difficult it has been for me to see my brother again? To watch Rollo kill my best friend Denyn? Now you think to fault me for crumbling in Athelstan's arms? He is an outsider, just as I am. Athelstan understands me in a way that neither you or Ragnar ever could, but that does not mean I would bed him!"
Floki observed how Agi's chest huffed in anger, and with a subtle smirk, he got to his feet. "I believe you...but you will not need Athelstan once you are made shield maiden. Remember that Agi. Now let us eat."
Still scowling, Agi watched Floki walk into the adjourning room, before she begrudgingly followed him. Helga was seated by the hearth, her eyes were troubled, but she smiled when Agi looked at her.
The was bright, as were the patrons as far as the eye could see.
Denyn sighed contently. "Elsworth, the largest trading center in the land...isn't it lovely Dianthra?" he asked the redhead pinned to his side.
"It is one word to use, I suppose." Dianthra replied, with her critical eye.
"We could make a great living here," Lon mused, observing his surroundings before plucking at the elbow of the blue-eyed child he was carrying. "What say you hm?"
"Would you still be able to make your swords Uncle Lon?" the boy replied.
"Of course, it would be the best place to, in fact!" Lon told him.
"But I'm so fond of Croxton." Dianthra complained.
Denyn chortled. "You can be remarkably fussy when you want to, you realize that don't you?"
"Aren't all women like that?" Lon retorted.
A series of screams, delayed Dianthra's response and the group paused to glance around. Soon, a wave of screaming people began to run, scurrying in such a rush, that they knocked down tables and baskets full of foods and fabrics.
"What's happening?" the little boy asked.
"Lord have mercy, look!" Denyn said pointing, though it was entirely unnecessarily. Dianthra had already spotted them, men tall as trees, with the girth of lions and the flowing manes to match. Even from the distance, she could see the bloodthirsty grimace on their faces, the darkness to their eyes. "What do we do?" Denyn added, his voice rising in panic.
"RUN!" Lon answered.
The group turned about-face to run, but as Dianthra took five manic steps forward, her feet slowed to a standstill, her eyes locked in the hardened gaze of Agi blocking her path. At Agi's side was a small hooded figure with a bow, aiming straight at Dianthra.
Denyn's voice called out beside her. "DIAN-"
When Dianthra turned her head, she saw Rollo piercing Denyn's neck. Dianthra gawked in shock, but hurriedly caught Denyn as his limp form staggered to the ground. "Husband!" she weeped, clenching his bleeding neck.
Through her watery gaze, Dianthra watched as Rollo perched down in front of her. "Where has the big welp gone, little wisp?" he jeered.
Dianthra glanced behind her, but saw only her son. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red. Her eyes sought out the retreating form of her brother, running parallel to her. "LON!" she bellowed in sorrow.
The whirl of the drawstring releasing the arrow, sounded as sharp as the cackle of thunder. Dianthra's son fell into her line of sight, an arrow jarring from his ribcage. "NOOOOO!" Dianthra screamed. Abandoning Denyn, Dianthra crawled to her son. Blood was dripping from his mouth, his blue eyes open and lifeless. Anger pulsed through Dianthra's veins, and she leered up at Agi and her hooded offspring. "How could you?" she whispered through clenched teeth.
"How could you," Agi echoed. "Ever think this life would've been preferable?"
"And pray tell what life will you live?!" Dianthra snapped, lunging for the hood of Agi's child. Lifting back the hood, Dianthra stared into the dark indignant eyes of Rollo, situated on a young girl's face, her auburn hair clipped to the side.
"The Gods know what is best for me." Agi recited hollowly, Rollo prowling beside her.
Dianthra backed away in horror, propelling the lovely little girl to smirk in an empty way, as she drew her bow for a second time. The arrow pierced Dianthra straight in the heart.
Agi awoke flailing in an upright position, causing an anxious Helga to grasp her arms tight. "You were dreaming, Agi, it's alright!" Helga told her.
"No-noooo..." Agi mumbled, her heart hammering in her chest.
"It is I promise." Helga soothed, touching Agi's face. Cold sweat had slicked Agi's hair to her forehead, which Helga lovingly brushed away from her alarmed eyes. "You were in a deep slumber, it is far past waking hour."
"..Wish that you had woken me..." Agi said breathlessly.
"Floki told me you had another vision, I thought maybe you were dreaming of..." Helga began but Agi interrupted her.
"No! Nothing prophetic!" Agi blurted. Noticing the concern on Helga's face, Agi took a deep breath and released it. "The Seer said my son would 'perhaps' have siblings..." she explained.
"You dreamt of another child? That is not good news?" Helga wondered.
Agi shook her head firmly. "Please Helga, I don't want to talk about it. I beg you not to tell Floki or anyone else...please.." Agi responded. "She was a child born from a nightmare, she will not exist, anyway. I would not allow it."
Helga's face brightened slightly. "You saw a daughter? Was she beautiful?" she asked.
In Agi's mind, to admit the girl had been beautiful, would also be admittance that Rollo, though horrendous was indeed handsome. "...No." Agi answered flatly.
Helga was not oblivious to the venom in Agi's remark and instantly believed that the child had been deformed. "...I shouldn't have asked, I am sorry. I won't tell anyone, Agi. But Floki does wish to see you."
"Why?" Agi asked blankly.
"I believe he has something he wants to give you. Come, he is not far.." Helga answered.
Shamefully, Agi had never seen Floki's carpenter skills before, and was awestruck when at last she did. The wooden band in her hands was as smooth as silk, and nearly as light. There were Norse braiding along its edges, and an intricate design charred in the middle with amber shining beneath its groves. When Agi slipped it upon her wrist, it clung tightly to her skin.
"When you are made free, you will get a bracelet of gold. But in the mean while, Geresmi wanted me to gift you this, so that all may know, you are sent from the Gods." Floki explained.
"Thank you." Agi smiled with genuine gratitude.
"You are never merely a slave Agi, no matter how long it may take to become shield maiden." Floki said.
"But I am already shield maiden, in all but name.." Agi replied.
"You must atone to the Gods Agi. Ragnar, must also forgive you." Floki responded. "Perhaps you should go speak to him."
Agi turned to go, but hesitated. "Have you forgiven me?" she asked.
Floki did not answer her at first, staring at her as she had become accustomed to. "You already know that answer Agi. I will not say it out-loud, least the Gods decide, I shouldn't have."
Anxiety scrambled Agi's insides, as she voyaged into the barn. Ragnar stood near the back, resting his weight on a pillar. Agi forced a smile, though her eyes darted to the lidded woven basket a foot from him. "I see you have bartered the slaves away overnight...is that your earnings for them?" Agi greeted coldly.
"Open it." Ragnar replied, inclining his head toward the basket.
An apprehensive tick lined her stomach, as she came to a stop, her auburn eyes flicking toward the basket again. "...Why are we meeting here?" she asked, stalling.
"It is the place King Horik is least likely to bother us." Ragnar answered with a coy smirk. "Open it, I promise there is no snake." Agi stared keenly at Ragnar, but his face revealed nothing. "Go on.." he baited. Agi held his gaze a moment longer, then bent down and swiveled open the basket. Women's clothing was nestled inside, and Agi judged from the colors, the clothes had been purchased from a market. Ragnar, had shrugged free of his post, and stood alongside her. "What do you think?" he asked, angling his head to get a better glimpse at her expression.
"I think that Lagertha would not be pleased to learn you are buying me things." Agi replied, closing the lid. In truth, the clothes were gorgeous and merely looking at them inspired an ache within her.
Ragnar smirked and leaned forward slightly. "It was her suggestion." he informed.
"Did you consider she was testing you? To see if you would spend coin on me?" Agi challenged.
"Siggy bought you these clothes, using the coin your brother thought to buy you with." Ragnar countered.
"Who is Siggy?" Agi blurted.
"She was the wife of our last Earl. Now she is Rollo's woman."
"Then she has my thanks as well as my sympathies."
Ragnar smirked a bit more, and strolled behind her. "May I ask you something Agi?" he whispered in her ear, his palms grazing her hips. Ragnar continued, unbidden, wrapping one arm around her waist, pressing her against him, while his other hand sailed beneath her shirt to cradle her breast. "Why do you worry about Lagertha? Do you not want to be selfish?" Ragnar's arm around her waist flattened, his fingertips tracing the curve of her hipbone, down to the fold of her thigh.
Agi was finding difficultly breathing, which was making speech an impossibility. "...Ragnar.." she stammered, goosebumps betraying her reserve.
Beneath her shirt, Ragnar's fingers outstretched to stroke her other breast, while his palm continued to cradle . "I can feel your heart beating.." he mused, retracting his palm slowly, outlining her ribcage. His hand at her waist, found the edge of her shirt and whipped it over her head, but as he attempted to take off her tonic, Agi tightened her arms, and the fabric caught against her elbows. Agi's back was bare but the clothing remained pasted to her frontside. "What's wrong?" Ragnar asked, his breath hot on her ear as he squeezed her breast.
"F-Floki already sated me." Agi told him, turning her head for the first time, so she could look him in the eye when she said it.
Ragnar's smirk was short-lived. "But I am not Floki." he responded, hooking his tongue past Agi's half-open lips. His hand tugged the shirt free of her resistance, and one of Agi's hands, cupped the underside of Ragnar's jaw.
Rollo's voice startled Agi from her moment of bliss. "Brother..."
Agi instantly bent down to retrieve her tonic, forcing Ragnar to reluctantly withdrew his hands from her breast. "Whatever it is, it can surely wait." Ragnar grumbled, facing the intruder.
Rollo irritably gawked at his kin. "Is that what you would have me tell the King? That you are too busy slumming it with a slave to heed his request? A slave that is allegedly his niece no less?"
"No of course not." Ragnar grunted, clapping a hand on Rollo's shoulder. "Take me to him then."
Rollo glanced with distaste upon Agi, who leered openly at him. "You truly believe Hnossa sent a little wisp to infatuate you brother?" he asked Ragnar.
Ragnar bore his weight into the palm he had laid on Rollo's shoulder, so that he could mutter in Rollo's ear. "Does she not allure you also?"
Agi broke eye contact then, focusing her efforts on regaining her composure. Lifting the basket of clothes, Agi glanced in the direction of the brothers, and saw they were already at the barn door.
Agi busied herself at the forge, hoping to avoid any contact with King Horik or her brother Lon. She was in the midst of shining the hilt of a newly finished sword, when she felt a presence loom behind her. Agi barely had a chance to glance over her shoulder, before Rollo coupled his hands with her wrists, pushing them flat against the surface, while he perched against her. "What is Floki's game, wisp?" he greeted, his voice eerily soft. "What does he hope to accomplish spinning that tale of falsehood? The Gods did not send you, even you know this."
Agi's heart jumbled unevenly within her, her gaze fastened to his large hands imprinted on the wooden bracelet Floki had crafted her. "Have you asked the Gods Rollo? Or do you fear they will not speak to you as they have Floki?" Agi snaked her hands free of his, and much to her amazement, he allowed her to. She turned in a tight circle, to face him, in the hopes if he tried to rape her, she could bite off his nose at such close proximity. Rollo had not moved an inch, but his eyes were surprisingly pensive. Agi figured it to be a ruse however, and did not hold her tongue. "Why would the Gods not speak to you, I wonder...could it be that They know, as I know? That you are a man of no worth?"
Rollo smiled in a way, that reminded Agi of the daughter from her nightmare, then one of his hands closed around her throat. Rollo pressed his thumb against her windpipe, choking her in such a way that she also gapped for air, while his cruel eyes watched with anticipation as panic thrived in Agi's eyes. Instinctively Agi clawed at his arm, then blindly she reached for one of the chisels behind her. Her fingers barely closed around the slender metal, when Rollo's other hand slammed her wrist against the surface of the table, causing Agi to slice herself as the chisel rolled out of her grasp. As she cried out, her breath clogged her throat and a soulless smirk inhabited Rollo's face.
Bjorn's voice carried invisibly from somewhere behind Rollo. "STOP IT UNCLE!" the youngster demanded.
"Did you hear what she said to me?" Rollo snarled.
"I DON'T CARE, STOP KILLING HER!" Bjorn responded brazenly.
Rollo released his chokehold on Agi, but his fingers gripped the underside of her hair, by the roots so he could maneuver his mouth to her ear. "If the Gods have sent you, They must know what it is I intend to do to you - how you will not be able to walk, nor sit without remembering what it was to have me inside you!"
Bjorn was growing more aghast. "What're you saying to her? Let her go Uncle!" he declared.
Rollo yanked her hair, causing her neck and back to arch accordingly, while Rollo pressed his bulging groin tentatively against hers. "I swear by Odin, I will make you bleed little wisp..." his deadened eyes, relishing her barely contained fear. "You do not deserve to be shield maiden."
"That is for my father to decide, not you Uncle! Stop scaring her." Bjorn ordered.
Rollo rolled his eyes and tossed Agi sideways, causing to sprawl on her hands and knees to catch herself. "You waste too much energy on the well-being of slaves Bjorn. Do not let it become a habit." he instructed his nephew, marching away.
Bjorn glared after him a moment, then hunched down beside Agi. He touched her shoulder and she jumped, prompting him to raise his hands harmlessly. "Are you alright? Should I get Floki?" he asked.
"No..no I'm fine..." Agi mumbled, drawing in a shaky breath Her throat was sore, both internally and externally, as if Rollo's hand was still crushing it. "Can you just help me to the river Bjorn? I need to wash my hand..." she said, getting to her feet, and nursing her sliced palm which was now riddled with dirt.
"But don't you think...?" Bjorn began.
"Please Bjorn?" Agi interrupted, with a pleading look.
The clearwater stung her palm, but Agi was relieved to see the cut was not as deep as it looked. With her uninjured hand, she lapped the water against her swollen throat. Grimacing, Agi could feel the nailmark Rollo's thumb had imprinted into her skin.
"Why does he hate you so, Agi?" Bjorn asked, from the riverbank beside her. "He could've snapped your neck if he really wanted you dead, but he was killing you slow...he would not do that unless he hated you.."
"Why don't you ask him?" Agi retorted sourly.
"Did you say something you shouldn't have?" Bjorn pressed.
Agi glanced at the Lothbrok kid with a minor glare. "You think if i had, that I deserved what he did to me? Is that what you would've done?"
"No!" Bjorn blurted, as Agi got to her feet.
"Then what does it matter?" Agi snapped.
"It matters." said the voice of Ragnar, from beside a nearby tree. "Go home Bjorn.."
"Father.." Bjorn protested.
"Go, your mother is looking for you." Ragnar dismissed. A bitter laugh eased from Agi's throat, as Bjorn left with a budding frown."Something funny?"
Agi shook her head, though the motion hurt. "You want to know what happened? I called your brother worthless, because he claimed Floki was a liar."
"You called Floki a liar yourself once, I was there." Ragnar replied. "Why did you really do it?"
"I despise your brother, as he despises me, Ragnar. I did not know he would react in such a way."
"But you did know he would react."
"Are you defending him?" Agi chortled.
"No, but you say it does not matter - why? Do you think you don't matter?" Ragnar responded, closing the distance between them.
Another bitter, hurtful laugh exhaled from Agi's throat. "If you think I matter, Ragnar, it is because of the Gods, nothing else."
"Mm so you know my thoughts then?" Ragnar challenged, though his gaze dropped from Agi's eyes to her wounded palm. Ragnar's fingers soared through her messed hair, and rested on the opposite side of her throat.
"What're you doing?" Agi mumbled.
"Don't you know?" Ragnar retorted. He gingerly brought his lips to the nailmark, his tongue lapping over the indent, as he planted a kiss there. Agi flinched but did not pull away, even as Ragnar trailed a series of kisses over the inflamed skin. His beard tickled in a soothing way, as his nimble kisses trailed down to her collarbone. He stopped then, and jarred her with his piercing eyes. "You matter Dianthra.."
"Don't call me that."
"If I didn't call you that, how could you be certain I was being sincere?"
A/N - I had originally planned for Rollo to burn Agi over the flames of the forge, while she had the chisel in her hand, but eh, creative process...
I badly wanted a dream sequence for this chapter, another reflection of her inner turmoil (though you must be sick of them by now) a representation of some sort of her past life and her present one crashing into one another. So I was going to write a flashback that turned into a flash-forward, where she would come face-to-face with herself. Instead I went for an otherworldly experience, which still had the face-to-face, but with a twist.