A/N - It has been so very long, and I wish I could say I have a thousand chapters typed up but sadly I don't. I am committed to finishing this story though and I am deeply sorry I've been MIA.
Because it's been so long since I've updated, I condensed Agi's time with Jynir.
I consider Rollo a schizoid, and so far I have only showed his maniac side, I decided to change that. Unfortunately, that made this chap Rollo-centric, which wasn't my intent, but I couldn't bring myself to change it, because I have to manage my writing time differently now that I have a son.
Disclaimer - the Norse language bits I pieced together from a translation of Norse text from a research website.
Despite his reputation as a fisherman, deer stew was a common meal in the home of Jynir Still-Knee. He had wasted no time in teaching Agi how to hunt, skin and cook the animal. It had become second nature to her, yet today in a fit of melancholy, Agi swerved her spoon against the chunks of meat and lamented the slain creature. She felt the heavy stare of Jynir upon her, which often made her miss Ragnar, and for that she childishly despised Jynir. Her indignant auburn eyes rose from the clay bowl, to his sky-blue gaze. "What?" she grumbled at him.
"Tell me your thoughts." Jynir said simply, a handful of bread perched within vicinity of his crooked mouth.
"I have none. Save one perhaps - I have had dreamless nights in your company Jynir. The Seer would have me believe my dreams are tied to the Gods, and I am in your care to become closer to them...is it not strange my dreams have ceased then?"
"Perhaps you have seen all you need to. What is it you once saw?"
Agi sighed softly, and set her bowl aside. "That is no concern of yours."
"I asked, raudr praell, I expect an answer." Jynir retorted evenly.
Agi closed her eyes to refrain from glaring. "The turmoil of myself and those I held dear...the closeness of Ragnar and Floki...once or twice Rollo in all his wretched glory...and my children."
"Mm. Telia kindir moeran raudr praell?" Jynir responded, testing how well she had learnt their language. (*Roughly translated to 'How many of your kin will be famous, red thrall?')
"Synir of Floki and Ragnar? The offspring of two such fabled men, will surely yield their fame." Agi retorted, her words dulled from boredom.
"No visions of Rollo's seedling?" Jynir wondered.
Agi stared at him tentatively. "Why do you ask?"
"Why do you deflect?" Jynir challenged.
"No. None." Agi lied flatly.
"Yet you dreamt of him. Perhaps the Gods thought to warn you of your bond to him." Jynir theorized.
Agi scoffed silently and eyed her burnt palm, before clenching it tightly closed. "I thank you for the reminder." she mumbled sourly.
"Shall I give you another? Slaves don't get to choose whom they bed Agi, or in turn whose children they may be forced to spawn."
"But I am not just any slave. I am ginnheilagr." (sacred)
Jynir smirked. "Yes, the ginnheilagr raudr praell who bathes the broken warrior she dines with."
"Ah but it is such a rare occurrence, that I often forget." Agi sneered, braiding her fingers through her hair.
"You are maeztr, of course, how else could you lull the attention of Ragnar away from Lagertha in front of her very eyes?" Jynir jeered, setting down his bread.
Warmth coursed over Agi's cheeks, a mix of rage and embarrassment. "You think I take pride in such a thing?" she spat, sitting straighter than she had been.
"Why wouldn't you?" Jynir accused, with a lazy wave of his hand. Agi arose from the table with a wordless snarl, inspiring a chuckle from Jynir. "My bath praell." he reminded, stalling her. "I think I'll have it now."
The impish look on his face reminded Agi of Floki, and her juvenile distaste of Jynir grew.
"Agi, put the crossbow aside, you are skilled enough with it." Jynir ordered.
"I am," Agi agreed, plucking another arrow into its cradle. "but it passes the time."
"Perhaps resuming training with the sword will entertain you." Jynir stated.
Agi rolled her eyes, her stern arms growing slack, and she turned at last toward him. "You said yourself, you have taught me all you can, Jynir Still-Knee.."
There was an edge to Jynir's smile. "Naivety is unwelcome here Agi. Drop the bow praell, least your sparring partner think you mean to attack him."
"I am to fight someone other than yourself?" Agi asked stubbornly, placing the crossbow against the airborne roots of a nearby tree. Her long red hair swayed in front of her face with the movement, barring her vision. When she stood straight again, her heart jammed to a stop. A bare-chested Rollo stood beside Jynir, wielding two swords. Agi stared at him a moment, blinking as her gaze darted to Jynir. "They've returned?" Her soft grew rigid with annoyance as she approached Jynir. "And yet you have kept me here?!"
Rollo snickered, resting one sword over his shoulder. "I have missed your anger, Agi." he greeted.
Agi ignored him, her full attention on her host. "How long?" she demanded of Jynir.
Jynir's smile twisted into a frown. "You forget yourself praell. I answer to my friend Floki, not to his slave. He told me only to return with you when I am convinced you are ready."
"I have listened to every tale about Valhalla and the Gods, even recited it back to you in your tongue - what more could you ask of me?!" Agi asked agitatedly.
Jynir eyed her coolly, his mouth forming a hard line. "Have you finished shrieking?" he asked lividly. Glowering, Agi crossed her arms but remained silent. "Then I expect you to spar."
"Rollo, of all people?" Agi remarked snidely.
Jynir appeared to have expected her response. "Your pride prevents you from admitting you fear fighting him. Viking fear nothing raudr praell, not even death."
His face a blank slate, Rollo drew close, one sword still resting against his shoulder, the other he held slightly outward. "Weary little wisp, you've nothing to fear. Hurting you would be hurting myself now." Rollo said, offering her the handle of the sword, held securely in the underlay of his scarred palm. A weak smile transcribed on his face as Agi reluctantly reached for the sword. As her pale hand grasped the handle, Rollo snapped his fingers down on her knuckles, startling her as she hastily withdrew. Laughing smugly, Rollo stuck the sword into the earth, bowed his head slightly at her and put distance between them.
"Scowling and huffing will not aid you in battle Agi." Jynir ordered, observing the flustered redhead keenly.
Agi yanked the sword free, glaring at Jynir. "Skreyja hauknefr.." she cursed. (Incompetent hawknose)
"Huglausi meyla." Rollo sighed, a fleeting sneer coating his features. (Cowardly girl.) When Agi turned her loathsome stare in his direction, Rollo lowered the sword from his shoulder and extended his other arm, baiting her.
The fish felt tacky against her tongue, as an exhausted Agi consumed her dinner. She kept her gaze primarily on Rollo seated across from her, although Rollo was focused on his meal. Jynir stood, as he so often did, beside the hearth, drinking mead. Silence reigned heavily in the air, until at last Jynir severed it. "You stare at him as though he will attack you at any moment." he noted.
Agi's attention did not flicker from Rollo. "It would not be the first time." she murmured.
Rollo's dark eyes met hers, and he dropped the piece of meat he had been about to eat. There was the faintest trace of annoyance in his movement. "Has my behavior today not been agreeable Agi?" he asked stiffly.
"So it would seem." Agi replied dryly. "But I do not trust so easily."
Rollo laughed humorlessly, tapping his fingers across the tabletop, then as an afterthought, he turned his hand over and studied his palm. "Do you know why it is I bond us through blood Agi? Because a long time ago, I trusted my brother to heed my intentions - instead he ignored me, and took Lagertha for himself. Yet he is enticed by you."
"So you thought to punish Ragnar?" Jynir mused. Rollo's nod was barely visible. "Lagertha could leave Ragnar if she so chose...what you did to Agi, cannot be undone.."
"All the better, Jynir." Rollo responded, taking a large bite out of the chicken leg. Anger ensued within Agi, her nails digging deep into the fish upon her plate. Rollo noticed, and smirked.
"I thought perhaps you did it, seeking to earn favor from the Gods." Jynir stated.
Rollo smiled grimly. "I did not believe in Floki's claim until after we became joined."
"Why?" Jynir pressed.
Rollo plopped the thigh bone down, his hands balling into fists as he laid his arms straight on the table. He kept his gaze downward as he spoke. "Twas then our daughter visited my dreams." he began. Agi's blood ran cold, though her heart raced. "She grew before my eyes, and became the goddess Syn. Beautiful, and bitter. She needn't breathe a word, for me to understand."
His eyes on Agi, Jynir abandoned his post beside the hearth, limping to the table and setting his empty mug down. "Something the matter Agi? You scarcely breathe." The muscles in Agi's throat clenched as she nodded, her eyes danced from Rollo to Jynir and back again. "Do not lie to me." Jynir warned. "Or have you already?" he guessed. How quickly Agi's auburn orbitals soared to his face. "Surprise is your weakness raudr praell." Jynir tsked. "You've dreamt of this daughter too, tell me I speak false."
Agi felt as if she were being suffocated from within. Rather than look at either man, Agi lowered her gaze to the tabletop. "...Surely, she was Syn, never my daughter. She was a nightmare, then a phantom that my sons scared away, for they were real and she was not..." Agi insisted.
"Do not think to lie to me again Agi." Jynir told her. He reclaimed his mug, hobbling to the barrel of mead.
Agi's skirted her chair away from the table, but before she could stand, Rollo's hand clasped down on her forearm. "Let go of me." she hissed automatically.
Rollo's face yielded a demeanor of calm control. "Floki told me you have had waking visions of your children..." he challenged.
"What of it?!" Agi snapped, attempting to wrangle her arm loose of Rollo's steadfast grip.
Rollo scrutinized her, in a way that was neither cruel nor kind. "You saw her." he marveled.
Agi tensely responded. "What I see, and what I dream mean nothing Rollo." At the mention of his name, Rollo sat forward and Agi resisted the urge to lean away. "We are all but cards for the Gods to shuffle, and they have shuffled me plenty. I have dreamt of Athelstan's offspring, yet I will bear no son of his, nor will I give you a daughter."
His dark eyes combed down her face, in a way that felt oddly intimate. "You seem certain of that.."
Agi's voice held no hesitancy as she said. "I am."
Rollo gave an easy smile. adverting his gaze to his bare arm atop hers. His hand traveled up her biceps, then jumped into her hair, his fingers curling as he pulled her toward him. Her hair was bundled in his knuckles, as he cradled her neck. Agi's jaw jarred open in a reflexive cry of surprise, his free hand swiftly coupled with her jowl. His thumb pressed down on the ridge of her chin, allowing his tongue to savagely gnash upon hers. The ladened velocity with which his mouth moved, alarmed, appalled and somehow aroused Agi, who pushed at his throat to the best of her ability. Keeping her planted between his hands, Rollo broke the kiss but kept his face close. "What say your certainty now wisp?" he whispered. Agi spat at him, her drool collecting in his beard.
"Rollo." called Jynir, in an indifferent tone.
Rollo glanced restlessly at Jynir, which gave Agi just enough space to connect her fist with the side of Rollo's face. Rollo released her with a grunt-like chuckle, watching intently as Agi sprang to her feet. Reclining, he wiped her spit from his chin, curling his lips inward, then Rollo jolted to his feet too, upturning the table in the process so that it shuddered sideways. With a clear path to Agi, Rollo stepped toward her, but Agi did not waver. "I am not scared of you." Agi declared. Rollo sneered, and kept advancing until he was towering over Agi, yet she had remained still, not so much as blinking.
"Enough." Jynir announced. "Well-played Rollo." Rollo's sneer ebbed into a smirk, enjoying the skeptical look on Agi's face. "I am convinced - we will return to the mainland together." Agi glanced at her host with a swill of excitement. "Collect your things Agi." he instructed, raising his mug to his lips as he walked slowly outside.
Rollo raised his hand toward Agi's face and she was quick to intercept it with her own. Rollo almost smiled as he looked pointedly at their joined hands, the fingers of her burnt palm peeking behind the wrist of his scarred hand. Rollo's other hand snagged her forearm and closed the space between them, so that his arm and by extension Agi's hand, were resting against his bare chest. "Name her, this daughter of ours. In case the Gods shuffle the deck once more.."
"Don't make me laugh.." Agi retorted with a hard glare. Rollo smiled hollowly, and maneuvered her hand upward so that he was able to kiss the back of her hand. Agi recoiled, glowering. "You will not touch me again."
A laugh weaseled out of Rollo's grin. "Of that, you don't sound certain." Rollo jeered, following after Jynir.
Agi rested her arms atop her wooden chest of clothing, and nestled her chin against her wrists. Jynir steered the boat effortlessly, his gaze straying to Agi's hair blowing in the wind. Her back was facing him, and he allowed himself to study her petite form for the last time. Her arms had grown muscular during their time together, but did little to distract from her womanly form. Jynir would've happily bedded her, if she had wanted to, but he had accepted the role of tutor not substitute. Jynir nudged Agi's hip with his deadlocked leg. Agi glanced over her shoulder, but otherwise remained still. "Did you enjoy it?" Jynir asked.
"Being with you?" Agi guessed, her tone light with levity.
"Rollo." Jynir jeered.
Agi's face blanched. "Have you any notion of our history? How he attempted to choke the life out of me? How his vile threats plagued me? I hate that man, do you understand?"
"You doubtlessly said the same of Ragnar once, maybe Floki as well."
"Rollo is nothing like them!"
"So quick to anger." Jynir mused. Agi shook her head at him, and faced the front of the boat again. Jynir smiled slightly at the back of her head. "You want to know what I think, my dear raudr? You lied about his daughter, because you are ashamed, and you are ashamed because despite all Rollo has done to you, you think him attractive."
"I think him a crude monster and little else." Agi responded coolly. She sat back on her haunches and glanced over her shoulder again. "You want to know what I think, about you?" Jynir perked his brow, a smile shimmering on his face. "Gamla lombungr, sugandi toti tik madr." Agi cursed. (Moron, sucking at the teat of your bitch mother.)
Jynir's laughter rolled off him like thunder. "I shall miss you too Agi." he replied, curving the boat around a foundation of rock.
Helga jubilantly enclosed Agi in a hug, but Floki remained slouched against the side of the bed, an apple in hand. His head was tilted, his gaze unfaltering. Agi squeezed Helga's hand as she exited their abode, then Agi slowly approached him. "I've missed you Floki." she greeted with a nimble smile.
Floki crooked his brow, then giggled. "Missed me?" he echoed. "But you did not say goodbye to miss me."
Agi sighed. "I was upset."
Floki snickered. "You are always upset Agi."
Agi could not argue with that, as much as she would've liked to. Taking a deep breath, Agi walked the last three steps and mounted Floki's lap. "I hope to change that." she said, resting her hands on his shoulders. "I'm sorry."
Floki's laughter continued. "You are not sorry." Floki sat up, abandoning his apple in favor of shifting Agi closer to him. Floki wrapped an arm around her waist, studying her eyes carefully. "And you hope for naught. I would not have you change how you act Agi, only how you think. That has been done, least you would not be here." Floki's hand pawed at her arm, noting her increased strength. "I wonder, do you still begrudge me for sending you to Jynir Still-Knee?"
"No. I understood why it was necessary, I merely.." Agi trailed off as Floki pressed a finger to her lips. He brushed his nose against hers, tracing the curve of her mouth with his fingers before cradling her neck. He kissed her fully, and Agi eagerly brushed her hand from his collarbone down his abdomen and beneath his trousers. Quickening the kiss, his hands tangled in her hair as she gripped him tightly. It was then however, a sixth sense told Agi she was being watched, and familiar smell inhabited her nostrils. Agi paused, opening her eyes. Her heart ruptured in her chest, stealing her breath. Ragnar was perched on the bed beside Floki, his piercing eyes stabbing her, though he smiled faintly.
"Please, don't stop for me." Ragnar greeted cheekily. Floki began to nuzzle Agi's neck, even as she slipped her hand free of him.
Agi felt clouded in confusion, suddenly wondering if she was dreaming. "What are you doing here?" she murmured, shying her neck away from Floki.
Ragnar's gaze barely darted to Floki. "You didn't tell her." he mused.
"I did not think you would get here so quickly." Floki responded, with a defensive glance at his Earl. Floki returned his attention to Agi with a deft grin. "On our voyage home, Ragnar and I dreamt of the sons you shall give us." he began.
"Twas on the same night." Ragnar continued, interlocking his hands. "The Gods were trying to tell us our boys must be conceived on the same night."
Agi swallowed thickly. "At the same time?" she concluded.
Ragnar smirked slightly, giving Floki a side-glance. "I told you she would not approve."
Were it not for the fact, that while dreaming, dreams themselves are never mentioned, Agi would've been convinced she was imagining the situation. "..What does Lagertha think?" Agi asked dryly.
Ragnar's response was immediate, his eyes lulled to the back of his head and he briefly, dramatically collapsed onto the bed, before sitting upright again. "Why must you always bring Lagertha up? I've told you she understands, and yet you still think to hide behind her. When will you stop?" he complained.
Agi grimaced, breaking eye contact with him, to look at Floki. "Tell me of the dreams." she requested, hooking her hands behind his neck.
"You were at the forge, and I was carpentering. Our boy was playing with his sister, pulling her hair, running in circles." Floki said proudly.
"Sister?" Agi squeaked.
Floki's smile grew. "The prettiest little face I've ever seen, long blonde hair, just like Helga..." he added.
Agi had not realized she had been holding her breath until it flew out of her.
"You seem relieved.." Ragnar noted, drawing Agi's attention.
Agi cleared her throat. "...And what of your dream?"
Ragnar dallied a moment, taking the time to study her face. "I was upon my throne - you upon my lap. Our little boy ran up to us, you hoisted him into the air, he laughed. I pulled you back beside me, and held the boy myself."
"My dreams were never so simple." Agi grumbled.
Floki arched his head sideways. "Because your faith in the Gods was not sound. It will be different now." he promised.
"Or perhaps there is more to our dreams that we are not telling." Ragnar teased. He exchanged an astute glance with Floki which inspired a frown from Agi.
"Like what?" Agi blurted.
Ragnar exhaled loudly as he pushed himself to his feet. He walked around Agi, then knelt down behind her. Nestling an arm along her collarbone, Ragnar urged her back against his chest, he nudged her hair aside with his chin, then pressed his mouth against her ear. "Will you let us share you?" he asked hoarsely, his words prompting goosebumps upon her skin.
"If I must answer now, the answer is no." Agi said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Floki giggled softly, touching her hips. "Then you are considering it."
Mutely, Agi shrugged free of Ragnar, and crawled sideways off Floki's lap, resting her shoulder against the side of the bed. "Tell me what you are hiding." she said, sounding more composed than she felt.
The men exchanged a look again, both appearing disappointed that she had removed herself from them. "Ragnar and I saw one another in our dreams. That is all." Floki answered with a nonchalant shrug.
"Why hide that?" Agi asked.
"It was as though, we were experiencing each other's dream.." Floki responded.
"That is the reason we three must be together." Ragnar added. "But you say it is not to be so." Ragnar grunted, standing up.
"If th-that is the Gods Will, but..." Agi stammered.
"You don't believe." Floki guessed, sounding unsurprised.
"No, I..." Agi started.
"You're frightened." Ragnar deduced. "You think that we will hurt you."
"I think that I must think on this, that is the truth." Agi stated, rising from the ground. "Besides, don't you want to be selfish with me, Earl Ragnar?" she trifled.
Ragnar laughed gruffly. "She seeks to use my own words against me." he told Floki. Ragnar reverted his gaze onto Agi. "Yes, it's true. But it is also true, that the Gods have promised me a son from you - if he can only be made in the presence of Floki, then so be it. We will have our son, no matter what." Ragnar stepped to Agi, wrung a hand under her chin and engulfed her mouth with his. Agi deepened the kiss, pressing herself against him. Doing so in front of Floki, did not cause guilt to sting Agi, as she feared it would. Ragnar pulled away, his thumb stroking her cheek. "Whatever is meant to happen between us," he paused to glance at Floki. "together or not, it must be soon. Your uncle grows restless about Jarl Borg. I cannot continue to deny him. Much as I may want to."
The pillage was swift and bloody.
Her full-grown sons had fought beside her with every step.
They stood now beside their fathers in the distance, discussing loot perhaps.
She heard a young child cry out for her father, and Agi's hair lashed in the wind as she turned toward the source. A small raven-haired girl was crawling out from beneath a cart, her teary gaze frozen on the slain body of her parent.
Regret rained heavily down on Agi, sympathy soaked into her skin as the weeping child hugged her father tightly.
"Steel your heart wisp." Rollo told her. "What good are your tears."
Knowing he was right, Agi bit back a remark, and wiped her face.
"You embarrass yourself mother." said a female voice, from behind her. Agi glanced over her shoulder wearily. Her daughter had a dagger in her hand and a sneer on her face.
"What are you doing?" Agi asked.
"What you will not." she replied, taking long strides toward the orphan.
"Hillevi!" Agi hissed.
Agi awoke with a start. She stared into the darkness surrounding her, curled against Floki's chest and closed her grimacing eyes.
A/N - Simpler dream, check. But now the daughter has a name pronounced hi-lle-vi which is norse for "happy in war". Uh-oh.
The threesome probably won't happen. Probably. I've only written such a thing once, and it was awkward. The Gods and I do have reasoning for its mention, and that is reasoning is a thing called superfecundation - a rare occurrence when twins have two different fathers. That is the fate of Agi and her sons. However, as Agi was trying to argue, the twins don't have to be conceived that way.