Olyvia's P.O.V
I could hear the little squeals before the ship came into dock on the harbor. The two little boy's shouting my name as soon as their gaze came upon my features. Ubbe and Hvitserk. They leaped into my arms with the first stumble that I took from the ship with only Bjorn's arms keeping my on my feet.
"We missed you." Ubbe whispered into my ear as Hvitserk clung to Bjorn. The two little boys holding their frames close to us.
"And we missed you too." Bjorn whispered in return to the small boys. His lips planted against the cheek of Ubbe in my arms, before they move to my cheek. Ubbe leaped down, running towards the great hall with Hvitserk close behind. Bjorn's fingers tracing circles on the back of my hand. "I'm glad to be back." He sighed before, once again, pressing a kiss onto my cheek.
The great hall was lit with candles and fires that gave so much life. Women waited for their husbands outside door, and the occasional husband waited for their shield-maiden to appear from the crowd. It was the sweetest feeling to find their features lit with life. Inside the hall, Asulaug stood with the two boys at her side and the young baby in her arms. The young baby that could dampen the mood with a single cry. But something about the return of the warriors prevented anything from ruin the moment.
"Olyvia, it is so good to see you well." Aslaug gasped, tugging my frame into a loose embrace. But her eyes fell to the material that bound the wound on my thigh. "Well, i'm just glad that you are alive." She chuckled.
For what seemed like a short space of time, everything was a celebration. No-one was lost in, what we thought was, our small family. It wasn't long until another family came to join us. Horik's wife and children pilled in a few weeks later. The shieldmaiden mother with ferocious eyes surrounded by almost a dozen children with young, smiling faces.
Horik's sons fought joyfully with the two sons of Ragnar. Ubbe and Hvitserk charging around brandishing wooden swords to defend their home, whilst the sons of Horik fought in the name of their home.
"Olyvia, help us defend Kattegat!" Ubbe giggled, his little fingers curling into the hem of my shirt. I could feel the gentle tug as he widened his eyes. "Please, Olyvia!" He cried out, forcing the spare wooden blade into my grip. I gave a short sigh before nodding my head. Taking the small piece of material from my waist, my hair tied high behind my head.
"The Earl of Kattegat is here to defend her land." Hvitserk gasped, rushing in my direction to stand at my side. The three youngest sons of Horik all giggled in unison before they flew forward with swords raised. I could hear Aslaug and Gunnhilde behind us, exchanging words of the children. Aslaug talking well of the woman that I had become.
I gave a dramatic gasp as one of the boy's jabbed their wooden blade into my hip. My fingers releasing the sword as my hands clutched the area that was struck by the sword. Ubbe and Hvitserk both cried out in anger as they fought harder against two of the boys. The third watched me as my body dropped to the ground. I lay there for a while, watching the birds fly in the sky above as the war around me slowly came to an abrupt end.
"Dont be dead, Olyvia." Ubbe whimpered as he dropped his body on top of mine with his body sat on my stomach. "We were just playing." He whimpered again, his finger pocking at my body in worry. "We were only pretending."
I gave a small smile as my frame snapped up, snatching the small child into an embrace as he wriggled in defiance.
"I know, Ubbe." I whispered, planting a gentle kiss atop his head.
"Lady Olyvia." A maid stuttered as she neared us, I couldn't help but flinch at her words. I dispised being named Lady. Not because it was too much to Aslaug's taste, but because I did not hold that position. I was not the daughter of a lord, a king. I was the daughter of a warrior. My hands carefully guided Ubbe's frame off me as I rose to my feet. "The feast is prepared, Ragnar would like all the children to come to the hall." She announced.
The young boys did not wait around as soon as they heard to word 'Feast'. In the blink of an eye, the ground was littered with wooden swords and the boys were sprinting towards the great hall. And, in no rush at all, I followed inside to take my seat at Ragnar's table. My position was the same as normal, at Bjorn's side. He sat tall, his blonde hair ruffled and shaggy whilst his leather clothing was dirtied with mud.
A short time passed, it seemed fairly uneventful. But we all knew what was coming. We knew the coming actions of Floki. The choking of our friend amassing a panic that we all forced ourselves to react to. The young child rushing to me side as he hid his face into my side, the child that Floki had tasked with the job of murdering our friend. Ubbe. He hid beside me, his face pale and almost green as the crowd gathered. Bjorn and Floki talking aloud as the pair cried the tears to convince the surrounding party.
A large body snatched me from my slumber. A leg planting either side of my frame as the weight trapped my figure to the ground.
"Wake up, Olyvia. I want to show you something." Bjorn whispered. My head shook with a groan, tugging the furs to cover my face from the light that streamed inside. "Come on, Liv... Or I will just drag out of here." He threatened. A single eye open as I peered over the fur.
"It had better be good." I snarled. My hands raised as I shove the male's weight from atop me before clothing my svelte figure with a pale dress that had gifted to me by Aslaug. Bjorn watching my body the entire time.
Immediately his hand snatched mine, tugging me out of Kattegat. Through the fields and between the trees till we came to a familiar sight. The stream that had once occupied our childhood. It looked different to the last time I had visited. The shrubs had grown thicker and higher, whilst the trees now curved up into an arch over the stream, blocking any sunlight from piercing.
"I remember seeing you for the first time." He whispered, the small and smug smile spreading across his lips. "Your blonde hair was messy and plaited. You wore that little green dress and held that spear like a warrior." His smile grew longer, almost stretching from ear to ear as he reminisced. "I thought then that you looked more like a slave." His frame came to pause in front of mine, his fingers tangling into the material at my waist. "But now look at you."
His orbs stared at my lips, I could almost picture what was to come next. His hands sunk into the dress as he tugged me into his frame and his lips slammed against mine. It was fiery and passionate. My arms natural curled around my shoulders as I felt his arms lifting me from the ground. With legs curled around his waist, I felt my back hit the tree behind as he stumbled forward. His lips began to trail away from my lips till they came to my throat, leaving marks along my skin as he bit and sucked at my soft spots. I could feel the moans catching in my throat.
His fingers began to tug at the skirt of the pale dress till my legs were bare, the material bunched around my waist. His shirt was on the grass beneath at this point, my face buried into the crook of his neck planting soft kisses. A rustle in the shrub caused my ears to perk. My hand snapping to rest flat upon Bjorn's chest, he stopped immediately.
"I was probably just an animal." He sighed. I knew that Bjorn was probably right, but I didn't like it. He gave a second sigh as I unraveled my legs from around his waist. I watched him drop to the ground beside the tree with the bulge in his trousers causing me to giggle.
"Maybe next time, Bjorn." I teased, his frown turning to a smirk instantly as he threw a twig in my direction. I couldn't help but grin. His warm smile washing a sense of safety over me in an instant.
Before long, his hands hand found my waist whilst his frame was pushed hard against mine. I allowed my fingers to curl into the short strands of his hair before he thrust into my core.
The sky turned dark by the time that the weapons had been taken into hand. Every warrior of Kattegat assembling to their designated leader, fully armoured with sword and shield. I was to lead at Lagertha's side, taking Gunnhilde.
Inside the large hut, we could hear the scuttle of feet. The voice of men telling the sons and daughters to hide. Lagertha stood firmly at my side as we stepped inside. Two men lurched forward towards me, Lagertha leaping aside to deal with Gunnhilde. I dipped below the first lunge, slicing at the attacker's ankles with the axe in my grip. The first body dropped to the floor. The second kicked out, the heel of his foot smashing against my abdomen, beating the air from my lungs. I gasped out, stumbling back with my back hitting the wall. I could hear the squeal of the young girls in the other room as they watched. The second man scuttled towards me, parrying to left before his head snapped forward to smash against mine. I span to the right, avoiding his advance with my axe raising. With one quick movement, the axe became lodged into male's forehead. He stayed on his feet for a short moment, staring at me in shock before he finally flopped to the ground. The young daughters all screamed. My head snapped around towards Lagertha and Gunnhilde just in time to see the finishing blow. Gunnhile dropped to the floor.
"What do we do about them?" I sighed. My eyes scanned the room, counting eight children. Three elder girls and five boys ranging in ages.
"We do nothing." Lagertha sighed as she caught her breath. With her hand hitting against my back, she left towards the great hall. I looked towards the room, the three young boys that had been playing with Ubbe and Hvitserk earlier that day crying into their hands. I suffocated me to look. I took everything to make me leave that room. I had to sprint away from the hut to not turn back.
Bjorn waited outside the doors with Rollo and Lagertha. All four of us bursting through the doors in time to see the face of Horik as he realised that he had been crossed. He stared towards the man that he thought had died that evening at dinner. Torstein was alive and well. To put it mildly, Ragnar took his anger out. We watched as the king was forced to his knees, and we took our leave at that point.
Bjorn and I making our way back to the residence of Gunnhilde and the children. It was different to how I had left it. It had turned into a massacre. Blood was everywhere. I could feel the breath become stuck in my throat as I chocked the tears back. The bodies of the young children littered the floor with only the three daughters still breathing.
"Run." Bjorn shouted towards the three girls. They all leaped to their feet with a squeal, running past us with tear-streaked faces.
"I shouldn't have left." I whimpered, my steps taking me closer to the massacred children. I felt Bjorn's arms engulf me at the sound of my words. "I should have stayed." I cried into his frame.
A pain-filled cry stole my attention. My body ejecting from Bjorn's embrace to find the owner of the cry. Horik's youngest son. His eyes were full of tears, his hands reaching out towards me.
We rushed to his side, collapsing beside him as he cried. He immediately locked his arms around my neck as he cuddled his blood-covered frame to mine. Bjorn watched with a look of worry in his eyes.
"Let me look at you." I whispered, carefully pulling his frame away from me. My eyes and fingers searched his body for any wound or hurt, but none could be found. "You're okay." I sighed, more for my own reassurance than his. He shot back into my body, crying against the blood-stained shirt.