AN: Just a heads up! Later into the story Millie says something that I italicized and put an asterisk next to. It means she was talking in another language which is Old English.

Night had come and it was agreed by the King's men that they would rest for when the sky would come alive by the radiance of the sun, they would strike the heathens before they could try and defend themselves.

Millie paced back and forth inside her tent. She was unable to bring herself to sleep like the rest of the group. Her heart was racing faster than it had been before and she knew why. There was an uneasiness that settled into the pit of her stomach. Her underarms grew damp beneath her clothing and armor and her hands shook with nerves. She quietly told herself it was not because she was scared. No, Millie was never scared. She was merely excited. No. Even she had to admit that it wasn't out of excitement. Something was wrong or something would go wrong.

She brought this to her father's attention just before he'd gone to bed and he shrugged it off with a small chuckle.

"It is only nerves. Go to bed my child. You must be well rested for tomorrow." From there he'd given her a kiss goodnight and sent her off to her tent where she now stopped and stared at her blade that lied on the folds that made her bed.

The steel shimmered slightly beneath the candlelight and the hilt was worn by her battlehand. She picked it up and weighed it before she began to swing it around. The sword made a whooshing sound as she twirled it and she all but closed her eyes as she willed her hand to be steady. It was heavy but her well trained arm held it high with little struggle. She sighed out loud and stabbed the blade into the ground before making sure her trousers and all were on tight. The last thing she needed was for her armor to fall apart in the midst of battle.

Over the woods that crackled beneath the kiss of flames, the horses began to whine. Millie stopped all that she was doing to listen to them and felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as the horses suddenly grew quiet. It was a few passing seconds before she heard a grunt that accompanied a sickening crunch. No, something was wrong just as she had told her father.

She grabbed her sword and slowly made her way to the entrance of her tent. With a finger, she slid it a open enough for her to peek out. Just as her eyes landed on a few familiar Pagan faces one of the guardsman began to yell.

"Awake! Awake! We're under attack!"

As if the men themselves had been lit on fire, everyone stood and prepared for battle. The bastards were ambushing them.

Swords and all sorts of weapons were loud as they clanked against one another. The sounds of fallen men were alighting the night sky as Millie threw herself out into the dark and swung at her first victim. The Pagan saw her coming, blocking her attack and swung her around as if she were but a mere distraction and attacked one of her men that came to her aide. After catching her footing, she blocked an oncoming attack by one of the women Pagan. As their blades clashed, a sound that was very much like laughter flowed through her lips. As if thinking the very same thing as Millie, the woman smiled back at her. Millie wondered if there were many warrior women where this one came from.

They battled it out before one of the Christian men flanked the woman from the other side giving Millie enough time to slice her arm and elbow another oncoming threat in the face. She could feel her hair coming undone as she whipped around. Bits of it clinging to her lips as she attacked every man and woman she could get her hands on. Bringing them down was a lot more harder than she thought but she did not let it deter her as she brought one of the men down and plunged her sword into his chest. A battle cry erupted from her as she pulled the blade out and ascended onto another. She wondered if her father was out here fighting the fight but she had no time to search for him as a battle axe flew by her. Had she not seen it coming on time she would be on the floor critically injured or dead.

In the name of my Lord, she cried within. May he grant me the chance to strike every Pagan that dares to shame his name. She kicked a man down before ducking to stab another that came from behind.

So many men were falling but Millie could not tell if they were her own or the others. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she leapt over bodies and ran at the one threat she was eager to slay. The leader.

He swung his blade around with a sinful look in his eyes taking down several men that came at him. It was as if he were untouchable as not one man made it close enough to cause him any damage. Millie came at him from his left and just as she thought she had him he swung and their blades clashed as he stopped her attack. The blades were sharp against another as the two battled out on who could hold the other off before another attack was made.

Millie took in the man's face and a chill ran down her back as his azure eyes seemed to glow in the dead of night. To add to her discomfort, a sickening smile crossed his face as he made to slice her head off. She ducked in time and charged at the man. She held her sword to her side and it forced Ragnar to second guess his next attack as she suddenly threw herself into him. The two fell to the ground with a grunt as their blades rattled in their grasps. Millie was on top of him ready to strike before he flipped their position and straddled her. He pulled a fist back and aimed it at her face but instead his flesh made contact with the dirt as she twisted her head away. With sheer force, she backhanded Ragnar and was greeted with a pain of her own as he mimicked her attack.

Seeing her attempt to gain the upperhand once more, Ragnar stood and kicked her in the side. Millie coughed as he gave another swift kick to her upper body before kicking her blade away.

Millie cursed under her breath at what she guessed to be her stupidity as she watched the leader observe her. His head tilted to the side like a curious animal and she knew she was going to die as he lifted his blade high into the night sky. She refused to close her eyes as he swung down but instead of making contact with her it twisted in the direction of one of the guardsmen and she watched as he steadily brought him down. She tried to crawl away from him but a heavy foot landed on her chest to keep her from moving.

"Ah-ah. No," he tsked. That sickening smile of his returned before he looked up to see Floki bring down the tent of the Christian leader.

The crazed Pagan began to laugh like a child delighted by a fun and beautiful sight.

The battle was won and not by the side Millie and her father had been hoping for. It was then that she closed her eyes in silent defeat. This couldn't be. Her heart was heavy with dread and she could only imagine the look of disappointment everyone would give her after knowing how badly she failed.

The pressure on her chest was gone as the leader lifted his foot off of her. Her distance from him was short lived as he suddenly grabbed her by the front of her garb and lifted her to her feet. Her face was inches from his and he took in the sight of her eyes. It was here that Millie concluded that she didn't give a damn of what the others would think of her. The only one who could judge her was God and he will see the defiance she held in her eyes as she stared the man down. She wouldn't give the enemy the satisfaction of making her squirm.

Ragnar smirked. She was a tough one he would give her that but she really was no match against him. He turned her around roughly and grabbed her by her hair. He was impressed to say she didn't make a sound as he pulled her around. She was quick on her feet, not keen on the idea of him dragging her, but it didn't stop him from pushing her onto the ground next to a small pile of men that were lucky to be alive one of which was growing as his friends pulled out ropes to tie them up.

The Vikings rallied up their prisoners and soon began to raid the treasures of the Christians until dawn came upon them.

Millie sighed with relief to see her father was one of the survivors. They tied him up as well and sat him by her side. He didn't look to her, instead his eyes burned into the depths of each Pagan that passed by them.

Damn them, he thought. Damn them all.

The King's men grunted in pain as they were tossed around and Millie wondered what would become of them. Surely not all of them were going to live. That was to say if any of them were going to survive this raid.

To their left, the Pagan leader came out of one of the tents holding a red cloth bearing a cross. He stared at it in a sort of awe before he began to blow his nose into it. Millie's jaw clenched at the sight and if it weren't for her being tied up, she would have lost her life in an attempt to slaughter the bastard.

Walking by, Ragnar proceeded to throw the cloth onto one of the captives before he stared at the young woman. His eyes glowed eerily as he took her in before he addressed who he suspected to be the leader of the captive group.

"Who are you?"

Aethelwulf looked around in contempt. His eyes wandered the grounds and the other heathens, anywhere but his daughter. He couldn't let them know she was something special to him. Only God knew what they would do to her just to see him suffer.

He looked up to Ragnar before he spoke his name. He seemed to think about his next words before he said them. "Brother of King Aelle."

Ragnar frowned. "You are the brother of the King. Yet you lead his army." He seemed to take this in with a thoughtful look. "Does he send you to fight all his battles?" Placing his hands on his hips, he began to slowly thrust himself into Aethelwulf's face. "In the bedroom too?"

Millie could feel the rage emanating from her father or it came from her. She wasn't sure. All she knew was the feel of his eyes on her as she glared at him. If she could kill with just the look of her eyes, he would have been dead by now.

"And you," Ragnar spoke. He came to kneel in front of her and took in her face just as he did on the battlefield. His head titled to the side like the animal he was before he looked over to Aethelwulf. The man did not acknowledge the woman next to him but Ragnar knew who she was to him. The resemblance between them wasn't striking but it would be stupid of him not to see it. "You are his daughter, are you not?"

Lord Aethelwulf's eyes instantly went to Ragnar and the look of wariness he gave had proven Floki's inkling true.

Running a finger over the slow becoming bruise on her cheek, Ragnar smiled. "You're really pretty."

"Don't touch her!" Aethelwulf looked ready to pounce as his fears as a father sprung to the front of his mind.

Ragnar knew the meaning to his animosity. As a father himself, he would kill any man that even tried to look at Gyda the way he did to the woman before him. But he wasn't like that. He wasn't like Knut but he wouldn't let his enemy know this. He needed them to quiver. He needed to have them weak.

Giving a sly smile to the man, Ragnar looked back to the woman and continued to stare her down like a predator. "What is your name?"

She was silent as she continued to glare at him. The finger that trailed over her face had soon gone before he placed his hand by her leg so he could lean in close.

Ragnar brought his voice to a soft whisper as he looked from her lips to her eyes. "I promise I won't hurt you."

"May God smite you where you kneel," she sneered.

With all the humor he could muster, Ragnar chuckled and stood. He could hear Floki call to him and he turned to regard his friend with a smile. He could see Rollo look with interest at one of the Christian men's blade and his friends gathered around to continue on with some joke. Turning back around, he reached for Aethelwulf and brought him to stand. He wrapped his arm around him before looking back to the woman.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt him either." He seemed to think about his next words and shrugged. "For now." He smiled and turned to walk away.

Millie felt her shoulders ready to slump from exhaustion but she wouldn't let them see her at her weakest. The barbarians wanted them to cower and whimper. Let the others do so, but she would not. It would be expected of her of course considering she was a woman. She would prove to them that even on death row she was a force to be reckoned with.

Not far from where she sat, she could see who she now knew thanks to the crazed fighter who called to their leader, Ragnar, as he held her father as if they were long time friends. She could only imagine the look of contempt he had as the other heathens began to circle around them. They seemed to be formulating a plan to which she could see her father reluctantly nodding his head to.

Her heart began to race at the idea of what they may have been talking about. There was no way her father would lead them to their King. To the good Christian people. He would rather die than allow them to hurt those he loved.

Yet here she sat.

No, it wasn't as if he planned on having them all captured. They were supposed to be the winners of this battle. Not the Pagans. They would be dead. Not one of them spared.

Turning back around, Ragnar brought her father back to where she sat. She tried searching her father's face to see what may have happened to make him look so glum but his eyes stayed glued to the ground. As they drew nearer a look of shame seemed to cross his features and Millie felt her heart sink.

He couldn't have.

Aethelwulf looked all around him, refusing to make eye contact with his daughter. A realization dawned upon her and she now knew what he planned to do. He was going to bring them to the Kingdom.

Ragnar called over a few of his people and ordered them to ready horses. It was from there where he leaned into Aethelwulf as if to share a secret.

"You, my Lord, you're going to take us to your brother and you're going to do as I say. Hmm?"

Aethelwulf nodded.

"Good. And you," he looked to Millie. He knelt before her and toyed with the binds around her wrists. He grabbed a fistful of the rope and yanked her up as he stood. "Don't try anything stupid."

She knew what he meant by that. She was ready to throttle him the moment he would turn his back to her but it was no time for acts of bravery. Not when so many lives were at stake.

One of the Pagans came over with three horses and behind him others with ones of their own. Without a word, he helped Aethelwulf onto one of them roughly and carelessly. It was then that Millie knew the other horse would be for her. She approached the mare and shrugged Ragnar off as he attempted to help her up. He tried again and held his hands up in mock surrender when she jerked forward as if to attack him.

"Millie," Aethelwulf scolded. There was no time for her childishness. There were moments to be bold but when there was nothing left to hide behind-to save your life-a little concession was to be expected. All of which she made no show of conformity to.

Ragnar's brows raised in interest.

"Millie." He tested her name. His smile almost seemed genuine as he pushed her forward to help her onto the horse. "What does it mean?"

She quickly mounted the animal, avoiding Ragnar's touch as best as she could. Once seated, she side-eyed him before her top lip twitched into a sneer she seemingly could not rid herself of.

"Eat shit*."

Aethelwulf gave an audible sigh as he flexed his jaw. Pure annoyance graced his face. He ground his teeth to keep from berating his daughter.

Ragnar's laugh was low as he looked down. She was a hassle and he found himself enjoying that more than he ought to. Very few tried in testing him and his limits and he would let them have their fun. In the end, they all met the same fate. He wondered to himself how long until she would meet her own.

Patting her leg, he looked up to her with a smirk.

"Such language. For a Christian girl."

Her eyes widened slightly. It was unknown to Millie that he knew the language of her people. There was more to him than she previously thought. Than what she'd been told. Or it may have been a coincidence. He and the rest of his crew raided the monks not so long ago. He may have learned a word or two from them. It was depressing to say the least.

"Tie the reins." Ragnar spoke as he mounted his horse.

Torstein nodded. He cut and tied the rope long enough for his friend to hold in his grasp. He rounded the two Christians and steered them to Ragnar. The girl with a mouth glared at him and he could not help the smile that played at the edges of his lips. He found her amusing and knew Ragnar did as well for when he looked to him he saw a smirk plastered onto his face, his eyes solely on her.

Rollo's eyes grew into slits as he observed his brother. He questioned many of his motives and it did not fail for him to do so again. He could only guess the reason for the girl being alive was for her father to cooperate, but he did not like the way he looked at her.

Ragnar had his closest comrades accompany him to the kingdom which consisted of his brother Rollo, Arne, Torstein, Floki, Leif, and Tostig. He could not imagine himself without those men by his side and they all rallied up and set forth to the home of King Aelle.

After Torstein gave him the ropes fixed to both Christians, Ragnar gave Arne the one tied to Lord Aethelwulf's horse.

"Which way," he asked as they began to trot.

"Straight north from here." Aethelwulf grumbled.

They all looked forward with Ragnar leading the pack. Floki strolled up next to the Lord and stared menacingly at him hoping to garner his attention. Just as he looked to the Pagan, Floki hissed in a cat-like manner and giggled before going to ride by Torstein.

Ragnar looked back for a moment to smile softly at his friend. Their time spent with the Christians so far proved to be comical. And with his friends it could only get better.

He turned his attention to Millie who sighed loudly by his side. Her hands gripped at the leather of her saddle, her eyes watching the trees that grew larger as they came closer. Her hair was a mess and her cheek was a light tinge of purple. Never had he hit a woman. All of the women who fought by his side were trained by women and with Lagertha, any force he placed on her was for sex play. But never had he ever raised a hand at her.

Millie felt his eyes on her. She thought of ignoring him but she could feel her ire growing as her horse veered closer to him. Ragnar wrapped the rope around his forearm making the distance between them shorter. He did not stop until their legs rubbed against each other, her foot lightly kicking his own.

Aethelwulf's eyes darted between the two wondering what game he was trying to play. He egged on his horse to try and reach them but the one with the eyepatch held him back. They looked at each other briefly before he let the unwelcome feeling of hopelessness consume him as he watched Ragnar's interaction with his daughter.

Looking forward and back to her again, Ragnar opened his mouth to speak. "Millie," he tested her name as before. A sigh of content leaving him before saying her name several times under his breath. He looked at her again and smiled as she rolled her eyes.

"My name is Ragnar." He cocked his head in arrogance. "Though you probably know that already."

The woman's head turned slowly, her teeth clenched. Beneath her glare underlie a look of disbelief at his casualness. She did not understand his need to talk and only huffed as she glanced away.

"Do I offend you?"

Did he offend her? Of course he did and he mocked her for it. She could feel her insides boiling over in anger. With a cry of frustration, Millie kicked at Ragnar. She lost her place and almost fell before two hands gripped her. Rollo was by her side heaving her back up with Ragnar pulling her by her trousers. She swatted the hands that held her and shifted to the other side as she attempted to kick Rollo as well. He smacked her foot away and made no attempt to catch her this time.

"Hey." Ragnar grunted. His arm looped around her middle and held her awkwardly as she hung halfway off her horse and halfway onto his. She tried elbowing him until he gripped her tighter. "Unless you want to ride with me, I need you to stop and cooperate."

She stilled and fought an internal battle on whether she should go for his face with her elbow once again or "cooperate," as he said.

As if sensing how unsure she was of his words he leaned close to her ear and whispered. "If you do not cooperate, I will kill your father."

The tension between them eased slightly. Enough for Ragnar to know she was pulling in her need for violence. She pushed up on the horse, resting her hands as best as she could on it to turn over and look Ragnar in the eyes. Those eyes of his made her skin crawl. It was as if they looked through her very being and she swore she could see death in them. And it was for the first time that she looked at him with fear. Not for herself but for her father.

Ragnar loosened his grip on her and trailed his hand over her cheek. She flinched from the feel of it but not out of disgust but from the pain that was slowly settling in on her body. His thumb ran over the flesh before he grabbed at the collar of her clothing and hoisted her back up to sit properly on her horse.

She was quiet for the rest of the ride. She did not try to look back at her father. Did not look to Ragnar or the others. Her heart pounded and she willed the beating to soften as she closed herself up.

Millie was angry. Angry with the Pagans, with her father but mostly with herself. She wanted to tell herself that no matter what the situation, however they chose to go about the battle plans, that they would be in the same position as they are now. But she berated herself.

There had to have been another way, she told herself.

It was torture but she could not stop the thoughts aggressively flowing through her mind.

The rustling of the leaves were grating against her nerves. She could feel a headache forming and her senses were alerted to everything around her. The air felt thick and she could see just beyond the trees an open space. And not far beyond that, the home of her uncle and his kingdom.

The horses picked up their paces as the Vikings pushed on. Before continuing, they all came to a stop and it was then that Millie allowed her eyes to wander. She watched Ragnar reach back as the one with the eyepatch handed over the rope to her father's horse. After having a hold of him, the three of them moved forward several paces before the others joined in from behind.

At the gates, she could see them open and watched as some of the guardsmen who were chosen to stay come out on horses. She looked above them and saw the archers who held their bows ready, lowering them as Ragnar brought them all to a stop. The King's men stopped several feet away from them, giving them enough space to flee if need be and Millie's heart raced painfully in her chest once more.

"Greetings," one of the men began. "King Aelle invites your leader to meet him in his villa to talk." There was silence for a moment before he questioned, "Who is your leader?"

Millie looked at Ragnar who leaned over onto his elbows. He was smiling before biting his lip.

None of them answered.

There was an uneasiness emanating off of the men and once again, the one to speak before made an attempt to do so.

"The K-the King did not know that his brother was still alive."

Ragnar placed his hand onto Aethelwulf's head and ruffled his hair. He jerked out of his touch to which Ragnar only smiled.

"Nor his niece." It was added on like a second thought. Millie could feel the attention switch from her father and onto her. "He would like to talk to you about what he can give you. To set his family free."

Looking back at Aethelwulf and then to Millie, Ragnar's smile never faltered. Him and the woman locked his eyes and she fought the urge to groan in annoyance when he winked at her.

"Do you accept the King's invitation?" He sounded unsure of himself and he was right to for Ragnar gave one last smile before turning away with his two hostages.

All the others that came with them steered themselves away as well and they tried keeping their snickers to a minimum as the one who'd been talking to them seemed to go into a panic.

"Where are you going?" he asked pathetically.

Everyone's horses sprinted off and Millie did not hear the Christians attempting to follow them. It was just them and now her and her father were left to fester with the barbarians.

"No need to look so sad." Ragnar was mocking her again but she did not react in violence like before. "It just means we get to spend more time together."

She could pat herself on the back if the situation did not demand her to do otherwise for she ignored him. No outbursts of any kind. She did not look defeated only defiant and Ragnar could not choose whether he liked this resolute side of her or when she reacted in animosity towards him instead. What he only knew was her ignoring him was becoming a least favorite of his. Instead of seeing her as a nuisance at this point, though, he saw her as a challenge and Ragnar Lothbrok loved challenges.

"It may be a while before a decision is made." She did not care for his words but he continued. "All the better then."

He was a smug one. Let him be. She did not care. Millie did not believe that this would be the end for her and her father. There was no way Ragnar will kill them so soon without receiving a proper offer. And without them, how would he be able to gain it?

"We'll see." Her voice had gone hoarse and Ragnar leaned in with a hand to his ear beckoning her to repeat herself. "We'll see." She said much stronger this time.

Ragnar bit his lip in a way to contain his smile. It did not stop the laughter that bubbled from his throat but instead forced his teeth to dig deeper into his flesh. She sounded so sure of herself and he came to the conclusion that he liked the sound of her confidence. He was beginning to enjoy her company as a whole.

"Yes," he chuckled. "We will see."

AN: And there you have it! After typing up this chapter I can say that I enjoy doing battle scenes. That's good to know seeing that there will be a bunch of those happening later on.

So finally Ragnar and Millie meet. It took me a while until I found what I felt was right for them. Nothing too serious just yet! Millie is going to have to reel in her temper before anything happens, but that's going to take a while. Who can blame her though?

As I said in the earlier AN, I'm not an expert on all languages and I'd rather not make a poor ass attempt so anything with a single * will be the Old English and anything with two ** will be Old Norse.

Thank you all so much for the support. All the favs, follows, and reviews mean a lot.
Reviews:
Dalonega Noquisi: Ask and ye shall receive!
HermioneandMarcus: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this one as well.
Silently Tearful: I hope you liked this one! Much more Millie/Ragnar interaction is sure to come.
AmalieNico: Thank you! Hope you enjoy!
SamanthaJane13: Glad you are! Hope you stick around for the rest.
HeavenlyKitten: Thank you and we will see!
 . : Two and now three chapters in and you already love it! I'm glad to know. Hope you enjoyed this one as well.
Guest: Thank you! And I will do my best to update more often.
wabi-sabi1090: Happy to know they battled it out? That will be happening every so often which I'm looking forward to writing. Hope you're just as excited for the rest!

I noticed after the season 2 finale this story got a lot of attention. Hopefully it still does even with the show preparing for season 3.
I am typing up the next chapter as we speak so more than likely I will be updating this story very soon.

Thank you again for all of the love.