When her husband left, Gisla suddenly felt unsafe. She was in the middle of all these barbarians who could kill her this instant. But the one she dreaded the most was the young blonde one. He was unprectictable and couldn't be trusted, just like his father. He looked at her like he was going to hurt her, his hand on his sword. His mother, on the contrary looked at her a worry look on her face. Uncomfortable as she was, she quickly got back inside the castle and locked herself in her room. She laid on the couch and began to sleep.

When she woke up, she felt empty. She looked for her husband with her hands, finding only an empty space. As soon as she realized that he wasn't here, she began to sob. Never, since they married, has she found herself so alone. She got out of the bed and looked outside: it was midday. The castle was back to its usual activities and the vikings who stayed were training, eating and resting back in their camp. As she thought she'd be alone for the day, she opened her door and went to the great hall to inspect on the servants. But when she did it, she bumped into Lagertha. Evn if she was dizzy she managed to ask:

- Why you here?

- I want to talk to you, she said sweetly.

Gisla looked at her suspicious. What did that woman wanted from her, she asked herself.

- Can I come in, she asked.

- Please, Gisla said opening her arms as a sign of courtesy.

As she entered the room, Lagertha looked around her apparently amazed. It was a weird scene to see such different women in the same room. One was wearing an armor and the other one a long and magnifiscent dress. They stared at each other, examining their clothes and weapons, for a few seconds before Gisla offered her to sit in a chair while she sat herself on hers. They stayed in silence for a few minutes before Lagertha decided to talk first:

- Please, forgive my son. Ever since his wife ran away, he tend to reject all women.

Gisla nodded, even though she didn't understand half of what she said.

- I've always liked strong women. And you seems strong. Well, strong enough to face Rollo.

- I fight different, she managed to say.

- Rollo used to have feelings for me.

- I know. He speak me about Siggy too.

- Ah! I see, so he opened his heart to you. He is a good man, and I hope your child will be one too.

- He will, she said sure of herself.

Gisla was a proud woman, just like her speaker. She could also see that she was really clever and passionnate and she doubted she could do what the king wanted her to do witout arising any suspicions. She needed a plan and people whom she could trust. Lagertha left the room after Gisla's last sentence and said:

- I hope someday we will be friends.

Gisla looked at the empty space she left when she got out of the room. That sentence, she understood everything, and it gave her goosebumps. Suddenly, she flet an incredible amount of anger coming from her belly. But, this anger wasn't toward Lagertha. It was against her, she was mad. She has been weak to let her get to her. She left these barbarians into her own house! The exact men she hated the most! She was even carrying one of them's child for God sake! To let her pain go she began to hit the bed, first lightly, then harder and harder. She hit it so hard she began to bleed. When she got tired of hitting, she fell on her knees and sobbed in her hands. The noise surely attracted the guards that were outside, as they rushed into the room to inquire after her state. They rose her back to her feets and she sadly sat on her chair.

A few minutes later she asked their guards to bring a table in the room. She also ordered a servant to bring her food, because she decided she was gonna eat there. About 20 minutes later, the table was in front of her and someone knocked at the door:

- Come in, she said with an authoritarian tone.

The little servant called Marie entered the room with a large plate in her hands.

- What's on this plate, she asked.

- Pigeon pie my lady, with cider, bread and cheese, she said shyly.

- Thank you Marie, it's very nice of you to bring me my food.

- This is what I do, your grace, I serve you.

Gisla stared for a moment at the young and frail little servant. She was so nice, so delicate. She suddenly felt a wave of affection for this little girl. She put the plate on the table and got ready to leave but Gisla said:

- Would you mind eating with me? I'm feeling a little alone here.

- B... But, your grace, I am not a maid of honor. I'm just a mere servant. How could I...

- Please, sit, Gisla said gently. You are the one I want to share my meal with.

The girl hesitant sat on the chair Gisla was showing at with her hand.

- So, tell me Marie, Gisla said as she was biting in the pie. Do you have someone in your life?

- Oh yes my lady! There is my mom, my brothers and my sister! I love them! And of course there is this boy... he works here for the duke. He is a stable boy but I love him! He even asked me to marry him!

- Well, congratulations then.

- Thank you your grace, she said a beaming smile on her face. And you? Do you like your husband?

- Oh, I don't! I hate his kind.

- Oh...

Her smile vanished and they finished eating in silence. Marie looked at her unobtrusively times to times and left when Gisla finished eating.

- Marie, she said, if I gave you a very special task to do, would you do it for me?

- Of course your grace! Anything you want!

Then, she left, closing the heavy door behind her.

Gisla spent the entire rest of the day depressed and stuck in her bed. The emptyness Rollo left behind him was more than she could bear. She suddenly realized she needed him. She was sure that if he was here and knew she wasn't doing so well, he would have rushed to her and comfort her. Of course, she would have rejected him, saying something like "go away, beast!" and he would have looked at her shocked and quite sad. He had such intense eyes when he looked at her like that. But, here was the truth, he wasn't here. He wasn't here. Suddenly, these words hitted Gisla so hard she almost screamed: if her husband wasn't here to watch over her, she could do what her father asked her to do. She spent the rest of the evening to build a plan, and when she fell asleep, she knew exactly what she had to do.

She has been wide awake since the sun rose below the horizon. She dressed herself in a simple green dress. It wasn't too elegant, nor ragged. This was going to be a very long day, she told herself.

First, she had to deal with peasants who wanted more protection against bandits. She sat on her chair in the great hall, escorted by her knights and began to receive every complaints from her people. She was a good ruler: she listened carefully at what everyone said and quickly gave her orders which were relevants depending on the situation. Anyone in the room could notice that she was good at it. When she had granted everyone's complaints, she got back to her room and asked for her food to be brought there as she decided to eat in her room during her husband's absence. When she was full, she asked one of her knights to seek the person in charge of the books and pieces of parchment. A few moments later, he came back with the man who bowed before her and asked:

- You made me send for, your highness.

- As a matter of fact, I did, she said with her head held high. I need you to bring me a book, and I assumed you were the one I should ask.

- You assumed right my lady.

He stepped forward and she said:

- I need you to bring me the books of all the plants of the country. Do we have that kind of book, and if so, can you find it for me?

- I will do as you wish your grace.

Then, he left the room for about one hour and came back later with an enormous book of biology. He put it on the reading table with efforts and Gisla told him he could leave. As soon as he left the room, Gisla headed toward the book and opened it.

- I hope it's in there, she said to herself.

She turned pages after pages with quick moves and stopped a moment later. The page she stopped at was written in calligraphied ink and the title said: hemlock. The page consisted in a drawing of the plant and explanations about it and it's use. Gisla memorised it and ordered the servants to ready her horse, as she was going for a walk into the woods. When she got out of the room, she hid the book and ask a servant named Gertrude to bring it back to the books's room.

When she arrived in the stable, her horse was ready. She got on it and spurred on the horse. The horse was fast, without her noticing, she was already in the village. She took the direction of the forest and, when she got there, she penetrated into it. She tied her horse to a tree and began to look after the plant she saw in that book. It took her only a few minutes before she found it. It was a white flower with a long stem adorned with sharp leaves. The flower itself was actually several little white round flowers with short stem packed together at the end of the long one. According to the book, only the stem was poisonous, so, careful as she was, Gisla made sure she wasn't touching it with her bare hands. When she had it, she put it in a small purse she brought with her and went to horseride back home.

She specifically asked not to be disturbed in her room. She asked for some water and a container and began to boil the water by the fire. When it was done, she put the plant in it and put a lid the container. She let it boil for an hour. While it was cooking, she was reading and doing some tapestry to decorate her soon to be born child's room. She loved her baby, even though he wasn't born yet. And she couldn't wait to educate him the Frankish way. absorbed by her thoughts, she didn't see the time running and when she went to check on her decoction, the smell was so strong she opened a window. She poured the liquid into a little phial and asked Marie to come see her. The little girl, as soon as she entered the room, bowed before her and said:

- You wanted to see me your grace?

- Yes Marie. I have something very important to ask you, and only you.

- Everything you want my lady.

- Perfect then, go find the cook and tell him to pour it in some beer you shall bring to the room located on the west side of the castle, she ordered shaking the phial.

- I don't understand... What is it? Why should I bring it to this room in particular?

- Don't worry, it is just a medicine my doctor gave me. It cures the cough.

- As you wish your grace, she said bowing again to Gisla.

- One last thing: do it this evening please.

Marie bowed again and left the room to fulfil her mission. Gisla stayed in her room, her heart racing in her chest from anxiety. It was done. Ther was no way she could go back. She was terrified: she was defenseless in case someone found out and she doubted her husband would be kind, again, to her if he ever knew what she did. It was unbearable and she stayed like that for what seemed to be days, her heart beating so much it hurt.

Later that night, she heard a long and harrowing scream from the hallways. It was a woman's voice and she seemed to be in great pain. Gisla rushed out of her room to where the screams came from. When she arrived at the exact place the scream came from, she found the door of a room wide open and inside, there was a woman in tears holding a young blonde man. This young man was lying on the floor shaking from convulsions, holding a mug of beer spilled on the floor. He had saliva coming in his mouth and he gripped his heart with his hands. Then, all of sudden, he stopped shaking and his arms fell over, inert, on the floor. His mother was in deep pain. She was screaming and shaking him to wake him up but nothing could fix her son. Lagertha installed him in his bed and listened to his heart. She sighed in relief. Apparently, he wasn't dead. Gisla was happy, mad, relieved and frightened at the same time as she feared what could come to her next. Lagertha turned to her and asked:

- What happened?

- I not know, she said feigning surprise.

As Lagertha stepped toward the door, Björn spoke with a voice from beyond the grave:

- The... The girl.

- What girl, Lagertha asked rushing to her son.

- The servant. Brown hair. Young.

- Did she do that to you? Is it her?

- Y... Yes, he confessed in a weak breath.

Then, his head fell back on his pillow. Lagertha turned violently to Gisla and asked:

- Who was he talking about? Give me the name of this servant!

- I not know. So many servants here.

- Don't bother, she said coldly as she left the room, I will find her myself!

When she was out of sight, Gisla went back to her room. She flopped on her bed and looked for sleep with an unendurable feeling of guilt.

The morning after that night when Gisla was consumed by her feelings about what she has done, she was woken up by several screams coming from the yard. She hurried to where it was coming from and she arrived to a crowd near the servants's place. She managed to weave trough to the center and what she saw froze her blood. There was a young girl, laying on the floor, her eyes wide opened, her long brown hair spreaded on the floor, her skin so pale and cold and a big blood spreading wound in her chest which was making her dress dirty. Marie. She was dead, laying at Gisla's feet with a boy taking her hands and crying all he could.

- We will bury her properly, I promise you young boy, she said gently to him. Now, she rests in peace in heaven.

- But I didn't want her to go to heaven! I wanted her to be my wife!

Gisla bowed her head, full of sorrow. She lost her confidant and her best servant. The stable boy, him, lost the love of her life. Suddenly, the feeling of guilt came back stronger that it has ever been. Now, all she wished was her death. She deserved to be punished for what she did. She sent this poor girl to death. She wasn't pure anymore. She had lost everything. She still managed to give her orders to bury the little servant and asked for a Mass in her honor.

When she arrived in the great hall, Lagertha was waiting for her.

- I punished the girl for what she did. I didn't like that, but I had to. My honor as earl and shield maiden depended on it. I am sure you know that a mother will do whatever she can for her son.

- Yes.

- I am sorry, she said her voice full of regrets.

Then, Gisla left her to lock herself in her room, specifically asking not to be disturbed, waiting for her husband to come back. Because, everything will be better when he will come back. She was sure of it. And while she spent the rest of the time in her room, all she could think about was Rollo.

HAHAHAHAHA! Blood! Yeah! I really like to write dramatic stories where a lot of people dies. Anyway, what do you think of Denis and Marie's love story? And what about Gisla who decided to murder Björn? How do you think Rollo will react? And what about what Gisla is starting to feel for Rollo?

Don't forget to write me a review and thanks to the people who wrote me reviews from the beginning! You're all awesome!