Thank you to those of you that have reviewed! You may find some of this chapter ( this story actually) similar to some of the past episodes of Vikings. I am wanting to keep it as similar as I can in some aspects, so some scenes will be based on the show and others will be my own creation and thoughts. I hope you like what happens in this chapter, as always reviews are appreciated.
Kadlin followed Ivar back to his house.
"Do you live with your brothers?"
Ivar turned his head to look at her. "Yes. but they are not always there. usually they find a woman to spend the night with."
Not really needing to add anything further Kadlin silently followed behind Ivar. Watching him infront of her she was surprised he hadn't already come up with a way to get around easier. She didnt feel comfortable mentioning this to him though. He had so much upper body strength she couldn't help but admire how much effort he had to go through on a daily basis.
When they arrived she walked inside and was glad to see the living area was empty. Looking around properly now that the others werent here she realised that this may be her home for a while. doubting now that Ivar would let her go too far away. Kadlin was very grateful to Floki for trusting and believing in her, for without his approval she feared the evening would have got very different.
Studying the room, there was not much to look at. There were nothing on the walls, not much furniture, nothing homely like her mothers house. But she supposed it was better than being in debted to Lagertha by seeking refuge.
"Are you going to stand there all day?"
Kadlin whirled around and saw Ivar resting on a chair. "No, I just dont know what to do, or where to sit."
"You can sit your ass down wherever you like. Now tell me why are you doing this, and make it interesting?" he asked her once she sat down on some furs on a wooden log. It was not very comfortable.
"I told you before, to help you"
"And I heard you the first time, but what I want to know what you get out of this? "
Kadlin wasnt sure what to tell him. She was afraid to tell him she wanted to be his queen. Scared to admit that eventually they would harbour feelings for one another.
"Ivar, I do not think this will work if we are dishonest with each other. I will tell you the truth when I can. I pray to the gods that you do the same. You ask me what I get out of this. I dont want to be a farmer, or merchant or a slave. I want more than this life has given me. In my visions I have that. I see us commanding a large army, villages plundered, kings who have knelt before us. I believe that together we can do more than if we are apart."
"You want me to be honest with you? That I can do, for the most part. Most people do not appreciate honesty, i can see you are different. If all you say is true it seems we are headed toward a great victory. I do wonder though, it might be best for us to keep your fighting a secret yes? Besides secret weapons are usually better when no one knows. How will we do that though?"
Kadlin didnt think she had ever heard Ivar speak that much before. Giving some thought to what he said she arrived at a decision, athough she wasnt sure he would like it.
"I ah, um" she fumbled.
"Spit it out, I dont have all night" he grumbled in response.
Taking a deep breath, here it goes. she told herself. "We could say I am your companion?"
She really didnt want to look at him. Feeling nervous having even said it, but she couldn't come up with an alternative.
"I don't know how many people will believe that." he sneered.
"Ivar, people will believe it if we make it appear so. You cannot doubt me all the time. " she responded boldly to him.
Waving his hand is response. "Whatever then. Come, I will show you to my room. Tomorrow you will do your drawing for floki and then I will see what you can do with a weapon."
She waited for him to get down off the chair and watched as he crawled to his room. She looked at the bed and had no idea how they were to both fit, clearly the look on her face said as much.
"I will sleep in one of my brothers room for the night" he said somewhat akwardly.
"Thank you Ivar"
Without another word he left the room. Leaving her to her thoughts, as she scrambled into bed and waited for sleep to take hold. Praying that she woke in the morning, and wasnt murdered in her sleep.
Morning broke much sooner than Kadlin wanted, that night she dreamt of Ivar. This was nothing new though, last nights dream she saw boats crossing a large mass of water. Ivar sat at the front of the lead ship and her beside him. She supposed the next night more would reveal itself.
Walking out of Ivar's room she noted the house was empty and silent. She looked around, creeping over to the others bedrooms she saw they were empty too. It couldn't be that late, she thought to herself. At least the brothers were not here to bother her, not that she would mind some bothering by Ubbe. She smiled to herself. Finding her way back to the main room she saw a small bowl, what looked like breakfast. She saw down and ate, and that was when she noticed the parchment and pencil.
Putting her spoon down, Kadlin picked up the pencil and started to roughly draw what she had seen in her dreams.
She wasn't sure how long it took but sometime later she put her pencil down and looked at what she had drawn. The front was shaped similar to a boat, there was a seat where Ivar would be able to sit, and hold the reigns. The reigns were attached to a horse which would be able to pull him along.
The rough sketch looked a little more plain that what she had seen in her visions but she knew that Floki would be able to craft into something amazing. Deciding it was now or never she left the house and went to find Ivar. She only had to ask one man and he gave her directions. She simply followed the dirt track, it was covered in sticks and debris and she was surprised Ivar had come out here, surely all the tree roots would have been in the way. Soon spotting them in a clearing surrounded by trees, Kadlin went to walk out but stopped herself. Perhaps she would watch them before introducing her arrival, she thought to herself.
Leaning herself against a tree and out of sight of the four brothers, Kadlin spotted 3 deers which were tied to fence, they must be the targets she thought to herself. In the background she saw Sigurd and Hvitserk sparring, she wasn't sure which was stronger, but their skill with a blade was exceptional from what she saw. She saw Ubbe put his bow and arrow down, and then she spotted Ivar seated on a tree stump. His bow strung, as he released an arrow and it flew past the heads of his two brothers, stopping their training. She watched as Hvisterk dropped his second blade and moved towards Ivar, Hvisterk sliced his blade and his sword clanged against Ivar's. Sigurd looked shocked down the other end of the clearing, almost as if he didn't believe Ivar had just shot an arrow past his head. Sigurd began walking down to where the others were, watching his two brothers fighting. Kadlin was amazed at the ferocity and strength Ivar seemed to posses, even though he was seated on the tree, he still held his own against his brother. Kadlin had seen Ivar fight in her visions, but never in person she was much more impressed than she cared to admit, and was eager to start her training with him.
Ivar and Hvisterk parried sword against sword, until Ivar ended it with his twist of his sword, he had wrapped his arm around Hvisterk and his blade rest against his neck, Hvisterk pushed free, turning around until each others blade's rested on the others shoulder ready to deliver a deadly blow. Until Kadlin noticed the smirk on Ivar's face, quickly met with a nod from Hvisterk.
Watching Hvitsterk walk away, she noticed Ivar glaring over at Sigurd. Sigurd looked back with an uncomfortable expression, she assumed from earlier. Ubbe who had watched the whole ordeal, laughed and handed a cup to Ivar. Upon reaching out to take it, Sigurd threw his axe, and it knocked the cup clean out of Ivar's hand. Kadlin gasped, before she could react, Ivar had reached down and thrown his own axe hurtling toward Sigurd. The axe buried itself deep into the tree behind him, and the look of shock and horror had returned to his face. Glancing quickly she looked at Ivar, his cold, hard eyes stared at Sigurd. His expression was cruel and full of hatred, but which Kadlin didn't know the reason behind. Before having time to change her mind, she called out quickly, hoping to diffuse the situation between the brothers.
"Ivar, are you here?" she called, as she made her self stumble out from behind the tree.
She feigned a trip, as she made her way towards the four men. Feeling as if she could take a blade and cut through the tension, she tried to lighten the mood.
"Oh boys, I heard there was a boat arriving in Kattegat today, full of slaves?"
The four of them looked at her, and she shrugged her shoulders "Well, I suggest you go find one before all the pretty ladies find themselves with other men?"
Ubbe's lips turned up in a smile, and Kadlin knew she had said what she needed to in order to get them to leave.
"Well then, my brothers let us leave Ivar alone for a while." Ubbe remarked sarcastically. With a thump on the shoulder he leant in to Ivar and whispered something to him, which Kadlin could not hear.
The three brothers left not long after, and Kadlin was glad to be left alone with Ivar. Even though she decided that he was definitely the most cruel and fiercest of the brothers, it was him she felt most comfortable with.
"So, you found us?" Ivar said, after the brothers were out of ear shot.
"Yes, I came to show you this" she produced the piece of parchment and started to unravel it.
"Wait"
Stopping suddenly, she looked up at Ivar. "What is it?"
"I do not wish to see it, have you shown Floki?"
Kadlin shook her head, "No, I came straight here to show you first"
"Well I want you to show Floki first, to see if it is possible" Kadlin wasn't sure what was wrong with Ivar, perhaps he didn't want hope that it wasn't possible. She could accept that, he obviously didn't want to receive any false hope.
"If that is what you would like to do" she replied carefully to him.
"Now, let me see what you are capable of doing, pick a weapon"
Kadlin looked over at the weapons that the brothers had left. When she had practiced at home she used a sword, so she leant down and picked one up. Feeling the weight of the blade in her hand it was heavier than she was used to.
"Stand in front of me, and try to get your blade to my neck" he instructed her.
Circling towards him she drove her blade forwards and the metal clanged against his. He deflected her blows with such ease she was almost embarrassed, everything she had done at home was useless. Ivar swung his blade with such force it caused her to loose her footing and she fell down to the ground.
Standing herself back up she took her stance and tried again.
"I am impressed" he commented easily.
Kadlin was out of breathe, she was tiring easily " Why, because I fell down?"
"No because you got back up." he used the move that he had earlier with Hvitserk and had his arm around her, stopping her from attacking further. She stood there, her chest heaving as she tried to breathe. Noticing that Ivar didn't seem to be struggling at all.
He pushed at her back, and released his hold on her. "Again" he told her.
The continued to spar ,if she could call it that for another hour. Kadlin wasn't as good as she had first thought, but at least Ivar was still willing to teach her. After he let her put the blade down, she picked up a small dagger.
"Now, throw to dagger at the target"
Picking the dagger up, she stood square on and threw the dagger, like she had seen Sigurd and Ivar do before. The difference was, her dagger did not knock a cup out of Ivar's hand, or bury itself deep in the target. It hit the target, which surprised her and landed with a soft thump on the floor, which did not surprise her.
"You are weak" Ivar commented.
She looked back at Ivar, with a glare as cold as she could summon. Picking up the fallen axe on the floor, she threw it towards the target. Again, it fell to the floor. Sighing out loud, she head towards the target to pick up her fallen weapons. When she picked them up she stood looking at the target to see where the blade had touched the wood. It wasn't deep, it had barely scratched the surface.
"Turn around" Ivar called to her.
Turning on her heel, so that she stood in front of the target. Without time to register what was happening, she felt an axe embed it self in the wood next to her left ear, then again on the right hand side. She stood frozen in place. Ivar had just thrown a weapon at her, just as he had done with Sigurd.
"What are you doing!" she yelled at him, as she made her way back through the training area towards him.
"You are weak, like I said before. You need much more training" he raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders "But you are brave"
Kadlin smiled.
"You cannot be taught to be brave, you can train to become stronger and more skilled, but being brave is not that easy"
"So you will continue to teach me?" she question him
"Every morning, you will come here with me and my brothers. You will watch and learn from us. I will not teach you any thing until you can throw a blade and it stays in the target."
Kadlin was a little disappointed at this but she also oddly trusted Ivar's judgement. After watching them this morning, she knew she had a lot to learn and who better to teach her than sons of Ragnar Lothbrook.
"Well, I want my own dagger"
She thought she saw a hint of a smile on Ivar's lips. "Fair enough, we will get one once we have been to Floki's."
His brothers appeared not long after, and Kadlin wasn't sure why.
"Are you ready now my brother?" Ubbe called to Ivar.
"Yes" as he crawled over to something Kadlin hadn't yet noticed. Ubbe and Sigurd picked up the front, and Hvisterk was at the back. The lifted Ivar up and carried him back towards the village. So that was how he got here every day, she had wondered if crawling through the forest floor was frustrating what with all the tree roots that lined it. Hurrying along to catch up to them, she gestured to Hvisterk to give her one of the handles, so she too helped carry Ivar back towards Kattegat.
The brothers left them at Floki's. Kadlin got the feeling that Ivar didn't spend much time with them anyway, but she was grateful for him not having to crawl everywhere. Hopefully with her drawing, he wouldn't have to as much and would be able to move about more freely.
"Ah, Ivar and Kadlin you are back already!" he he "come, sit, sit down and show me!" he exclaimed, clearly excited that they were back so soon.
Ivar crawled over to the corner, as Kadlin walked up towards Floki. Smiling down at her, Floki extended his hand and took the parchment from her.
They waited in anticipation as Floki carefully studied the drawing.
"Well, what do you think?" Ivar asked softly, almost as if it seemed as if he was worried Floki would say it wasn't possible.
A smile appeared over Floki's face " Ivar this is brilliant! I can't believe I didn't think of this my self!" as he scooped Kadlin up and danced around with her. Kadlin couldn't help but join in with Floki's excitement and laughter.
When Kadlin was back on the ground, she glanced over at Ivar. Her smile faltered and she noticed that he did not seem to be enjoying himself as much as Floki and herself was. Not wanting to make him feel any more uncomfortable or unhappy than he already looked, she decided to excuse herself.
"I will be back soon, I will leave you both to talk about the drawing". Floki looked at her confused, then she inclined her head slightly towards Ivar.
With a smile, Floki caught on and moved over to sit next to Ivar. Just as Kadlin closed the door, she noticed Floki put his arm around Ivar, just like a father would do to his son.
"Ivar what is it?" Floki asked him quietly.
Ivar inhaled and then spoke quietly back to Floki. He didn't want anyone else to hear him.
"Now that we are going to England to fight, It would be good to not have to crawl around everywhere. So I was very pleased to hear of this vision or whatever it was that the girl had, but"
"But, you are concerned it won't work?" Floki finished his sentence.
He nodded in response. He did not like feeling this way, unsure of himself, nervous and embarrassed by his condition and having to ask for help.
"I don't want to crawl around on the battlefield, I want to strike fear in my enemies and how do I do that from the floor?"
"Ivar, you are one of the most fearless and vicious Vikings I have met. Trust me, this will work. I will figure someway to make it work, besides Kadlin has done most of the work. Would you like to see?"
Shaking his head. "No, I will wait until it is done, if that is alright with you?"
Floki responded by placing his hand around Ivar's head and laughing. "Alright with me! My dear Ivar I cannot wait to see how excited you are"
Ivar thanked Floki once more, then left his house. Where on earth had that girl gone to, he wondered. He crawled back to his house, he had some weapons to sharpen. Surely she would find him later, as much as her presence was unexpected, He did enjoy her company. Someone apart from his brothers that didn't flinch at the sight of him. Not that he would tell her that though, he had to keep a certain amount of fear in people.
I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, it was fun to write! Everynow and then I might pop a little snippet from Ivar's POV just for fun, what did you think?
Keep raiding ;) ~MortalMarquess~