Being the daughter of Ragnar Lothbrok wasn't easy. Let alone being the sister to the best warriors in all the lands.
Isi grew to be the best shield maiden that ever lived. Even better then Lagertha. Which was surprising because she was a great warri...
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Isi chose not to spend her time around her brothers for the next few days. She was terrified of Ivar, and her brothers only seemed to be near him for most hours. Leaving it near enough impossible for her to catch at least one of them alone.
In those days she trained, hunted and even met one of the warriors of their army, who she had grown rather fond of. He kept her company the past nights, but having need to sneak out early each morning. He would be a dead man if her brothers found out.
Which unfortunately for Isi, one did. But Ubbe was unlike Ivar and Hvitsirk, he cared for his sisters happiness. Ubbe knew that she was no child, Isi was able to to take care of herself, he realised that the day she killed her rapist.
"Who is he sister" he spoke suddenly, hidden in the shadows of Isi's tent. She had been training so the surprise of seeing Ubbe startled her.
"What do you want Ubbe" she sighed, pouring them both a cup of mead from the jug on her table.
"I have eyes Isi, I can see. I've seen the man sneaking out of your tent at sunrise" the girl froze entirely. Surely if Ubbe knew, that meant so did Ivar and Hvitsirk. They would kill him, that she was sure of.
Ignoring him, Isi immediately headed for the door, ready to search for her lover. Though she never exactly made it to the door, Ubbe had stopped her by only a few words.
"They don't know"
Shocked that he hadn't told their brothers, Isi slowly turned back to him, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. When it came to men in her life, the brothers always made threats to kill them, why hadn't he done it already?
"Then why are you here? Shouldn't you be going to kill him" she asked cockily, referring to the many times he had agreed to kill them with their brothers.
Ubbe only laughed, "neither of us has kids Isi, Sigurd never even got a chance to before Ivar killed him" he paused noticing the sudden drop in the girl's expression. "I want you to at least have a chance of happiness sister, I no longer care what our brothers think"
Isi was taken aback by her brothers statement, she knew what he said. But she didn't know why he had said it, what did he mean? He no longer cared? She was confused.
Ubbe left without elaborating, leaving Isi with her thoughts. But when her mind brought her back to the fact he knew about her affair, who he was, she grew frightened. If he knew, how long would it be before Ivar and Hvitsirk found out?
Allowing her curiosity get the better of her, Isi pulled herself out of her tent to assess the sudden commotion. Fire, that's all she could see. The flames contrasting with the darkness of the sky.
Screaming. Child's screams.
Isi pushed her way through the crowds of people, all seeming enchanted in the sacrifice. But why they needed a sacrifice, Isi was yet to find out.
Tears pooled in her eyes as she reached the front, terror that's the only thing she knew. Binned to a wooded post was two, innocent looking children, their skin being burned and stripped from the bone.
They were young, too young to be killed. 10?11? She wasn't sure, but she knew that was the age range.
Their screams still pounded through her head, she squeezed her eyes as tight as could. She wanted to scream, run and save them. But even if she had, their burns would most likely kill them.
As the tears dripped down her face, she felt a sudden arm wrap around her stomach, pulling her away from the horror. The boys screams died, as she expected so did they.
"It's me" came the voice of her older brother, his breath against her ear. Ubbe.
Isi sobbed as she allowed him to drag her away, she didn't care where she was going, she prayed to the gods that she could unsee what she had witnessed. The memories replayed over in her head, she could still hear their screams, see the pain in their face.
"Why....they were only kids" she spoke in almost a whisper.
"Ivar is a monster, he's not the brother we grew up with Isi" Ubbe told her in a comforting voice, pulling her into his embrace.
"Children Ubbe....they were children" she sobbed, her eyes turning a shade of red with the tears.
His arms squeezed her slightly, she needed comfort from her brother. Ubbe seemed to be the only one that acknowledged his sisters pain, Hvitisirk was too busy up Ivars ass to notice.
"Ivar would never hurt kids, the stories he told me when we were little-"
