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Kattegat felt like a thousand moons ago to Embla. She'd moved on with her life, although she had chosen to live it in solitude, if she was alone, she could not get hurt. That didn't mean she didn't care for others though, she had friends around her.
Sitting with her friends, with the people of the town she now lived in, she was happy. Embla drink, she joked and she enjoyed their company. Her hands were out in front of her as she snuggled herself into the furs she wore, keeping it in a hood over her hair as she stared at the fire.
When the door unexpectedly opened and the cold air and snow blew in from outside, the chattering stopped and all eyes turned to the front of the room.
Embla stared at the door from under her hood, she tilted her head as a man entered in many layers of clothing.
"Who are you, stranger?" Canute asked as he approached the stranger.
The intruder took off his own hood revealing his snow frosted eyebrows, "My name is Hvitserk, son of Ragnar Lothbrok."
Her heart almost stopped, she felt like it had been so long since she had seen him. There he stood, shivering and begging to see our King but Canute was very insistent on the terms.
She watched as Hvitserk struggled with the words and the actions he needed to see the King. Still, he stripped off his outside clothes, as he watched the people around him watching him. She kept hidden under her hood, her eyes on him as he removed his top, a new tattoo branded across his chest and strong abs chiseled into his skin.
Bowing her head, she stared into the fire as listened to others around her. There was some laughs and giggles from people around her, the person to her left nudging her slightly to get her to look over.
She hoped she would never see him again, she also hoped every day that she would. Embla missed Hvitserk terribly, he'd changed her life in many ways but she never imagined seeing him again. Seeing his face, seeing him here now, it was like a arrow to the chest.
She looked up as Canute escorted a naked Hvitserk out of the hall, her interest piqued as to why he had even come here in the first place.
Embla found herself being summoned to see King Olaf. The young woman had changed dramatically over the time she'd been away. Canute had a task for her, it was one which required the young woman to confuse the man she once loved. King Olaf would never forget what was told to him when Embla first arrived in his community. Himself and Canute would use it, hoping that it might change Hvitserk's mind.
Accompanying Canute, she walked through the snow to a hut. Opening the door, the heat was the first thing that smacked her in the face.
Her eyes began to scan around as they adjusted to the steam in the room before she found herself looking at Hvitserk. How things had changed for him. Here he was at King Olaf's mercy, shirtless, hands tied and attached to the ceiling with rope and wood. She looked at Canute who walked in front of him, getting his attention.
She watched from the side, she noticed that Hvitserk did not once open his eyes, even keeping his eyes closed when Canute threw a glass of water into his face, startling him. "King Olaf asks if you've changed your mind? Will you join him and King Ivar in attacking England, as you agreed?"
Hvitserk almost looked like he was shivering, as he put his face close to his right arm. "I wish I could agree." His breaths were deep as he gasped for breath, the heat in the room that he'd been stuck in was immense. "This is a ridiculous way to die. Too hot in a cold climate."
Canute kept a straight face as he listened, before he looked at Embla.
"I'm sure you appreciate the irony," Hvitserk managed.
Canute looked back at him before looking at the fire, "I love irony. But still death is death."
A low chuckle left Embla's lips, sometimes the way Canute spoke made her smile and laugh, he didn't realise that he seemed to have a dry sense of humour.
Hvitserk managed to pry his eyes open, but due to the way he was held, he could not see Embla. "That's true. Not really a laughing matter. But I'm decided against my brother." He gasped for breathes between each sentence. "The King must make up his own mind. I thought he agreed with me."
Embla hated listening to to him like this, he sounded desperate in not only his pleas but in general. Her eyes glanced down at his chest, her eyes on the tattoo that once was not there before she looked back at his face. "You should never try to anticipate Kings desires," Embla spoke finally. "Nor men's desires." He opened his eyes as he replace where Canute had stood in front of him. "You of all people should know that."
Hvitserk thought he was hallucinating as he looked at her, her fiery red hair very obvious against the surroundings and through the steam in the room. "Embla, it..." he trailed off as he closed his eyes trying to remember how she looked, trying to remember her clearly.
Canute looked at Embla before he nodded.
She watched as Canute let him loose, Hvitserk's body fell to the floor as he groaned in pain unable to support himself. She crouched down, she was gentle as she pushed his loose hair back from his sweaty face. "You are a fool," she told him in a whisper before standing again.
He mumbled her name a couple of times, he was unsure if she was really there, like delirium had started to set in. After all this time though, he was unsure why he would see Embla.
