A young boy around ten years old burst in the door of the main hall where everyone was getting ready for a fight. The air was filled with the smell of metal shaping over the fire and laughter of the men who were telling each other stories from the battles they were fighting ages ago.
The shieldmaidens were painting their faces with colours and preparing their shields. Some men had their faces already painted with bright white and red shades, thirsty for a bloodshed.
No matter what the people were doing, everyone went quiet when the little boy burst in, catching his breath and yelling at the same time.
"Calm down, boy. Here," Ubbe gave him a cup of water which the kid drank with one big sip. He managed to relax a little, his breathing became regular. His eyes found Ubbe's face.
"What did you want to say?"
"With friends, we were playing at the edge of the forest. They said I couldn't,-"
"To the point, kid," Ubbe stopped him.
"I climbed a tree and I saw a camp of men behind the big field! They had war flags and shields," he exhaled in relief he spat it out.
Ubbe turned around to look at his brothers, including Eira. They all exchanged looks.
"Did you notice what was on their shields or their flag? Any symbol of some kind?" Eira asked him, conflicted because one part of her wanted it to be the sign of Jarl Bjarke and the other one was against it.
"I think it was some kind of a bird.." the boy tried to remember.
"A raven?" At that moment Eira felt like she was out of her body, watching her mouth saying it, unable to stop herself.
"Yes, that one!" the kid's voice went up an octave, nodding.
All the eyes of Ragnar's sons and others in the room fell on Eira. She swallowed before spilling the truth. "Raven is a symbol of Jarl Bjarke."
Ivar clenched his jaw, trying to stay as calm as possible. Not just yet, he knew his time is about to come and he can let the anger take over, on the battlefield, not here. A very gentle squeeze on his hand. His eyes looked down and a little smile appeared on his face. It was Eira's hand holding his, reassuring him and giving him the support he needed without knowing it.
"Do you think he knows we planned to attack him?" Hvitserk asked, watching his brothers carefully.
"Even if he did, why would he bother to come here?" Bjorn added another question.
"An element of surprise," Ivar answered. "He might not be stupid but no one outsmarts me. We will use it to our advantage," Ivar smiled and squeezed Eira's hand back.
"How many were there?" Ubbe turned to the little boy. He shrugged his shoulders. "I can only count to ten and there were many tens when I counted," his cheeks were red.
Eira smiled at the kid, her hand touched her belly. For a second she thought about her miscarriage. What if she had a kid like that? Such a sweet innocent boy. Then she realized what are they preparing for and it threw her back to reality.
"What is wrong?" Ivar asked her with a concern, noticing her distant expression.
"Nothing really, we need to make a plan, Ivar." Eira moved her head towards the big round table in the middle.
"Ivar is good with strategy. He thinks like no other," Sigurd interrupted them, putting his hand on his shoulder.
"Stop kissing my ass, Sigurd," Ivar smirked at his brother, looking up because he was sitting on the chair.
"That's what he is good at," Ubbe laughed together with Hvitserk, who was already acting out the kissing part.
All brothers except Sigurd laughed.
"Now we need to come with a plan," Eira said loud enough for everyone to hear, losing the grip on Ivar's hand and getting up.
She was standing by the big table, putting objects on it.
"This is them," she moved a pile of little rocks on one side. "We need to surprise them, any ideas?" She turned around, facing Ragnar's sons.
Ivar smiled and with the contraption attached to his legs he stood up and walked towards Eira. She carefully watched his every move ready to help him out if needed.
"What are you waiting for, brothers?" He moved his hand to give them a signal to come closer. And so they did.
"One small group will stay in the woods covered, waiting for my orders. Another small group of archers will go right now and without them noticing will make it behind them and hide. When the sun goes up, we will come right in front of them. Once the battle starts, archers will shoot as many Bjarke's people as possible which they won't expect nor notice in the battle. We will push them to the edge of woods so they would split. Our men in the forest will deal with the group that runs into there. Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Tell it others, make groups and send them on their way," Ivar told Ubbe.
"What about me, Ivar?" A familiar voice echoed from the back of the room. Ivar's eyed searched for the man who said it. A tall skinny man with crazy eyes smiled at him.
"Floki, you will stay in Kattegat in case they would get here. Someone needs to protect women and children if anything happens."
Floki nodded with a smile, disappearing into the crowd.
"Wait!" Eira raised her voice before everyone got back to doing what Ivar said.
"Jarl Bjarke is my kill!" Ivar was proudly smiling on Eira who caught everyone's attention. She was standing in the middle with a dangerous expression on her face, sending a warning to everyone who would try to kill the jarl.
"You heard her! Now get to work!" Ivar said, touching Eira's back. She jumped, not expecting it.
"Don't do that, I hate being touched without my knowledge or permission," she said quietly, coming closer to him. If it was someone else, it would end up badly for the person. But because it was Ivar, Eira couldn't be mad at him because she knew he couldn't truly understand how it makes her feel or what memories it brings.
She was so close, their foreheads were against each other, their breaths intertwined.
"Do I have your permission to kiss you?" the corners of Eira's mouth went slightly up, creating a smile. Her eyes scanned the room which was by now empty, few last men were closing the door behind them.
"You do," she bit her lip, waiting for Ivar to kiss her.
***
Thank you for reading! Few more chapters till the end. x
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Merciful || Ivar the Boneless
Fanfiction"Bad move," he murmured between his teeth. Ivar was ready to kill her. He was slowly reaching out for his knife which was behind his belt. The girl made an unexpected move. She stretched out her hand and threw away the axe as far as she could. She p...
