CROWNED

The Plan to Greatness

She inched to raise her head to the sky and ask the Gods what games they were playing, but her eyes got stuck to a blonde man inching to carry himself through the gate of their encampment.

Asdis jumped on her feet, recognition blinking on her face as she sprinted as fast as she could to get to the wounded man. "Hvitserk!" she called as she got close, wrapping one of his tired arms and throwing it across her shoulders as her hand wrapped tightly around his waist. The prince let his weight fall on the woman as she held him, steadily walking towards one of the tents.

Two healers helped Hvitserk off of the woman's hold and on one of the patted tables. The woman turned to one of the guards and told him to notify Ivar before she turned back to the oldest prince "What happened?" she asked whilst he turned to look at her.

"They were... waiting for us" the man said, his voice raspy as he grunted when one of the healers started to treat one of the gashes on his waist. "Your father... knew we were there. He... ambushed us" he said again, the woman's face forming a confused frown. Hvitserk's hand flew to catch the woman's as he looked at her intensely "I... tried... to-" his voice was cut short by another wave of pain that struck him.

Asdis tightened her grip on the man's hand pressing her lips together "Hush, Hvitserk" she reacted, her eyes travelling down his injuries. "You did good" she said, looking back at him. The prince wanted to give his sister-in-law a weak smile, but his eyes flattered closed and his grip weakened to nothing. The princess carefully placed his hand back beside him and told the healers to take good care of him before she made way for her tent.

*

Ivar sat in front of the laid out map searching his brilliant mind for another plan as his blonde wife paced across the tent. "How, hm?" she asked herself as she continued her rhythmic walk. "How did my father know we had people hidden in the woods?" she asked again her fingers tapping against each other. "He is not that smart, he couldn't have thought of it himself" she told herself and Ivar raised his eyes to meet with the woman's pacing figure and grinned for a short while -as if he was seconding her statement- before his eyes returned to the map.

"Someone had to have told him" she said, her mind tracing the thousands of of people their army held. "But who would dare?" she thought aloud, pausing for a moment, trying to think of someone who'd be capable of betrayal, but came down with nothing. A frustrated scream of agony left her mouth as she grabbed something and threw it across the room.

Ivar just barely dodged the axe that was thrown at him as it impaled the back of his chair. His eyes grazed the impaled axe inches away from his head and then the woman who yet again continued her pacing. "You are surprisingly accurate when you are mad" he said, raising his eyebrows.

The woman looked at her husband, unfazed by her accidental attempted kill. "You are not helping, Ivar" she told him harshly as she continued.

The prince folded his hands on the table, keeping his gaze on the blonde "Neither are you. Pacing won't find the traitor" he said, making the woman stop dead in her tracks.

She turned around to walk to the table, looking at the prince sat on the other side "Well, do you have a better plan?" she asked, her eyebrows arching as her face had taken a light red shade.

Ivar pressed his lips together, a small scowl forming on his face "Not yet" he admitted and the woman scowled back at him.

"Maybe we don't even need another plan from you, seeing the very success of the previous one" she spat, impulsively spurring the brunette's anger.

The prince's face formed a twisted look "Or maybe we don't need your childish recklessness, because it was been such a blessing to us" he said, sharing a staredown with his wife.