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When Alvina reached out to her door, she was ready to drop onto her bed and sleep the whole night through. Her mind was already turning off and she simply wanted rest. Of course, she should've known better to expect rest by now. After all her time with Ivar, expecting a night off was perhaps a bit naive to say the least.
Upon opening the door and walking inside, she didn't initially notice him. Her hands rubbed her tired eyes, a yawn escaping her, before her heart practically leapt from her body. There he sat, in the centre of the room - visibly smirking at her terror - with his arms folded over his chest.
"Where have you been?" He asked demandingly, like an impatient child, and Alvina couldn't help but roll her eyes impatiently. She walked past, towards her bed, as she was far too tired to deal with his melodrama. Of course, it would never be that easy though. "Where have you been?" He asked again, harsher, his hand grabbing her arm.
Alvina looked down at him with a sigh, her voice firm and impatient, "Tending to your men, a job that you've not exactly been doing as of late."
He remained silent, glaring at her without letting go of his grip on her arm. The two of them both remained irritated, watching what the other would do. "I told you to stay with Hvitserk." He spoke finally, his words bitter and angry.
"Well since I don't take orders from you, Ivar, I don't believe I have to do as you say." She spat back, pulling her arm away in fury.
"Fine!" He returned, his tone matching hers. "We'll see how long you last without me protecting you then, hm?"
Alvina paused, a bitter scoff escaping her. Her cold eyes looked down at him as she shook her head in pure disbelief. "That's all it takes?" She asked, her voice filled with quiet rage. "You despise anyone disagreeing with you so much that you would leave them to die? What happened to you, Ivar? What happened to the boy you were only months ago, the one who wouldn't let me die? Hm?"
"Do you understand nothing Christian?" He argued back. "I can't afford to be weak, not now!"
Again she scoffed, as though his words were utterly foolish, making no sense at all. "And in what way do I make you weak?"
Without a moment of thought, a moment's breath before he spoke, Ivar was ready to fire back his response. "I love you!" He yelled, this time without logic or preparation - this time it was pure emotion, purely from the heart. The two of them stopped in disbelief, Ivar not believing what he'd said and Alvina not believing what she'd heard.
"You love me?" She whispered, heart pounding in her chest so loud that she could barely hear him. Her eyes welled with tears as she bit her lip to keep her emotions in check. "Ivar, you've barely spoken to me in weeks." Her voice cracked as she tried to appear strong. It almost broke the Prince's heart to see her so upset, and because of him no less. But he just watched, unsure what to say or do. "You've been so busy up in that damn tower, so consumed by the power you've been given, that you've forgotten all about the people who love you."
"The people who love me are dead, Alvina." He answered sharply. "And it's not power that's consumed me, it's revenge. I will avenge my mother, I will take back Kattegat from her Lagertha-"
"Only so that you may sit in her throne!" She yelled back, breaking the calm that she had forced upon herself. Ivar had never seen her so furious, so emotional. "You forget the people here, alive and present, who love you and you loose everything. Real people, here and now. Your brothers love you, Ivar. I love you! And I would've fought beside you to take back your home or died trying. But now? Now I fear that the righteous anger that once fuelled you has turned into the same lust for power that fuels Lagertha and Judith - the people that we once swore to kill."
"You're wrong." He answered bluntly, but Alvina could see the pain in those hypnotic blue eyes that told her all she needed to know. She knew this was a mask, a mask that he'd worn since Sigurd had died. She knew that he wanted to hide his pain behind power and war, that he was afraid to let his emotions loose. But how could she help someone who didn't want to be helped?
"Then show me I'm wrong." She pleaded, crouching beside him with her hands placed on his. "Please."
He looked down at her, his eyes growing cold as he clenched his jaw. "I can't." He answered, pushing her away and grabbing his crutch from beside him to finally walk outside. As he left, Alvina used all the strength within her to hold back her sobs as tears began to run down her cheeks. She didn't notice him turn back to look at her, she didn't notice the look of regret in his eyes as he almost came back over to her, she didn't notice his eyes drop to the ground in agony and shame as he turned and left once more. All she noticed was the pain that filled her chest as she tossed the stool he'd previously sat on at the door and yelled.
