xx. Relief
Harald awoke with a start, cursing everyone outside for waking him up.
He was filled with rage, especially after what Lagertha did to him and having to spend days worrying about what she had done to his Kari.
Was she alright? Was she being fed? Was she warm whenever it would chill in the evenings? But most of all, the question that pounded in his skull every second, was she still alive?
He did not know if Lagertha would hurt her or if she had been killed. It was hell not knowing if his girl was in a place like his, wondering why he had not yet come for her. It wasn't like he was even in a position to help himself but whenever he imagined those clear blue eyes filled with a sense of hopelessness, it felt like a punch in the gut.
Being left alone to stew in his anger and used by the bitch, Lagertha, his rage was reaching new heights.
"Miserable bastards," Harald muttered under his breath before realizing what the sounds happening outside were.
His eyes widened as his ears were filled with the sounds of men fighting, swords being drawn, and finally, the door to his prison being opened.
A familiar man entered the door, followed by a few others. The man let out a clear sigh of relief. "King Harald."
"What the fuck took you so long?!" Harald demanded, pulling on his bonds, almost impatiently.
"Forgive us. The news and travel took us some time." One of his men answered, looking like boys being scolded by their mother.
Feeling a bit terrible for shouting at the men rescuing him and sensing that their window for escape was closing quite quickly, Harald gestured to his hands. "Alright, get me out of here."
All of them surged forward, their swords cutting him free as the ropes fell apart limply around him. He let out a grunt of pain as his hands fell, relief coursing through his arms as they did so. He did not think he could lift his hands any time soon.
Fuck, if this was how Kari was imprisoned as well, there was no doubt that she was probably in a lot of pain.
Harald closed his eyes, not wanting to think of how she could be suffering. He would get to her, he would find her. He pulled himself to his feet, only for his legs to crumple beneath him.
"King Harald, are you alright?" One of the men asked him, all of them looking down at him worriedly.
"Do I look alright to you?" Harald asked sarcastically, wondering why the group that had rescued him seemed a bit slow in the head. "Help me up!"
Two men reached forward to help him up as his legs regained feeling in them. They aided him as some of them already went off to clear the way. His eyebrows furrowed with worry as they assisted him outside, wondering what is stopping the others from killing them.
One of the men hurriedly assured him. "Don't worry, King Harald. Kattegat is covered in fog. No one can see a thing out there."
"Kari. The girl. Where is she?" Harald asked, letting them guide him to the boat.
"We don't have time. They could be on to us any moment now." Someone replied, beginning to unfasten the rope tying them to shore.
With the little strength he still had left, he bared his teeth at the man before smacking him on the head. "If you know where she is, get her here now or we're not leaving. I'd be perfectly fine waiting for everyone to capture us and imprison us all."
Of course, that was a bluff. He wouldn't want to return to that dingy prison of his but if threats were the only way to get across to his men then he had no problem with it, he was still quite angry after all.
"That woman is going to get us killed." One of the others muttered though some began to leave the boat, drawing their swords as they prepared to return to the fog.
"That woman is the only daughter of Ragnar Lothbrok. We can't leave her to be used by Lagertha. Get to her now and bring her back to the boat so we can leave this miserable place." Harald glared, using his most intimidating voice.
The man looked down, looking downright ashamed before he followed the others to get to wherever Kari was while Harald remained, his body weak but his mind thrumming with worry.
Harald has had enough of feeling helpless but if this is what it took to get Kari, then by the gods he would do it.
He could only pray that she was alright. For all he knew, she could be screaming for help right now.
Oh Kari, please be alright.
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"Fuck this! Fuck Kattegat! Fuck everything!"
Kari cursed out, running blindly into the fog swarming Kattegat.
After struggling to cut the thick ropes around her wrists for hours, she finally managed to cut in between them. It was agony as she watched it break thread by thread.
When it fell apart, she didn't waste any time, not even untying the cut ropes from her wrists as she scrambled to her feet.
She took a moment to get her body to get used to standing, her back and her thighs aching from the effort. If she were ever to return here, she would make sure to imprison Lagertha and get her to feel how painful it was to be stuck on your arse all day.
Looking around, she spotted a wooden plank and grabbed it, hoping to use it as a weapon. Cautiously, she pushed the door open slowly to see only one guard.
Not thinking about it for a second, she opened the door fully and swung the wooden plank at the guard's head as hard as she could.
He fell in an instant, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. There was no doubt that he would wake up with a pounding headache and a huge bruise on the side of his face.
She let out a soft whoop of victory before she looked around, seeing nothing but fog everywhere. She didn't know where to go, didn't know where Harald was. She had to find him.
If they had treated her that badly, she could only wonder how they treated the man who had commanded the attack on Kattegat.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded from behind her. A gasp crawled up her throat but she suppressed it, not wanting to reveal her position. The person would not have seen her yet but once she is spotted, it was back to her prison.
It was too late to do anything about the unconscious man, so Kari did the only thing she could do. The thing that had landed her where was now. She ran.
Now here she was, running to wherever she could go, cursing anything and everything in this miserable kingdom.
She turned a corner, hearing the sound of water. She was close to shore then. Turning another corner, she was faced with a group of men.
"Look, it's the girl!" One of them pointed out, their eyes filled with surprise at seeing her free.
Kari gulped, raising the wooden plank threateningly. "Take a step closer and I'll kill you."
"Look, we were sent by-" The man didn't get to finish his sentence as he doubled over in pain after being smacked in the torse by the plank.
"I don't care if you were sent by Lagertha. I'm not going back there." Kari spat out, pointing the plank at the remaining men who looked almost impressed by her display of bravery.
"We don't have time. Grab her!" One of the men thought up, all of them rushing toward her.
Kari opened her mouth to scream, only for them to gag her and disarm her. It took all of them to restrain her as she was tossed over someone's shoulder and jostled almost painfully.
They began running, almost as if they were afraid of being caught. Kari continued to hit whoever and whatever she could until she realized what they were doing.
They were running away from where she had come from. They were running away from Kattegat. They weren't with Lagertha.
Before she could think about anything else, she was deposited, almost dumped into a wooden surface. A boat, already being untied from where it was anchored.
Kari glared, whipping out the gag to start demanding answers from the men when she spotted a familiar figure at the other end of the boat.
It was him. He was here. Harald was alive.
"Trouble!"
"Harald?"
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Hello everyone! So we see them leave Kattegat in this chapter which means that they'll get to Vestfold soon. Not that things would become easier though :,). Where's the fun in that teehee?
Also isn't it funny when Harald is worrying so much then the scene just cuts to her cursing, just goes to show that they don't really know each other that well yet. Stay tuned and sending you all my love <3!