"This is someone else's love story."
chapter II, act II ✧ 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
"And you know what Ragnar Lothbrok?" the man threatened and Nero groaned in annoyance.
The girl had managed to avoid the entire Lothbrok family for most of the day, but it seemed that they couldn't avoid her. For the second time in that week, the girl had been trying to replace her knives, yet whenever she was just about sure she had found the perfect one, her king would intervene.
Her eyes trailed to the scene, Ragnar had a smile on his face even though his discontent was clear. She watched from a distance, trying to understand what the Odinsson would do. She wished to ask him if he had spoken to Ivar about England, "You know what?"
Nero knew not if she wanted to laugh or murder the man for his blatant disrespect.
If Floki or Ivar had been there, the man would no longer have any limbs attached to his body.
He spat on Ragnar's face, and she began walking towards him, anger flashing in her eyes, after all, he was still king, and she was much like his loyal war hound. Ragnar looked on the verge of tears as he bit back his tongue, "Thank you for your time."
"And if I had the mind to raid—"
"You men open your mouths only to regret your words," Nero snarled, punching the man square on his jaw as he fell back on his horse, holding onto it for support.
Ragnar was family, and no one messes with a wolf's family. She pulled his chin up so her eyes could meet his, she merely smiled before spitting on his face.
Her head spun with her hangover. She groaned once again. Fully giving up on her weapons, she dropped the man's furious face and went back home, deciding to rest as nights before raids were usually frantic.
Before she noticed, she was already stripping off her boots and cuddling herself in her hammock, sleep soon came to soothe her headache.
She skipped happily to the great hall, Floki and Helga following as they laughed at her. The moonlight gleamed over the building beautifully and Nero breathed out.
Both women looked at each other before stepping over the threshold, they smiled, nodding, knowing that Floki was happy because Ragnar was still in Kattegat. Because Ragnar still loved him.
"Nero!" Ubbe cheered, watching the girl walk in before his breath got caught in his throat and his eyes widened.
It was rare to see the shield-maiden in such clothes, but when she did wear proper attire, she looked like she belonged among the gods.
She smiled, rushing to the boys, and having honestly missed them after a whole day of loneliness, Sigurd stood, allowing her to sit in between him and Hvitserk, as far away as possible from Ivar and his slave.
Her eyes focused on the two, they held hands as Ivar pecked her cheek, smiling at her sweetly. She wanted to vomit. Rolling her eyes, she decided that she would get over whatever stupidity she felt for Ivar, even if that meant she would have to drink away her feelings.
Pouring mead to herself, Sigurd and Hvitserk watched in curiosity and silence, not knowing if she was still mad from the previous day, and not knowing the right words to say to the beautiful girl.
She chugged down her cup, before turning to look at Vit, "Cat got your tongue?" the boy didn't answer, making the girl... disappointed. He drank his ale, ignoring the girl's presence completely, Ubbe and Sigurd looked at him in confusion, "Has any of you agreed of going to England with Ragnar?"
"No, we must stay with mother," Ubbe reasoned, sipping his drink as Sigurd nodded, a smile on his face, no one could ever convince him to go to Wessex.
"I believe I must go then," she murmured, going in to down her drink and almost choking when a hand gripped her thigh forcefully. Her head tilted to the side in confusion as her eyes found Hvitserk's, who looked at her with a cold stare, there was no way he would allow her to go to England, "I mean, boys, seriously! We can not allow the king to raid on his own!"
"I am going with father," Ivar jumped in, she rolled her eyes at his voice as Hvitserk's hand relaxed around her, she instantly missed the rough feeling.
"Well, my prince, you don't count for much now, do you?" she snarled through gritted teeth, the brother's looked in between each other.
The girl was only rude to Sigurd and Hvitserk, and in all playfulness, she had never been that way to Ivar. Sigurd choked on his drink laughing, Vit slapped her leg under the table in reprehension, knowing Ivar was on edge because of his fight with his brother earlier.
From far away, she noticed two familiar people walking down the great hall, she shrugged it off before downing another cup.
"Is that — is that wolf?" Halfdan questioned, punching his brother in the arm to get his attention before pointing to a girl that sat by Björn's brothers, a grin on her face as they laughed about something, anything, "Is that the wolf?"
Her hair in a braided ponytail, messy as always, but this time, something about it made her even more beautiful. Her black long dress made her look like royalty. Hugging all her curves perfectly, all the hunting, training, even fishing, made almost every woman in town just as sleek as Nero.
The long-sleeved beauty, opened only at the shoulders, which were barely visible because of the white furs around her neck. Her eyes looked honey under the yellow light. The signature kohl of her family lined only one of her eyes, the other eye was already marked by her scar, which was what made the brothers sure she was the little fighter.
"Nero Gunnolf!" Harald screamed, opening his arms to the little girl who had fought by their side. They had grown fond of each other during the tough nights in the settlement before and after the war.
"Ah, yes! My favorite king! And he brought the man who wears the crown!" she joked, climbing over Hvitserk who snatched a glance at her ass before looking at her in confusion. The brothers laughed at her joke, "My king, Halfdan, how are you?"
"Björn didn't mention you would be sailing with us!"
"You are sailing with us?" she grinned, her teeth shining brighter than ever, something about that night made her irresistible, her arm flinging around Halfdan's shoulder as the two gentlemen looked at her in amusement, "Björn, you should have told me!"
The kohl in her eyes perfectly like Floki's and exactly like they remembered from the war in Paris, they smiled at the beautiful girl that now stood with them. Her scar made her even more pretty, "It's a pleasure to say we were there when you earned this."
Harald traced her scar gingerly and she smiled even wider, "It's always a pleasure to fight by me, you will know soon enough," she teased, making them laugh once again, she had grown fond of the two brothers, they were funny and spirited.
Björn, who was grinning at his crew, interrupted, eager to show them around, "Let's take them to meet my brothers," he walked away from the buffet, the trio following him as they still laughed around, eager to fight side by side, "Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd, and Ivar. Hvitserk is coming with us."
"The wolf, and two Ragnarssons, this raid will be a success," Halfdan smiled, punching Nero on the shoulder playfully as she tugged on his furs, grinning.
"I remember you, I remember all of you!" Harald assured, pointing at the three before slinging his arm around the girl that stood in between his brother and him, he ruffled her hair before continuing, "But you've all grown tall! Except obviously for pup here..."
She punched him playfully, eyeing the Viking, "Be careful, my king, you don't want to get beaten by this small pup."
"I'm not sure you would win that fight, brother," Halfdan teased, rearing the girl on as the boys looked at the three in confusion and amusement. They didn't know much about her story in Wessex.
"By the way she battled in Paris, I'm not sure myself," Harald laughed, the three were beaming to fight side-by-side.
"I am so much taller when I stand up," Ivar boasted, looking at the three with an amused yet annoyed smile.
Halfdan, not knowing what to say, looked at the boy through his hair, "I'm sure you wish you could come with us."
"Go to Hel," Ivar grinned, raising his cup as the awkward silence turned into laughter. Soon enough, Floki plopped behind Halfdan, grinning wildly at his friend, his giggles filling the room.
Nero settled in between the two Ragnarssons again, watching her friends leave with her father, "They are fierce warriors, Vit, we should be glad they are sailing with us."
The boy once again didn't answer her and she downed yet another cup, feeling her head lighten as she grew annoyed, grabbing his hand, she pulled him up and dragged him to one of the corners of the hall before forcing him to sit in one of the chairs.
"What is going on?" she whispered, her eyes searching for his but he avoided hers.
Once again, she earned no response. Growing both annoyed and worried, she climbed onto his lap, her legs on each side of his as she grabbed his face and forced him to look at her.
His gaze flickered up to meet hers, his eyes dark with lust and need, "Great, at least now you look at me."
She turned to leave, but his hands found her hips and pushed her down, finally willing to speak to her, "Did you mean it?"
"Did I mean what, Hvitserk?" she groaned, the light pressure on her waist being enough to make her grow lustful.
"About Margarethe, and I," the wolf's chest rumbled with a growl that she kept inside at the name of the slave.
"Why must you remind me that you've had her?" she snapped.
Yes, knowing that both Vit and Ivar had fucked the girl annoyed her to no end, of course she loved Ivar, yet she couldn't deny that she felt attracted to Vit and in all truth, she knew that she could love him if she ever got over the younger brother. She knew that such made her a bad person.
Before the boy could reply, Harald offered a toast and she stood up, her eyes finding the king's quickly as she screamed out "Skol," grabbing the nearest cup and downing it, not caring about the contents.