Stringed Up

Chapter 02

The silvery light of the moon flooded in through the window, keeping Eivor company as he laid awake.
The castle was silent now, the feast long since over.
He had been given a nice room with a comfortable bed and furs but still he couldn't seem to find any rest.
Everytime he closed his eyes he saw Ivarr, the Dane that despite the chains around his wrists fought like a warrior.
Eivor spent a long time wondering how the younger had so easily claimed a place in his thoughts but found that he came up empty.
Maybe it was just the part of him that wanted to be better, maybe that was just the easiest way of seeing it.

Eventually, just before the sun rose over the horizon, Eivor fell into a restless sleep but even there grey-blue eyes haunted him.
He dreamt of the Dane but there were no bruises, no scars. He looked healthy and if Eivor were honest to himself he would be able to admit that he looked beautiful.
Ivarr stood right in front of him but when Eivor tried to close the distance between them, he found that he couldn't. For every step he took towards him it seemed as if Ivarr was taking one back without moving at all.
He couldn't reach him, forced to watch as bruises and cuts appeared on his skin, forcing him onto his knees as he screamed and wailed. Ivarr had buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking only slightly now but when Eivor called out his name and the Dane looked up there was nothing where his eyes had once been.

Eivor woke with a start.
He had to find Ivarr and soon or he wouldn't be able to find any rest.
The thoughts of what could be happening to him this very moment accompanied Eivor throughout his entire day, causing him to zone out when people spoke to him or find himself in places he didn't mean to go in the first place.
Wherever he went however, those stormy eyes accompanied him, burned deep into his very soul.
They reminded Eivor of the sea that separated him from his home, the sea he had crossed in search of a new life. They called out to him just as the salty water had all this time ago and Eivor found himself once again wishing to follow that call.  

Then finally night fell over the castle like a dark veil. Eivor was pacing his room, waiting for the halls to grow silent before he slipped out of his room.
Eivor moved quietly through the dark halls and stairways, allowing his senses to guide him in this unfamiliar place.
Finally, after much more time than he would have liked, he found his way to the dungeons.
The two soldiers from the day before were guarding the door though when Eivor moved closer he found them both asleep.
He would rather not kill them to avoid drawing suspicion so he took the key from the taller of the two carefully and then slipped through the door as silently as he could.

The dungeons were a horrible place, dark and moist with a stench in the air that Eivor identified as that of decay.
The drengr ignored the prisoners as they reached out for him, thinking that he had come to save them. He only scanned over them, hoping to find Ivarr but without success.
"I'm looking for a Dane! The one with the scarred face", Eivor called out over the others.
For a moment he feared he had woken the guards but they were used to noise apparently, still snoring peacefully.
It was an old Norseman that answered Eivor. He had stayed in his corner, not even reacting to Eivor's presence until now.
"Ivarr you mean? He isn't here with us. Not anymore."
For a second, Eivor's blood ran cold. Was he already too late?
The man nodded towards another staircase that Eivor had seemingly missed on his way there.
"Thank you, old man"
And then he was off, leaving the other prisoners behind.

When he reached the end of the staircase and entered the cell was met with near complete darkness. He could hear the rats scurrying about rather than seeing them and found himself pulling his cloak tighter around himself to fend of the cold.
For a moment he had almost forgotten why he was here in the first place, then his eyes seemed to have adjusted to the dark and he could make out a person against the wall opposite him. He made quick work of lighting his toarch then approached him slowly.
Ivarr didn't react to the light at first and Eivor almost thought he was sleeping before he raised his head, leaning it back against the stone wall.
"You again... Did Rhodri send you?"
"I sent myself"
The Dane smirked slightly, closing his eyes. He seemed tired but Eivor figured that it was hard to find sleep in a place like this.
The torch was placed in the mount on the wall before Eivor knelt down in front of Ivarr.
"So what do you want?", he cracked one eye open then seemed to decide it wasn't worth it.
"I wanted to see you again"
"Well here I am."
Eivor sighed, searching his bag for the food he had brought. It was only an apple but it was something and it wasn't rotten.
When he looked up again, the Dane was staring back at him. In the light that the fire cast, he could see that he was even more bruised now, with shallow cuts far too close to his eyes.
"I brought you food and something to drink."
"Why bother?", Ivarr asked, his chains clicking as he tried to sit up a little straighter.
"Because you are Dane", Eivor replied, lacking a better response, "a warrior. You shouldn't be kept here like an animal."
Ivarr chuckled, leaning his head back once more.
"Go take it", Eivor urged when the younger made no move.
"I don't need your help", Ivarr hissed but his growling stomach betrayed him.
"You're proud. I can see that but right now the only place that pride can lead you is Helheim. I swear to you that no one will ever hear of this."
Ivarr seemed to consider his words then tentatively reached out to take the apple.
His fingers brushed Eivor's palm and the older almost flinched away. The other's hands were cold as ice.
When Eivor looked closely he could see the Dane shiver every so often. He was trying to hide it and would have almost succeeded but now Eivor could see the signs, the blueish lips, the trembling, the way he tried to preserve some warmth by wrapping his arms around himself.
Eivor took off his cloak, wrapping it around the other before he could protest.
"How did Rhodri capture you?"
"A raid went wrong", Ivarr replied, his eyes staying on the floor. It was clear that the memory of what had happened still haunted him. Of course it did he had to live with the consequences every day.
"I haven't seen the stars in so long..."
Eivor frowned, patting Ivarr's leg in a rather miserable attempt to offer some comfort.
"I'll make sure you'll see them again."
"Empty words", Ivarr shook his head, the glimpse of vulnerability gone once more.
"I make it a promise, I make it an oath on Odin's spear."
"Do you know what happens if you fail to keep an oath like that?"
Eivor nodded.
"Odin's rage would be upon me and all my descendants until the end of time."
"You are a fool to swear oaths like that", Ivarr muttered as he pulled the cloak tighter around himself.
He was right of course, oaths like that were not something to be taken lightly but the glimmer of hope he found in Ivarr's eyes made Eivor think that it had been the right choice.
"I will have to leave soon", Eivor mumbled, watching as the other finished the apple.
"Stay. Just a little longer, please."
The Dane glanced up at him and who was Eivor to deny him that wish?
So he sighed and sat down next to Ivarr with his back against the wall.
"The guards really love you, don't they?", Eivor asked, glancing at the chains that kept the Dane in check.
"I killed quite a few of them. They got scared.", Ivarr shrugged.
"Why does Rhodri keep you alive then?"
The Dane didn't respond, his eyes taking on this far-away look that told Eivor he had to change the subject.
"You're from Denmark?"
Ivarr hummed in agreement.
"I came to England with my brothers a few summers ago. I wonder where they are now."
"I came here with my brother as well.. He sent me here", Eivor explained, remembering how Ivarr had reacted when he found that he was here to make a deal with Rhodri.
The younger hummed, leaning his head against Eivor's arm. It was a small gesture of trust, one he wouldn't have expected from a proud man like Ivarr. But he was tired, worn out and now Eivor had made him a promise of new life so who could blame him really?
Silence settled over them after that and when Eivor looked down he found that Ivarr had fallen asleep.
It was heartbreaking to take the cloak from him and leave him behind in this wretched place but when Eivor left it was with the promise that he would soon return.

It was in the evening of the following when he sought out Rhodri once more.
Again he found him in his dining hall, eating.
The king once again didn't look up when he entered but this time Eivor found he wasn't as bothered by that but he was angry, burning rage cursing through his veins as he gripped one of the knifes, slamming it down on the table so hard it got stuck inside the wooden surface.
Rhodri did look up at that, a bewildered expression on his despicable face.
"That Dane you keep. What did he do to you?"
Eivor's voice was calm, he was aware of the guards that had jumped into action around him but if he died here there would be no deal. They all knew that.
"He came here to raid and God saw it fit to punish him."
"What your God wants is unimportant to me. I want the Dane to be part of the deal."
Rhodri chuckled at that.
"I would have offered you to have him for the night if you had asked nicely."
Eivor took a step back, confused.
"Yes, I know you Danes. You probably sleep with your goats too, don't you?"
"Is that what you did to him?", Eivor hissed, too quiet for the guards to hear.
The smirk on the king's face was answer enough.
Eivor grabbed the dagger, holding it to Rhodri's fat neck. Around him swords were drawn, but Eivor ignored them. Oh how he wished to drive the blade into the soft flesh, allowing the blood to paint the floors a deep red. It would be less of a waste than allowing it to give life to this monster of a man.
"I said I want him part of the deal. The Dane comes with me."
"I fear that won't be possible. If he us so valuable to you that you would dare threaten a king then you will have to bring me at least three times the promised amount."
Eivor growled but retraced the dagger, burying it inside the wooden table once more.
He had acted too emotionally, now it would be even harder to save Ivarr.
" Your brother will hear of this", Rhodri called after him as Eivor stormed out of the hall.
Ivarr was beyond his reach for now. He'd have to find allies and speak to his brother about what had happened here.

That same evening as Eivor found himself atop his horse, riding homewards, he clutched the amulet around his neck tightly, asking Thor to protect Ivarr, to protect the man that had found a way into Eivor's heart that he had never known to even exist.