Not Too Late

Freeze

Yn's POV

As we walk out of the great hall the air is chilly. The wind picks up and the cold air enters my lungs. "I'm sorry yn I really am" "Did he say what he wanted to do to me?" "Yea yea he did" I nod my head as we head into the middle of Kattegat. It's a big open area with stalls all around. I see a long pole embedded into the ground. As I walk I see the snow that's stuck on the ground. Winter's here. A scrawny big man stands beside the pole. We approach him. "Alviss this is Yn she'll be taking the punishment for the crime" He looks me up and down with a wickedness in his eye. "She'll do and she'll learn never to mess with a viking again"

Bjorn turns to me with a hint of concern in his eyes. "You have to strip half naked and he'll whip you ten times on the back and ten on the front before leaving you here for three days minimum" I nod my head in understanding. "Could I ask you only one thing?" "Yea sure" "Keep Igor away from me" with that I strip half naked, get on my knees and the whipping begins. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. I then drag myself up and hold my hands in the air as Alviss ties my hands up. He slides his disgusting hands down my bloody and bruised body. He cups my heat and I knew him in the nose.

He throws a punch at my stomach and I groan. He ties my feet around the pole, holding them in place. I see Bjorn hasn't moved. I give him a look before the ten whips begin. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. A tear escapes my eye as the cold chill air runs through my open wounds. "now you better leave her there King Bjorn" Alviss walks away and Bjorn stands in front of me. "I hope you do make it" I try to open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. I give up and just look at him. I watch as his back is turned to me and he walks off into the pitch black dark night.

*

Igor's POV

I wake up to see no one. I pull the blanket off of me and sit up seeing all of Yn's stuff beside me. Even her swords are here which she always has on her back. I get up and head into the throne room. I see Bjorn sitting on his throne but not Gunnhild. I walk over to Bjorn and he spots me immediately. "Where's Yn?" He holds my hands and looks me in the eyes. "She's .. busy at the moment okay and she'll be here in three days" "can I see her?" "She asked me for you to stay away from her" Typical. Yn always wanted to keep the world from me but she can't keep me from the world. "Point me in the direction of where she is or I'll venture off alone" Bjorn smiles and sits back, letting go of my hands in the process.

"You won't like the way she looks-" "I've seen her bruised and bloody before" "But have you ever seen her half frozen to death?" My lips part in surprise. Frozen? That could only mean one thing. "She's going to stay out in the cold for three days?" "You shouldn't have let that woman touch you then this wouldn't have happened" I feel the warmth in my face drain. This was my fault. If I just pushed her away and wasn't so scared, Yn wouldn't be paying the price for it. "I didn't mean for it to happen I was just scared" I run off to the bedroom and grab blankets and all her stuff. I run back into the throne room. "Where are you going?" I turn and face him, arms full of stuff. "To try and fix my mistake" with that I rush off in search of Yn.

I twist and turn through the whole town not giving a damn on who sees me. I turn a corner and stop immediately as I see a man throwing water at Yn who is strung up like an animal. I wait until he moves away when I approach her. Her eyes are closed and her breath is heavy. I start setting up my little space in front of her. I then make a contained fire that Yn taught me. "Igor?" I twist me head up with a smile. "Hey you're awake" I place a box down and step on it before pouring water in her mouth. She drinks it gratefully and sighs right after. "Igor you cant-" "I know but you've always kept me company so it's time for me to return the favour and I don't want to see you freeze to death"

"I love you Igor..." I smile and look at her fragile body. "I know" I boil water over the small fire and grabs cloth before cleaning her wounds. "They're going to scar aren't they" "yea buddy they are" I wash off all the dried blood. My fingers touch her icy cold skin. It's like she's a block of ice. I grab some berries and plop them in her mouth. She chews and swallows as her skin becomes more life like. I sit down in front of her and she smiles down at me. "You don't have to stay Igor" "oh I know" I plop a berry in my mouth "but I want to be here until you're able to get down" "This isn't your fault, she touched you" "and yet you are hanging there and not me"

No words can explain how guilty I feel. I see her like this most of the time but it was never because of my own actions. Or in this case what I didn't do. I look up to speak to Yn but she passed out. I sit back on the ground and wrap myself in a blanket. I lookup at her before my eye lids start to close.