Vikings One Shots

E M B L A // H V I T S E R K (P2)

He stepped forward, his hands reaching for her shoulders. Embla pushed him away from her, letting out a grunt as she did, "I hate you!" She screamed out. "How could you do this to me?!"

Hvitserk looked at her with a blank look on his face, like he did not understand why she was so mad. "I was away for a whole year, did you really expect that I was not going to enjoy the delights I was offered?" He spoke so calmly like it was normal. 

"I do not understand, Hvitserk, I thought you loved me," Embla was upset and frustrated by his explanation. Tears spilled from her eyes as she balled her fists at her sides, she didn't think his words were good enough, after all this time, Embla expected better. "So, you expected me to sit here like the obedient little wife whilst you were out sowing your seed?"

"Well you are married to a prince," he shrugged his shoulders. "You are expected to wait for me, so, yes."

Embla let out a low growl, her anger getting the better of her. "If this is what being married means, I don't want to be married any more." As she opened her mouth to speak, her attention was diverted by a sound she heard. 

When she looked over, she found herself looking at Aslaug, in her arms was a bundle of blankets which contained a baby. "Son," Aslaug spoke quietly. "I believe this belongs to you." 

Hvitserk turned to see his mother, his eyes looked down at the bundle in her arms before walking over. Embla watched as her husband's eyes lit up when he laid his eyes on his son. Taking the baby into his own arms, Embla closed her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. When she opened her eyes again, she found none of this had disappeared, everything was actually happening around her. Hvitserk was still holding the baby and Aslaug was looking on with a mixed look on her face. 

"Embla," Aslaug spoke gaining the young woman's attention. "You will be happy to bring this child up with your husband, yes?"

Pushing her red hair over her shoulders as she adjusted how she stood, standing tall and proud, Embla simply shook her head. Her tears had dried but her face was blotchy, she didn't let that stop her from standing her ground though. "Hvitserk can lay with this woman and make a baby," she glanced back at her husband, "He can look after it."

She was quick to turn away from the people before her. Embla did not want to talk about it no longer, she wanted nothing to do with the child and certainly did not want to be anywhere close to it. "Em, you can't walk away," Hvitserk called after her as she got to the door. 

Turning her head slightly, she looked at her husband. Embla stared into his broken eyes, she hated seeing the pain behind them but this was hard for her too. Her heart was beating loudly and quickly in her chest as she looked at him with a straight face, there was no more words spoke before she slipped out the door. 

She made her way through the home before finally making her way to the outside world. Her breathing was quick as she panicked, realising there was no where for her to go. There was only one place for her to return to and she did not want to stay there. Her wiped her clammy hands on her clothes as she kept her head down, avoiding the stares as she got to the home herself and Hvitserk shared. 

Once inside, she sat in front of the door as she wiped away the tears that had fallen from her eyes making her face wet. Embla did not know what was next for her life but there was little left for her in Kattegat but shame. After a few moments, she got up from her spot on the floor, her mind was focused on what she needed to do before Hvitserk returned to their home. 

It did not take her long to gather the small amount of supplies she wanted to take with her, Embla didn't know where she was going, or how to start her life again but she wanted to do both of those things. Her eyes scanned around the hut, it was once her home but it was no longer a place she would feel safe. Walking back to the bed one last time, she sat on it, her hands pulling the furs that Hvitserk had left here when he left, close to her. Holding them against her skin, she inhaled the scent, the smell had waned over time but it was still there lingering. Standing again, she wrapped the untainted furs around her, she knew that they had been here with her all along whilst he was away making the smell only his. Embla took her belongings before leaving the hut, closing the door behind herself before slipping into the forest, disappearing from Kattegat unseen.