Virago - Ivar The Boneless

Sweetness

Hvitserk waited, much time passed before he followed his friend back to her home. He knew at this time she'd be much closer to being asleep, he would feel more comfortable should this be the case. He was not planning to go to her home like Sigurd had, instead he intended to go there and just hold her. She was his closest friend, he could not afford to mess things up, life was strange and he knew in an instant things could change. 

When he entered where Iona slept, he noticed everything it was dark, not a shred of light hit the room. Standing in the doorway, he let his eyes adjust to the change and when it did he saw Little Bear laying in her bed. Her eyes were closed and her furs were pulled close to herself, he noticed that her face looked pained. 

Reaching for her shoulder, he slowly shook her awake, her eyes opening widely and staring at him. "You came?" She asked surprised that he was here. 

"What is it you dream about?" He asked her as he took a seat on the bed near to her legs, his hand resting on the bed beside hers. His eyes scanned her face, he wished he knew what was running through her mind, what she really thought. 

Little Bear sat up, her eyes on his as she thought of the faces in her dreams. "I saw a woman, her face beautiful, her hair blonde and braided much like myself." Iona wonder who the woman was, she was eerily familiar but she couldn't place her finger on it, no name sprung to her mind. 

Hvitserk examined the young blonde, she was very different to look at. He wondered is she could feel that change too. She was thin, almost gaunt in the face, her hair looked limp and sad and her scarred face made her look almost like a new person. She would always be beautiful in his eyes but he knew others would see her in a different light, people could be cruel to women who had their beauty changed. 

"And two men," she furrowed her brows. "Both with face tattoos, both kind to me, both with looks of determination." Hvitserk knew who she referred to, King Harald and his brother, Halfdan, two men who had been around and seemingly made an impression on the young blonde. "I wish I knew who these people were," she shrugged her shoulders as she looked at her friend. "Hvitserk," she spoke his name quietly as she looked at him with sad eyes. 

He looked at her, gone with her flirty demeanor from before, now she looked a little lost. Flicking his boots from his feet, he then laid his sword on the ground beside them before standing at the side of her bed. "Let me in," he said as he motioned for her to move over. 

Widening her eyes, Iona obeyed before shuffling over in the bed laying back down. Hvitserk climbed in next to her, he turned to her, putting an arm around her as she put her back to him. Pulling her close to him, Hvitserk couldn't help but smile to himself. "I'm always going to be here for you," he told her in a quiet voice. 

She moved her hand down and held hers over the one which was wrapped around her. His skin was cold but it didn't matter at that moment in time. "Thank you," sadness laced her voice as she thought about the words he had told her. She wondered if there was more to what he said, after all, there was still so much she needed to know about herself. 

The young blonde had learnt to stay hidden, it was almost like a magic trick of hers. Many days had passed and on this day, she found herself standing outside of a room which Hvitserk, King Olaf and Canute were in, the door was slightly ajar as she listened to their words. 

"Do you think she should come with us?" King Olaf asked. 

Iona knew they were talking about her, she'd been there long enough to know he did not have any other woman who he cared this deeply for. Of course she was on their agenda, she was a problem and she knew it. She didn't know where they planned to go, she didn't know who they planned to see but she knew she was truly lost. 

"If we take her she might regain her memory," Canute spoke. He sounded almost optimistic as he said the words. 

A sigh could be heard before Hvitserk took his time to tell his opinion. "She deserves to remember who she was, who she is, but taking her with us might change everything. Her loyalty has always been to him. It was him over us all, him over her brother, him over her mother. It will take one moment-"

"It could take one moment and she could be the one to blow this all open. Tell me, Hvitserk, does your brother feel the same about her?" King Olaf asked. 

"Much has changed between them. His wife is pregnant, she believes he is a God, she has changed him." Little Bear listened to Hvitserk's words, she wondered if she was meant to feel something, if a sadness should have been spreading over her but instead she felt nothing. 

Taking a couple of steps back, her footsteps silent, Little Bear looked away making sure no one could see her. She knew she was wrong, she'd been creeping around and listening in on a conversation. Turning away, she walked out of the corridor she was in, her hands shook as she headed towards the great hall. 

Once there, she sat in front of one of the fires letting the heat flow through her body, Little Bear tried to forget what she had heard. She knew that was not the same person, not that she knew who she was before. The flames danced in front of her eyes, the colors were amazing and they mesmerized her as she got lost in the flames.