Bjorn Ironside Imagines

Choices (Part One)

"At least I do not have a wife to keep watch over." Ivar taunted. Before Bjorn could make a snide comment back Ivar continued. "If I did, she would not deceive me into bringing her on a raid just so she can hide with her God. Perhaps she plans to abandon you and your children?"

"You do not know what you speak of Ivar." Bjorn muttered. He made his way to the church and when he finally found it, he entered silently.

He stood beside you as you sat on one of the only pews still standing. He assumed you'd righted it, as well as a few other things which seemed oddly untouched after a raid so large.

You had been brought back to Kattegat after one of Ragnar's raids and Athelstan had with Ragnar to have you a free woman. He was not sure if it was Athelstan's pleas or his own that had convinced his father to allow it.

Bjorn had been their to help teach you his ways and he had thought, perhaps to hopefully, that you had taken to the customs. "These places. They are always uncomfortable, do you not think so wife?"

"I... imagine it is the cold." You said so quietly the only reason he heard you was due to the soft echo of your voice.

When he looked at you he saw you were tense, sitting rigidly, the way you had when you first arrived and he and Gyda would tease you. He muttered your name but you would not look at him. There were few moments Bjorn could recalled that caused him to feel uncomfortable around you. But this moment. It was not just discomfort. He felt guilty.

It was as if your refusal to look at him was a reminder that you had been stolen away and he'd kept you, something he wished to ignore so desperately, but was now forced to the forefront of his mind.

"You begged me to come. Left our children with my mother. Why?" He asked after a long silence. "Am I to wait for your God to answer me?"

"He has not answered me." You said shakily and he scoffed.

"Then I doubt he would respond to me." He moved to crouch next to you, keen eyes taking in your face as he tried to think of what he was supposed to say next. "What do you ask of him?"

"A sign of what I should do." You answered quietly. His hands rested on the armrest of your pew, fingers itching to stroke your soft skin to comfort you.

"You wish to return home... to your children?" He asked warily.

"No..." You answered too quickly and winced. "I mean... Yes... I... I should." You glanced at him but you didn't look at him. Focusing on the pillar behind his head instead.

"You should want to return home? Or you do?" He asked, the hurt clear in his voice.

"This was my home." Your answer forced Bjorn to breath in deeply, calming himself, he would not shout or lose his temper in a place so important to you.

"It has not been your home since we were young." He reminded you and you nodded.

"I know. But there were people who loved me here. That missed me, I am sure." You said, forgetting the weight your words had on Bjorn's heart as they flowed from your lips as if you'd wanted to say them for so long you couldn't stop them.

"Your children love and miss you, my mother does too." Bjorn's tone was like a starving man's begging for food. "I love you (Y/N)!"

When you fell silent again he rose higher on his knees and tried to cup your face. You turned away from him a little and he leant back on his feet. "I thought I would be killed... or... the women would talk about what..."

"What heathen men do to the women?" He finished for you. "I suppose I should leave you alone. Maybe then you will get your answers."

He slowed his strides to the door when he heard your gently footsteps tap softly on the hard floor. His eyes fell shut and his heart skipped a beat. You arms should have wound around his waist, hands finding his as your cheek would rest against his back, soft please to be careful and to not do foolish things.

But now there was only the kind warmth of your fingertips fighting the cold of the room. "You must decide where you want to belong. I will not do it for you. When you have found your answer... tell me." He continued to walk out of the stone building and shut the doors gently behind him.

You spent the night sat, thinking, questioning everything you could.

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"You are going to leave her here?" Hvitserk asked as he glanced from Bjorn to your sleeping form.

"Yes, She is at a loss and I cannot help her." Bjorn answered quietly as he scooped you up and moved you to look as if you had been hiding. He knelt down to stroke your hair and kissed your forehead softly. "I know you will be angry when you wake, you will just have to wait to tell me so."