Weaknesses Can Be Strengths (Ivar The Boneless Fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty-Five Part Two

Ivar's POV

I sat down with Heahmund and played Kubb. I was starting to grow competitive and laughed when I took away one of his blocks.

Hvitserk came into the hall with some food on a plate. He munched on the meat loudly. He sat down next to the fire and put his feet up while he ate.

"We will be fighting against your brothers. Yes?" Heahmund asked.

"Yes. Perhaps even my brother Bjorn, if he returns from his travels." I replied.

"Do they frighten you, your brothers?"

I chuckled at his dumb question. I noticed in the corner of my eye, Hvitserk watching me closely. "No. Maybe Bjorn, just a little. I don't find him very smart, but he is a great warrior. They call him Bjorn Ironside."

"And the woman, the one who killed your mother?"

I gritted my teeth, angrily. "Lagertha. I've sworn to kill her. And she knows that I'll do it. She just doesn't know how bad it's going to be."

"Where will you fight?"

"I don't know. Perhaps they'll blockade themselves in Kattegat. The main town. "

Heahmund proceeded to make his move. "That would be foolish."

"Maybe you can help me think of a strategy." I shrugged.

He laughed at the suggestion. "You would trust me to do that? Even though I don't care which side wins?"

"Ah, but you want to win. I see that and I want to be around people who want to win. What they do afterwards, who cares?"

"The fact is, I will only fight for you because I am certain, as certain as I can be, that God wishes me to do so. That I am part of some plan which I cannot comprehend."

"Then you believe, like us, that you are fated, huh?" Hvitserk said injected into the conversation I didn't say he could be in.

"No. I still believe I have free will. I choose to fight for you." Heahmund responded.

"If you are fated, it doesn't matter if you choose or not. You simply have the illusion of being free to choose." I injected.

"I don't know." My brother started.

I turned back to look at him. "Excuse me?"

He adjusted himself in his seat. "I just don't know if, when I joined your side, whether it was fate or free will."

"What does it matter? Hmm?" I snapped at him. I wondered if he only stayed at the sight of Halfrid. She went to see my brothers before their journey. Did she say something that made him stay?

He didn't reply, he just shrugged and continued his meal. I turned back to the game.

After ten minutes of not much talking, I noticed Heahmund's glances towards the bracelet I still wore on my wrist with Halfrid's initials.

"What does your bracelet say?" He asked me curiously. He seemed to be trying to warm up to me.

I looked down at it and smirked slyly. "It has a girl's initials." I could tell Hvitserk was grinning.

"Is it that girl who follows you around?"

"Her name is Halfrid." I added.

"I watched her bite a man's ear off before killing him." Heahmund stated.

I smiled darkly. "She was blessed from the gods, making me the luckiest man in the world."

Halfrid's POV