"ѕнe waѕ тнe ғιre тнaт ĸepт тнe world вυrnιng."
She was a girl, outcast by her home in England and imprisoned for her crimes. That is until Earl Ingstad, (otherwise known as Lagertha Lothbrok) the ex wife of Ragnar Lothbrok, freed her and took her b...
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"You think you could fight me?" I heard Ivar question Sigurd from the other end of the boat. Here we go again. I rolled my eyes as I listened to their bickering continue.
"Think I could fight you? I know I can, brother." Sigurd replied cockily.
"Neither of you are fighting eachother. Our enemies are the Saxons, we don't need to kill our own men." Ubbe reasoned, trying to calm his younger brothers down.
"What do you think, Hvitserk? Do you think Ivar could beat me in a fight?" Sigurd turned to his elder brother.
"I think it could happen. You can both fight, Sigurd." Hvitserk shrugged in return.
"Really? This cripple? He shouldn't even be here! The only reason he was in England in the first place was because none of us wanted to go." Sigurd yelled. I could see Ivar growing increasingly infuriated. Sigurd had that affect on his younger brother, no one quite pushed Ivar's buttons like Sigurd did. I sighed, listening to the argument that we'd all heard a hundred times over ensue.
"Sigurd. Ivar is as much a son of Ragnar as the rest of us." Ubbe once again tried for peace. He was always mature about these situations, he knew they could both get out of hand but he also knew that once Sigurd pushed Ivar too far there would one day be no coming back. For now, he just pleaded for his brothers to get along.
"Yes, Sigurd. Why are you so desperate to prove yourself? Is it because you know our father chose me, the cripple, over you." Ivar smirked, watching as his brother fumed.
Ubbe and Hvitserk tactfully moved out of their way, standing at the side of the boat to watch what would happen.
"What about you, Aneira? Who do you think would win. Surely you know I could kill Ivar easily." Sigurd gloated.
I rolled my eyes and stood up, my hand tightly wrapped around my sword. I paced over to the brothers and looked them both in the eyes. "All I know is that if you two don't shut up with your competition of measuring dicks, I'll throw the both of you off this boat. Let's see how well you can swim."
They looked at me for a moment, unsure whether I was being serious or joking. I was serious. Soon laughter came from behind me as Bjorn wrapped an arm around me. "I'd listen to her. I don't think she's joking." He chuckled, amused by my agitated response.
"As if you could do that." Sigurd huffed egotistically. He always had a tendency to do this when he was in a mood.
Suddenly I kicked his knee cap down causing him to fall to the floor. My hand grabbed a hold of his arm, twisting it behind his back and I shoved his face onto the edge of the boat, my sword gently touching his cheek. "Don't test me."
Ivar watched this, trying to hold back a chuckle as his brother was shamed in front of the rest of the crew. Ubbe and Hvitserk did the same in the corner, giggling like small girls. I soon let Sigurd go and paced back over to the other end of the boat. My dark eyes focused on my blade as I sharpened it's steel edges.
"We make camp here until dawn." Bjorn announced to the fleet. I jumped off of our boat and steadily walked onto shore. My eyes wandered around the beach. I'd been here before.
"I bet you can't catch me!" I giggled, running through the golden sands that lay before us.
"How much do you bet?" Anwyn placed a hand on her hip with a sly smirk.
"Annie! Stop being such a bore." I heaved out a groan.
"You stop acting like a child." Anwyn retorted.
"We're ten, Annie, I think we still have time to have fun." I shrugged.
"No. We don't. We don't have time for anything. Don't you get it? You're nobility, you're important. Act like it! You're not just one of these savages, it's time someone put you in your place." Anwyn roared right back at me, stomping her foot on the Sandy dunes beneath her.
"What do you mean? I though we came here for fun." I sighed.
"Life will never be fun, so long as you are you, Aneira Branwen. I would kill to have a position such as yours. And all you do is mess around, waste your time and mine!" She stormed towards me, grabbing hold of my hair. "No. I will kill to have a position like yours."
"Anwyn, stop!" I screamed but before I could react, she had plunged my face into the ocean. Salt water stung at my eyes as I desperately gasped for air, only water filling my lungs. I kicked as hard as I could but Anwyn was stronger than I and all I could do was flop like a fish out of water. Soon my hand felt the smooth surface of a pebble beneath my grasp. I lifted it, whacking whatever piece of her I could find. She let go as I rolled onto the sand. I coughed up the salty liquid within my lungs.
"Why?" I croaked, tears brimming my eyes.
"You need to be taught a lesson." She repeated.
"Aneira, are you alright?" The familiarly friendly voice of Helga chimed through my ears. I smiled and gave her a nod. "Just remembering some things I'd long forgotten."
We strode onto the beach and I gave Helga a hug goodbye as I went to set up my tent.
"Not so fast." Hvitserk spoke before I could hide away in my tent for the rest of the evening. I turned to face him with a reluctant frown. "You aren't just going to leave me with those idiots, are you?" He gestured to Ivar and Sigurd who were already fighting again.
"What about Ubbe?" I asked.
"Thor knows. I haven't seen him since we landed, I think he's with Bjorn." Hvitserk answered.
I sighed, "Hvitserk, you know I hate being around all of... This." I gestured to the entire camp.
"Wonderful to know how much faith you have in our army once again, Aneira. But I don't mind going somewhere quiet." He shrugged.
I smiled, tapping his arm, "That desperate to get me all alone, huh?"
He chuckled back, "You have no idea."
"C'mon. I could use a walk." I spoke in return. Hvitserk held his arm out for me and I held onto it, laughing as he said 'mi lady'. We walked along the beach, chatting and laughing for what felt like only seconds but an eternity must've passed by. We walked along the long beach, leaving the sight of the others as the moon began to rise and then sun faded. One thing I wasn't aware of was Ivar's gaze following us throughout our travels. He watched us until he could no longer see us. This was something I would later come to find out in a less than pleasant way. Though, Ivar had never been known as a gentle soul. Who could've expected any different?
