When Ivar meets a girl with flaming red hair and eyes that cannot see, he begins to wonder how a sightless girl can see so much beauty in the world... And in him.
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Ailbe had waited as her mother did business with the Norsemen all day. It sounded an awful lot like she was plotting war with them, and that she couldn't quite understand. Why would her mother want war? It made no sense. Surely peace was always preferable to war!
But that was not the only thing that befuddled her during the meeting. The voice of their leader, the one they called Ivar, was sharp and dangerous in a way that Ailbe hadn't at all noticed when she had conversed with him on the hillside. It was in his conversation with her mother that she understood why people feared him so much, for she had never quite realised before. His brother, Hvitserk, seemed much the same however. And while she scurried around the hall and poured drinks, she was grateful for his small jokes and brief conversations with her. He seemed friendly, and that was something she always enjoyed.
As morning became afternoon, Ailbe made her way outside to gather herbs from the forest as her mother had asked - something about her not being around these Vikings for too long. But Ailbe didn't mind, she enjoyed her strolls int nature and there was always use for more herbs. As the town's healer, she often used them up and so it was not uncommon for her to need more. Even if she was fully stocked at the moment, it could never hurt to have more.
As she strolled into the woods, wind in her hair and smile on her lips, she began to sing the sweetest of tunes that made even the birds envious. Her beautiful voice echoed through the trees gently as she skipped along, basket strewn over her arm. Sage, garlic, Goldenseal, Comfrey, Slippery elm, Lobelia, lavender, violet, and calendula. When her basket was full, Ailbe turned back to the village. She hadn't quite realised how long she'd been gone, but when she returned it was dark again. Of course, it wasn't as though she could've noticed the change in light anyway.
Just as she began to hum herself another tune, entering the hall with a smile that could light up any room, her mother's voice made her pause.
"Where have you been?" She almost yelled.
"Gathering herbs." The young girl shrugged as though the answer were obvious.
"It's been hours!" Her mother scolded. "We've talked about you being out after dark."
Though she loved her mother greatly and appreciated the woman's concern, Ailbe knew exactly what prompted it. Her sisters were allowed out after dark, they could do as they pleased. But her mother had always taken pity upon Ailbe. And that meant she'd always been coddled and received special treatment.
"I'm sorry mother, I didn't see." Ailbe replied flatly. She had no clue, of course, that her mother was still entertaining guests otherwise she would've never spoken like that. But they didn't seem to mind nevertheless. In fact, her words brought small smiles to both the ragnarsson's faces as they listened to the arguing. "Would it trouble you so if I tended to Brennus? His mother believes he has a fever."
"In the morning." Her mother spoke firmly. "The boy can wait."
"And if he dies?" Ailbe gasped, now worrying far more than was probably reasonable, but she'd always been that way. She'd always been driven by this need to help others, and the idea of putting herself first simply did not sit right with her. After much convincing from her mother, however, she sat for dinner beside her sister and brother. She didn't eat much, as worry seemed to consume her, but she still laughed and smiled with her siblings as her mother continued to discuss battle with the Vikings.
