Virago - Ivar The Boneless

Are You Scared?

Little Bear had always been intrigued with going somewhere new. With Bjorn's approval, she would be joining them on their revenge mission over the death of their father. The brothers had argued about who would lead them into battle, Iona never spoke any opinions, she only watched and listened. Bjorn was the leader, for now, she knew things would change over time. 

When it came to the day of leaving Kattegat, Little Bear noted that she was one of a handful of women that were going along. The journey overseas was something Iona enjoyed. Sitting at the edge of the boat, she watched as the wave changed beneath the boat, watched as the clouds changed shape in the skies. 

"What are you doing?" She didn't turn her head hoping to ignore the person who was trying to get her attention. She knew they were due to how close the voice was. Sigurd sat close to her on the boat, facing her with a smile on his face. "You have been avoiding me."

Little Bear didn't want to talk to him, after what he did to her she wanted to kill him. She also knew making such a rash decision would probably cause too much tension between herself, Bjorn and the other Ragnarsson's. Keeping her eyes on the skies, she tried to think of other things, if she thought of Sigurd then she would only think of the unspeakable things he had done to her. 

He reached out to her, she shuffled back as she looked at him with wide eyes. "So, I have your attention now," he noticed as he looked at her. "I have missed you."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "You have missed what you thought you could have." She shook her head, "I have missed the person who was my friend."

"I am your friend," she heard him say through gritted teeth. 

Night had drawn in quickly, the only light was the stars that guided the boat. There were only a few people on the deck, most others in their beds for the night. Iona had chosen to stay awake, keeping her eyes on the stars, seeing things that calmed her. 

"You pretend like it is something you never wanted," he told her. 

"You raped me," the words tumbled from her mouth in a hushed whisper. 

Sigurd shook his head as he smirked, "It cannot be rape when you wanted me too."

She stood up, he followed her actions, getting to his feet quickly. "You are disgusting," she spat her words at him.

Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her closer to him, she pushed him away as she released herself from his grip. "I promise you, one day you will feel the same way about me," Sigurd told her before he walked away. 

Leaning over the side of the boat, Iona let her hands submerge themselves in the flowing water. She needed to wash off his touch, her body feeling dirty from the moment his skin came into contact with her own. 

Time passed slowly, the eyelids of the blonde began to droop before she decided she had to brave it and try and get some sleep. Leaving the side of the boat, she headed down below the top deck. 

Looking around, she saw all the beds that occupied the room. In the corner of the boat was a hanging curtain, she walked passed all the sleeping people, her eyes recognising many of the people she passed before she got to her destination. Cautiously she headed behind the sheet that separated the main room from this area. 

Her eyes widened when she found a bed behind it, her eyes glanced over the owner of the bed. The brown-haired Ragnarsson looked so at peace when he was sleeping. Turning away from him, she kept behind the curtain close to his bed as she removed her fur coat. There were no spare beds due to the shifts of sleeping, she could just make herself a small spot on the floor to sleep on. If she kept in the corner, the other side of Ivar's bed, she might get some sleep and no one might notice her there. 

Playing the fur coat on the floor, she took off her boots before stripping out of the armoured top she wore leaving her long-sleeved tunic on before taking a deep breath then laying on her fur coat. She felt a shiver over her body as she laid there, her cloak too small to wrap over her but the bottom of the boat too cold to lay on with nothing between herself and the wood. 

As she stared at the wall, her back to the world, she heard movement. Someone close was shuffling in their bed. "What are you doing?!" The voice of Ivar was mildly angry, tired and hushed all in one. 

Turning over, she looked up at him, he was leaning over the side of the bed as he looked at her. "Trying to get some sleep," she wrinkled her nose as she spoke to him. 

He wanted to strangle her then and there, of course, she was trying to get some sleep, he was not stupid. "Why are you on the floor next to my bed?" He rephrased his question to her, his voice still a whisper. 

Sitting up, she had her face close to his, inches between them. "Because there are no other beds," she raised her eyebrows as she kept eye contact with him. Even in the dark, she could see the brightness of his eye colour but also the darkness behind them. 

"You can't be here in the morning," he told her. He didn't want her watching him when he woke if she was there when he could out of the bed, she would see his legs. The point of the thin sheet was to keep people away, to have that privacy to himself. 

Keeping close to him, she tilted her head to the side. "I'm want to sleep, Ivar," she did not want to argue with him. She did want some things, her eyes moved from his eyes, glancing at his lips for a second. 

When he stared at her, he could feel the tension between them. She was a beautiful person, the blonde of her hair made her more attractive but she was the daughter of the woman who had killed his mother. He had not forgotten, the revenge he was seeking was for his father but he would never forget where this girl came from. 

Iona felt the tension between them. When she looked back into his eyes, he was frowning as he thought of his mother in his head. She had to prove herself to him, prove that she was nothing like her usurper mother. 

All the thoughts in his mind were fresh as they kept eye contact for far too long. He noticed the colour of her eyes changing, even in the dark, he saw the colour turn to a black. "You are scared," he smirked as he whispered the words to her. 

She did not speak in return afraid that her voice would betray her. There were various reasons that fear flowed through her veins. 

"Why are you afraid?" He asked her as he leaned a little closer, the space between them was less than a few centimetres. "Do I scare you, Iona?"

The shivers flowed through her body when he said her name. "I know what you are capable of," she dodged the question. "None of that scares me," she watched him carefully. 

Grabbing her hair, his hand roughly balling it in his fist, "Are you scared of me now?"

She could feel his breath against her skin, she stared into his eyes, there was nothing wanted more than to kiss from right now. She could feel the power he held over her, she knew that her life needed someone like Ivar in it, someone who could rival her thirst for evil things. 

"Iona," the way he said her name made her widen her eyes. 

Little Bear shook her head, her right hand holding onto his bed. "No."