The Daughter of Chaos

Chapter 3

"Eris" she heard Ivar call to her from the other side of the door "Eris are you alright?"

She attempt to stand up from her bed and winced in pain at the tenderness of her bruised and battered stomach. She dropped to the floor and brought a shaking hand to her stomach, audibly groaning as she dragged herself towards the door.

Once the door was unlocked she saw Ivar sitting on the floor in the doorway with a concerned expression on his face. He took in the sight of her and she tried her best to give him a small smile.

"Why have they done this to you?" he said angrily.

"I snuck into the dungeons to speak with your father" she admitted.

"And you were caught?" he asked.

"I had to strangle a guard to make him pass out before he saw my face" she explained. She felt a drop of blood fall onto her arm. "When he came to, he must have told Ecbert and he knew straight away it would have been me"

He slowly reached toward her face and wiped away the blood streaming from a cut on her cheek. She winced slightly at his touch.

"Gods I'm such an idiot" She rolled her eyes and leant her face into his touch.

"Why go into all that effort just to speak to my father?" he asked but there was no judgement in his words.

"I had to know why he was here" she shifted away from his touch and looked down at the small pool of blood on her lap "Do you know why?"

She saw him nod in her peripheral vision. She wanted to push him for more information. Why would Ragnar be willing to bring himself to his death? But she knew how much the topic would pain him.

Ivar couldn't help but take his eyes over Eris' beautiful gown. He had never seen such a dress before. Sure, the women at home, especially Queens and Lady's had some particularly beautiful clothing but he had never seen such a gown before. It's colours were so vibrant and the material was foreign to him. He couldn't help but note how revealing it was. But as a young man, he was in no position to complain.

"Your dress" he began, his words coming out like word vomit.

Eris watched as she saw his eyes dance between her shoulders, arms and ever so subtlty at her cleavge.

"My dress?" She asked.

"It is uh" Ivar shook his head and scratched at the nape of his neck "It is nice".

"Thank you" she said, nervously tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Just because Saxon women prefer to dress like nuns it doesn't mean us Hellions have to change our ways".

Ivar smirked.

"Let me help you clean up your wounds," he said.

He scanned the room looking for something to help her.

"On my bedside table," she said with a grateful smile and nodded towards it "There is a washcloth and a water bowl"

Once he retrieved the cloth and bowl, he set them down in front of them and began to soak the cloth. He held the cloth to her face and raised his eyebrow, asking for permission to go ahead. She nodded. Eris closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as the cloth touched her cheek. He dabbed lightly at her wounded skin being sure to be as careful as he could.

Once he had finished, he dropped the cloth back into the water and admired his work.

"Thank you, Ivar" she almost whispered, exhausted from the beating she had endured.

"Are you hungry?" he asked "Have you had anything to eat?"

She laughed "Ecbert invited me to sup with his family, although I never got the chance to eat before he had me dragged out. He does love a spectacle"