Being in the wrong place at the wrong time was all it took for Adelasia's whole life to turn upside down. After being captured by the heathens raiding her city and taken all the way to the cold North, the youngest Ragnarsson takes an interest in her...
Life after the conquering of York turned out to be a lot more complicated than in Kattegat. Still, her duties as a slave were kept to a minimum, which, if anything offered her a lot of time to work on new clothes, but now they had settled in the castle of York, she'd been given her own room. It was small and had a hole in the outer wall that let in such cold that no wood could fight against it, but she was grateful for the privacy. Ivar turned more and more hysteric as the days passed as well, installing his personal guard and keeping to himself a lot, only creating more friction between the brothers.
"Still not finished?" Hvitserk asked as he took a seat next to her in the hall. He regarded her with childlike curiosity, nudging his shoulder against hers the way he always did as he went to sit close to her.
"This is a new tunic," she replied. She trailed her finger over the new leather, still rough and not quite supple and placed another tight stitch. She had finished Ivar's some days ago, but had not yet found the right moment to give it to him. "I can make it for you, if you'd like that."
Hvitserk only nodded, his gaze wandering over the inside of the hall. It was empty, most of the Vikings still celebrating and feasting on fresh kills outside, where there was plenty of space, which had been the exact reason that Alasia had picked this spot. Now, as she looked at Hvitserk, she was painfully reminded of how he had looked during the raiding of the church, with blood dripping from his chin and a murderous grin on his face. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to hate him the way she had before.
"You know that Ubbe is leaving tomorrow, right?" he asked, turning to look at her. She nodded quietly, dropping the fabric into her lap to give Hvitserk her full attention. He swallowed, his bright eyes flickering all over her face like he couldn't bring himself to focus on one point. "I might leave with him, but it depends on... some things."
She could feel her face drop and a hollow ache in her stomach. It didn't really surprise her to find that she didn't like the idea of Hvitserk leaving, even though it still made her feel like a traitor, because after all, now that Helga had died and Criseyde would certainly return to Kattegat with Ubbe, she would have no one to keep her company. Men and women alike shunned her, afraid to end up in Ivar's bad graces and he acted to her with such mood swings, one time offering her consolation in her grief and the other time lashing out at her for still believing in the same God after a half year still, that she didn't know what to think of it. Raising her eyes to Hvitserk, she tried to look hopeful. "What are these things, Hvitserk? Surely you cannot leave me alone."
