The Daughter of Chaos

Chapter 20

Eris was taken to a healer right away. Meda stayed by her side the whole time and was fussing over her but all Eris was worried about was Ivar. An incredible amount of guilt consumed her, as she felt responsible for Sigurd's death. When the healer was stitching her up and applying healing balms and bandages, she cried, but not because of the pain. Sigurd's words cut her deep and in the moment she wanted nothing more than to see him suffer for daring to talk to her and Ivar like he did. Now he was dead, she didn't know if she would ever be able to forget the look on his face when he fell down in front of her with his snake eye drained of life.

"Ivar..." Eris said softly.

The moment the healer let her go and she managed to convince Meda that she didn't need her constant protection, she found Ivar sitting alone in Ecbert's throne room. He was facing away from the door.

Ivar's back stiffened when he heard her voice and without turning around he said "Are you alright?". 

"I'm fine. Never mind about me" She said, rushing to his side and kneeling in front of him "Are you alright?" She gingerly placed a hand on one of his knees.

He simply nodded but she could see the glossiness in his eyes. He was looking straight through her.

"Please don't torture yourself over this" Eris pleaded. Her guilt was already severe and looking at the once powerful man diminished to nothing but a blank stare only made her feel worse. "Sigurd... he...he pushed you too far. Both of us in fact..."

"My brothers will never forgive me for this" Ivar said, his eyes finally connecting with hers for just a moment.

"They will" She smiled weakly but it quickly faded when she saw his scowl. "They just need some time". Ivar rolled his eyes helplessly, clearly not sharing the same hope that she did. She climbed into the chair beside him and sucked in a sudden intake of breath and winced.

Ivar flicked his eyes down to her stomach "You're still bleeding".

She hadn't noticed her blood was oozing through her simple cream linen dress. She must have re-opened a stitch or two when she was running around trying to find him. "It's a deep cut but nothing I can't handle" She sighed "The healer has told me not to train for a while. It will heal faster if I try not to overexert myself". 

He simply nodded. She wanted nothing more than to pull Ivar into her arms and let out a lifetime of tears, not for her, but for him and Sigurd. But from Ivar's cold answers and lack of eye contact, she knew doing so would be of no help.

"Do you want me to go?" She asked, almost in a whisper "I can give you some space if you wish-"

"No" He grabbed onto her hand and turned to face her. He shook his head and blinked away the wetness in his eyes "Don't leave me".

"I will never leave you, Ivar" She offered him a small smile that he returned.

---

They held a funeral for Sigurd. The Viking tradition was not too dissimilar to the Hellions but for them, it was the Ferryman who would guide Sigurd to his next life. Eris didn't utter a single word as Sigurd's funeral pyre was set ablaze. Not only were flames scorching her skin but also the burning glare from Bjorn's eyes. Ivar received a similar treatment, but he had the judgement of all of his brothers to bear. 

"I know what you are all thinking. But it is not true. I didn't mean to kill him. He made me kill him" Ivar announced to his brothers and Meda who were all gathered under a pergola. The army had moved out of Wessex. Bjorn simply scoffed at his little brother. "He taunted me, he made fun of me. He hurt Eris." He flicked his eyes over to Eris who was sitting alone on the ground in a far corner. She hadn't said much at all to anyone since Sigurd's death, not being able to find the words to say she was sorry for her part in it. "Not just with his words but physically. What was I supposed to do? What kind of a man taunts and tells lies about his own brother?"