Book two of Blind Love
After being saved from the Saxons and brought back to the man she loves, Ailbe has grown far less naive. Still a gentle soul with a heart of gold, Ailbe begins to find the balance between compassion and subservience. She becom...
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How do you explain the sun to someone who's never seen it?
A golden glow lit up the winter skies. Not a cloud could be seen over the horizon, just deep blue as far as the eye could see. Frost settled on the grass, small icicles forming on the eaves of houses and pristine trees.
Waves rolled over the shore, the song of a siren being lost in their gentle embrace. With the wind howling up on the hillside, the distant clatter of people was nothing more than a memory.
The soft scent of wild flowers filled the air like the sweetest Parisian perfume. A singular lonely tree sat by the edge of the cliff face, watching the waves as it had done for centuries.
Distantly, there was the hum and clatter of humanity long since buried. Ancestors long forgotten. And yet, time moved on. The world continued, never shedding a tear for those who'd loved and lived and been forgotten in the everlasting sands of time.
Ailbe walked to the cliff, her vacant eyes looking out into the vast distance. She often came here, just to imagine the scenery around her. To think of the world in a way that few dared to think. She wondered how many others had come to this point and pondered their existence long before she ever had. She wondered what their lives might have been like, and all the things they might have done. Perhaps one day, someone would wonder about her.
As Ailbe stood, the wind in her air and the salty sea scent surrounding her, her mind began to wander.
"Will you miss it?" Ivar asked, looking to her in curiosity as she sat braiding his hair - which he'd insisted she'd tell no one about. "Here, I mean."
Ailbe gave a shrug, thinking over his answer. "I'll miss my brother and sisters, and my nephew Brian. And I'll miss the places that I've come to love more than the people, like the moores. But I'm sure Kattegat will be just as comforting, and Ill have you there."
"You always see the good in things." He smiled, looking at her again. He was grateful for that, for her optimism and compassion. Such traits were rare, and he was glad that she'd found the good in him as she did with all else.
"I'll take that as a good thing." She grinned, kissing him gently. "Who knew the great Ivar The Boneless could be so soft?"
"Shut up." He answered, still looking at her with a smile.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." She chuckled.
As Ailbe sighed into the air, she couldn't help but smile. Once she'd stood in that very spot, crying over her seemingly eternal loneliness. Now here she was, soon to be married and to someone that she loved with all her heart as well.
She would've given everything, in that moment, for Ivar Ragnarsson. She would've torn apart the land and skies for him. And he would've done the same for her.
Ailbe winced slightly as pain shot through her chest, the arrow wound above her heart pounding in agony. Before she knew what was happening, she fell to her knees, only to be caught by a strong pair of arms.
"Hvitserk?" She rasped, her voice strained from the agony. "What are you-" She was quickly cut off by another surge of pain.
"Ivar sent me." He answered, lifting her up into his arms to seek help. "You're okay." He assured her as he watched small tears form in her eyes. "We'll get help."
"Ailbe what on earth were you doing out so late?" Her mother fumed at the young teen as her little siblings scurried to their seats.
"Haven't you heard mother?" She spoke with such concern and empathy a that it almost made the cold woman's heart melt. "A little boy in the village ate Wolf's Bane! I tried to help him-"
"That's not your problem." She told her daughter with a firm grip on her wrist as she dragged her to the table. "Now eat your dinner and go to your room. Stop worrying about some stupid boy that killed himself."
"He was just a child, mother!" She pleaded, but it was no use.
"Ailbe?" Hvitserk asked in terror as she squirmed in his arms before suddenly falling still, her eyes closing and her body growing limp and unmoving.
"Hvitserk what are you-" Ivar was cut short by the sight in front of him, only bringing back the memories of England. "What happened? What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know, she said it was her heart." Hvitserk explained.
"The arrow?" Ivar questioned quickly as she was carried away to her room followed by a healer.
"I don't know." Hvitserk answered, watching in dread.
Odin only knew what Ivar would do if he truly lost her this time.
