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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It didn't take Ailbe long to grow tired of the festivities. She struggled to understand her company and had never seen so many people in one place before.
So, naturally she disappeared into the quiet.
As Ivar watched her go, he followed her put of the quiet hall into the silent darkness outside. It reminded him of his youth, how he'd hate being around so many people when all he heard were sniggers and looks of pity upon his family for the crippled son that tarnished their great name.
But since he'd become King, he needn't skulk off into the dark with his fears and self loathing. For he was king and he had proven himself, and now he would prove himself further with his beautiful wife. Surely they'd all envy him, and soon his brothers would tarnish his great name instead of the other way around.
"Are you alright?" He asked quietly, as though the question was foreign to him. He'd often heard Hvitserk use it when he cared about a girl but he rarely used it himself. He'd rarely cared.
Ailbe gave a smile that could turn the night into day when she heard his voice, but her eyes remained weary and exhausted. "I'm just tired." She answered. "I've never seen so many new people before."
Of course, he hadn't even thought about that. Ailbe was from a small village where she knew everyone. Even when she came to England, she was familiar with all her kinsmen and the majority of his own warriors.
But now she had travelled far away from her home with none of the people she'd known before. Kattegat was much larger and full of new people, all of whom wanted to meet her. And even for someone as friendly as her, it must've been straining. Especially considering her already introverted demeanor.
""Go to bed." He commanded softly, hoping his smooth tone would improve the harshness of his words.
"I don't know where to go." She spoke honestly, sincere doubt written all over her.
Ivar stopped for a second, realizing that he'd never actually shown her around before the feast began. Odin, he was going to be an awful husband, he cursed.
"I can get a servant to-"
Before he had even suggested it she cut him off. "Ivar." She pleaded. "Please."
"Please what?" He asked in genuine confusion, blue eyes looking at her in complex curiosity.
"I want to be with you." She answered, straining her voice to hide the weakness within it. But still it gave way.
""Why?" He asked with only sincerity, looking as the moon lit up her stunning features.
"My mother once told me about Gods from far away, Hades and Persephone." She said with a small smile at the memories. She always loved hearing about the strange Greek gods and begged her mother to tell her their tales every night. "Hades was King of the underworld, a cold dark place with no company. He was powerful but alone." She explained, and Ivar listened in contemplation. "One day he saw Persephone, and she was gentle and kind and nothing like Hades. She was from the light, and he was from the dark. And yet he fell in love. He wanted to marry her, and Zeus - who was the allfather of their gods - agreed, but her mother did not. Hades came in his chariot when she was picking flowers and he took her back to the cold dark underworld." She persisted, shivering slightly in the frosty kattegat weather - even in May. "And the Gods said that she wouldn't have to marry him if she ate nothing from the underworld, but Hades tricked her at the last second into eating pomegranate seeds. And so she married him. And although she could leave, she had to return to him for a quarter of the year every year. In that quarter, all the plants die and the earth grows cold because there is no persephone."
"I don't understand." He admitted, trying to grasp the relevance of her tale.
Ailbe reached into her pocket, pulling out a pink fruit and placing it in his hands. She sighed gently, breathing in the cool night air as she waited to speak. "I don't want to trick you or lie to you, Ivar."
He looked down at the pomegranate and then back up to her, realizing finally what they were now discussing. "I'm glad," He stated, before he grinned at her slightly. "But I think we can both agree that you are the persephone in this marriage."
Ailbe chuckled, holding onto his hand as she prepared herself for what she was about to say.
"It was my sister." She sighed, heart racing as she felt him tense with her words.
"Eavann?" He asked with furrowed brows. "Why?"
"Because me and Eavann used to listen to that story together when we were girls." She answered. "But Eavann got taken by her Hades and she never saw a happy ending." Ailbe explained further. "She gave me pomegranate seeds before it happened." She answered. "And she did it on Zeus's orders, of course."
"Zeus?" He asked, thinking back to her story before realization dawned on him. "Your mother."
She smiled sadly, giving a short nod.
"I can still kill them." He told her.
"And then my brother will be forced to rule when he is barely a toddler. Brian will be left without a mother." She argued. "Ivar, I see no cause for revenge. They cannot hurt me now."
"Because you're in the underworld?" He questioned with a flat smile.
Ailbe chuckled, huddling closer to him. "It's really cold here." She answered, earning a small laugh from Ivar.
"I'll take you to my room." He said calmly. "It'll be warmer there."
"Are you sure about that?" She raised a brow. "I'm certain you don't even feel the cold."
He smiled, pulling himself up with his crutch and then turning his gaze back to her. "You might be right."
"Alright Hades." She chuckled, skipping to her feet with a wide smile.
"Like Hela?" Ailbe nodded as her only response. Ivar shrugged, a little, considering the concept of him ruling over the dead. "I can live with that."
