Virago - Ivar The Boneless

Beautiful Promises

The day passed by slowly for Little Bear, the clouds had passed her by quickly disappearing from the sky as the night rolled in. She pushed herself to her feet, her hands gripping the side of the boat as she steadied herself, the blood rushing back to her body. Holding on tightly, she looked over the edge as she watched the water lapping at the boat as they moved. 

"Sister," Bjorn stood next to her as she looked up at him. "You have been awfully quiet today," his words were more of a statement as he tried to find out what was wrong with her. 

Iona looked back at the water, her eyes watching the way it moved slowly, the way the light from the stars reflected off it. "Do you remember the first time we sailed?" She asked him as she kept her eyes on the ocean. 

"We were with Rollo," Bjorn recalled the event. "Mother stayed at home, you were dreadfully seasick and threw up for three days after we returned." He chuckled at the thought of her, she would always be his baby sister and he always wanted to protect her. "Now look at you," he looked her up and down, his eyes taking in her features. He noted how much she looked like their mother, how she was now a woman rather than the child he remembered. "You really have grown up, you," she turned and looked at him with a confused look, "You're as beautiful as our mother. You look just like her."

She widened her eyes as she thought about how much she looked like her mother. She looked away from him, her eyes glancing towards Hvitserk and Ivar who were sitting at the end of the ship talking. "Do I really look just like her?" Iona could be insecure sometimes when it came to certain things. Turning to look back at Bjorn, "Maybe I should return home."

He reached for her, touching her face softly. "Little Bear, you and our mother look exactly alike. Not only do you have her looks, you are also one of the most beautiful women in the world, you have her skills, her abilities. You are as brave as she is, you have no fear, sister. That is one thing that I admire about you the most."

Stepping away from him, she put her elbows on the edge of the boat as she took a deep breath. "I have fears just like the rest of us," she told him. "I just hide them better than everyone else." 

"I see you, sister." He put his hand on her back before he walked away leaving her staring into the night. 

Iona left the side of the boat, heading below deck. She scanned the room, her eyes looking for a bed to sleep in. Stumbling over the things that littered the floor, she found herself a bed which she climbed into before pulling the thin sheet over her body. Although she had not done too much in the day, laying in the sun had exhausted her and sleep soon took over her body. 

XOXOX

When the sun rose and Little Bear rose from her slumber, she laid for a few minutes longer in the uncomfortable bed. She slept on her front during the night, so when she opened her eyes she found herself looking over in the direction of the bed next to her. Laying sleeping in the bed was Hvitserk, she smiled to herself as she took a few seconds to look over him. When he was sleeping he looked so peaceful, so sweet, like he was innocent and could be special to someone. 

Iona sighed as she thought about how nice he had been to her before, how he'd offered to marry her, whether he was joking or not was a different thing. It would be nice to have a husband at some point in her life, to find love and have more meaning to her life than what it was now, but she knew she had many things to live up to. 

"Stop staring," Hvitserk mumbled making her jump a little as she focused her eyes on him. 

She pulled the sheet up over the bottom half of her face to hide her blushing cheeks, she didn't want him knowing she was staring but he'd woken. "Sorry," she laughed before she looked away from him. "I guess I must have just zoned out for a second."

"Or you're so desperately in love with me that you can't keep your eyes off me," he teased her. 

Raising her eyebrows, she let out an amused snigger, "Oh my dear friend, you do think highly of yourself."

Hvitserk shook his head before he sat up in the bed, he smiled to himself as she moved her covering away from her face. "Today we ride into battle once again," he told her as he ran his fingers through his loose hair. 

Sitting up, she bit her bottom lip as she continued to listen to him. 

"I do have a bad feeling about today," he sighed as he tried to untangle a few knots in his hair with his fingers. 

Standing up, she reached for his hair, helping him with the tangles as she spoke. "For once, I do not have a bad feeling. You cannot always trust yourself," she informed him as she worked the knots out of his hair pulling apart one of his sloppy braids. "What will happen when we return to Kattegat?" She asked, her voice quiet as she was aware people might be listening. 

"I do not know," he quite enjoyed her playing with his hair, it was soothing. "Why do you ask?"

Her eyes glanced over at the bed in the corner, the sheet did not cover the side of the bed. In the bed sat Ivar, she could not see where he was looking but from the way his head was positioned she felt like he was staring at her. "I am worried," she looked away from Ivar and back down to the hair in her hands that she was braiding. "The man who killed your father is dead," she reminded him. "I don't want to be next."

"What are you talking about?" Hvitserk turned his head to look at her as he reached for her hands that had just been holding his blonde locks. "Why would you think such a thing?"

She looked away from Hvitserk, her eyes landing on the brown-haired lad in the bed in the corner of the room. She could feel him staring, the heat radiating off him as she glanced in his direction. "Because I am Lagertha's daughter, because I was there, because I couldn't stop it." 

"I know you," Hvitserk stood up so he was in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her holding her close to him, her head leaned against his right shoulder as she let him embrace her. He wanted to keep her safe, he stroked her hair as he held her before he took a deep breath. "I won't let anything happen to you."