Thorfinn x Canute | Vinland Saga FanFic ✔️

16. King

Canute POV:

"Where is Thorfinn?" Canute asked the man walking beside him, Askeladd.

A smug smirk appeared on Askeladd's face. "Perhaps... your bed chambers?" He slyly responded.

Canute bit his lip and rolled his eyes at the burly man. "I'm serious, Askeladd." Canute said, his blue eyes trailing King Sweyn as he sat upon his throne. They had entered the royal banquet, and Canute had arrived with Askeladd and Thorkell. To his dismay, Thorfinn was nowhere in sight.

Askeladd yawned. "Ah, he said didn't want to come and is now stubbornly eating outside." He answered truthfully this time.

Canute looked at Askeladd as he sat down in his seat on the sidelines, next to Thorkell. "Why?" He asked, his posture calm and collected but his eyes gleaming with nervousness.

Askeladd shrugged as he picked up a glass of wine. "He said something along the lines of: 'I cannot bear Thorkell and Askeladd teasing me any further.' Ha! What a stubborn narcissist." Askeladd snorted, sipping his wine.

"Arrange for Thorfinn to arrive here immediately. I need my body guard, especially since my father's last assassination attempt." Canute ordered, referring to the arrows that rained on his boat a couple of months ago. "Today is an important day." Canute added, and Askeladd solemnly nodded his head.

Before Canute walked away to stand next to his father, he noticed a smirk slowly creeping on Askeladd's face, and he opened his mouth to say something. "An important day for what? Making babies?-"

Canute swiftly stormed off before Askeladd could finish his teasing sentence, his cheeks blushing with embarrassment. It had only been a couple of days since Askeladd found out about his and Thorfinn's secret relationship, and the teasing still had not died down. Askeladd immediately told Thorkell and Bjorn, making things worse than before. Canute didn't mind all that much, he thought it was slightly funny at times, but of course Thorfinn had an extreme hatred for the teasing.

Thorfinn... I really need you right now... Canute frantically thought to himself, as he stepped beside his father. He gulped as he stared at his intimidating and sick father, his jet black hair flowing beneath the golden crown that didn't deserve to be sitting on his head. Canute inhaled deeply and nodded towards Askeladd, who had finished making the arrangements for bringing Thorfinn to Canute's side immediately.

King Sweyn suddenly began the ceremony. "Gentlemen of Denmark, I am pleased to see you all here today." He boldly declared, his gruff voice booming across the room. "Today is a special day. Our old friend, Thorkell, has safely returned my son, Prince Canute, to me. I would never expected this, even in my dreams."

Canute had to stop himself from rolling his eyes in front of the men gathered before him. His father was the one who set him out of the palace to die, Canute recalled, from earlier this year. To be frank, Thorfinn was technically the one who saved the prince to begin with. He remembered how cool he looked, the first time Canute saw him. Canute lightly shook his head and blushed. Where is he anyway? He wondered, looking up and scanning the room as his nerves increased with every passing moment. I need Thorfinn by my side or else I'm never going to finish the job.

King Sweyn turned to face Canute, and gave him the weakest smile Canute had ever seen a person give. "You did well in safely coming back, my son. Your father is glad to see your return." King Sweyn pulled Canute in for a hug, and the only thing Canute could think about was the stench of alcohol his father emitted. Sweyn pulled back from the hug and placed a hand on his teenage son's shoulder. "I shall reward you with leaving Mercia under your rule. Let us rule this land together."