The Valkyrie's Daughter | Vikings

Chapter Twenty-Six

CW: This chapter will include (not very descriptive) scenes of nudity.

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Hvitserk and Rona had made it to the river. Rona hung out her clean clothes on a nearby tree branch and Hvitserk did the same with the clothes Rona had let him borrow.

Rona began to undress. Hvitserk quickly turned his back to her as to not make her (or himself) feel uncomfortable. Rona noticed that Hvitserk was just stood still, faced away from her.

"Are you okay?" Rona asked.

Hvitserk coughed, feeling a bit flustered.

"Yes, fine. I just thought I'd give you some privacy."

"Well...thank you. But it's not really necessary." Rona replied as she stepped into the water.

"It's alright. I'd rather give you your space." Hvitserk explained.

Rona smiled as she swam further into the river so the water was now up to her neck. Hvitserk was never usually this shy and he definitely was never so shy around women.

"I'm in the water now and don't worry, I'm not looking at you. I want to give you some privacy." Rona said, somewhat mocking her friend.

Hvitserk smirked as he began to undress himself before getting into the water.

"I'm in the water now." Hvitserk said.

Rona turned around to face Hvitserk.

"I don't understand why you're acting so shy all of a sudden." Rona said, beginning to wash her hair in the water.

"I'm not acting shy." Hvitserk said.

Rona rolls her eyes.

"If you say so."

Rona goes back to focussing on getting all the grime and dirt out of her hair and off of her body. It had been a while since she had been able to bathe properly. It had been too cold to bathe in the river since she had returned from Saracen.

Rona doesn't like the awkward silence and speaks up.

"Are you looking forward to the wedding?" Rona asked.

Hvitserk smiled.

"I suppose so. I'm happy to see Ubbe happy, you know?" Hvitserk replied.

"Yeah. I'm glad he's happy." Rona said, slight disdain in her voice.

Hvitserk notices the change in Rona's tone and swims towards her.

"Why did you say it like that?" Hvitserk questioned.

Rona ignores Hvitserk's question and continues scrubbing her hair. Hvitserk sighs. He thinks for a few moments and then smiles to himself.

Hvitserk backs away from Rona a little bit and splashes her with water, square in the face. Rona just stands in shock for a moment. She wipes her face with her hand and glares at Hvitserk. Rona splashes Hvitserk with an even bigger wave of water.

Hvitserk stumbles backwards, almost falling. Hvitserk smirks as does Rona.

The pair begins splashing each other with water, starting a full on water fight, however, they soon grow tired and stop. Hvitserk is now stood right in front of Rona. The pair are smiling at each other, unsure if they should say anything.

Hvitserk brought his hand to Rona's cheek and smiled. Rona diverted her eyes away from Hvitserk, suddenly very aware of the situation she was in. But Hvitserk moved his head to catch her gaze again. He gave her a reassuring smile. Rona smiled back.