He was the conqueror. She was the sacrifice.
He was powerful. She was unexpected.
He was certain. She was uncertainty.
He formed a nation. She formed his world.
Together they would make history.
▪︎°▪︎°▪︎°▪︎
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xvi. Brother
The funeral had been a solemn affair.
Ever since Ivar the Boneless threw the ax that killed his brother, Sigurd, a tense atmosphere overcame their whole camp. Once filled with the sounds of celebration, now was surrounded by an eerie quiet.
Harald watched as the band of brothers, who had been close on the battlefield, become distant from one another. He, along with the rest of the others, could see that they were now close to strangers.
He had spoken to his own brother of the end of the sons of Ragnar but only now did he see that the key to that would not be from his own actions, rather from the brothers' own misdeeds.
It was ironic. How they fought so hard for their father's legacy only to fight each other off to create their own mark in the world. Luckily, he did not have the same problem.
Harald and Halfdan had been close to each other as any two brothers could be. Born to a father who made them strong and taught them the art of warfare, the two did not spend moments apart.
Strong apart but stronger together. Their ambitions had never clashed, their dreams one and the same. Until now. Now, his brother was leaving him.
"You are sure?" Harald approached his brother slowly, his brows furrowed. "I don't understand why you want to split with me. We're brothers. We belong together. We've always had the same dream."
Halfdan continued to twine the rope meant for the sail. "No. It's your dream. You want to be King of Norway. I don't have a dream about being the brother of the King of Norway."
"Then what is your dream?" Harald found himself asking, wondering within himself how he did not know such a thing about him.
A sigh escaped Halfdan's lips. "I want to travel."
Harald corrected. "I mean, what is your ambition?"
Halfdan chuckled, looking at his brother knowingly. "You have ambition enough for the both of us, brother. I'm a simple fellow. Traveling to the ends of the known world, that's enough for me."
For a few precious moments, it was silent between the two. This would be the first time they were going to go to different paths, diverge their own way. But hopefully, in the end, they would find their way back to each other.
"I will miss you." Harald mused, his eyes full of emotion. He may have been a cold-blooded killer but not to his brother, never to the person he truly loved. He clasped his brother's shoulder. "Everyone needs a brother to cover their back."
"I'll still do that. Wherever I am." Halfdan responded, his hand reaching over to pull his brother into a loose embrace. "Besides, I'm not leaving you alone, am I?"
"What are you talking about?" Harald questioned, gazing at him suspiciously.
"I leave you in the care of a beautiful woman. Someone who I know will beat you up when you need to be beaten." Halfdan smirked, enjoying the flush that spread across the other Viking's face at the mere mention of the girl.
