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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xxix. The Plan
Kari ran the ivory comb over her golden locks once more, sighing at the feeling of letting her hair down from the elaborate braids they had been twined in.
It was the end of such an eventful day and truthfully, all she wanted to do now was close her eyes and submerge into a dreamless sleep. She was dressed in a cotton nightgown, waiting for her husband to return from whatever business he was called to this late.
The door to the chambers opened to reveal Harald with a frown on his face. With nary a greeting or a smile, he fell face-first on the bed, letting out a loud, frustrated groan. She waited for him to speak but he remained silent, lying still as though he wished he would stop breathing.
"Long day?" She chuckled, looking at him through the mirror's reflection with an amused upturn of her lips.
"Why don't you ask your brother, Ivar?" He responded, looking exhausted and lifting his face from the bed to look at her.
She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the mention of the man as she continued to brush through the tangles in her hair. "What a way to ruin my evening."
He answered, standing from their bed to pour himself a drink. "It's hard to imagine that you two are related."
She teased, entertained by his frustrations. She may feel tired but it was always charming to play fun at him. "Why? Because I'm such a sweetheart?"
"Of course." He moved towards her, placing a hand on her shoulders as he leaned over to press a soft kiss to her temple. "Other than that, there's something unhinged in that brother of yours."
"Hmm, I've noticed." She hummed in agreement, turning to face him as he sat on their bed.
"You have?" He raised a brow in doubt, giving her the cup he was drinking from so that she could take a drink as well.
"You haven't?" She challenged playfully, downing the rest of the drink, and placing it on the table.
From the moment that her brother had entered the great hall, Kari had noticed an odd glint in his eyes. He would be unpredictable, that was for sure.
"Have you noticed that he doesn't like you very much?" Harald asked, his gaze turning into a glare as he remembered the words they had exchanged from their conversation near the docks.
"What? Did he say that?" She replied, eyebrows raised in shock, almost indignation. She had thought that he had been agreeable with her. It seems it was not only her who could fake a smile well.
"I assume it was implied when he called you Ragnar's impostor daughter." He gritted his teeth, the parting words from the other man lingering in his mind. If he was not concerned about the stupid alliance, he would've beaten the other man bloody.
Kari had a distinct image in her mind of herself finding Ivar and cutting off something that would make him less of a man. Granted, her father had never married her mother so she was technically a bastard but to call her a liar and an impostor. What a cunt.
