Being in the wrong place at the wrong time was all it took for Adelasia's whole life to turn upside down. After being captured by the heathens raiding her city and taken all the way to the cold North, the youngest Ragnarsson takes an interest in her...
The news of her new freedom granted by Ivar travelled incredibly fast. It had been mere hours after the event, of which the actual freedom was the least important, when Hvitserk found her walking through the courtyard of the castle and stopped her. Turning around with a big smile on her face, she regarded the Ragnarsson with joy. "Hvitserk, how are you feeling?" she asked kindly.
"I'm feeling a lot better than you look," he replied cheekily, his blue eyes regarding her face with a look that was somewhere in between concern and amusement. Adjusting the cloak on his shoulders, he cleared his throat. "Did you spend the entire night awake, or did you join in on training with the Shieldmaidens this morning?"
"Me, training? I would barely be able to lift a sword," she countered. For some reason, she didn't tell Hvitserk the truth, because surely if she said that she'd been up all night, he would take her newfound freedom in all the wrong ways and though he had accepted her armband of eternal friendship, she wasn't ready to face another one of his stand-offs.
Hvitserk chuckled, rolling his eyes as he did so. "That's probably true," he said. Looking as if he had suddenly remembered something, he dug deep into the pockets of his trousers, a big smile coming to his face. Not a second later he revealed an armband laying in the palm of his hand and held it out for her to admire. It was made of the same type of leather she had made his from, and the way the strips had been woven together to form one piece impressed Alasia greatly. She had her serious doubts about whether Hvitserk had made the armband herself, but still, she held out her right wrist with a broad grin. "The falcon in the middle is a sign of Freya's favour, for she owns a cloak made of falcon feathers which allows her to fly whenever and wherever she wants."
She smiled as she looked down on it, her finger gently trailing the cool metal of the charm. Though she had no doubt that she would never take the Norse gods and goddesses as her own, she had to admit that their stories were rich and fascinating. Looking back up at Hvitserk, she finally felt as though things had fallen into their place. "Thank you, it's really beautiful."
"Also, Ivar was asking for you," Hvitserk added as an afterthought, smiling sheepishly. "I don't think he will appreciate it if you arrive any later as it is."
"In that case, I better go right now," Alasia said, offering the man in front of her a wave before she turned her back on him. Though she supposed she was no longer Ivar's to command, not as she had been yesterday anyway, he would still sulk and brood if she didn't obey his wishes. Still feeling the urgency of his lips against hers, she absentmindedly raised her fingers to touch her mouth, her eyes wandering over all of the fires and the men throwing in left-overs from the meat.
