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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xlvi. Cursed Fate
Kari did not believe in being cursed.
She believed that everyone had the right to decide where their lives would lead and what decisions they would make. When she had decided to leave her life in Northumbria and embark on a journey far from home, she knew what she had been choosing.
A life where she would not know what to expect with a new day. A life where she would have to navigate each day carefully. A life where she was someone else, a different person from the woman who dreaded seeing other people for fear of their rejection or their misguided hatred.
She had been saying goodbye to the life she had known to be faced with uncertainties and new adventures. She wanted to live a life far from the one she knew, the one her mother had lived. Though she loved her mother dearly and missed her every day, the one thing she knew was she wanted to be as far from her mother as she could be.
How ironic life turned out to be when she was left behind at Tamdrup by her husband, while she was carrying their child. After they had arrived and settled once more, Harald had told her of his plan to go to England. Though he promised to be back as soon as he could, she knew better.
He was running away. From what, she could not begin to fathom but still, no matter what she said, it did not dissuade him from what he wanted to do. The gods loved to play such games and she was the unlucky subject of their mischief.
So yes, she did not believe in being cursed but if she thought them to be real, she'd think that she was cursed by the most hateful of beings out there. No one could have had such bad luck befall them this easily.
Her old self would have sailed after Harald, demanding he return or she would push him off the boats to swim back to whatever continent he wished to be in. However, even if she wanted to, she could not.
Letting out a sigh, she sunk onto the chair covered in thick furs as she felt her back act up. It flared with pain whenever she would exert herself and that morning, she had decided to visit the docks to see some old friends.
Only now, it seemed that the child inside her sought to punish her for embarking on such a demanding task. At least, that was one good thing about it. At least she was not alone in this.
She allowed her hand to settle on her abdomen, her condition now evident for all to see. Sometimes, she would see people look at her with pity in their eyes, seeing her as a pregnant woman left behind by her husband.
It only made her want to throttle Harald even more. Once she gives birth to this child, she had half a mind to raise him or her on her own, not involving the father who had left them whatsoever. For someone who had been excited and overbearing about the pregnancy, he turned tail not even a moon.
She had been hearing the gossip of a war being fought in England, with her husband on one side and Bjorn on the other. Frankly, she could not find it in herself to care. He wanted to fight after losing so much, alright.
