The Valkyrie's Daughter | Vikings

Chapter Thirty-Nine

(QUICK) AUTHOR'S NOTE

Another shoutout to BellaThurwin for Eydis' name! And another shoutout to LetroitHall for some other great names which I plan to use in future chapters.

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"What!?"

"You heard me! Ellisif is dead!" Rona exclaims.

Hvitserk seems confused, but he can also see how riled up Rona is. He decides to take her a little further from camp, into some nearby woodland, where they would be safe to talk freely.

Once within the cover of the trees, Hvitserk stands in front of an angered Rona and places his hands on her shoulders.

"Tell me exactly what happened." Hvitserk says.

"I followed Harald and the Princess, as you know. They started to get...intimate," Rona says, shuddering at the thought of what she saw. "Then Ellisif took out a knife and was about to kill Harald when Halfdan barged in and killed her!" Rona says.

Hvitserk stands silent for a few seconds, thinking. He steps back and folds his arms. He sighs.

"Rona...she tried to kill a King. It could be argued Halfdan killed her to defend his brother." Hvitserk says.

"I know that! I'm not stupid! But Harald killed Vik for no reason other than to endorse his fragile ego and nothing was done about that! Ellisif was seeking revenge for her husband, as she should!"

"Harald is a King, Vik was only an Earl."

"By the Gods. How can a man get away with literal cold-blooded murder!?" Rona says, her anger building more by the minute.

"Bjorn will no doubt have heard about the incident by now. Would it be worth taking to him about what can be done regarding Harald?" Hvitserk suggests.

Rona looks at him as if he has just proposed the most bizarre idea ever. "I'll take that as a no." Hvitserk says, sitting down on a nearby fallen tree. Rona begins pacing.

"I do not understand how Bjorn is so relaxed about having Harald in our fleet when he knows he will try to seize power from us once the mission is over," Rona says. "I can only imagine having Harald here will result in further battles."

"That may be so. But if Harald being here will help us avenge Ragnar, then it will be worth it surely?" Hvitserk says.

Rona stops pacing.

"I just have a hunch that bad things are going to happen after this is all over and I'm almost certain Harald will be involved in some way." Rona says.

Hvitserk stands and takes Rona's hands in his.

"Rona. You need to stop worrying and just focus on the task at hand. You will drive yourself mad." Hvitserk says.

Rona lets out a laugh.

"I feel as if that ship has sailed already." Rona says.

Hvitserk pulls Rona into a hug. Rona hugs back, again, accepting the feeling of comfort Hvitserk brought her.

"I feel you may be called upon by my brother soon." Hvitserk says, pulling away from the hug.

"You're right." Rona says. "Okay." The young shieldmaiden takes a breath and gives herself a shake to try and pull herself together quickly.

Rona goes to make her way back to the main camp when she notices Hvitserk is not following her.

"Are you not coming?" She asks.