Querencia \\ Hvitserk Ragnarsson

Chapter 1: The return

Years ago Bjarke would have asked Ragnar things like: 'How long until we get there?' and 'My feet hurt, can't we take a break?' And Ragnar would answer with: 'As long as it takes to get there,' and 'There is no taking a break when you're in battle.'

Bjarke never really knew where they would arrive. She would usually get a name, but the name would have no meaning to her at all and the outcome of their journey would be a total surprise to her. This time it wasn't. When Ragnar told her they were going to Kattegat she was completely gobsmacked.

Ragnar had told her all about his sons. She already knew Björn but she had yet to meet Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd and Ivar. Bjarke was usually the one to go into town to get some extra food and she would often hear stories about the great sons of Ragnar Lothbrok.

Bjarke already knew of Ragnars plans. He'd started to plan his death a long time ago and she knew exactly what he was going to do.

Ragnar had said that she was allowed to call herself Ragnarsdottir after he had died. He had even made up a cover story for her birth. Bjarke had yet to decide whether or not she would agree with this and actually use it.

Within a day they reached Kattegat. It was exactly what Bjarke had imagined it to be. What Bjarke hadn't imagined is that Ragnar would be greeted with such hate and disgust. Ragnar however, didn't seem to be surprised.

"Keep some distance from me so it doesn't look like we travelled here together. Try to be just another person in the crowd. Don't stand out," Ragnar had told her just before they arrived. And so Bjarke kept her distance from Ragnar. She saw children running to their mothers and people avoiding to be close to Ragnar. It made her feel bad for him as he had done so much for her in the past few years.

The looks on their faces terrified Bjarke. She was afraid that Ragnar would not even make it to England to die there. That he was going to be killed by these people.

Ragnar stopped at some kind of square. People gathered around him and Bjarke was on the second row, that way she would not be obviously present, but she would be able to see everything.

"Let us pass," Bjarke heard another voice. Three young men made their way towards Ragnar. They looked angry and shocked at the same time. Then a fourth -most likely Ivar, because how many people crawled- made it to the spot. The fourth seemed to admire Ragnar rather than hate him.

"Hello Ivar," Ragnar said while smiling down at his youngest son. Ivars smile gave Bjarke hope. Maybe the others would be reasonable as well. Maybe they would forgive him. "There is no mistaking you."

"It appears my return," said Ragnar, "is not welcome. You've obviously all made your mind up about me. I cannot blame you for that. So. Well, boys, who's going to do it, then? Who is going to kill me?"

There was an awkward silence. Bjarke had not expected this to happen at all and she felt useless.

"Well, I don't mind. Go ahead. Please," Ragnar said. Bjarke knew Ragnar didn't really care whether or not one of his sons would be the one to kill him. However, it would be a waste of all the time they had spent on planning the journey to England.

"What about you, Hvitserk? You think you're a man now? I dare you. Put me out of my misery," Ragnar said while looking his son directly in the eyes. "Do it. Do it. Do it, do it." He said poking his son. "DO IT!" he then shouted, which seemed to scare nearly everyone.

"Look at these people! They no longer support me! Look! Why would they? I am your leader and I just left! What kind of leader does that, huh? WHAT KIND OF KING ABANDONS HIS PEOPLE?" Ragnar said while turning to his people. He then turned back to his sons. "What kind of father abandons his sons?"

Silence. Absolute silence. No one really seemed to know what to say, although Bjarke was sure the people had plenty to say. His sons just stood there. They all seemed to be in conflict with themselves.

"So, who wants to be king? Oh, you know how this works! If you want to be king, you must kill me," Ragnar said. It was easy. Too easy. Ragnar scared everyone.

"Take it," he said while pointing the hilt of his sword to an elder man. "No? You? No? What about you? No? ANYONE?" Ragnar then planted his sword into the ground. "WHO WANTS TO BE KING?"

He then made his way over to another one of his sons. "What about you, Sigurd? Do you want to be king?" Yet again, there was silence. Sigurd did not respond to his father, so Ragnar turned to his eldest son present. "You want to be king, Ubbe? Kill me and you are king."

"King Ubbe!" Ragnar smiled, but then he turned back to his son and hit him in the face. "What are you waiting for?" He hit Ubbe once more. "Are you afraid? Be a man." He then stepped back from Ubbe and gave Ivar a pet on the head before turning around once more.

It seemed like Ragnar was going to walk away and Bjarke got ready to follow him, but Ubbe stepped forward. Ragnar turned back to Ubbe and spread his arms. Hvitserk shot a look towards Sigurd, but Bjarke was sure he was actually looking into the crowd to see how other people were reacting. His eyes met hers for only a second as she turned back to look at Ragnar. He slowly walked towards his son and for a second he seemed to be delivering himself at Ubbe's mercy, but then, completely unexpected, he embraced his son.

When they let go of each other, Björn stepped into the scene. Bjarke was completely surprised. She hadn't seen Björn in a long time and Björn hadn't even bothered to look around, so he didn't even know she was there.

"Why did you come back?" Björn asked his father.

There was a moment of silence. All Ragnar did was tell his sons to follow him.