Signy was an orphan raised by the renowned boat builder Floki and his wife Helga. Growing up, she was best friends with the sons of the great Ragnar Lothbrok. However, when her half sister is to be sent to get married and Signy steps in to swap plac...
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My eyes slowly opened in the dull morning light that shone through tiny cracks in the strong wooden walls. For a moment I was confused as to where I was but it all came back to me when I felt Ivar move next to me. I looked over to him, his usually stern features peaceful in his sleep. I couldn't help but smile as I saw him. However, as much as I would have loved to lay beside him for the rest of the day, we were sailing for England in a matter of days. Ivar had to prepare for the trip. I sat and wondered how to wake him before an idea sprung to mind and a playful smirk danced across my lips.
I gently moved over to him, careful not to wake him with my movements, before gently pushing up his shirt. I softly pressed my lips against his abs before trailing kisses up to his neck. I grinned as he stirred beneath me, soon waking up when he felt my lips against his own kissing him passionately. He kissed back as I laced my fingers through his dark hair.
"Good morning." I hummed moving off him and hopping off the bed.
"You should wake me up more often." Ivar commented before pulling himself to sit up.
"You're supposed to be meeting with your brothers to go over the trip to England." I said, pulling my cloak on.
"I'm aware." He retorted looking less than amused by the concept.
"You don't seem very pleased about that." I noticed, walking back over to him.
"That's because Bjorn wants to control everything." Ivar replied with a groan.
I shrugged in response, "He is the oldest son."
"That doesn't mean he's the best to lead us." Ivar scoffed. It was true that Ivar was an excellent strategist, far better than even Bjorn in all his experience. Ivar could see things no one else could, he could tell what you were going to do before even you knew. He was, however, bloodthirsty. This meant that his brothers certainly did not want him in charge.
"What do the others think?" I questioned.
"Ubbe will follow Bjorn, Hvitserk will follow Ubbe... And Sigurd just hates me." Ivar answered.
I thought for a moment about his response before answering again, "I think you should lead. But you should prove to everyone that you deserve to lead. Show them that your insights on battle plans are invaluable. Show them that they can't win without you. Show them what I already know, which is that you are the best strategist Norway has ever known. Besides, all my soldiers will be loyal to you anyway."
Ivar nodded and kissed me gently before leaving. I left only a few moments later to be greeted by Kari's obnoxiously cheerful persona.
"Soooooo" She spoke in a sing-song voice as I sat down at one of the tables to grab a horn of mead.
"Yes, Kari?" I sighed.
"You and Ivar, huh?" She sat beside me, far too close and far too happily for my liking. I just glared her as a response. "You know, we all knew it was going to happen sooner or later." I rolled my eyes, taking a sip of mead as she continued. "So, are you getting married?" I spat out my mead, nearly choking on it as I heard her words.
"What?" I stared at her with wide eyes, unable to believe the words she had just uttered.
"Too soon?" He guessed with an apologetic look.
"Uhm, you think?" I spoke again. For the love of Thor, she was unbelievable.
Before she could continue, I excused myself and walked off. One of the perks of being a Queen meant you always had the excuse of having to do something else when you didn't want to talk to somebody. I walked outside, making my way over to where King Harald and his brother Halfdan sat watching the Ragnarssons.
"How does their meeting appear to be going?" I asked plainly.
"Badly." Harald answered, gesturing over to them. I looked over and saw Bjorn yelling as Ivar pouted and folded his arms. Sigurd looked like he wanted to kill his younger brother and Hvitserk and Ubbe both looked like they'd rather be anywhere but here.
"You wouldn't think they were brothers, would you?" Halfdan chimed in. Both Harald and I muttered our agreements.
After a while, Harald and Halfdan decided to make their way over to the boys. I skipped alongside them cheerfully, knowing that soon I would get to engage in battle once again. There was no greater feeling that being in battle. The blood, the carnage, the death. It was thrilling.
"King Harald, Halfdan, Signy." Bjorn greeted each of us and I smiled in response. I sat beside Hvitserk who whispered a greeting into my ear, "Good to see you again, Queen." I chuckled at him, "And you, prince."
We all listened to the plans intently for the afternoon. Though, there wasn't much to discuss. At the end of the meeting, Bjorn and I were the last two to leave.
"Will you be at the sacrifice tonight?" He questioned.
"Of course" I smiled. It had been so long since I'd spoken to Bjorn that I forgot how comforting his presence was to me. I wasn't forced to talk about the last year, I wasn't forced to say anything. Bjorn and simply walked back to the great hall I'm a peaceful silence. Sometimes there was nothing greater than that.
"Signy Blodborinn! Join us!" A familiar voice called from the back of the hall. I smiled when seeing Harald and Halfdan and walked over to them. This caused some confusion for the Ragnarssons as I would always remain with them usually. However, I knew that befriending Harald and Halfdan could one day be very useful to me. After all, I would not always be in Kattegat. It was no longer my home. One day I would have to return to my people and it is always good for a queen to have allies.
"Harald, Halfdan!" I greeted with a smile. Halfdan passed me a cup of mead and I gratefully took hold of it. "To new alliances."
"Skól." They both cheered and each of us took a swig of the honeyed alcohol.
The night was long and filled with festivities. We drank, we laughed and eventually it was time for the sacrifice. We all walked outside but, by this point, Ivar had pulled me to stand with him. Tonight's sacrifice was special. It was a human sacrifice.
I watched in fascination as Lagertha walked over to the man, asking whether he was ready to give his life to the Gods. He was. The Queen slowly traced her sword along the man's chest before driving it deep inside of him. My eyes were glued on the spectacle as the woman's long white dress was now soaked in crimson. The man grabbed onto Lagertha's shoulders for support before sliding himself further onto the sword until the blade went all the way through him. Lagertha gently lay the man down as his blood spilled over her and the life drained from his eyes. He was dead. She removed the blade and soon the bowl full of his blood was passed around the crowd of people.
Lagertha splattered blood on each of our faces and I beamed as my face was drenched by the liquid. I looked down at Ivar who stared unimpressed at the Queen. Though, it was clear he enjoyed the sacrifice. Everyone that knew Ivar knew that he enjoyed such things.
As the man had slid himself further on the blade, I couldn't help but feel my guts turn as something more than fascination. The blood being splattered on each of our faces was almost erotic it was so thrilling. And when Ivar's icy blue eyes met with my own, my stomach did summersaults at the feeling it gave me.
