When Ivar meets a girl with flaming red hair and eyes that cannot see, he begins to wonder how a sightless girl can see so much beauty in the world... And in him.
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Many women danced around the large bonfire, the air being filled with music and laughter as Vikings and Celts alike drank into the evening. Ailbe found them fascinating. For a while, their leader seemed to sit silently and watch. In fact, she only ever really heard him talk when he was making snide remarks towards his brother, many of which had made her involuntarily burst into laughter. Of course, Ivar wasn't exactly used to getting that reaction from people.
As the night progressed, Ailbe listened closely to her surroundings. She listened to the other girls dance and laugh and watch the "beautiful" stars. Oh how she wished she could see the stars for herself. She didn't even know what they looked like. Though she'd lived in this world for eighteen years, she'd never seen an inch of it.
Her ears perked up whenever one of the other girls were asked to dance. She smiled at their gleefulness, listening to their feet had against the dirt. Her joy for them never manifested into jealousy, she simply didn't have it in her. Though it did make her loneliness echo in this vast unwavering darkness. But she knew that when the night was over, she'd have her chance. She'd wander out in the night, while everyone else was distracted, and clamber up onto that old hillside away from everyone else. She could dance up there. She could be free to do as she pleased. And she could imagine a better life for herself, a less lonely one.
Without her sight to allow her to notice, she didn't realise that someone was watching her. She didn't know that the boneless king had noticed her listening to the other girls, smiling sadly at their interactions. Had he not been a ruthless viking king, he may have even considered that he sympathized with the girl. Of course, that would be preposterous. He was far above stupid things like sympathy.
Still, he felt the need to say something. "Why don't you dance?" He asked the girl with genuine curiosity. It wasn't like it was her legs that didn't work...
"Why don't you?" She retorted boldly.
For a moment the table fell silent. Everyone seated with them looked between the two, waiting for something to happen. Surely she wouldn't get away with speaking to Ivar in such a way!
Just as they thought he may kill the girl, Ivar's lips twitched up into a grin, a low chuckle escaping them as he nodded in approval.
The night continued on and Ailbe listened as people grew dim from ale and tiredness. It was only then that she felt that rush of energy - that she felt alive.
Meekly, she excused herself from the table. As soon as she was free to leave, she ran from the party with a giddy excitement and made great haste towards the hillside. Her firey hair blew behind her in the wind, a large smile growing upon her lips as she enjoyed the sensation.
Yes, now she could be herself. The real Ailbe Móinéir. Now she could do as she pleased without hiding or worrying. In solitude, no one was there to notice blindness. They could not laugh at her, nor could they take pity on her. No, in the solitude of night she was simply Ailbe. She was not the blind girl of the town that everyone felt sorry and embarrassed for. No, she could just be herself.
At least, she could be if she was truly alone.
Ivar was silent as he watched her leave. His vibrant blue eyes pierced through the darkness, watching her bound away with more joy than he'd seen upon her all night, and that was certainly saying something as she already seemed like the light of this dreery country.
So, his curiosity led him to following her up that damn steep hillside.
He stopped with plenty of space behind her, not bothering to hide as she couldn't exactly see him anyway. Instead, he leaned against a rock and watched to see what the girl was so excited for.
The music from below was distant now, but Ailbe could still hear it as clear as day. With every beat of the drum, her foot hit the ground. Her hands clapped together, hips swayed, arms lifted. She laughed into the night, pretending to have a partner. Attempting a curtsey, she fell forwards with little grace but plenty of laughter, laughter that made her background music seem like unwanted noise.
Ivar watched, a small smile creeping it's way up to his face as her intoxicating happiness seemed to find its way towards him. He simply couldn't help it, the girl was just too sweet.
Again, he moved closer, but this time he was even quieter than before. He watched her chest rise and fall as her blank eyes looked up to the dawn sky. It was sunrise already, and the light seemed to illuminate her already beautiful features as though she were a goddess.
"You should dance more often." He spoke finally, making her jolt up in shock. "You're better than the other girls down there."
"I'm not allowed." She smiled shyly, looking down to the ground as though making eye contact with him would make a difference anyway. "My mother thinks I'll fall into one of the girls."
"Only if you curtsey." He answered, making her laugh in response. And what a beautiful laugh it was.
"Could you..." She spoke again after a moments silence. She paused, second guessing herself, before finally deciding to go through with her words. "Could you tell me what the sky looks like?"
Ivar looked at her in astonishment for a moment... Before slowly describing every little detail of the most beautiful sunrise he'd ever seen.
Perhaps it wasn't the sky itself that was beautiful. Perhaps it was the girl sat under it.
