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Y'all this is kind of already a given but spoilers for 6a👀
Hvitserk lay in his own filth, empty horns of mead strewn around him and the mushrooms in his system making him barely conscious. Anyone could see that he wasn't the same man anymore, the one that they all loved.
Though Gunnhild and Amma tried their best to console him, Hvitserk was so far gone that they thought they'd never get him back. Ubbe had tried tough love. Bjorn had tried giving him responsibility. Everyone tried but nothing worked. All that was in his mind was Ivar.
"Get up!" Ubbe spoke angrily, dragging his little brother to his feet. "Stand up!"
Hvitserk held onto him dejectedly. Only days before, they'd been in the same situation as Hvitserk disappointed his brother yet again. But this wasn't about the disappointment now. No. This was about the one thing in the world that Hvitserk still had interest in. It was about Ivar.
The group of men sent on the mission that Hvitserk was meant to lead had returned, and with news of the youngest Ragnarsson. But there was no news about the girl, his daughter. And that was troubling.
"Hvitserk, I need you to wake up." Ubbe tried to talk sense to him, shaking him slightly, and the younger brother's eyes drifted open slightly.
"I'm sorry I didn't go I- I'm sorry Ubbe-" He spoke incoherently, a slur of words.
Ubbe gave a soft frown, still concerned about his little brother. No matter what, he loved him. That would never change. But he needed to know about what had happened in his absence. He needed to know about Ivar, his wife, and his daughter.
"I'm not here about that, brother." He explained calmly, passing him a cup of water to help him sober up a little. "I'm here to talk about Ivar." Hvitserk shifted uncomfortably, closing his eyes as though it would help him hide from his ghosts. "Hvitserk, you don't have to tell me about him, just talk to me about his family. Tell me about his wife and his child."
Hvitserk opened his eyes and looked into the corner of the room. Instead of finding Ivar or Thora, he found the only ghost that he didn't mind seeing. Ailbe. She smiled reassuringly as she'd always done before and he gave a nod, looking back at Ubbe. "We met her in Ireland," He began. "She was a princess... But she was blind and her mother hated her for it. I think- I think that's why Ivar was so fascinated by her. S-she was too good for him. She always defended him, always looked after him. She was the kindest person I'd ever met. Sometimes it was a little much." Ubbe listened, urging his brother on with a small smile as he took in every detail. "She was so happy... She could always see the good, even when there wasn't any good. And when we were in England, she got taken by the Saxons. I haven't seen Ivar so enraged since mother and father died. He killed them, all of them. And when we went back to Ireland, her family poisoned her. They never did tell me why, I just knew that after Ailbe and Ivar were married news came that everyone in her village had been murdered. Burned like Thora. Ivar killed them, I know he did. That's why she's dead. She's dead because he killed everyone."
"And what about the baby?" Ubbe persisted.
"Ailbe named her Aslaug." Hvitserk gave a half-hearted smile, Ubbe smiling back at him at the memory of their mother. "She- She'd be nearly two now."
"Do you know what Ivar might have done with her?" Ubbe asked.
"He took her. He took her and now he'll get her killed as well." Hvitserk grumbled, filling his cup with more mead.
Ubbe stood again, sighing exhaustedly. "That's what I'm trying to stop from happening."
Days, weeks, months passed. Hvitserk never thought anything of that conversation until now, now that he was sober again. He realised now what Ubbe was doing, getting information on Ivar - likely so he could bring Aslaug back to Kattegat and away from her megalomaniacal father.
But when Hvitserk found Ivar again, he knew that Ubbe would never find the little girl. Never. And when they got Kattegat back, she'd be safe with them. The last piece of Ailbe that remained.
Tbh excluding Ivar and Ailbe, I think Ailbe and Hvitserk has been one of my favourite dynamics to write in this series ngl :') -Rhi
