"Hand in unlovable hand."

chapter III, act II ✧ 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉'𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕

"," she simply snapped, baring her teeth dangerously at the Christians who were around them, Hvitserk pulled her back, pushing her back onto his chest, her anger quickly became... something else, she turned around to face him.

The corners of her lips pulling up on a smile as she hid her face in his neck, bitting at it.

Two could play his game.

He groaned slightly, his mouth opened to reprehend her but Floki beat him to it, "See how well treachery pays off, Björn?"

"Don't do anything stupid, Floki," the prince warned, his eyes trailing down to the spear that stopped him.

"I've never done anything stupid in my life. But I am contemplating whether dying would be better than dealing with this scum," he barked his every word, annoyance and anger clear in his tone.

He wasn't entirely sure if he was mad because of the treason, or because such treason broke Ragnar.

Nero, looking at the spears close to her father and prince, lunged forward standing in between the two, slightly behind as Hvitserk still pulled her back, his hands on her shoulders, trying to make her understand that any move, was a bad move, "Nero, calm down."

She wouldn't calm down, she refused to calm down in front of someone who betrayed their gods, their trust, their love and their king. She gagged when Rollo stood, speaking a foreign language.

He looked the exact same as the last time she had seen him in war, but this time, he looked even more like a bitch.

Her breath hitched in her throat when he mentioned Floki's and Hvitserk's name, "If he touches you, I swear on Odin I will tear his body apart."

"He won't, wolf," the boy reassured, squeezing her waist. He kissed the top of her head in hopes of calming her down. He tried to contain his smile at her protectiveness.

The spears lifted and Björn stepped towards Rollo, allowing Vit, Nero, and Floki to stand side-by-side, they spoke of something that didn't matter to her as long as she had Vit's warm and discrete embrace around her.

But when the new-found Christian pointed to the lady on the throne, she had to hold back her need to laugh, "Father, is that what they call a queen here?"

In her mind, queens were ones like Lagertha and Helga, ones that fought amongst men and that had scars one couldn't count on their fingers. That woman looked like a doll, but then again, so did Ragnar's brother.

Her father giggled quietly at her bickering. Both Björn and Rollo spoke, but when the older man ripped the map from Ironside's hands, the Vikings lunged forward.

The Christians held them back, pulling Floki into a chokehold. Nero that was in the middle was left untouched by the guards. Her eyes became as dark as night as her pupils contracted.

She stepped forward, her face centimeters away from the guard's, "Do not touch him," she snarled, her voice filled with hatred, such strength and menace behind it that even when the guard understood nothing of what she said, he still allowed Floki to leave his hold.

"And you've brought your war puppy," Rollo taunted, his guards stripping the Vikings off of any weapons.

Hvitserk held Nero back, he feared for his uncle if he allowed her to simply rage, though he couldn't say he wasn't mad that the older man had called his girl 'puppy'.

Halfdan, Harald, and Helga fidgeted behind the frontal trio.

"I'm sorry, did you speak to me? I was not aware that Christian bitches could speak my language." She snarled, being pushed out of the hall by the guards.

She simply allowed them to push her, her eyes gleaming with the wonders she would do to the traitor once she got her hands on him.

"Ivar, you don't have to kill me. Because you can have this."

For some reason, the thought of laying with such girl now made him sick. He had to contain his need to scowl at the girl.

"Nero already has this," he smiled, motioning to himself. The boy had grown on the idea of him and the girl together. Who wouldn't?

His feelings for her were always there, the pile of branches and twigs was there, simply waiting to be drowned in fire. But was it crazy of him to think that she would never want a cripple? Of course not, nothing is crazy for Ivar.

In the dungeon, Floki looked at Helga and Nero leaned against the wall. Hvitserk played with the chains around his wrists in such boredom that his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, she smiled at the sight, he looked up at her, sitting across from him, she gave him the finger, and he bit at the air, making her giggle.

Halfdan was completely done with the whole situation, and in all honesty, so was Nero, but the thought of vengeance made her hopeful, and the boy in front of her made her occupy her head with something else besides the fact that they were locked up.

"This is an interesting place you've brought us to," Harald mused, looking at Björn and finally breaking the insupportable silence.

"I hope it's not the last place on earth I see." Halfdan mumbled continuing on with the conversation as Hvitserk looked up, his eyes filled with panic at the thought, but when he looked at the smiling girl, who had her head against the wall and her eyes closed, his fears disappeared, "Why aren't you talking? Could it be because you know you've made a bad judgment?"

"Let him think, Halfdan, at some point, the guards will have to come to feed us, and when they do, I will tear them apart," Nero explained, her eyes not once opening during her sentence, Harald laughed at the wolf, loving her hopefulness.

Just as soon as she finished her sentence, Christians came in the cell, she jumped to her feet, looking at them lovingly, as two guards undid Björn's chains. One grabbed her chin, pulling her to him as she bared her teeth at him, he said something to his colleagues and they laughed, he pushed her onto the floor and she groaned in annoyance.

"Do not disappoint us, Ironside," Harald warned the wolf couldn't help but agree.

Hvitserk looked ready to wipe out Christianity, she looked at him with a weak smile, and he mouthed to her, "I won't share."

Time went by incredibly slowly. Halfdan and Nero spent their time throwing small rocks at each other. Both inpatient, both pissed. Hvitserk toyed with his chains. Floki and Helga looked into each other's eyes. Harald looked at the wall.

But, the guards soon came, they entered and with a tight grip on each of the prisoners, they guided the Vikings towards their boats.

Nero scoffed, her eyes squinting at the sunlight as she noticed her weapons into the pile, she grabbed them carefully, not trusting the Christians. She saw a sword being removed from the pile and a faint grunt as one man fell to the floor.

Turning around, Hvitserk had blood on his blade and the man who had a hold of her face was lying dead. She stood up and turned towards him, "So... we won't share?"

"No," he grunted, but soon his features softened and he enjoyed the thrill of his kill, with a smile, he dropped his sword and hugged the girl's waist, lifting her off the ground before pecking her lips many times.

"Are you two coming?" Björn questioned, a hint of amusement in his face as most of the boats had already sailed, he threw her over his shoulder and rushed inside the ship, laughing while she giggled, when the boat finally left shore, he put her down.

"What was that for?" she mused, her hands lacing around his neck as an amused smile played on her lips. Before he could answer, her eyes trailed to Rollo, who sat at the boat's gunwale, freely, "What in Hel?"

She stalked dangerously to him but was stopped by her father, who just looked at her, the annoyance and hatred in her eyes reflecting on his.

"I can't believe I'm sailing with this bastard. Ragnar would be embarrassed. I will have to die in battle for sure after this, or else the gods won't allow me to repent. Or will his god forgive me? Huh? The carpenter? Did you see his queen? Oh, Odin, he is probably laughing in Valhalla, I barely understand how he is supposed to fight in those clothes. Traitor, the gods will hate us after this, you are lucky I love you Björn, if I wasn't to give my life for—"

"For the gods Hvitserk, please make the girl shut up," Björn begged, growing annoyed at the wolf's rambling but knowing that she wasn't there to know of Rollo's punishment.

Without thinking twice, he pulled her close before flipping them around. The girl had been standing near to the side of the boat, where he moved to sit when she began talking.

He pulled her up so she could sit on the boat's gunwale before standing in between her legs. Her mouth quickly shut at his actions. Thankfully, no one paid much attention because they were all watching the traitor drown.

"Please don't," she begged, they had joked about throwing each other off the ship before, but she didn't think he actually would. He smiled at her innocently, and she knew he was about to push her, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around her neck, every part of her body touched his, "I hate you for this."

"That was low," he murmured, his breath fanning her ear as his hands moved to her ass lifting her and pulling her away from the side of the boat, she hummed appreciatively at his actions, but before she could even enjoy the moment, he put her down, leaning to whisper in her ear, "I was not going to push you off the boat."

She scoffed, "Oh, really? What else was I supposed to think?"

He shrugged his shoulders, a smirk on his face that made her smile, "Can't have you wet now, can we?"