— 24. Ferocity

When Tova woke up, it was nighttime. Siggy and Rollo weren't in the cabin, despite living there. The girl groaned, on the verge of getting up when she found herself unable to.

"It will be months before you're able to be on your feet again," A voice spoke up, causing Tova to turn to see Bjorn walking over to her. He sighed, sitting down in a chair next to her. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it in comfort, "How are you doing?"

"How are you doing?" Tova mimicked Bjorn before turning to glare at him, "How do you think I'm doing? I can't walk! And I'm stuck in the stupid cabin. Why couldn't they have placed me in the Great Hall?"

"Siggy wanted to take care of you," Bjorn answered, beginning to frown at her, "She is your mother, after all."

"She's not my mother," Tova replied in a soft tone as she shook her head. She turned, seeing that Bjorn was about to speak up, "I don't want to be lectured about it, Bjorn. She's not my mother and that is all. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Then let's talk about how King Horik's wife and the rest of his children are here," Bjorn informed Tova, who smiled slightly at the thought, "And Floki has a daughter now."

"What about you and Porunn?" She asked him curiously and Bjorn sighed as he looked down at the ground.

"She is not happy with me right now," He confessed and Tova laughed in amusement.

"What did you do?" She questioned and Bjorn scoffed loudly.

"What makes you think I'm the one who did something?" He asked her with an attitude and Tova smiled in response.

"You are the son of Ragnar Lothbrok. Just like him, you have bad luck when it comes to women," She commented, causing Bjorn to playfully roll his eyes at her.

"Tell me, why is it every time we're with each other of late, you ask me about Porunn?" Bjorn suddenly found himself asking Tova, whose smiled faded.

"Lately, you spend most of your time with Porunn. Why wouldn't I ask you about her? The two of you are together, are you not?" She responded and Bjorn nodded, "Why else would I ask about her?"

Bjorn was silent for a long moment as he stared down at Tova. He studied her features closely, a part of him hoping to see the slightest hint of jealousy but there wasn't one. "No reason," He lied, shaking his head at her.

_____

The following day, Floki traveled to Siggy's cabin. She found the woman sitting at Tova's bedside, tending to her daughter. However, the moment Floki walked in, she stood up and walked over to the man.

"How is she?" Floki asked, glancing over the wounded girl that laid in bed.

"She is alive, but she grows restless now that she is confined to this bed," Siggy replied in a whisper, not wanting Tova to hear.

"Will she ever walk again?" Floki questioned and Siggy remained silent for a long moment.

"Only the Gods know," She admitted in a whisper and Floki walked closer to Tova.

He glanced down at Tova. She laid in bed, breathing heavily. He turned to look back at Siggy with a curious look on his face, "Do you watch over her day and night?" He asked and Siggy sighed in defeat as she nodded her head.

"I can't bear the thought of leaving her," Siggy admitted, a fearful look on her face, "I do not want to lose her."

Floki walked over to Siggy, placing a hand on the side of her face. "Listen. I'll stay with her for a while. You, get some sleep."

"No, I couldn't—" Siggy began to say, only to have Floki cut her off.

"Go some sleep," He demanded in a soft tone, "You deserve it. I will watch over your daughter."

"Thank you," Siggy replied, remaining in place for a moment before she walked away.

Once Siggy was out of sight, Floki walked over to Tova and sat down at her bedside. He went into her pocket, taking out a handful of what looked to be mushrooms.

"I have known you since you were a little girl, young Tova. I have watched you become a strong and independent young woman. A war is on the verge of occurring between Horik and Ragnar. It is becoming obvious out of everyone here in Kattegat, you have become what matters most to Ragnar. They will come for you and you must be strong. Just because your legs are not working, it does not mean you still can't fight, remember that," He explained to her in a calm tone, causing Tova to weakly open her eyes to stare up at that man, "I brought you something. Look."

He lifted his head, revealing himself to be holding small mushrooms. "It is the food of the gods," He informed her in a calm tone, "It will make you strong," He moved closer to her, shoving the mushrooms in her mouth, "Eat."

Before Tova could refuse, Floki placed his hand over her mouth, which forced her to swallow the substances. She began to cough and Floki brought a cup of ale to her lips to make her wash it down. As he brought the law away from her lips, she began to gasp for breath until her eyes suddenly shut.

_____

Another day had passed and at their cabin, Siggy was in the middle of making dinner when she heard Tova groaning. She turned to see Tova sitting upright in bed as she tried to use a crutch Floki had made for her to help her stand up. She tightly gripped onto the crutch, grunting and groaning as she tried to pull all of her weight up with it.

She managed to place the crutch underneath her arm but as she went to take a step forward, she ended up falling to the ground.

Tova ended up falling to the ground, her leg hurting more than ever.

She screamed out in rage, beginning repeatedly to pound her fists against the floor after she roughly threw the crutch.

Worried, Siggy rushed over to her daughter. She knelt before the girl and placed a hand on the girl's back in comfort, only to have Tova roughly shove her off in her fit of rage.

Siggy had never seen Tova look so angry before. No one had. It was because she felt helpless and she hated feeling helpless. She knew what was about to occur. She knew the moment Bjorn told her King Horik's family arrived. They were planning an attack against Ragnar and Tova felt the need to protect him more than anything. She refused to lose Ragnar or any of them. Especially not to King Horik, who she had had a bad feeling about since the beginning.

"It's no use," Tova managed to get out as she shook her head in response.

"Don't give up," Siggy argued as she placed a hand on the side of the girl's face.

Tova scoffed and pulled away. She crawled back over to the bed, using only her arms. "What do you care if I give up?" She asked Siggy with an attitude as she used to her hands to push herself up onto the bed, "I don't even know why you're taking care of me. You've never been a mother to me, anyway."

"Don't go there," Siggy snapped at Tova in a low, stern tone, "Every time I tried to be there for you, you refused to let me in. You refused to open up to me."

"Can you blame me?" Tova argued back, staring at the woman in disbelief, "No one knows whose side you're on! And I'm not blind like the others. I know you are involved with King Horik. You are up to something and it could mean nothing good."

"You couldn't understand, Tova. You wouldn't unless you were in my position," She explained, shaking her head at Tova as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, "You do not see it like I do, but believe it or not, Tova, you are all I have now. I lost my sons, I lost my husband, and I lost my eldest daughter. You are the only family I have left and it doesn't matter how many times you push me away, I will still be here."

Tova stared up at the woman, watching as she walked over to where one of Rollo's axes were stored. She placed it down in front of the fire, which was about ten feet in front of Tova.

With that, she left the room and Tova watched on, a curious look on her face.

_____

After leaving Tova, Siggy walked through the market place alone, only to be annoyed when she saw Horik walking over to her. "Shouldn't you be with your wife?" She asked him with an attitude, "Doesn't she have need of you?"

"Don't play games," He complained as he began to walk with her through the marketplace.

"There are no more games," She argued, a cold look on her face.

"Yes, there is, and this is the final one. You once promised you would tell me Ragnar's weaknesses. I don't ever remember you delivering on that promise," He complained, causing Siggy to turn to glance at him.

"Well, you wasted all your seed on a promise," She replied, beginning to walk away.

"Tell me now," He demanded, causing Siggy to stop and turn to him.

"Is it not obvious?" She asked him, walking closer to him, "Ragnar's weakness is his children. Tova most of all. He brought that girl up as his own. He taught her everything she knows. He raised her to be just like him. She is him. They are bonded. If anyone is Ragnar's true successor, it is her."

"Then this is what you must do. You must go to the Great Hall at sunset and you must kill Ragnar's young sons," He informed her, holding out a knife to Siggy, "And when you are done, you must go to where Tova is being kept and you must kill her as well."

Siggy stared at Horik, her eyes widening at his words. She realized at that moment that she never had before. Many people around them, other than the people in Ragnar's inner circle, didn't know that Tova was Siggy's daughter. After all, Tova surely didn't act as though Siggy was her mother.

It was why people like Erlendur had been shocked when Tova told him that Siggy was her mother. From the looks of it, however, he had failed to tell his father. And that was their greatest mistake. Horik had been foolish enough to ask Siggy to kill the girl who happened to be her daughter and he hadn't even realized it. And it was something Siggy would never do.

____

In the cabin she was staying in, Tova pushed herself onto the ground and stared at the ax lying ahead. She stared at it closely, taking long deep breaths. She needed to get to it, but she didn't know how she would do it.

She thought for a moment until she finally came up with an idea. She didn't need to use her legs. She just needed to use enough strength in her arms.

Tova breathed heavily, turning onto her stomach. She began to use her arms to move forward, groaning in pain as she did so. It hurt, after all. She was dragging her legs, her broken legs that were supposed to be healing.

She grunted and growled lowly, continuing to pull herself forward. She fell forward, causing her to groan in pain. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting a moment before she used everything within her to continue on until she finally reached the ax.

Just then, the sounds of warning horns blaring outside as men and women screamed for their lives. She had gotten to her ax just in time.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see men entering the room with the intention of killing her. She took a deep breath and laid back down on the ground.

The men entered the room and soon found Tova lying on the ground with her eyes closed. One of the men scoffed, finding her to be an easy target. He walked over to her, on the verge of unsheathing his sword.

Just then, Tova leaned upwards and grabbed the man by the ankle. She tripped him and the moment his body hit the ground, she used her right hand to push herself up onto all fours before she stabbed him in the chest with her ax.

She yelled out, stabbing him four more times, blood splashing onto her face as she did so. She held herself up with both hands and as two more men moved toward her, she rolled and leaned up to stab him in the gut with her ax before tossing it at the other man. It ended up hitting him in the chest and he grunted in pain before falling to the ground dead.

Tova groaned and continued to move around the room. She rushed to grab hold of another ax and as another man entered the room, she grabbed him by the leg and tripped him.

She climbed on top of him and slit his throat, leaving five dead men around her with blood covering her face. She panted for breath and laid against the wall, taking a moment to process what she had done. Her legs hadn't been working yet she was still able to cut down all of the men. Ragnar would have been proud but she wasn't proud of herself. She felt it to be barbaric and over the extreme.

"Tova?" A voice suddenly called out and Tova turned to see Lagertha and Siggy standing in the doorway. Their eyes widened at the sight of Tova sitting there, blood covering her face as the bodies of five men were laid out in front of her.

Lagertha sighed in relief and rushed over to the girl, cupping her face in her hands. She examined the girl's face, making sure none of the blood was Tova's.

"None of it's mine," She assured the woman in a soft tone, "They never got the chance to hurt me."

"You killed all of these men yourself?" Siggy asked, her eyes widening at the sight.

Tova looked down at the ground in shame and nodded her head. "Yes," She admitted, looking almost ashamed of yourself.

Lagertha gradually began to smile at Tova. She cupped the girl's face in her hands and hugged her tightly. "There is no need to be ashamed, child. You did what you had to do to survive and I couldn't be more proud," She told her and Tova forced herself to smile as Lagertha hugged her once more.

She turned to glance at Siggy, who was staring at her and Lagertha closely. She was seeing first hand that Lagertha was more of a mother to her daughter than she was.

"Lagertha, may I..." Tova trailed off as Lagertha pulled away from the hug, "May I have a moment alone with Siggy?"

Lagertha smiled and nodded her head. She glanced between Tova and Siggy, just before leaving the room.

Once she was gone, Tova turned to Siggy and let out a large sigh. "I have been so cruel to you ever since I met you and there are no good excuses for that, no matter what I've been saying. It is not your fault I was taken from you as a young girl. You didn't know it was going to happen nor did you know that I would return, only to have a new family of my own already that happened to be Lagertha and Ragnar. It wasn't right to push you away and I regret it. I could have easily died in Wessex or even tonight and I would have died regretting that I never tried to have a relationship with you, the woman who birthed me. My real mother," She explained, she and Siggy both beginning to tear up, "I am sorry and I hope that despite what has happened in the past, we may try to form a bond with each other once and for all."

"I'd like that very much," Siggy replied softly and smiled sadly at the thought. Tears pulled down her cheeks as she walked over to Tova, hugging the girl tightly.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hmm. Tova's inner Ivar was showing when she was killing those men when her legs weren't working. 😂😂

Anyways, end of act 2, season 2

Now, we're off to season 3. I'll be honest. I was going to kill Tova off at the end of season 3 but I've decided not to lmao😂😂