As far as celebrations go, viking celebrations were not so bad.

There were good food and music, boisterous laughter, and lively dancing. The priest in her village had said that the vikings sacrificed virgins and innocent children for their entertainment. Of course, he was wrong.

Harald had assured her that people volunteer to be sacrificed for it is a great honor. He also informed her that they only do such things when they wished for victory or were embarking on something great.

It was their way of pleasing their gods he had explained. Not that she had anything against it. Their gods had been her gods before she knew of their traditions. Learning of them did not change her mind in any way.

After she and Harald had returned to camp, they had gone their separate ways. At least, she tried to part from him. However, he was not a man who was easily swayed.

She had been helping the other women of the camp with their duties and Harald, who was supposed to organize his men for the upcoming battle, had followed her around like a lost puppy instead.

She understood that perhaps he was being territorial after seeing her with Bjorn. She had discovered that vikings were very possessive and though she found it quite adorable on the gruff Harald, she couldn't wait to see the look on his face once he found out that Bjorn was her brother.

Speaking of her brother, Kari turned to face him as she heard his loud voice call out to her. "Bjorn!"

"Kari, are you enjoying the festivities?" Bjorn asked, raising his cup towards hers, causing the ale inside to slosh.

She nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. "I am. The ale is quite delicious and the meat is very good."

It was not mere politeness that had caused her to reply in such a way. Only pure honesty. The freedom and raw joys in their celebrations were something that she could get used to. Instead of fake smiles and the poor giving all they had to a man that would spend them, the vikings were basking in the joys of the feeling before battle.

It was an honor to them to die for their people, a great reward to have a place by the gods in Valhalla. It was a fresh take from the cowards who ran from battlefields and offered up young women as bait.

He chuckled in response, clasping a man by the shoulder. "This is my brother, Ubbe. Ubbe, this young woman is Kari. She is the woman that we have rescued from the Christians."

Ubbe shook his head in laughter, confused by the statement but accepting of it nonetheless. "Rescued from the Christians? That's new."

"Afraid so." Kari shrugged, before granting her half-brother a smile. "It is good to meet you, Ubbe."

"Have I met you somewhere before? You seem very familiar to me." Ubbe mused, his ale-addled mind not doing anything to dull the sense of familiarity he felt towards the girl.

Bjorn's eyes widened at his brother's statement, wondering why he and his brother had the same thought. "I thought the same thing. But Kari only arrived here recently."

Kari looked down and tried to think of an excuse, chuckling sheepishly. "Perhaps I look like someone you know. I might have a common face."

"No, it's your eyes. They remind me of someone. Someone very close to us." Ubbe said, leaning forward to peer at her face.

Before Kari could utter out another word, someone came to her rescue. Albeit unintentionally as he stumbled upon her and caused the rest of her ale to spill.

"Kari!" Harald exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he pulled her to him. His eyes flashing protectively at the two men as if daring them to come any closer.

"King Harald, I see that you have reconciled your differences." Bjorn raised a brow at the two's close proximity.

Harald shrugged, brushing off their argument as if he did not stay up all night thinking about how to make it up to the woman in his hold. "What differences? It was just a misunderstanding, that's all."

Bjorn nodded, oblivious to how much the other man wanted him and his brother to leave. "Ah, of course. It is good to see you always, Kari."

Ubbe took that as the opportunity to leave, shooting the girl another discerning look before leaving with his older brother following after him.

"Goodbye. Happy drinking." Kari called out after them, squirming out of Harald's arms.

"I'll drink to that." Harald raised his cup, intending on draining the whole cup empty. Before he could carry on, his plans were foiled by none other than the girl in front of him.

She pulled the cup from his grip, glaring as she did so. "How much have you drank, Harald? You do know that you have a battle to fight tomorrow. You know what, why do I even bother? It's not like you will listen."

"I listen! Unlike you!" He protested, wanting to disprove all the negative things she thought about him before his own eyes narrowed with apprehension. "What did I tell you about the sons of Ragnar, Trouble?"

She shrugged in response, holding on to two cups and drinking from her own. "You told me to stay away from them but given that I do not care about what you think, I have elected to ignore your advice."

He maintained, trying to reach for his cup as she spun out of his way. "I advised it for your own good. You should know that. People who get involved with them do not often fare well."

She laughed as she tried to avoid his grasp, the ale almost spilling from the sides of the cups. She continued to dodge him, her laughter ringing out in the air. He was tempted to smile at her antics but one reminder of the sons of Ragnar with Kari put a stop to it.

"We have already spoken of this, Harald. I know my own mind and I can make my own decisions." She sighed, before smirking as she tossed the empty cup over her shoulder.

"I know, Trouble. I'm just worried for you." He paused, watching his ale-filled cup in her grip despite the warring thoughts in his head.

"The great King Harald? Worried for a Saxon woman?" She raised a brow, taking a few steps back from him.

"Let's have none of that. You're a viking woman." He snorted, his expression turning serious. "We are who we choose to be."

Knowing that she was distracted, Harald took that as an opportunity to attack. Kari's reflexes were fast but it seems, not fast enough as he grasped the cup.

She gasped and tried to pull back her arm though he would not let go. Their eyes met in a battle of wills and knowing that his strength was greater than hers, Kari opted for another option.

She let go of the cup all of a sudden and the force from his own pulling caused Harald to spill the remaining ale all over himself. They were both frozen for a second until Kari doubled over in laughter upon the sight of the viking's face covered in ale.

His eyes were closed, almost in acceptance, as if it were his fault that he tried to get the ale from her in the first place. Meanwhile, she could not stop laughing even with the serious expression on his face.

Using the edges of her long sleeves, she tried to dry his face in between laughter. "Ha-Harald, I am so sorry."

"No, you're not." He grumbled, his eyes still closed as she wiped his face clean of ale. Her efforts were in vain as he smelled too much like ale.

"I am!" She insisted, biting her lip to suppress the lingering smile despite her eyes shining with mirth.

His eyes finally opened, the bright blue orbs glaring angrily at her. "Then why are you laughing?"

She excused, dropping her hands to her side. "It's a reflex."

"You owe me some ale." He mentioned, looking down at the cup to find it empty. Of course, the remaining ale was already all over him. His frown stirred something within her.

"Are you alright?" She asked him all of a sudden, concerned for his wellbeing.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be alright?"

"It's not just your pathetic excuse of an attack." She snorted, stepping forward to ask him again. "You know why I'm asking."

He let out a dramatic sigh, knowing that Halfdan probably had something to do with her worry. If he were being honest though, he had not thought of Ellisif ever since he had fixed things with Kari. "Eh, I could be better."

"Anything I could do to make you feel better? Ale? Meat?" She offered, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

At her touch, he gazed down at her arm before his eyes fell on her face, trailing down to her pink lips. Her azure eyes looked up at him and seeing him staring at her intently, Kari stepped back before they both thought of things that they would only regret.

"Ale sounds good." Harald cleared his throat, not thinking as the truth fell from his lips. "Maybe I only liked the idea of having a woman to go home to. Even the great Ragnar Lothbrok had that."

"And you're giving up on that?" Kari asked curiously, crossing her arms.

He nodded, looking more than dismayed. "I don't think I'm meant to have that kind of thing."

She teased gently, unsure if she should. However, the sooner they can both go back to their teasing moods, the sooner they can ignore the unknown emotion lingering between them. "You mean love?"

He made a disgusted face, rendering a laugh from her. "Precisely that kind of love."

She tilted her head, clarifying things with him as she grabbed a jug from one of the passing vikings. "Ah, I see. So you are now some sort of cynic?"

"Maybe." He replied curtly, holding out his cup.

"Hmm," She hummed, filling the cup halfway.

He frowned at the amount of ale in his cup, looking to face her. "You are displeased."

She shook her head, pouring more ale into the cup. "No, it is your life, after all. I just hope you're not making hasty decisions for a dead girl who didn't even deserve you."

"And who does? Deserve me, I mean." He asked, his question expectant. It was as if he was waiting to hear a certain answer from her.

"That's not my question to answer." She winked playfully, her eyes widening as she spotted someone behind him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I see Halfdan."

Kari handed the jug to another drunk viking before moving toward the place where Harald's brother was regaling a tale of his own.

The image of her playful smile and that wink she gave him remained as he continued to look on at her moving farther and farther away from him.

Maybe he should have let her go. Maybe he should have gone off and gotten drunk on his own, as he would have done days ago. Maybe he should have let things alone.

Then again, he had never been the type of man to do things that he should have done.

That was how he found himself, running off after the girl who made him feel things that he did not think he could. Not that he would ever address them.

The only thing he knew was that he wanted, needed to be near her. Damn him if he let the chance slip by him once again.

"Kari, wait!"

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