Victory had never been so easy.

King Harald was sure that the Wessex soldiers did the best they could but at the end of the day, their loss had been inevitable. Just like the army in Northumbria.

For all their talks and battle strategies, it seems that the Saxons were no match for the Great Heathen Army, a result of their own actions when they decided to have Ragnar Lothbrok killed.

Their soldiers were weak and cowardly, running from battle once they saw plenty of their countrymen fall. It reminded him of the people who had abandoned Kari and left her for dead. Their retreat only enlivened his anger and he found himself cutting down men twice as fast.

There was just something in him that always seemed to come alive whenever he thought of her. May it be feelings of anger, of passion, of joy, he felt it twice as much when he would imagine her bright blue eyes staring at him.

Before he could further distract himself, he pulled Halfdan into an embrace, laughter booming from both their chests at their swift victory.

"Behold brother, the seat of Wessex. Ours for the taking." Harald regaled, pointing to the gated kingdom.

"It's ours!" Halfdan roared, the others cheering along with him. All of them were practically salivating at the thought of the riches and forged weapons that lay within.

Harald felt his heart pump with exhilaration as they pushed forward into the large structure, tearing apart the wooden gate like scraps. The adrenaline from the battle was still flowing through their veins, as well as the victory they gained.

His battle cries ceased once they had fully entered to see everything abandoned. Not the type of abandoned that was too organized, rather the type of abandoned that one left behind when they were in a hurry.

Everyone realized just after he did, the shouts abating and descending into a flood of murmurs. They all had a theory on what they were faced with but there was only one way to find out. If they pressed forward and there was no way they wouldn't.

"Be careful. It could be a trap." Bjorn warned them, his eyes wary at the empty space.

Harald and Halfdan nodded at the same time, taking the warning in stride. They would watch each other's backs as they've always done.

"You! Follow us." Harald called out to a group of men in their army as they charged toward the open gate.

His eyes scanned every inch of the place but there was nothing. No sign of life. Everything that was once here was gone. Truly gone. There was nothing left. The people of Wessex had abandoned their seat of power. They had fled.

Harald picked up a small chest before using his ax to break open the lock. A smile spread on his face as he saw its contents. It turns out, they did not take everything when they left.

He saw something glint in his vision and found his gaze landing on a particular object. Something that he was sure that one golden-haired woman would fancy. Not helping himself, he plucked it from the trove and tucked it into his buckle.

Closing the chest once more, he hoisted it upon his shoulder before passing it on to one of the others. They would all have their pick of the treasure but for now, this was all that he would take.

Once all the men had reported that they had seen no one and nothing, they made their way back to the army who was waiting for news from them.

"It's empty!" Halfdan announced gleefully, raising his weapons in the air. "They've gone!"

Upon hearing that, everyone descended into cheers and began to run off to wherever they pleased, craving a taste of their own reward. May it be by burning off artifacts that displeased their gods or by taking a piece of the loot that was surely bountiful.

Everyone moved to pass the two brothers, their eyes shining with opportunity. Halfdan moved to follow after them, confused as to why his brother was not doing the same. Though he soon got his answer once he saw what his brother was looking at.

Rather who his brother was looking at.

Whereas before, Harald would no doubt have followed them, something stopped him from doing so.

The moment he spotted a familiar golden-haired figure from the crowd, he found himself planting his feet to the ground and refusing to move until she came upon him.

He saw the exact moment when she found him, her blue eyes glimmering with familiarity as she ran to him. It was to his great surprise that she did not stop in front of him as he expected. Instead, she threw her arms around him and embraced him tightly.

The breath was knocked from his chest as her lithe figure embraced him, her arms squeezing his torso tightly.

For a second, Harald found himself holding his breath as his own arms reached out to wrap around her smaller figure. "Hello, Trouble."

Kari pulled away slightly though his arms refused to make her pull away all the way. She wrinkled her nose at him though a smile lingered. "You smell like blood."

"Do I?" He raised a brow at that statement before smearing the blood still on his hands across her cheeks.

She slapped his hand away and pushed away from him but it was too late. She might as well have been in the battle herself. "You-ugh! You're the most infuriating thing!"

"It's good to see you, Kari. Were you looking for me?" He asked, a grin forming on his lips as he pulled out a piece of cloth from his armor and handed it to her.

"No! I was looking for Halfdan, you know, the brother who has an ounce of decency in his body." She quickly answered. She wiped the blood off her face and took that chance to gather herself, not wanting him to see through to her.

It was true that she was looking for Halfdan but in truth, her eyes looked for Harald first. It was as if whenever she entered a room, she was drawn to him first. Not that she would ever tell him.

"You just missed him. He went off to look for treasure." He shrugged, pointing to a random direction.

"Why aren't you looking for treasure? I would think that you of all people would be the first to the gold." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him suspiciously.

"Already found it." He said without any thought. His eyes widened when he processed his words and he hastily took out the jeweled dagger. "Er, I mean, here. I found this. This is for you."

She gently took it from him and unsheathed the blade, staring down at her reflection on the blade. "A dagger? You must have an obsession with these. This is the second one you've gotten me."

He asked, trying to take it from her and think of whatever else he could get at such short notice. "I-Do you not like it? I could-"

"No, it's perfect! Thank you." She quickly interjected, tucking the dagger into her own belt before he could take it.

"You're welcome. Every Viking woman should be able to protect herself." He cleared his throat, placing his hand atop his sword's hilt, his hands not knowing where to go.

As much as he wanted to tuck that stray strand of hair behind her ear, he knew that she would not appreciate the invasion of space.

Kari opened her mouth to speak, her feet shifting when she sees a figure in white cross from the smoke emerging from the tall stone structure. "Harald, I-who is that?"

The smoke almost reminded her of the village she had left in flames. It made her remember the world she had left behind to join this new one with dashing Vikings and jeweled daggers.

It made her recall just what type she had been living before this one, a part of her past she would willingly forget if she could.

"I do not know. A Saxon?" Harald replied, also confused. He surged forward as the crowd went silent, with Kari meeting his steps, not wanting to be left behind.

They stepped closer to the man in white who walked aimlessly as silence ensued amongst the once rowdy group of Vikings.

The man stopped, his eyes widening in surprise as his eyes fell upon Kari. Ignoring all of the Vikings' loud exclamations, the man stepped forward and clasped her shoulders.

Harald raised a blade to the man's chest, daring him to do something. However, the man was so out of his wits that he did not seem swayed or deterred by the blade digging into his chest.

"Your eyes. I know your eyes. You're his daughter, aren't you?" The man spoke softly, his gaze filling with wonder as the foreign language slipped from his tongue.

"I do not know what you mean." Kari shook her head, looking around to see everyone looking at them, their teeth bared in anger. She was trying to step back after responding though the man's grip was tight.

"Stop!" Bjorn commanded, his eyes fiery upon seeing the man. Though he himself was curious as to the conversation happening between King Ecbert and Kari.

"You have your father's eyes. You look so much like him." The man continued, his voice was raspy as he continued with his ramblings.

Harald pressed the blade deeper into his chest before shoving the man roughly, causing him to stumble backward.

"Kari," Harald growled protectively, pulling her away from the man and standing in front of her. "Get behind me."

Bjorn announced, stepping into their small fold. "This is King Ecbert. I order you to spare him."

As the men dispersed and led King Ecbert away to be imprisoned and chained, Bjorn looked to the young woman who looked more than a little shell-shocked. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes, of course." Kari nodded, barely understanding what had happened moments prior.

"Do you know him?" Harald asked, concerned though also a bit angry. He did not know what the old Saxon king had told Kari but he did not like it one bit that he had such a drastic effect on her.

He wanted to kill the old king himself just for doing so. Then again, what could he have said to scare her so?

"No, I don't." Kari lied, not wishing to think about it anymore.

Kari did not know that she looked so much like her father. No one seemed to have noticed or commented on it except for Ubbe and Bjorn who had shrugged it off quite easily.

Yet Ecbert, Ecbert had more or less revealed it already.

She could keep fighting to keep her parentage a secret but it was no use. From the way Harald and Bjorn were staring at her, it was doubtful that she could keep it a secret for long.

It was clear that Bjorn did not believe her from the way that he was looking at her, as if his suspicions had been rightfully placed. He did not believe that she was telling the truth.

And neither did Harald. He had begun to trust her.

Perhaps he was wrong to do so.

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