For the third time that day, Kari cursed the day she met Harald Finehair.

It was as if the man had a grudge against her with his maneuverings and commands of the boat. Whenever they would encounter a rough patch of waves, he seemed to want to go through it just for the pleasure of seeing her struggle.

And she did struggle. Immensely. Her hands held on to the wooden railing tightly as each wave crashed against the boat. She found herself regretting that she had eaten something on their journey as she felt the bread climb up her throat more than once.

She knew that he was doing it on purpose. At first, she had thought that it was a necessary road to cross for their journey but when she spotted a small smirk on his face, she knew that he was doing this to mess with her.

If she couldn't feel herself getting sick with each movement, she would have stood up and pushed him off the boat for his insolence. They had left Wessex with a sense of peace between them but when she asked about what he thought of the Mediterranean, his demeanor changed.

It was quite stupid if he got mad about the topic. After all, she only brought it up because she figured that maybe he would want to talk about his brother, Halfdan. It wasn't her fault that his mood changed faster than the weather.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally came upon calmer waters. Kari let out a relieved sigh, silently thanking all the gods for their short mercy.

She leaned over the edge of the railing, gulping in as much air as she could, thinking that could calm her stomach. It helped a little but she still felt terrible, her chest heavy and her head pounding from the incessant moving of the boat.

She may have thought of herself as a Viking now but her experiences on the boat along with the cold weather as they neared Kattegat gave her some doubts. The seasickness was awful and to top it all off, she could feel herself freezing. She stayed quiet though, not wishing to look helpless to the others.

One of the other Vikings took pity on her, handing her a ladle filled with fresh water. With thanks, she drank it up as Harald approached her.

"The waves too much for you?" Harald raised a brow, taking the ladle from her to drink. The others remained preoccupied with rowing and talking amongst themselves to listen to their conversation.

"Do you have some sort of problem?" Kari questioned, glaring fiercely at the taller man as she stood up to meet his gaze. If this was his way of mocking her then he had another thing coming.

"I don't know. Should I?" He retorted as if it was supposed to be obvious to her.

She had a distinct image of throwing him overboard. "You're acting like a child. If you didn't want me to come then you should have said so. I would've been perfectly happy going to the Mediterranean with Bjorn and Halfdan."

"I don't want you to go to the Mediterranean!" He insisted, looking irritated with her.

Good. The feeling was mutual.

She asked him, frustrated on why he was being so difficult. "Then what's the problem?"

He stood firm, not moving from his stance. "Nothing!"

She rolled her eyes, turning away from him. "Ugh! You know what, you should just keep quiet. I feel sick enough as it is and arguing with you is making it worse."

When you put two people who have a hard time expressing themselves, there was bound to be some chaos. When Halfdan was with them, there was a bit of a barrier to keep them from clashing too much.

However, now that it was only the two of them, there was nothing keeping them from pummeling each other to death. To make matters worse, whenever he annoyed her, she did not know whether to hit him, push him off the boat, or kiss him. It made for the worse mood.

Sighing, she sat back down and leaned against the railing to let her hand touch the calm waters. For a few moments, there was some sort of solemnity. That was until Harald decided to sit beside her.

He gruffly asked, not looking at her. "What's going on between you and Ironside, Trouble?"

She asked, wondering why that has got him so worked up. "Are you kidding me? Is that what's gotten you so angry?"

He defended, going so far as to extend his arms around him, enunciating every word. "I'm not angry. Why would I be angry? Maybe you just think I am angry because you want me to be angry with you?"

As he continued to ramble, Kari closed her eyes as another wave of nausea hit her. In previous time, she had held back but now that she had enough, she found herself hurling what she ate into the water.

Immediately, his ramblings ceased as he knelt down beside her. His hands hesitated before he began patting her back gently until she let up.

"Fuck. That feels so much better." She groaned, wiping her mouth as the seasickness passed.

"That is disgusting." He complained, edging away from her slightly. It was to his dismay when she dipped her hand into the sea to splash him with what he hoped was clean water. "Kari!"

With a victorious smile, she turned away from him to gaze at the water and hopefully, have some peace of mind, away from his complaints.

"That's what you get. Now leave me be."

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"Are you still angry with me?"

Harald hesitantly asked, his voice soft as he draped a thread blanket across her shoulders. Night had fallen and the rest of their company was asleep, light snores permeating the air. At that point, they were the only two who were still awake.

Kari looked up at him, accepting the blanket. "That depends. Are you still going to act childish?"

"I-No?" His eyebrows furrowed in a confused yet adorable manner, as if he himself did not understand whether to accept it as a question or an insult.

"Then I am no longer angry with you." She replied, making sure to keep her voice down as to not awaken their crew.

"I don't want us to fight, Kari." He sighed, pacing in front of her.

She stood up and placed both hands on his shoulders, putting a stop to his restlessness. "Then don't bring up stupid things."

He walked off before turning back to look at her, his gaze blank. "I just don't understand why you are so intent on getting closer to Bjorn Ironside. Do you like him, is that it?"

"Of course I do." She answered simply, tilting her head.

He paused, pinching the bridge of his nose as he moved farther away. "Alright. Fine. If that is what you wish, I will do the honorable thing and-"

She held on to his arm, steadying herself and stopping him from going any further. "Harald, wait. What are you talking about?"

"You like him. I told you that you could make your own choices." Harald explained when suddenly her lips fell upon his for a mere second. "Huh? I-Huh?!"

Even she had been surprised by what she had done. She did not know what had gotten into her but having her lips against his effectively shut him up for at least a second.

"You talk too much," Kari said, leaning forward to press her lips to his once more, her hand reaching out to hold on to his cheek.

A smile grew on her lips as he responded, his hands settling on her waist and gently pressing her back against the mast of the boat. It was clear that he held back, not wanting her hurt as his hands cushioned her lower back.

It would have been awkward if he did not react that way and instead stood still as a stone. Yet his reaction was much better than she had expected. He was surprised but at the same time, almost glad.

His lips tasted like a soft hint of smoke and his musky scent flooded her senses, threatening to overwhelm her. She wondered why it had taken her so long to kiss him, she had definitely been missing out.

She continued to kiss him in earnest, both her arms around his neck as his hand reached out to cup her nape, his lips not parting from hers. Even when they did, he only allowed for a small respite between them before he continued to kiss her.

Finally, after some moments, he pulled away hesitantly, a finger raised as his eyes fluttered slowly, still unsure as to how the events turned out like this. "I am confused. Because your mouth was saying one thing but your mouth, your mouth was on mine."

"I like Bjorn," She let out a soft laugh at his downtrodden expression, knowing that the next words she would say would definitely make him feel better. "Because he is my brother."

"Your brother?" He piped up at that quite loudly, surprised by his tone and what he had heard. She quickly covered his mouth, looking around to see everyone still asleep. He mumbled into her hand, his voice muffled. "Ironside is your brother!?"

She said slowly, hoping to explicate the situation clearly. "Yes, my Viking father was Ragnar Lothbrok. That makes Bjorn my brother by our father."

It had been difficult to hide such a big secret from him. Now that things were out in the open, maybe they could move forward, be something more to each other. It would be a big improvement from how he did not trust her. Perhaps now, they could move on.

"Oh." He scanned her face as he tried to remember every time he had seen her with Bjorn and all things came into place like a puzzle coming together to form the big picture. Their similarities and their mannerisms, as well as their eyes. The realization hit him that they were siblings. "Oh!"

"Yes." She gently said, patting his shoulders before ducking under his arms to escape his hold. She created some distance between them, the mast being the thing separating them.

He leaned against the mast, putting their faces close together as he smirked, now recovered. "Good. That means I won't have to kill him."

"Harald! What was all that then about being honorable?" She said, tugging on his long hair with a small laugh.

He moved backward, moving his braid into a place she could not reach. "Fuck that! I didn't think that you'd actually say you like him. I mean, I know he is your brother but he is quite boring, isn't he?"

As the words left his mouth, he surged forward to try and kiss her. Unluckily for him, she moved away just in time, a coy smile on her lips as they remained the same distance from each other.

She remarked, taking pity on him as she brushed her lips against his cheek. "That's enough fun for you tonight. I'm going to sleep and you should too."

She moved back to where she had been sitting, his gaze following her as she did so.

Harald's voice called out to her once she sat down, his blue eyes bright and awake. "Trouble? Does this mean you like me?"

Kari suppressed a smile, replying to him. "I don't know. What do you think?"

Even as she drifted off into sleep, she could hear him muttering to himself as he tried to discern what on earth that meant. It was sweet that he asked her that though she did not know the answer herself.

She closed her eyes, knowing that they had more time together to figure things out.

Or so she thought.

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