Bonnie strolled along the shores of the city that would one day be known as Tripoli. The moon cast down iridescent beams to light her way. The enemy of her enemy walked along side her in silence. Each content to enjoy the eve in momentary self-reflection. Bonnie had done as she vowed. She'd returned to the Mediterranean Sea to rid the lands there of voids. Imagine her stunned shitless expression when she discovered the former king of Hell safeguarding Africa's Northern coastlands from hollowed attacks.

Much of the Mediterranean countries had fallen to Inadu's forces. However the continent known as, The Cradle of Life, managed to thwart supernatural attacks and infiltration. Yet the defenses in its northern shores had begun to weaken. Setting aside their differences, she, and Cade with the help of Silas, and the Original family slaughtered all of the Hollow's faithfuls. Soon after, they reestablished the Mother of All's and Ancient of Day's mystical protection over the entire region. The mystical energy which ran through those lands boasted of potency and timelessness. Such a loss dealt Inadu a blow she wouldn't soon recover from.

As Bonnie strolled along, she flicked her gaze over her shoulder to the bonfires that still glowed bright against the inky backdrop of the horizon. The celebration would no doubt carry on into the young hours of the morn. If so...oh well. Everyone who placed their life in the skillet deserved to be applauded and celebrated for their efforts. The last twelve moons almost damn neared them. Yet even though they crushed the battle, the war would be bloody, hell, and fucking nuclear.

"Can I count on you to stand with me for what's to come?" She asked decimating the silence lingering between she and her struggle ally.

For several paces Cade remained silent. When she believed he'd ignore the question altogether, he spoke. "Inadu is a threat to all of us, but this nation confronts many perils at any given moment." He stopped walking to turn and face her. "I deplore when people answer a question with a question, but in this I feel it's imperative I must." He paused for a moment to allow his gaze to search hers. "Will you help me save her?" He waved a hand at their surroundings. "From being raped, taken, sold, and slandered."

"Of course," she said without having to deliberate over his meaning or her answer. "You know as well as I she's protected. Yet supernatural threats are not the only dangers waiting to befall her."

"Supernatural disturbances are the least of my fears, Ms. Bennett." He tore his burning stare from hers to regard the sea.

"Then you must know despite all we've done to safeguard her, those not under my dominion will still come."

He laughed, before his mouth settle into a killer white smile born of ill intent. "And when they do, hell will be right here waiting for them."

"And your domestic liabilities?" She turned to gaze at the bonfire still setting blaze to the skyline in the distance.

"Allow me to worry over those who think to partake in treasonous past times. As our Supreme I'm sure a legion of issues already burdens your mind," he uttered.

She inclined her head in a silent touché. "So will you stand with me, Amun-Ra?" She questioned, needing his vow more than an implication.

He turned to glance down at her. "Where's my mate...where's Reyher?"

"Safe and settled with our family," she answered cutting an eye at him, "and that's the way she shall remain until she decides to seek you out."

"Hmm," he chuckled a bit. "You have my vow, Supreme. When the time arises, I'll stand with you against Inadu and her hollowed followers." His glare then jerked to the right of her. "He's here."

Her head bobbed. "I know."

"Then I'd better go. Until next we meet, Ms. Bennett." He dipped into a formal bow, and then strode back in the direction of the celebration.

"Keep me company while I finish my walk," she whispered into the night.

Moments later Silas stepped from the void to claim the place at her side. "Helping him will thoroughly fuck the way history unfolds. How will those here meet their fate in the new worlds if you interfere?"

"In the same way as everyone else who chooses to seek out something more in those lands...optimistic, opportunistic, and not in chains." She wrapped her arm around his, and then pulled him along with her down the beach.

****

Bjorn stood behind the screen in the personal dining area staring out at the festiveness of the hall. Boisterous laughter and faces split in half with wide grins spoke much of his people's joyousness. Since reclaiming his home Kattegat had return to the place he'd known as a child. Prosperity thrived there once more and after an entire Solstice Cycle they'd healed the wounds consecutive wars had wrought upon the city.

Though Kattegat's progress pleased him, he didn't share in the citizens cheer. For everything which was gained over time, much was also lost. Bonnie had once again travelled beyond his reach. Gunnhild's womb had misplaced their first child. Then her heart in turn discarded the affection she'd once carried for him. This he expected. After he'd learned of Bonnie's departure, his grief over losing his Mystical One yet again caused him to neglect his wife. During those first moons she'd suffered greatly from his indifference.

Over the course of many moons they'd lost much. For this, she blamed him. How could she not? Especially, when he blamed himself? Her anger had hardened her heart against him. Relations between them had turned and festered. Gunnhild rarely looked upon him as she once did. She didn't seek him out at mid rising anymore, and she'd since abandoned her duties as a wife. In verity if truth was to be professed, he no longer believed her heart belonged to him at all.

Bjorn's gaze sought out his wife within the hall. She sat wedged between her servant girl with the strange gilded markings branded on her face and his former stepson Guthrum. The young handmaiden seated next to her, leaned in to whisper in her ear. Gunnhild's eyes flared before she tossed her head back and laughed. Seeing her in such a way pleased him. She deserved more than he had to offer her. Though he cared deeply for his wife, sometimes he regretted not being strong enough to turn completely away from her when she'd sought him out in England searching for more.

With sagging shoulders, Bjorn turned away from the screen only to be met with Lagertha's scrutiny. "Have patience with her. Losing a babe is not only difficult on a woman's body it's also damaging to her mind." He nodded as he took the seat across from his mother at the table. "She will turn to you once more in her own time."

"Yet I'm not certain if that is something I want." His thoughts drifted back to the dissecting paths and two different mountains. "Especially when my path remains undecided."

"Oh, My Son," His mother lifted her chalice to him. "Your path is already decided and plotted. It has been so since you were a boy of only twelve summers. No, it is your courage to follow your heart which remains in question."

****

Ubbe cut his gaze at his slumbering wife who lay next to him. She'd appeared to be at peace in her rest, while he remained far beyond peace or rest. In moments like those when his mind became idle, that's when he longed for Bonnie most. Yes, he still found pleasure and happiness in his wife. Yet, a sense of completeness alluded him. A sense of loss weighed on him. So much so, he barely closed his eyes for a full turn of the hour glass at a time.

Unable to linger any longer in bed, Ubbe rolled over and sat up on the side of the mattress. He glance once more at his wife. When assured he hadn't disturbed her slumber, he rose from the bed and redonned his trousers.

As he strode across the room to the door, he pulled a tunic over his head. With the moon lighting his walk, he turned towards the harbor. A place he now often visited during his more restless moments. Moments which had become more frequent since Bonnie's absence. Perhaps if she'd lent him the opportunity to bid her fare thee well...then maybe his risings wouldn't be beleaguered with so many slumber deprived eves.

At the harbor, he appeared the only one to be about. By then everyone had succumb to their beds or their cups. This served him well. For he had no wish to engage with anyone in his current state. Not after spending the better part of his risings assisting his brother with his tasks. His life had become one of advising Bjorn and the settling of constant trivial disputes. This should not be his path. He sensed this deep in his essence. The verity surged through his veins and gnawed at his mind.

Ubbe's stare darted to the horizon as his mind reached for his only comfort in moments such as those. Though a barrier greeted his attempts to reach her, love and warmth wrapped about him. The pleasing feeling eased his troubled mind. For this time, her assurance was different. Her silent communication conveyed more. His eyes slipped closed as a sigh crept from his lips. Soon everything would be as it should.

****

Gunnhild paced the small expanse of the modest covering near the harbor. Her heart pounded at her breast as anticipation knotted her innards. She knew it was perilous to slip away from her husband's bed in the middle of the eve. Yet she couldn't help herself. The yearning within her wouldn't allow her to have a care. All she was minded of was her lover's lips upon hers. Their hands upon her body. By the Gods! Her thoughts no longer cavorted within the lines of reason. Not since her affections turned to another.

Before her lover came along pain and suffering spent her risings. Losing her babe ruined her. Her guilt convicted her. For when she discovered herself to be with child, happiness consumed her not because she would soon be a mother, but she now had the means to hold her husband to their paths. How wrong she'd been. For even the impending birth of the babe didn't bring him closer. If anything it thrust him further away, and in turn her somberness flourished.

She couldn't eat, sleep, or even have a care for anything. Not even for the innocent babe growing inside of her. So the Gods withdrew their favor from her womb. For this, she blamed herself and resented her husband. He was not the man without fault she'd once believed him to be. However, he was indeed the entangled man he'd once declared himself. A verity she should've accepted from him when he spoke his truths to her in England.

Over time her resentment for him grew. So much so she could barely look at him. Yet she could barely glimpse herself in the looking glass either. For a time darkness surrounded her even in the middle of the rising when the sun reached its highest place in the heavens. That, however, was until she cast her gaze upon her other...

Gunnhild sat next to her husband at the great table in the festive hall. She, however, felt anything but festive. In verity, she didn't feel much of anything anymore. Except for when she saw him. One of the most...beautiful men she'd ever looked upon. Though it was wrong for her to indulge such thoughts, she couldn't halt her urges for him. It mattered not her husband once called him stepson. Guthrum was an impressive warrior who lit hope in the broken. He was a flourishing sea in the throes of a desiccating drought.

Unable to stand gazing at him a moment longer she tore her eyes away and her stare collided with the strange slave girl who'd covered half of her face in gilded tattoos. She too watched Guthrum as well. Although Gunnhild couldn't pierce the indifference of the slave's expression, she knew the girl to be just as besotted with Guthrum as she.

Moments later the interloper left her position at the table. Not willing to squander an opportunity, Gunnhild followed to remind the slave of her place. After abandoning the revelry of the hall, she managed to corner the strange creature near the screen not far from the personal quarters.

The slave girl rounded on Gunnhild in a turn which took her unawares. With a boldness which spun far beyond a slave's means, she sized her up with a blistering glare. The slave's expression openly mocked her at the conclusion of her assessment. As if the sight Gunnhild presented left the thrall wanting.

"Pardon me," the slave uttered with condescension tainting her tone as she attempted to move around her.

"No," Gunnhild's chin rose. Her shoulders squared. "At least not until I've spoken my say." The girl cocked a brow but remained silent. "Were I you, I'd set my sights upon someone within my reach. I'm not a haughty woman, but I do believe slaves should know their place. It is only just I remind you of your plight."

"I am no one's slave," the girl seethed. Rage tore the indifference from the girl's face. She stalked forward until she stood breasts to breasts with Gunnhild. "And I'll favorably take the tongue of anyone who dares to say different."

^^^^

The shuffling at the entrance of the covering tore Gunnhild from her thoughts. Moments later Ingrid entered. When their stares collided a full face smile blossomed upon her lips. She rushed into the arms of her lover and everything out of sorts in Midgard discovered its rightful place.

****

"Was the festivities not to your liking?" Bonnie questioned as she regarded the path ahead of them.

"Quite, Bennett. The festivities were...interesting." He chuckled a bit to himself. "Loki is especially enjoying himself, while Thor is passively loathing everyone and thing from the sidelines."

She laughed as she tightened her grip around his arm. "And Freyja and Frigg?"

"Ex-cons in a whore house." They continued on in silence for several moments longer before he spoke again. "Now the borders have been reinforced what's next for us?"

Silas loaded the question with more meaning than the actual words conveyed. He wanted to know where they were headed as opposed to them as a collective. Yet truth be sold, she didn't know. Hell, the thought of them together hadn't crossed her mind. Not when all she thought of was what she could no longer claim. She was still broken and she refused to bring herself to anyone's table in pieces. What kind of—nickel looking for a dime—shit was that?

Bonnie's steps slowed to a halt. With resolution radiating all through her, she turned to face him. Silas took hold of her arms, and then pulled her to his chest. She leaned back to search his face as well as her heart. To be sure...she had to be sure. Over the past year, her emotions for him had deepened. How could they not? He'd been there during her darkest times. Supporting her and giving a fuck about her when no one else showed. However, did she feel for him enough to give into what he wanted for them? A breath snatching view filled her mind's eye. Powdered blue skies, snowcapped mountains, and aqua seas beckoned to her.

Home. Her sorcery whispered.

A longing swelled behind her breast. In that moment she had her answer. Though she'd grown to love Silas, her heart didn't belong to him. Not while it yearned for something more than him. She didn't know what was next for them, but she did know what dwelled around the next turn for her.

"It's time for me to go home," she finally answered.

Silas' brows buckled. "To Mystic Falls?"

"No," she shook her head. "To Kattegat."