Vikings

Vikings season one was over and there was a trailer for season two. 

After I saw the trailer. 

I was actually suprised to see that one of the main characters is going to be killed in the beginning of season 2. Then I decided to take my writing skills to a new level. And this is what it became.  

Floki was talking to Athelstan when he heard a strange noise. He heard screaming and they knew that they were under attack. Because Floki lived nearby water, he and Athelstan could escape by boat. They saw Ragnar and Rollo but Rollo was falling behind and was hurt, you could see that from far. Ragnar was also hurt yet he was trying to get Rollo into the boat.

They would all be save in Floki's house on the island nearby. The island that was cursed, according to the Vikings who lived on the mainland. They thought that Floki was an insane outlaw to stay on the island. Floki lived there with Helga his wife. Helga knew a lot about herbs and alternative medicine.

Rollo had fallen into his ax when he during his last fight with Ragnar but the cut was not too deep to kill him although, he lost a lot of blood.

Rollo was asleep and started to have a nightmare. It is always the same nightmare. It started when he took his own faith in his hands. He wanted war and to fight. He even accepted money to raid against his brother Ragnar.

In the raid Rollo started under the king of England. He was forced to kill people who before where his friends. He knew that if he took the life of Floki, his brother would lose his medicine man and famous boat builder. It was pure intuition but he did it. With no conscious and in cold blood, he killed.

Floki was in his brother's eyes a god and when Ragnar was almost killed by the earl he escaped by boat. He went to Floki and completely healed there. While Rollo was tortured and kidnapped by the earl because they wanted to find out where Ragnar would be.

In his dream he kept hunted by Floki's dead and Floki itself. In these nightmares Floki pointed at him and kept telling him that it was his hunger for fame and the hate towards Ragnar that he had done what he did.

If Rollo could wake up from the nightmare, he would be restless and could not sleep anymore. Only this nightmare was different and scary. Floki told him that death was upon him and he was the one who was going to kill him. That is what his mind kept saying to him.

Could a dream kill you? He was wondering himself.

Was Floki really dead or was he really a god. Like his brother told him.

Did he really kill him or was this a kind of mind game?

Or did he kill him in a dream and not for real? His brother would be vulnerable, if Floki was not there anymore.

But still it was a nightmare. He tried to sleep again but he could not.

He stayed awake and looked around and saw a shadow against the wall. He tried to stay calm and get his ax next to him. The shadow was fast and away. Did he have the same nightmare? How could he know all of this when they first started the journey? Was he still sleep or was he awake? Fear took his mind. He thought of his brother. Could the god Odin try to tell him something?

The shadow was there again. What kind of shadow was this, one of the gods? Why did the shadow not attack? Did the shadow want to warn or rescue him? Or was this something else? It looked at him, as Rollo was trying to concentrate what the shadow was doing. It did not look like Floki or Ragnar. Was this Valhalla or Odin? 

It annoyed him and he was done with this shadow. He tried to wake up but it looked like he was awake. Then out of nowhere there was a small light. Rollo was lying in Floki's house. Before he passed out again he wondered what he was doing in Floki's house. Was he hallucinating? He immediately passed out again. No one in the house had seen that Rollo was awake for a moment.

Rollo was asleep, that is what he thought. After a moment of thoughts of that fight he started to realize he must have killed Floki. But why was Floki talking to him in his mind. “If you have killed me, why are you here? I am not where you are,” Rollo answered to Floki. “Where do you think you are,” Floki asked. “I do not know where I am. Maybe in Valhalla, because if your dead that means I am dead. If you are not dead then I really do not know where I am.” Floki laughed at him and was gone. Rollo had enough of this torture. He wanted to get up but he could not.

Rollo was carried into Floki's house after they had brought Ragnar first. Helga was already taking care of Ragnar. She had already took care of the wounds Ragnar had. Rollo had lost consciousness before he was in the boat. His wounds could kill him, if they did not respond quickly.

Lagertha was ruling over the country while her husband Ragnar was away. She felt something was wrong but she felt it always when Ragnar was gone. She did not saw Rollo for a while and that worried her too. They went on a raid in their own country during winter. She was asking herself, if she wanted to go to Floki’s house to ask Helga what to do. She started praying to Freya the god. Bjorn was too young to take the responsibility from Ragnar. She asked Siggi, if she heard anything because she trusted Siggi.

Siggi was the wife of the former Earl who almost killed her Ragnar but Siggi wanted her husband to die. He did an arranged marriage for her daughter. The former earl tortured Rollo and wanted him and Ragnar death because they refuse to listen to the law. Siggi had a weakness for Rollo.

Athelstan asked Floki if he needed to warn Lagertha because Ragnar was hurt. Floki told Athelstan to wait a bit before doing so. That it will worry Lagertha too much, she couldn’t leave for she had to rule. “Maybe tonight we can get her here and then we will bring her back before someone will notice.”

They waited for the evening to fall and went to see Lagertha. She wanted to come and see Ragnar. She asked about Rollo and they told her he was very badly wounded. She needed to be strong but she loved both men. She could cry but she didn’t want to do that because she wanted to go to Ragnar as quickly as possible.

Ragnar was lying on the floor. His eyes closed. The wounds hurt him and made him realize that there was more to heal then the wounds when he just lost his son during birth. Something that bothered him was the way he took it and went cheat on his own Lagertha.

He wanted more sons. After the flu epidemic he lost his daughter as well. Athelstan had been ill as well but he survived. There was a way to explain this all. Bjorn was the only son he had left. He asked himself if he had offend Odin in any way.

He prayed to Odin that he would heal from the wounds, that Lagertha was coming soon and that Odin would heal Rollo. He was just finishing his prayers when Lagertha came in. He wanted her badly here and now. He had to talk to her about the whole situation that was there. The only thing he kept a secret was his cheating on her.     

When Lagertha came home she told Siggi what had happened during the raid. She told Siggi that Ragnar was hurt but he would get better. On the other hand she doubted that Rollo would raid again. He was badly wounded. Siggi asked Lagertha if she was excused to go and see Rollo. Lagertha wanted Siggi to stay until the evening had come when Ragnar was back; she thought that it would be quickly. And then Siggi could go with him for a night.

Where Ragnar's wounds healed quickly, Rollo's did not. Ragnar understood the problems with his brother. He had been there once before he became earl. It did not heal as quickly as it should be. He looked at his brother and knew that it was a close call, he started worrying about him. Ragnar was thinking of the sacrifices Rollo had made for him. What if he lost Rollo? Would he had to fight for his own life and did not have the protection of Rollo? His men were not like Rollo was, who had made some stupid decisions but he wanted to forgive Rollo for what he had done. Money and fame took their toll.

Athelstan looked at Ragnar and understood immediately what Ragnar was thinking. He asked Ragnar to come outside. Ragnar normally would not listen to other people and especially not a slave. But this was different.

He left his brother behind with Helga and Floki. And wandered after Athelstan. They took place on the other side of the island after an hour walk. Athelstan asked Ragnar what was troubling his mind. Ragnar was vulnerable, Athelstan knew that which is why he took him to a place where no one could see them. Ragnar would answer him, he only needed to wait for the right moment.

Athelstan started to tell Ragnar that with the baptizing of Rollo he needed to have faith in the Christian god. Maybe if Athelstan would pray to him, he would take care of Rollo.

Ragnar said to Athelstan that, if he thought it would help, he should do it. So Athelstan started to pray. Ragnar loved seeing Athelstan pray for there was something pure about it, something he could not understand. Then out of the blue, tears came out of Ragnar's eyes. So beautiful these prayers were. He was emotional and Athelstan knew he had done something good for Ragnar.

Helga tried to clean the wounds of Rollo again and Floki made a medicine to try to speed up the recovery. Rollo was still far away in his consciousness. Helga tried to talk to Rollo but he was not responding to anything at the moment. She kept praying for him to Freya, the god she and Lagertha believed in.

When Ragnar came back with Athelstan, Floki responded to Ragnar that soon they needed to go and find a crew because it was almost time to go on their raid with the boats again. During the wintertime Floki made a new handcrafted boat that needed to be tested. And preparations for the new season must be made with or without Rollo.

Ragnar went to see his men, who told him the first time what to do. To get a sign from Odin before he would go on a raid. The men told him that he would go but without Rollo. He told him also that it would take a while before Rollo could return, if he made it.

Ragnar was angry with the men. He wanted Rollo next to him and he could not say if Rollo was going to be better. He shouted at the men, that the men feared for his live but the men is neither dead nor alive.

When he came back, he went to his own house to meet the men of his crew. He wanted to raid in two different directions. To the east as always but also to the west again. To the east, he wanted Rollo to lead his men but with Rollo still not awake, he had a problem. Floki wasn’t the man to lead a boat or more boats. So, if he wanted to raid both ways, he needed to have a leader. A competition to find that leader was what he wanted. With that he would find a friend, who could lead his boat to the east. Most of the people Ragnar had raided with, had already gone to the east. Under the old earl they did not go west. Ragnar himself should go to the west with half of his own crew. The others should go with the one who won the competition.

Floki was looking for a new medicine together with Helga. They wanted Rollo to wake up before the raid started. Soon Floki would be in the raid with Ragnar. Helga needed to heal Rollo when Floki was gone.

Floki’s ghost was back again in the mind of Rollo. “Why did you kill me?” Floki asked. Rollo answered him: “you are my brother's medicine man. You will heal him again. I wanted to make him vulnerable. But why do you want to kill me?” Floki was gone again. He did not answer his question.

Floki saw that Rollo was restless. Rollo was shaking over his whole body and had a fever. Floki wanted Helga to go outside and bring him leaves and flowers from a special herb. When Helga was left, Floki took water and washed Rollo and tried to clean his wounds. If Rollo would wake, he would be very happy but it took too long. He made a new bed before he started with Rollo.

When Helga came back with the herbs Floki asked for, Floki went outside and Helga followed. She wanted to ask Floki what to do if he was gone and she needed to take care of Rollo. Helga needed someone with her when Rollo would wake up. Sometimes when a person would wake up after a while, they could be angry and then she would be alone and Rollo could hurt her.

Ragnar came back with Siggi to Floki’s house. Floki took Ragnar outside. “I have a favor to ask,” Floki said. Ragnar listened to Floki and told him to talk. Floki asked Ragnar what he had in mind with Athelstan. Ragnar told Floki that he wanted Athelstan to learn how to fight, ride a horse and become more of a Viking instead of a priest.

Siggi started to cry when she saw Rollo. This was not the way she knew Rollo. He looked dead but he was breathing. He had lost consciousness before they had escaped by boat. It was too much for Siggi to see him like that. She wanted him alive. Rollo was one of the men she adored. Rollo had asked her to marry him after the dead of her husband, yet she refused had it. But still, seeing him like that broke her heart.

Siggi told him what she was thinking, in the hope to get a reaction but Rollo did not react to her voice. Siggi saw the sweat and made it clean. She was alone with Rollo for a while because everyone was outside.

Ragnar and Floki stood outside. Floki was telling Ragnar his idea for Athelstan. If Floki died in a raid then Athelstan could take over his knowledge. Athelstan learned fast enough and he had someone to help Ragnar when Ragnar was badly wounded. Floki took Ragnar to their new boat, ready for the raid. Ragnar told Floki his decision to go on raid in two different directions. Normally he would do that with Rollo but he trusted Floki. The competition he wanted to do and the plans, if Rollo would be okay to raid in time. Ragnar wanted Floki’s permission to do so. Ragnar did give permission to Floki to learn Athelstan what he wanted.

Noises on the background made Rollo awake or so he thought. Normally Floki was there most of the time but now he was not. He tried to call Floki but nothing happened. He tried to open his eyes because he saw a light. He wanted to go to the light. Rollo had it cold. He was shivering. He wanted to get it warm. Floki made contact with Rollo but Rollo did not want to respond to Floki. Not another mind game, Rollo thought. He thought of Siggi. He tried to contact her in his mind but she was not responding. While he thought of Siggi, Floki went away out of his thoughts. He should try that the next time he saw Floki. 

Athelstan was with Lagertha when Siggi and Ragnar came back. He saw the tears of Siggi and prayed to god that Rollo would be better. Ragnar took Lagertha alone. He wanted to talk to her about Athelstan, the competition and his ideas for the upcoming raid.

Lagertha told Ragnar her ideas on this all. She hated to say he was right to do it like that. He was earl and he was right but Floki’s idea didn’t sound that bad at all. But the competition made her worry about Ragnar’s plans because what if Rollo would wake up and be better in time for the upcoming raid. What to expect from the man who was crowned leader. What was he going to do?

Ragnar asked Athelstan to come with him to the new boat of Floki. He said to Athelstan that he would stay here at Floki’s to look after Rollo while he was on raid. He should learn as fast as he could from Floki and Helga. He would learn to make medicine. He needed to protect Helga when Floki was away. If Rollo would wake up while they where gone, Rollo could hurt Helga after his sleep. Athelstan promised Ragnar to do that for him. He asked Athelstan for another favor: to look after Lagertha when he was away. They would take Rollo to Ragnar’s house because he wanted Athelstan and Helga nearby Lagertha. If they were under attack, Lagertha could protect them. She was after all a shield maiden and had Bjorn also to go with her. He wanted to learn Athelstan Vikings fighting technique. Lagertha thought Ragnar would take Bjorn with him to the raid.

It troubled Helga that Rollo still wasn’t awake. It made her wonder why it was taken so long. The question she keeps asking herself was whether Rollo would wake up at all. The medicine they gave didn’t response the normal way. It had worked on Ragnar before and he healed completely. They responded quickly enough after Rollo was hurt. Ragnar and Rollo where different in many ways, she knew that.

Was this going to happen often and could Floki be next? She returned to cleaning the wounds again. The high fever Rollo was having was also a new phenomenon. He had it now for a week, were Ragnar only had it two days. 

Ragnar’s competition would start in a week time. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go trough with it. His brother was bothering him at this stage. He didn’t want to replace Rollo by one of his good friends. Lagertha knew there was something wrong with Ragnar and asked him: “what’s bothering you?” “Is it Rollo!” “You heard what the men said, you are going on the raid whiteout Rollo. Accept what the gods have in mind with him please Ragnar. If you make the gods angry, they will take you both and maybe Floki and the others as well.”

“I love you, Ragnar. Please listen to me, if you don’t want this competition, go on a raid one way and come back to me safely.” Ragnar knew she was right.” If I go one way I would go to England again. Maybe we could go further to a new land.”

Athelstan was with Rollo so that Helga and Floki could do things together. After all, in a week time the men would go on raid. He saw a raid before his eyes when he got captured by Ragnar. He knew that they would return in safety but prayed to god and Mother Mary. After all, he was a priest, not a Viking. Although he knew lots about it lately. He loved the way they told stories about their gods Odin, Thor and Freya. It was totally different than his faith but he didn’t mind at all. He understood that it was like his god but differently told. Ragnar told Athelstan that his Christian god looked liked their gods.

Helga and Floki were outside. Helga’s eyes did met Floki’s and the fear was read in the eyes of Helga. Floki understood the fear of Helga but wouldn’t give in. He took Helga in his arms to comfort her for a while.  After all, he was going to raid again. The season was to start and all the men wouldn’t be in the village. In his mind he kept thinking of Rollo. If he was on that raid, it could be him who was lying in his house and who will help him if he was that away. He had Athelstan now but before it would all be Helga.

Floki asked Helga if she was ready to learn how to fight. She knew how to fight already but she wanted to learn more from Floki because he knew the spots on the body where you don’t have to push hard to get someone down. Helga knew a lot and she was certain she wouldn’t need to fight but it was okay to knew some of the techniques. After she learned this Floki took her to the new boat for a test. If it would take the both of them and it wasn’t sinking, he'd know that he had build another good boat.

During this, he took care of Helga and she felt the love of him trough her whole body. She wanted to have him here and right know. Floki felt her longing and took her in the boat. The boat was ready to go with a great team of to raid it floated all right.

When they went back Athelstan felt the love between those two. He was happy for them. He hopped that one day they would have kids. They matched perfectly. Floki and Helga didn’t have children at the moment.

At Ragnar’s house there was love in the air again between Ragnar and Lagertha. They talked a lot about the loss of the children. They wanted to have another one, so they send Bjorn away to Athelstan and he needed to take Siggi with him. It was the first time since long they had the house for themselves. There was always someone with them because they needed protection because Ragnar and Lagertha ruled from that house. After a while they made love to each other. She wanted to have a child again because Lagertha thought that Bjorn was going on his first raid. She needed to because she will lose his love if she didn’t.

Siggi wanted Rollo to wake so badly that she hurt herself with the thought he wanted to marry her before this raid and was almost killed. He was breathing but he was neither dead nor alive. It had something adorable seen him like this but it also hurt her seeing him like that. She loved him but didn’t want to be his wife. Her heart belonged to the former earl. She started to understand that she loved him more than she wanted. He was reckless and listening to others was one of the things he wouldn’t do. She warned him for her husband, because the hate was big enough to kill Rollo in the first place, and then go after his brother when he almost died in a one to one battle. She could see Rollo’s face when her husband died in that battle between Ragnar and her man.

Rollo was full of hate towards Ragnar. He could kill him but it was still his brother. He started to wondered what the meaning of this all could be. He was angry enough to go on a raid again but he still didn’t know if he was alive or dead. Floki wouldn’t make contact for a while if he was alive but, if he were dead he would return he thought.

He couldn’t know Floki was still very much alive and if he could make contact with Rollo it would be after the raid. Not that Rollo would know of all this because he was still out of consciousness.

Ragnar and Lagertha went to Rollo that evening. Siggi was still with Rollo and Athelstan was back at Ragnar’s home. So they could stay for a while at Floki’s house. Floki and Ragnar went in first because Helga and he where outside to eat with the door open so they could hear Rollo. Ragnar asked Floki about his brother. They both saw that Rollo was struggling. He was fighting against something dead perhaps but they where not sure about this.

Rollo was struggling with the fact that Floki was back again. He didn’t want to give in. This was not a day to die. He saw the light again and wanted to get it because this light he trusted. Trust was something he needed right now. His trust was away because of the shadow and Floki.

Helga and Lagertha where still outside talking to each other about the fear they both had when the men were on a raid. Helga told her worries about Rollo. Lagertha told that Ragnar had the same feelings about Rollo. He had asked the wise men but the men couldn’t answer Ragnar and he was mad at him. She told her that he would made the gods angry, if he goes on like this. Helga told her that she had prayed to the gods for a good raid and that Rollo would be better. She had a sign from the gods for the raid. The sign she needed for Rollo wasn’t there and didn’t come yet.

Rollo thought he had done everything, he was walking into the town. He was ready for the raid. He had already done the winter supplies. He needed to do that before the raid. He went to Ragnar to see how his preparations went. He wanted to help Ragnar with the upcoming raid. He wouldn’t do a thing for the king of England anymore because he had lost too many people he loved on his last decision. He would apologize to Ragnar and wanted the trust back of his brother.

Then Odin appeared. He saw the miracle his brother had already seen several times. Floki was with Odin and went to Valhalla. He saw him go to heaven, taken by ghosts of fellow men. His tears came.

Floki looked at the face of Rollo and called Ragnar and they both saw the tears of Rollo. They didn’t understand what was happening.

Rollo on the other hand was thinking he that was dead too, because due to legends you could only see Odin if your dead but Ragnar told Rollo way back ago that he could see Odin while he was awake outside in the battlefield. Rollo never believed Ragnar until now.

Floki and Ragnar found Rollo’s tears mysterious but saw this as a sign that Rollo was still alive or that he was in Valhalla. But, if he had tears in his eyes, what did this mean? That they needed to have hope that Rollo would wake up? Floki thought it was a sign of Odin. Ragnar believed the same thing. Because he didn’t saw Odin, he knew that he needed to have faith. He started to pray to Odin that Rollo would be better, for the raid and the competition.

Athelstan came in and saw Rollo’s tears also. He started the same prayers he had said with Ragnar, when he was badly wounded.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” (From Ecclesiastes 3 King James Bible To every thing there is a season.)

“Marry mother of god listen to me. Do not let this man die.”

After Athelstan had said his prayer, he asked Ragnar if he could go outside. He had the feeling that he was suffocating with this what he saw. He struggled with his own mind because he was still a priest and not yet a Viking. What he had seen since he was here was cruel. He had seen killings in cold blood. He had been ill because of a plague a lot of people in the village were, Athelstan got it while helping the village people to get better. He saw Ragnar, the way he acted and was almost killed and now Rollo. Did this ever end?

The competition started, there were three different games. In Archery, spear throwing and sword fighting. Who won two out of the three games would be the leader of the boat. There where men who Ragnar knew but also unknown. When the games started his best friend Thorston came up to Ragnar and asked him in private where Rollo was. Ragnar answered him that he would tell him but not now. Thorston wanted to know more about the competition. Thorston knew Rollo very well and he hadn’t show up for the competition so something was wrong with Rollo, he was certain of that. He knew Ragnar as well and saw by the look on Ragnar’s face that Rollo couldn’t be here.

Ragnar wasn’t thinking about Thorston when he first started to think about this competition. He was well known in the raids but the last raid he was to ill to go. Thorston was the last person who could have known what had happened to Rollo.

Ragnar his mind took him to his brother. He had tears in his eyes before he went to the competition. He went to see Lagertha before he started the competition and told her about Rollo. They went to a private room and took his head in her hands and looked at him. She told him to stay strong no matter what happened. They needed to cheer at the competition. Hopefully they already knew would win.

Ragnar and Lagertha went outside and seated in the chairs for the competition. “Let the competition begin!” Ragnar explained the rules to the competitors and then the games started.

In archery Thorston won, in spear throwing someone unknown won and the sword fighting was still on when Helga came to see if Floki was already finished. She had important news for Floki that couldn’t wait. At first she ran into Athelstan and asked him where she could find Floki. At first Athelstan thought Rollo was awake but she couldn’t say the secret to Athelstan. She told him it had nothing to do with Rollo. Athelstan was surprised to see Helga because he wondered who was with Rollo at this moment. Helga, Floki, Ragnar and Lagertha where at the competition, so who was with Rollo? In that moment Helga understood what he was thinking, and said to him: “what do you think Siggi of course. I wouldn’t leave him by himself.”

Athelstan took Helga to Floki, who was already finished. Floki was surprised to see Helga and wondered what she was doing here. He thanked Athelstan for bringing her. He took her to a place no one could see them. Helga asked him if he could forget the raid and staye at home. Floki was one of the men who actually never stopped to go on the raid. Helga needed a good excuse to hold him at home during a raid. Helga told him she was with child, a son, she could feel it. Floki was in the seventh heaven when she told him but he would go on raid even though she was with child.

Floki didn’t compete at all in the competition. He wasn’t the man they where looking for and it was not in him to compete with the best friends he had. Instead he helped Thorston. Floki could fight and could do the rest of the competition but Ragnar promised him that he was going with the new boat he had made for Ragnar. So there was no need to compete and he was happy for it. The boats he made for the others were boats he had made last year and the boats were not new.

Thorston won the sword fighting as well, so Thorston would be the new leader for the other boats. Thorston came towards Ragnar, who was already waiting to take Thorston to Rollo. In the meantime before they went, he told Thorston the things that had happened to Rollo.

Lagertha was on her way to Athelstan when she saw Helga and Floki. They looked happy together more then when she had seen them the last time. Curiosity took over her mind and she went to Helga and Floki instead of Athelstan. She wondered what had happened because normally Helga was with Rollo to take care of him. She was taken by surprise when Athelstan dropped her on the ground and took her back on his back. She told him to put her down. He did after a while. “You almost ruin the moment for the two.”

Lagertha asked if Athelstan knew what was going on. Athelstan didn’t, but they needed some time alone and his idea was to get Rollo up here on the main land in the house, because he wanted to give Helga and Floki time of their own for a while. Lagertha thought of his idea and said she would ask Ragnar what he thought of the idea.

Ragnar was with Thorson in the house of Floki. They had asked Siggi to leave the house and so she did. Thorston was surprised to see Rollo like that. He had seen Ragnar when he was still weak after the attack of the former earl. But this was different. Rollo looked asleep very far away. Physically he was here but mentally he wasn’t. He knew what he had to do during this upcoming raid. He wanted revenge for Rollo but he couldn’t do that because he was going the other way. Still, he got very angry. Rollo didn’t deserve this even though he had attacked Floki and Ragnar.

Rollo felt the presence of someone else. Someone he knew for a long time. Ragnar, maybe it was Lagertha or Siggi. He had a weakness for Lagertha but that could be jealousy of Ragnar. She was beautiful. In his opinion she had married the wrong brother. He wanted to keep this memory for a long time but unfortunately he woke up, so he thought with pain. Rollo had a lot of pain but where it came from he didn’t know. He felt nothing before. Strange, he thought.

Lagertha went to Floki’s house for she wanted to speak with Ragnar. When she arrived, she saw Thorston and Ragnar together and asked Ragnar to come outside. “Do you know what is wrong with Helga and Floki?” she asked, Ragnar listened to his wife but didn’t respond to her question.  She told Ragnar the idea of getting Rollo back to their house, so Floki and Helga could have some time together before the raid. Thorston, Floki, Athelstan and he could bring him up there in the evening, so no one could see that Rollo was hurt. Ragnar agreed with Lagertha but he knew it was the idea of Athelstan.

When Floki and Helga came back there was a lot of commotion in the house, Floki could feel it. He stopped the same moment and sat down. He and Helga stayed outside for a while to keep each other company and to enjoy each other for the moment. Floki held Helga in his arms. They talked a lot about the things they needed to plan.

When they came inside, Ragnar told Floki the idea and he told Ragnar he didn’t mind that they where in his house. But Ragnar insisted that they would leave tonight.

Floki wanted to know when the raid was going to start. He had three days the time. Ragnar would wait for Floki. Ragnar saw a difference between Floki and Helga. If they wanted to talk, they would. He could ask Floki anything, that he knew but he stayed quiet for now.

The others would go in a day with Thorston. Floki and Helga told each other, to wait until Floki almost went away for the raid, to tell a few people about the upcoming baby.

While the men where away to hunt, Helga and Lagertha where preparing Rollo for his travel to the house of his brother. Rollo could feel the presence of people. He wanted to know who it was. He could feel the difference between men and woman. How, he didn’t know but he could feel it.

Floki didn’t want to hunt for he wanted to make a litter to carry Rollo from his house to that from Ragnar. He made one for Rollo so they could bring him as careful as possible. After all he was a friend of Floki’s. This night they wanted to transport him.

Ragnar and Thorston took the litter on one side, Athelstan and Floki the other side. They lifted Rollo to the boat. Then they took him over the river and took him out to the house of Ragnar.

Ragnar gave Thorston the last orders for the raid. He gave a good speech to the men that went on that raid. The old men, experienced men on other raids of the old earl would go with Thorston. Ragnar took his men who already went on raid the three times. They took the chance to go the other way. Ragnar wanted to explore more of the land he was before maybe further, and come back home safely.  

Rollo found it difficult to tell but he wanted to see Ragnar. He didn’t know why. He started to walk towards the house. He remembered the good times, marriage, birth and dead. Bjorn was a young man now, who soon would go on his first raid. Gitta had flu during one of the last raid, she died while Ragnar was gone. Before that Lagertha had a miscarriage from a son. When they came back from the raid they had the funeral of both of them. Then they went on raid again.

He stayed in England because of a complot against Ragnar, got Baptist and started to plan one against the king. But first he needed to have the trust of the king. The king asked him to go and fight against his brother. He did, so he could get the trust of the king.

While doing so, he killed a few of his brother’s men but then turned over the other side and fought together with Ragnar, when Ragnar tried to kill the king. That was confusing, he killed Floki in that raid. He knew for certain. He was not too sure because he fell down after that and went out of consciousness. The strange thing about this was that he had fought both ways. The same he did when he was tortured the last time by the former earl. He couldn’t betray Ragnar then and now.

Helga and Floki had time with each other but needed to take care of the wounds of Rollo every now and then. They wanted to try a new medicine on Rollo. They loved each other more then before. Floki would be a dad in a while. He was happy but he needed to talk to Ragnar before they go on raid. He wanted Helga protected and save at Ragnar’s house for a while but he needed to ask if Lagertha and Ragnar agreed on this matter. He wanted to give Helga a save place while he was gone. She doesn’t have to know, Floki thought.

Helga was preparing a meal for Floki when she heard something outside. She got to the front with an ax. She wanted to open the door and attack but before she could, Floki already killed the men who would attack her. He called Helga so she wouldn’t attack him.

Helga knew then that she wasn’t save in her own house during the raid. She asked Floki if he had thought of that. Floki told her the plan he had wanted to keep a secret for her, so he told her right away. “I wanted to ask Ragnar if you could live in their house during the raid. It is much safer.”

Bjorn was walking passed his farm where he grew up. It was rebuild because the house burned down when his father was almost killed and the attackers thought the family was still inside. He saw something in the farm. He was curious what was happening in the farm. He now lived in the old earl house. He knocked on the door and Siggi answered to the knocking. “Bjorn what are you doing here?” “I walked by and saw something so I knocked on the door. Didn’t expect you here.” “Likewise,” Siggi told him. “Do you want to see Rollo?” Bjorn said “yes” to her. “Is Rollo back from the raid?” He started to call Rollo. “Why isn’t he coming out here?” asked Bjorn. Siggi asked herself if Bjorn knew about the situation of Rollo and saw Athelstan coming. She asked Bjorn to stay out for a moment as she walked trough the back and asked Athelstan if he knew what Bjorn was told because Bjorn was on the other side of the farm.

Athelstan took Bjorn to the living room and told Bjorn that Rollo couldn’t come out. He told the reason for this and Bjorn wanted to see Rollo although he knew it could be a shock to him.

Siggi went to see Ragnar and told him that his son was at the farm and that he wanted to see Rollo. She couldn’t stop him from not seeing Rollo. Ragnar went to get Bjorn out off there for it was not his place to go there, especially now. But maybe it was better for Rollo. Rollo could react on Bjorn. Ragnar went to see what was going on.

When he came, Bjorn was talking to Rollo. He wasn’t sure to interrupted this moment for Bjorn. Rollo heard Bjorn in his mind and reacted to him with a hug. Hey Bjorn, you are a grown man now and you will go on raid soon. Look at you, are you ready to go on raid? Rollo said so he thought Bjorn asked his uncle to get better because Rollo didn’t react and went with Ragnar to the house. “Why didn’t you tell me Rollo was back? We wanted to protect you.”

When Helga and Floki went to Ragnar’s home, they waited for a moment to kiss and hug each other. They had been trough a lot and had done enough for the people around them. They where lucky to have each other and the love between them could never turn them apart. It was the last night they had together and they wanted to turn it the best night ever. When Floki would come back, they would be with the three of them. But they would go home for the night.

Floki and Helga asked Ragnar to come outside. He felt the love between them and was wondering if he could feel the same again with Lagertha? He wanted to love Lagertha the same way Floki and Helga did. He wanted that he and Lagertha were ready to move on. He hoped tonight they could move forward. Close the period of sadness and grief. Although he knew the condition of his brother Rollo was a reason for concern, he wanted to get his own family life back on track.

Ragnar asked if Lagertha also needed to come outside. Helga wanted to tell Lagertha in private that she was pregnant. So she told Ragnar that she wanted Lagertha outside as well. Ragnar and Floki went to the forest to hunt and while they did, Helga started to tell Lagertha that she was pregnant. Lagertha felt a bit jealous when Helga told her. She felt the love between Floki and her. It was pure. Why was Ragnar holding back was he scared or was it something else?

When Floki and Ragnar went away into the forest, he asked Ragnar if Helga could stay at their place. They had an accident, someone came to Floki’s house and normally no one would go there. It was too dangerous to leave Helga alone at the moment because he was going to be a father. Helga was with child. Ragnar felt glad to give Helga a save place while they were gone. He felt that his friend needed him and wanted more to give him permission to go on raid but he wanted to be careful because this unborn child would needing a father when they came back.

When they came back from the hunt, they celebrated it with a feast. Then when Helga and Floki went to their home to sleep the last night before they went away, Ragnar send Siggi and Athelstan away for they needed to take care of Rollo.

Lagertha and Ragnar were alone in the house. Lagertha asked Ragnar what was on his mind and he told her that he was so happy for Floki and Helga. She told him that she was a bit jealous at them because she had lost her child. Ragnar asked her what she would think of giving birth to another child. She was surprised that he was suggesting the idea.

Rollo knew what he wanted from Ragnar. He wanted a kingdom. He wanted to rule a country, that was what he was going to ask Ragnar. But how would he convince Ragnar to give him that, he just betrayed him. Rollo was planning his new goal. He would be equal to Ragnar. Ragnar promised it a long time ago. He was dreaming again, he knew it.

Ragnar and Floki where ready for the raid and the men where together for the first time since the last raid. Lot of men knew what happened to Rollo, and wanted to ask questions. Ragnar and Rollo stood next to Floki, Ragnar told them to be quiet. Everyone stopped talking and started listening to Ragnar. Ragnar told the men that Rollo wasn’t ready for the raid and that was all he was going to say about it.

Rollo was mind gaming with the consciousness of Ragnar. Ragnar asked himself if he would go on raid. He got answered by Rollo:  “don’t go. I'm almost awake, so wait for me.” Ragnar was in shock, normally his brother would go. Was he doing the right thing to go on raid? Why did I save you again? Rollo answered: “because I gave my life more times I obeyed you. I would give my live for you, would you?” Ragnar answered: “I would.” Ragnar asked Rollo: “do you still think your equal to me? I trusted you but you hurt me. You made me feel low and you promised me that we should be equals.” Rollo was gone, he knew.

Ragnar went to see Rollo before he went on raid. He told his brother he would forgive him for what he did. The raid was going to start in a couple of hours without him. Ragnar took his hand through the hair of Rollo. “Brother me,” he said. Something he always did after the raid.

The funny thing was that he was going to start a raid and he said the thing after the raid Rollo thought. Then out of the blue Rollo opened his mouth and said: “I made a mistake Ragnar. I want to join you in the raid.” Ragnar didn’t hear him. He tried to tell Ragnar that he was okay and got angry. Why did Ragnar not listen to him? 

While he got angry, his hand started to shake. Ragnar saw this and went to get Floki inside. It was a sign of Odin to go on raid. Rollo would be fine after they would come back. Rollo wanted to scream and shout to be heard, his hand started to shake again and Floki saw it.

Floki started to think how this could work to get Rollo back. He had twelve hours to figure it out. So his plans with Helga weren’t going to happen. He went to see Helga and together they would find the best way to get Rollo back. Together they could do it. The faith of getting Rollo back was there. Siggi, Athelstan and Lagertha came as quick as possible to the farm. They needed to think how they where going to respond.        

When Ragnar went to Lagertha he was thinking of not going on raid at all. But would Rollo want him to stay here? He tried to make contact with Rollo by mind. He was asking Rollo all kind of questions but answers he didn’t get. When he thought further, he knew that Rollo wanted him on the raid. So he answered the question himself already. The same had happened the first time he broke the rules. He already knew the answer but feared that he would do something wrong. What was going on with Ragnar, doubt took over fear strange he had the feeling that it was disappeared when he took the choise to go west the first time. Lagertha waited for Ragnar the last couple of hours they where together, for a while. They didn’t want to get disturbed, so they send away Bjorn and Siggi. Home alone at last. Alone they where never Ragnar was earl so he got protection wherever he went. In the bedroom he couldn’t stand it anymore, he asked Lagertha if she was ready to move forward. She was and then they started to make out. At last, Lagertha thought, he would love me again. She had Ragnar back the way she wanted him. After a while they went to the living room to eat. After the meal Ragnar would go on raid.

Meanwhile in the house of Floki, the same had happened between him and Helga. But before they eat the last meal together, they went to see Rollo together.

Rollo was lying still and there was nothing to see on his face. Athelstan, Helga and Floki where cleaning Rollo’s wounds. To try new herbs and plants to let the wounds heal. The wounds where still open, and Floki wondered if burning the wounds would close them. He did that already but maybe it was better to do it again because they keep opening when Rollo was restless. He and Helga where up to decide if they wanted to do that, when they saw something happened to Rollo that they never would have guest, he started to open his eyes.

Rollo saw the old farm of Ragnar but couldn’t place Floki and Helga there. He passed out again. But why was Floki there together with Helga? In Ragnar’s house he would expect to see Ragnar and Lagertha.

Floki went to see if Bjorn was still around the farm. He could run very fast and he could warn Ragnar in time. He found Bjorn with the goats the stock of Ragnar, rebuild by a couple of men. “Bjorn, could you do me a favor? Go and find your dad! There is something with Rollo.” Bjorn ran as fast as he could. He found his dad in the kitchen eating. “Dad, dad, Floki, you need to go to Floki.” He was out of breath when he arrived. Lagertha was the only one who responded.

 “Ragnar, where are you? Hello Ragnar.” Ragnar answered her: “what did you say?” “I think Bjorn wants to tell you that you need to go to Floki.” Something is wrong, so wrong and just before the raid. This sign was not good for a good raid, she was thinking, could Rollo die in the couple of hours?

Rollo tried to open his eyes again. Sleep took over or was it the medicine? Rollo wanted to stay awake and started his own battle between mind, memory and sleep.

Ragnar was there soon enough but he didn’t see Rollo open his eyes. Was Floki sure what he saw? Helga and Athelstan saw it too, so it must be true.

Ragnar actually wanted to wait to see Rollo before the raid but it could take a week again. He said to Rollo: “I am going on raid. I will see you when I am back. I can’t let the men wait. I will be back soon. Athelstan and Helga will take care of you. He had learned a lot from Floki. Floki will come with me on raid. Lagertha took care of the country again.” Rollo wanted to react but he was too weak.

Athelstan, Helga, Lagertha went with Ragnar and Floki to the boats. The men where already there, ready to go. They were running late. But the crew knew that it had possibly to do with Rollo.

Floki took Helga in his hands and she answered him with a kiss. They said goodbye to each other. Ragnar took Helga apart from Floki and told her to take care and that she could stay in their place. “Have a save birth to your child and take care of Lagertha. I think she is also with child.”

Ragnar said goodbye to Lagertha and Bjorn. He would leave Bjorn behind because if something happened to him, they had Bjorn left. Lagertha took Ragnar away from his men. She started to whisper: “I think I am with child.” I was thinking the same thing I told Helga a few seconds ago. She started to laugh and shared their love to each other. The men could see the love not only the one from Ragnar but also Floki’s. It made the journey harder to start.

Ragnar went to see Athelstan as the last one. “Take care of Lagertha and Helga for they are both with child.” “Congratulations Ragnar, I prayed a lot that this would happen. I will talk to you very soon said Athelstan. “If I could be able to get back from raid earlier I wouldn’t mind” Ragnar said. “Ragnar you trained me very well in sword fighting. Don’t worry have a save journey. You’ll be blessed when you return back from the journey” said Athelstan. We have Rollo as well if he is better. Ragnar said “ take care of him like I was their lying, Athelstan”. Arhelstan said “their save with us I promise”.

They started the raid after the goodbyes and they where gone at last. During that night just after the raid started, they went into terrible weather although they had send prayers to Odin. This wasn’t going to be an easy journey, Ragnar thought. He asked Floki to come and sit next to him. Floki and he started whispering so the crew could sleep. Most of the time Ragnar only slept for three hours and Floki did the nightshifts and slept in the morning most of the time or in the afternoon for he was used to do that during raids like this. In that night Ragnar told Floki that he was going to be a dad like him. Floki answered him with a hug. Normally they wouldn’t do that, because they both knew then that they wanted to raid as carefull as possible. They started to plan the raid, the job was to protect themselves. Floki would stay by the boat, Ragnar would go and help the crew but should be very careful. Floki wanted to raid, so he told Ragnar he would watch his back and protect him. He didn’t want to stay by the boat. What they needed to plan was how they where going to kill the king of England.

Athelstan came back from the beach and saw there was bad weather coming towards them. It looked like a storm, one that could kill the food and animals, damage the houses and the only place that looked save was Floki’s house. Floki’s house was far better then the farm where Rollo was lying to get better. The house was build differently from the other houses.

Floki was the craftsmen with wood and his knowledge of herbs and plants would make the building superb to hide. How to transport Rollo into Floki’s house? He escaped the farm of Ragnar once but the alley under the house was too small for the litter Rollo had been on when they transported him in the first place. Since he got two pregnant women and Rollo to take care off, he needed to get Bjorn to litter Rollo once again. To protect all of them, he needed to think of something.

Lagertha and Helga were both standing outside when they saw the clouds coming. The clouds were as dark as Odin ravens. Thunder and lightning they saw in the horizon, Thor was there. They both knew they needed to go to Helga’s house but what about Rollo? Was Odin planning to take Rollo away from them? “What about Ragnar and Floki?” they said at exactly that same moment. Did they make the gods angry? Should they keep their men at home?

Athelstan went to get Bjorn and Siggi so they could carry Rollo through the alley into the boat before it was too late. They turned Rollo over so the wounds wouldn’t get wet. They started to carry Rollo to the boat. They needed to hurry because the wind was coming. They only had one minute to go from that side to the house of Floki and Helga. They wrapped Rollo carefully into sheets and clothes to keep him warm.

Rollo was going restless again during transportation. He heard the thunder and the storm and his mind was doing exactly the same. His head hurted. His wounds were opening again. He wanted to scream because it hurt so much and he needed to lay down. He woke up in the boat but no one saw it because he was lying with his head to the other side. He saw the clouds and thunder then he passed out. A boat, he thought. Did Ragnar take me on raid in this situation? What a fool I am for not able to stand on my feet. He will make the gods very angry by doing it like this. Wow hey, guys! Look who is harmed and on a raid! Yep, it is me again. Rollo, whoohoo! He loved the idea of being on a boat and on raid.

Lagertha and Helga where in the house already when Athelstan, Siggi and Bjorn arrived with Rollo. Looking at him, they saw that he was smiling. He had a big smile on his face the way they knew Rollo. They took him inside to hide from the storm. Athelstan started to pray to his own god. Ragnar told him once his god look liked the god he prayed to. He was thinking of Ragnar then he got scared. Was Ragnar hurt and Floki? He didn’t show it to the others. But Ragnar was a friend to him, although he was his slave. They had lots of conversations about freedom and slavery. Ragnar didn’t kill him, he was under the protection by Ragnar while Rollo would have killed him, freedom that is what it looked like but when he asked Ragnar about this he got angry. They didn’t treat him like a dog and he loved it here. Here he was almost free.

Rollo tried to make contact with Athelstan because he knew he was with him. Ragnar was on raid but he was on a boat, pretty confusing it was. Athelstan thought about Rollo and how he found out that he didn’t hate Athelstan. That he was good use to Ragnar. But they didn’t believe the same believes and Floki always interrupted these things. He was feeling something. As he turned around he saw Rollo closing his eyes again.

He reached out to Rollo but it was already too late. Athelstan opened his mind to him. “What was going on?” was what he was trying to say. He knew how to make contact in the minds because Ragnar told him how. Rollo tried to make contact but why was he not able to speak?

Ragnar and Floki where out of the storm already because the wind took their sail he was faster. Floki build another great boat. It was faster than before. He was thinking of home. When he did he tried to get hold of Rollo’s mind.

Rollo was trying to get hold of Ragnar’s mind as well. “We went on raid again you took me I am way to weak” Rollo said. “Did you really think you are on raid,” Ragnar said. “Yes,” Rollo replayed and started another conversation, “did you saw the thunder? Thor was there and Odin as well. The clouds were dark as Odin’s ravens.” Ragnar thought his brother was out of his mind. How on earth did Rollo thought he was with them, although he wasn’t there actually with the boat Ragnar? The consciousness of Rollo was disturbed,  Ragnar thought. “No its not disturbed,” Rollo reacted. “You did take me with you.” Ragnar tried to close his mind for Rollo but Ragnar wasn’t capable to do that. Rollo knew he couldn’t do the closing and kept him awake for a while. He saw the pain in his brothers eyes.

Floki woke up when Ragnar was screaming. He saw directly that he needed to wake Ragnar. He had a nightmare or was there something else? Was Ragnar hurt? The crew slowly woke up by the screaming of Ragnar. Floki took a look at Ragnar, seeing that he was already awake. They got under attack by the men of the king. Ragnar wasn’t hurt he had a nightmare but it was good that he screamed.

Before the crew knew what was going on, they were under attack by surprise from the mainland. They have been waiting for this a long time the raid had started. They fought against the crew from the king and won. There were only two persons dead on Ragnar’s side. The king was a coward he only had his men ready he wasn’t there himself. He would challenge him in a one to one duel. But first he needed to find the coward.

Floki took Ragnar separate from the others. “I need to help you, right?” “Right,” Ragnar said. “I am going to look for something and then prepare it for you.” “Why,” Ragnar asked. “Because it will make you stronger and you will heal quicker so you need to try it.” Ragnar was exhausted and felt down. Floki was standing next to him also very exhausted. They had a good fight. Floki guarded Ragnar. Floki was full of adrenaline, so he couldn’t sleep.

He waited Ragnar to wake up and then he wanted to search for the herbs. He found them and took them with him. He went to the boat and found everyone fighting against the men of the king. They had a message for Ragnar. The one on one duel would take place in two days time. He needed to protect Ragnar and started to fight. When the fight was done, he took Ragnar into the boat to sleep and asked the men to protect them. Floki was preparing the drink he wanted Ragnar to take while Ragnar was asleep. Then he took a quick nap. They camped nearby the boat.

That night they would go to the next village, they would attack on a different way. Ragnar had a plan and if he had one it was possible. He decided to take Floki and two others on the north side of the village, four others to the west, four others to the east, four others to the south and they would meet each other on the main square. There where more villages they could take, if this was working.

Ragnar was frightened, if they stayed at the camp they would be overruled by the king. He would be ambushed. Everyone was dead if he took that chance, so he wanted to ambush a lot of villages. Everyone was asleep then and he could do a surprise attack.

This plan worked out very well and the king lost men but they took also hostages. The people they kept hostage where men of the king who they thought where important to them.

In about a day time. The ten villages they took over and where empty when they finished. This was the first time Ragnar had a raid like this. Land he could own, if he killed the king. The thirst for more land was there but he was exhausted. They should do this again tomorrow.

They went back to the boats. The camp could be filled with the people from the village. The farmers he took to the boats so he could ship them to Lagertha later. He would take them when he was going back to Lagertha. He wanted to be home soon but first he wanted to kill the king.

Athelstan was outside and went to Ragnar’s house to check it. Could they go there or did it need reparations after the storm. It demolished lots of nature. Athelstan regretted that he loved nature the way he believed it was created. The farm he needed to check also. Unfortunately for them the farm needed a new roof and Athelstan saw that if they stayed they would be dead. Immediately the fear took over what if Ragnar’s house was the same state then they needed to stay in the house of Floki.

He needed to take action and ask Lagerta if he could start with the reparation of the farm. He wanted to have charge of this because the houses needed to be rebuild. He saw that the house of Ragnar needed a bit of reparation. It had hold the storm. He started to take care of the reparations before he went outside to see the men who were not on raid.

Rollo was confused when he opened his eyes again, he was at Floki’s house once more. He was on raid a minute ago, the other minute he was at Floki’s. He didn’t understand a thing what had happened. He tried to talk but there came no noise. He had a headache and wanted to get something that could take the pain away. He was angry but why he couldn’t place it all. He started to scream in his mind so maybe someone heard him. Floki answered him firstly. Not Floki again go away Floki I don't want you here.

Floki heard the scream of Rollo in his head and woke up, as fast as he could he started to look for Ragnar he found him awake in one of the boats he made. “Ragnar I think Rollo is awake. I can hear him scream in my head but he is in a lot of pain” said Floki to Ragnar.

When Rollo produced the scream there was a little noise heard by Helga, yet it was softly. She was indeed the first one to find out that Rollo was awake and he was angry like they told her. Rollo was not able to attack her now, she knew he was too weak. Athelstan came in at that moment. He went to Rollo immediately to see what he could do. He told Rollo to only shake his head. “Was he in pain?” “Yes,” Rollo answered with his head but the headache made him go to sleep again. Athelstan asked Helga to make the medicine again. He needed to talk to Lagertha and Siggi. Was it okay with her to stay with Rollo, he asked Helga. Helga said that it was okay with that but to be sure Athelstan asked Bjorn to stay with her.

Lagertha was having a nap when Athelstan found her. He was glad she was asleep, so he went to see Siggi. He found Siggi in the kitchen. He told her Rollo was in lot of pain but remained sleepy. He was awake for one minute or so and fell away again. The trouble was that every time he woke up, he was awake a little and then he was away again. It could take hours or days when he would wake up again.

Siggi asked Athelstan what it could mean for them? What was the risk for Rollo and what could happen if he was totally awake? Where they save or could he hurt anyone? These questions he couldn't answer those to Siggi. He would love to know these answers.

Siggi cried when Athelstan went away. She was scared that Rollo would never be the same. Could she go there tonight. She would ask Lagertha, if she was able to go there.

Athelstan went to see Lagertha to tell her what happened with Rollo. She was glad Rollo showed some signs of life. If she wasn’t married to Ragnar, she'd probably would have chosen Rollo instead of Ragnar. She loved him equally as she loved Ragnar. He always told her she had chosen the wrong brother. She knew Rollo loved her the same way. But he loved Siggi as well, he told her a couple months ago that he wanted to marry Siggi but she had refused. He was hurt, lived nearby in a village on his own and had no children. He must felt alone sometimes, she thought.

Rollo kept dreaming about the raid. They had taken over lot of villages and land. They had captured men for their own benefit and they had killed. Ragnar could be proud of him. Most of the time he wouldn’t tell them. Ragnar looked heartless but he had one. He tried to see Ragnar but he couldn’t because he was exhausted again.

Ragnar was up for the challenges of the coward king and the duel was happening in a couple of hours. He could have the land and then he wondered? He needed someone who he could trust and spoke the language. His mind directly went to Athelstan or Rollo but will Rollo be able to fight and to rule?