"HALFDAN DOES NOT LIKE YOU."

Thorvid stood outside the open door to her room, unwilling to cross the threshold.

Ella neatened up the yards of yarn that she was rolling for the queen. Since the stormy night they had spoken by the fire, she had grown closer to Aslaug. She'd even been invited into her weaving room, though she proved better at the spinning wheel than the loom. Aslaug assured her that it just took practice. If she stuck at it, she might become proficient someday.

"Is that a problem?"

Thorvid scratched at his bearded chin, leaning up against the door frame. "Could prove to be if Ivar sends him with me to treat with Aelfred. I leave tomorrow."

"Why would that be bad?"

"Because it seems like he just wants to get rid of you. He doesn't care what money you bring. He says he doesn't trust you."

Though she couldn't say she liked Halfdan either, he did have his mother's keen intuition.

"Why does that matter? I'm just a hostage. You don't need to trust me."

"What did you say to him about your sister and his son?"

"That he didn't seem to care about either."

Thorvid grimaced. "I suppose that's my fault. I gave you that impression."

"Yes, you did."

"Maybe I was mistaken. I was just so angry that he ruined that chance for us, Aedwen would have brought a good ransom as well if she hadn't-"

"Died?" Ella snapped, dropping her yarn and glaring at him from across the room. "It's a shame that she died because then you couldn't profit from her. That's what you are saying. To me. Her sister."

Thorvid shrugged.

Ella stormed across the room to push him out of the doorway so she could slam it in his face. "And you accuse me of being heartless!"

He caught her hand as she shoved him and held it to his chest. Ella stopped cold. She could feel his heartbeat under her palm. It was fast.

"I never said heartless," he murmured, his mouth dipping towards her hairline as he drew her closer towards him. Ella did not resist.

"You implied it," she insisted, breathlessly.

"That was before I saw you were only protecting what you truly felt."

His free hand drifted towards a loose curl at her earlobe. Tenderly, he tucked it back from her cheek. Ella wet her lips, not daring to look into his face.

"I get the impression that you protect your own heart the same way."

"We are very much alike in that."

Raucous laughter echoed from down the corridor. Thorvid abruptly pulled away from her. His eyes were wide when he met her's. This was how things had been between them. Normal conversations always teetered on the brink of intimacy, like a summer squall appearing in a blue sky. Ella knew that allowing anything further between them would only hurt her.

"I hope you will be the one to tell me when the ransom is decided," she said, pushing the door closed. "If you are going to profit from me, I want to hear it personally from you."

The Danes left the next day to meet with the emissary from Wessex. Halfdan went with them. Ella stood beside Queen Aslaug, holding Audun's hand, as they rode away. Halfdan gave a faint nod to his son and the boy beamed back. The mild exchange broke Ella's heart. King Ragnar's sons were a strange breed when it came to affection.

Thorvid did not look at her at all, but Ivar watched her keenly. She could almost hear the jingle of gold coins clinking in his brain. Aslaug laid a calm hand on her shoulder.

"Come with me. We'll have another weaving instruction. I have a feeling you could use the distraction."

They weren't five minutes into their lesson when a figure loomed in the doorway. Aslaug's weaving room had always felt like a sanctuary for the women of the house. The world of the Danes possessed an overpowering masculinity. Women had more freedom than in the Saxon culture, but spaces of their own were few and far between.

Ivar's presence in his mother's work room felt like an affront. But he was their king and leader, rightfully so from the sounds of it. He could go where he pleased.

"Son," Aslaug said, stepping forward and giving him a light embrace. "What are you doing here?"

"May I have a moment with Princess Aethylthryth?"

Aslaug crooked an eyebrow. Ivar sighed, his controlled persona falling in front of his strong-willed mother. Ella recalled how Aslaug had discouraged her eldest son from her presence. Though Aslaug liked her, she still felt it was important that Ella leave Basengum as soon as possible. If Ivar took an interest in her, that could change everything.

"I only wish to speak with her of what is to happen next," Ivar reassured her.

With a sigh, Aslaug conceded. Calling to Hilde, the two of them left the weaving room. Once again, Ella was alone with Ivar. The sense of being drawn into his orbit, while desperately wanting to be free of it, came over her. Morbid fascination was the term she had applied to him.

Ella remained at the loom, weaving the shuttle. She held her head high and eyes on her work.

"What is it you wish to speak to me about?"

"If the terms set by Aelfred are not sufficient, what we are to do with you."

Ella's eyes flickered towards him as he paused beside the loom, a modest distance away. His hands were folded behind his back and his sharp eyes were on the window behind her. It had been a misty morning with the sun glowing behind the banks.

"What are your plans?"

"You are the last of the royal line in Northumbria. Though your father gained the throne by force, he still earned it for himself. He was a tyrant who killed my father, but I will admit that of him. Not like the coward Ecberht that we set up there. That makes you valuable."

"So I've heard."

Ivar cracked a small smile that faded swiftly, cutting his eyes to the floor. "You are a shrewd woman and you hold yourself with dignity. You are stronger than your sister. Have you heard what they call me?"

Ella hesitated in her work. "No."

"Ivar the Boneless. Do you know why?"

"... why?"

"Because I am unable to have children. I have been married and had mistresses, but none have ever conceived. I am not concerned by it. I never saw myself as being a good father. Not like my own. But I do understand the value of an advantageous match. Especially among the Saxons of this land."

Shivering, Ella set down the shuttle and straightened her posture. She faced him, meeting his eyes directly.

"Are you saying you wish to be king of Northumbria?"

"It is a possibility. Though you will never have children. Ours would be a marraige in name only. I would not take you to my bed unless you wished it."

Ella scoffed. "Hasn't your mother spoken to you of me? What she has seen?"

Ivar's expression darkened. "Yes. She mentioned that there are several paths for you. But also that you carry secrets that even she cannot perceive. I asked myself what a girl of your age could possibly be hiding? If anything, it intrigued me even more."

"She said that I will bring a certain doom where I go. That even if Aelfred does marry me, if something were to happen to his wife, then we would still not be happy."

"Unhappiness in marraige is not a curse."

Perhaps marrying Ivar was a safer route. If there was no way for her to return to the future and she was stuck there for good, they would never have children. She would merely exist without disrupting the flow of history. Life with Aelfred could prove more difficult to control.

"When will I know what you think of the terms?"

Ivar shrugged. "I will send Thorvid to you with the news when he returns."

Ella looked away at the mention if his brother. She was attracted to Thorvid, his presence burned into her whenever they shared a room. Could she live as Ivar's unloved wife with Thorvid always haunting her thoughts?

Ivar studied her with a grave glance. "Thorvid is unable to keep a wife of your stature. You might become his lover for a brief period, but that is all you could expect. He is as ambitious as me. I fear someday I will come to regret that shared trait for I truly do love him, even if he's only my father's bastard."