A/N: So Uhm.... Holy chapter, Batman! Please note, there is a rape scene in this chapter. I will mark it with asterisks so you can skip that part if you do not feel comfortable reading things like that. 

My tears had long since stopped, leaving my cheeks feel raw from the salty tears that streamed down for so long. I felt empty and numb while I sat in the dark against the stone siege wall, my legs outstretched in front of me. I was staring blankly out into the darkness of the town while Vidar was curled into a ball next to me, sleeping with his head resting on my leg.

The shouts and laughs coming from the feast raging inside the church echoed throughout the town. Every time I heard the warriors cheer out Ivar's name I felt bile rise in the back of my throat, threatening to spill onto the ground.

I tried with all of my might to stop myself from closing my eyes because when I did, all I saw was her, naked on top of a panting Ivar. I felt like I'd taken a blow to the chest. This type of pain wasn't new to me, yet this seemed to hurt more than when Bjorn told me about the death of my father.

"What are you doing out here?"

I didn't move. I just kept staring ahead into the shadows of the night. Maybe they would just give up trying to speak to me.

"Briet," Ubbe appeared before me, kneeling down at my left side and placing a concerning hand on my shin. Vidar woke from his slumber, the hair at the back of his neck standing to attention as he looked up at Ubbe. "Are you alright?"

I blinked away the dryness of my eyes and slowly turned my head from him. My hair fell from behind my ear and curtained my face. The last time we spoke he blamed my for not controlling him, in turn causing the battle that was about to take place and I insulted him by saying he was a jealous fool.

Ubbes' hand rose to my chin making me flinch at his touch and gently turned my head so that I was looking up at him. "What's happened?"

An uncomfortable burn started in my eyes. I felt like I was going to start crying again but there were seemingly no tears left to cry. "I... I saw him w-with... someone else." I stammered.

"Ivar?" He questioned.

I nodded my head in response as a few tears managed to form. "She was naked, on top of him when he was in the church."

Ubbes' lips turned up in a wistful smile as he looked at the hurt in my eyes. "Ivar is a bastard for hurting the one person who truly loves him."

My brows furrowed. How could he say that, Ivar was his brother, surely he loved him.

"He's my brother, and I love him but not the way that you do. He has something special with you and he's a fool to fuck it up."

I scoffed at his words. I was beginning to believe that he didn't love me, rather I belonged to him, his possession and he didn't like anyone touching his things. I sighed, blinking the tears from my eyes before I gave Ubbe a half smile in hopes that he would think I somehow felt better.

He looked up to the top of the siege wall and tapped his hand that was already resting on my shin. "The sun is beginning to rise. The Saxons will be here soon, you need to get ready for the fight."

"I am not aloud to fight," I said sheepishly.

"You are still a free woman, girl. Ivar cannot rule over everything you do. Go, prepare for battle. I need you to be in the windows of that building." He pointed to the tall building across from the church. "You will be an archer. We plan to funnel them into the smaller alleys where we will have burning brush. The smoke will make it impossible for them to see and from there we can easily pick them off."

Ubbe brushed some of my hair behind my ear before he jostled my shoulder in a caring manner. "Forget my brother, for now. We need you on the battle field." He smiled.

My back was pressed against the stone wall of the building keeping me hidden while my neck craned over my shoulder so I could see out of the tall, narrow window. I had my arrow knocked against the string but kept my weapon in a neutral position to not tire my arm muscles before the attack began.

I could feel my heart racing inside my chest while the sound of the Saxon's marching feet grew louder. Closing my eyes, I took in a long, deep breath through my nostrils and let it out slowly from my lips. I looked down at my fingers holding my arrow in place. They were still dirty from when I dipped them into the kohl and painted around my eyes black.

One of the shield maidens who was positioned with me had prepared the kohl and did the same to her eyes after she offered it to me. When she finished, she drew the Týr rune on my forehead before doing the same on hers.

"For protection." She smiled, setting the small bowl down before taking her bow from her shoulder and getting into position at the window to my right.

The smoke that Ubbe had told me about started to rise from the alleys. Everything seemed to slow down around me though my heart beat faster still. I looked across the town square at the bell tower of the church. I could see Ubbe and Hvitserks' silhouettes as they stood there, both with one of their arms raised, fist clenched.

"Steady," I spoke sternly to the warriors who were stationed with me. Ubbe told me to take command of the few people with me and watch for his signal to loose the arrows.

Ubbe's arm fell. "Loose!" I commanded in a harsh whisper to still keep our position from the Saxons secret.

I pulled back the string of my bow and fired into the smoke filled alley. Instantly the surprised and wounded screams of the opposing force filled the air.

"Again!" I demanded, hurriedly pulling another arrow from my quiver. We fired shot after shot at the enemy. Every few moments I looked across to Ubbe to see what he commanded next.

Our attack didn't last for long. Ubbe signaled for us to leave the safety of the building and head to the streets to take them head on. I slung my bow over my shoulder and took my axe from it's loop and my sword from it's sheath as I turned to run down the steps, following the others.

"It seems you have learned nothing from your first battle." Turning and looking behind me, I was annoyed to see none other than Florian. "Where is your shield?"

"Why do you insist on not leaving me alone?" I snapped, continuing down the steps.

"To be fair, girl, I had no idea you would be here. Ubbe told me to set up here." As soon as we were at the landing I could see the swarm of enemy soldiers attacking our own in the street. I gripped my sword and tried to take a deep breath to steady myself.

Florian pushed past me, stopping at the door he turned his head to me. "Stay safe."

I scoffed at him as he ran out to meet the raised sword of a Saxon. Within moments, he had dispatched the Saxon and moved further into the fight. I paused by the doorway, still keeping myself hidden while I assessed the situation I was about to get myself into.

Looking to the bell tower one last time, I gasped. My heart tore slightly with every beat while I felt the familiar feeling of butterflies in my belly. A hooded Ivar sat at the window of the tower, looking directly at me. I could feel the tears spark from the images of Ivar with the naked girl on his lap.

"No," I scolded myself while still keeping Ivar's intimidating stare. I refused to let the events of yesterday hinder me. Ubbe was right, Ivar cannot control me and if he is choosing her over me, then he has no right to be angry about Florian or me fighting.

Stepping out into the battle, I was met instantly by an older man. He jabbed his long blade towards my open chest. Quickly I turned to my side and hooked the curved blade of my axe around his sword, trapping his weapon in place. I was quick to bring my own sword up against the opening at his neck and sliced hard. His warm blood splattered on my face leaving me blinking away the warm liquid. Ivar's angry glare flashed behind my closed lids. I shook my head angrily trying to forget him.

In the few seconds I stood there freeing my axe from his sword, another Saxon approached me, swinging his clench fist at my jaw. My head snapped in the direction of the blow leaving me slack jawed and blood pooling in my mouth. This mystery woman appeared this time as my eyes were closed. Her hand sliding down to Ivar's pants, freeing his cock before she positioned herself over it.

My eyes flew open. Turning quickly, I spit my own blood in his eyes, leaving him momentarily blinded and landed my axe into his face. The squelch sound seemed to echo off the walls as his body stiffened before it fell to the ground. Before I could even get the blade dislodged I had to bring my sword up to block yet another attack. I was forced down to the ground from the weight of the attack. Panic began to set in. I didn't have another weapon to strike as the opposing man was putting his weight down against me from above.

Frantically searching the ground around me for another weapon left me distracted from the man's foot that he used to kick me square in the chest. I flew backwards gasping for air. His strike had knocked the wind out of me. Again, my eyes were screwed shut and the horrifying images began again.

Ivar's hands were tangled in her hair, pulling her back so that her chest was arched up as he slammed his cock inside her, making her perfect breasts bounce from the force of him fucking her. Taking in loud, ragged breaths, I looked up to the bell tower. Ivar was strained over the side of the stone, eyes wide as he watch what was happening.

I heard the Saxon chuckle which brought me back. He stalked towards me, blade raised above his head and ready to drive it into me. My eyes were wide from fear, my hands blindly searching for anything next to me to use as a weapon or a shield. Just as he brought his sword down, Florian had stepped in, blocking his sword with his own.

The Saxon looked wide eyed at him just before Florian quickly whipped his sword around and cut the man from his hip to his shoulder. The enemy's insides spilled out from the open gash Florian made.

"Get your head in the battle, Briet!" Florian's hand reached out to me. I quickly grabbed it and he brought me to my feet. He forced a new sword and axe in my hands before he turned back to the battle. "I cannot fight and look after you at the same time. I know you can fight better than this!"

The skies opened up just as he was again out of sight, lost in the melee. Rain poured down on everyone, clearing the smoke from the alleys that had spread throughout the whole town. Florian was right. I was better than this.

I ran towards the first Saxon I saw and swung my blade around the front of me, slicing through the belly of the unsuspecting soldier. I waisted no time moving to the man at his side. I spun on my heal and brought my blade down into the shoulder of the enemy, dragging my blade further down and across his chest. His mouth opened but instead of a scream, blood spurted from his mouth before he started to choke on the thick red liquid.

Fingers snaked through my hair before they clutched hard, gripping the hair at the back of my head and pulling me backwards. I yelped out in pain as I was forced down to my knees. My eyes shot up to the Saxon who was standing above me, smiling wide as he slowly brought his sword up above his head.

I jolted my head to the side while I swung my axe around to the side of my head and buried the blade into the man's groin. The Englishman screamed out in pain as he dropped to his knees. I ripped the axe from his body and used the blunt side to strike him across his face, shattering his nose.

I heard a strange thundering noise fill the air just as I twirled the axe in my hand before I brought the blade down against his face. Thor must be proud of us, I thought as a smile spread across my sweat and blood covered face.

Quickly looking around, I noticed the number of enemy men was starting to dwindle. We were winning! As I got to my feet, I noticed the thundering sound was not only continuous but getting louder.

Within seconds of me realizing this, I saw Ivar's chariot race out from behind some buildings. He whipped the reins of his horse in quick succession making the animal run faster still. I watched as a Saxon ran into the path of Ivar wielding a long pole. Just as Ivar was coming up on him, he jolted the pole out in front of Ivar. It collided with his chest and knocked him backwards from the chariot.

"No!" I shrieked, racing towards Ivar who was now laying on his back on the ground.

The warrior who had knocked him was stalking towards him, sword in hand. Before I could get to them, another Saxon charged me. I shot my sword up and blocked his attack at my right. He pulled his sword back and attacked my left. I felt the blade slice into the flesh of my upper arm just as I was moving out of the way of his attack. I let out a yelp before I dropped to my knees and forced my sword up into the belly of the portly man.

Looking past his corpse, I saw Ivar just as he flipped to his side and cut at the back of his attackers leg with his war hammers. As the attacker fell to the ground, Ivar wasted no time in plunging his hammers into the man's face. The sounds of his skull cracking and breaking filled the air.

"Fuck!" Florian bellowed out from somewhere behind me. Turning to see what happened, I saw Florian clutching his collar bone. Blood was spilling down from under his hand. The Saxon who was attacking him struck him again, this time slashing the back of his thigh before he lifted his shield and used it to knock Florian to the ground.

I sprinted to Florian, jumping over the dead bodies that now littered the ground. I made it just in time to block what would have been a killing blow to Florian.

"Briet?" He questioned behind his clenched jaw.

My axe ended the enemy within seconds of me hacking through his chest plate and into his beating heart. Turning slowly to Florian, I moved my blood drenched and tangled hair from my face and gave him a half smile. "Thank me later." I said, panting.

I kneeled down next to him and wrapped his good arm around my neck. He couldn't stay out in the open like this, he'd be killed. Grunting as I struggled to stand under his weight, I finally stood. Florian groaned in pain as he balanced on his good leg and used me as his crutch.

"Florian, Briet!" Ubbe's voice called from the alley. He and his men were racing down the narrow passageway to us but we both stopped in our tracks when we heard Ivar. My head snapped in his direction. He was now surrounded by a group of Saxons, all with their shields raised and swords at the ready.

"Don't you know who I am?!" Ivar screamed, hitting his open palm against his chest as he yelled. Blood drenching his face. "You can't kill me! Do you know who I am?! I am Ivar the Boneless!" Ivar spit blood in the direction of the enemy and continued to chant "You can't kill me, I am Ivar the boneless!"

Two men came to Florian and I and carefully took him from me. As soon as Florians' arm was off from around my neck, I spun towards Ivar. Before I could even take a step, Hvitserk wrapped his arm around my waist and drug me back with him to the alley.

"We have to wait, we are outnumbered," Hvitserk yelled from behind me as he yanked be backwards.

"That's your brother out there!" I protested, fighting with all my might against him to break free. "That's Ivar," My voice broke and I fought to keep back the tears.

Ivar continued chanting his name in front of the Saxons, his voice growing louder just as they started to close in on him. I'd had enough. I didn't care if we were outnumbered, I wasn't about to let Ivar die. I forced my left arm back with as much force as I could muster and elbowed Hvitserk in the jaw. As soon as his arms were dropped from my body I fell towards the ground, catching myself with my palms. I waisted no time in getting to my feet and racing towards Ivar.

Before I could make it to him, a group of our men emerged from the alley on the opposite end of the square. Now the tables were turned, we out numbered them. Ubbe's voice rang out above the battle cries, signaling for us to attack.

A few of the vikings ran right to Ivar and stood guard in front of him, ready to attack as they watched the carnage ensue.

Ripping my axe from the neck of another man, I quickly shot a glance to Ivar. He was still safe but as he sat there, I saw his lips go from a tight line to his devilish grin. His head dipped down and he looked out into the crowd, his eyes fixed on something.

Following his gaze, I found exactly what he was smiling at. A strange man who fought for the Saxons was practically dancing across the field. He wore little armor and carried no shield like the rest of the English. His moves were swift and precise as he made his way towards Ivar, killing my countrymen as he went and never once breaking eye contact with Ivar.

I dodged an oncoming attack, spinning around the side of my attacker and forcefully thrusting my sword into an opening of his armor. My eyes scanned the mass of people until I found this strange man. He was growing closer and closer to Ivar. At the rate of which he was killing his opponents, I feared that the four men who guarded Ivar wouldn't stand a chance.

I blocked another attack and before I had the chance to retaliate, another shield maiden had killed the man and ran off to her next brawl. I tried desperately to make my way to Ivar but for every few steps I took, more and more Saxons rushed in between Ivar and I.

Ivar sat there, eyes fixed on the man as he was now only a few feet from him. He brought his hands up in front of him slowly and mockingly clapped at him as he killed more and more Norsemen.

Just as the man was almost to Ivar, two large groups of our men had managed to group in front of Ivar. Their shields were raised in front of them and as soon as they were locked together, the men started marching forward, pushing the Saxons back.

Dipping behind the shield wall, I watched as the man who so desperately was trying to get to Ivar was slowly walking backwards, his sword dropped at his side. One of his men brought a terrified looking horse to him and within seconds, he mounted it and began to speak to his men, the only word I could make out was God.

As the Saxons started to fall back, the dark haired man kept pulling back on the reins of his horse to keep it in place. He looked back to Ivar and I could see his thoughts painted on his face.

Without a thought, I took an arrow from my quiver and knocked it to my bow. I drew back and let my arrow fly. It landed right in his shoulder, jolting him back in his saddle. He looked over the crowd to try and see who could have shot him. His dark eyes landed on me and I felt a strange wave of dread wash over me. One of his men started to yell retreat, causing him to turn and hold up his sword at Ivar and bellowed some English words to him before he pulled the horses reins harshly to the left and kicked his heals into it's sides making the animal take off with his retreating men.

The men all around me started to cheer. Their victory screams were deafening until Ivar's maddening laugh caught my ear. This laugh was like nothing I'd heard from him and it was one that would prove to haunt me for the rest of my days.

The adrenaline that coursed through my veins all morning had finally subsided leaving me very much aware of all my new wounds and contusions. I hobbled my way down the damp streets of York, now that it had finally stopped raining, not entirely sure where I was even going. I knew I couldn't go to the church. Ivar and his brothers would surely be there and I wasn't prepared to face Ivar just yet. I wasn't entirely comfortable with going to the priests' house either, in case for some reason Ivar was there, so I was forced to walk to streets.

My muscles ached in ways they never had as I meandered around. I saw a bucket with water dripping over the top on ground when I turned a corner. Looking at the dripping water, I became very aware of how dry my mouth was. I dropped to my knees, cupping my hands before dipping them into the water and bringing them to my lips. I hungrily gulped down handfuls of water until splitting pain erupted in my head from how frigid the water was.

Gripping my forehead with my wet hands I tried to massage the pain though I knew it wouldn't work. When the pain finally subsided, I took my hand from my head and saw red and black stains across my palm and fingers. I leaned over the bucket and looked at my reflection in the now still water.

The kohl rune I had painted on my forehead as well as the thick strip across my eyes had ran down my face from the rain earlier leaving trails of black and grey. Mixed in with the black and grew was large splatters of red. My lip turned up in a grimace while I dipped my hands into the water and scrubbed at my face.

As I finished, I heard a low moan. My brows furrowed and I grabbed my axe as I stood in case it was a wounded Saxon. Peering around the corner of the stone building I saw a heap of a man laying on his stomach, his face resting in a puddle of murky water.

By the way he was dressed he wasn't a Saxon, that's for sure. He tried to push himself up with his arms but as soon as he got his chest a few inches from the ground he immediately came crashing back to the ground. Feeling sorry for him, I hobbled towards him.

I grimaced as I got down to my knees and slid my hand under his cheek to get his face out of the muddy puddle. As soon as I moved his long chestnut hair from his face I recognized him immediately.

"Florian?"

Florian was writhing in pain, trying to move away from me. His face slipped from my hand but he managed to catch himself before he landed back in the puddle. I pushed him over gently so that he was resting on his side and looked him over.

He had bruises all over his face. It looked like whoever did this to him was relentless because many of the bruises had deep cuts to go along with them. His one eye was swollen completely shut and his lip was split, blood leaking from the deep wound while his nose was visibly broken. What made my stomach churn was when I saw what looked like a strangulation mark on his neck. The battle has been over for hours now and these wounds look fresh.

"Florian, who did this to you?" I knelt down beside him and brushed away his long chestnut hair that was matted and stuck to his bleeding face.

Florian used his forearm and all of the strength he had left to push me away from him. "Leave me!" He croaked out, fresh blood spilling from his mouth.

"No, tell me who did this to you? You need help, you need to be taken to the healer." I snapped, crawling back to his side and resting on my haunches.

"No!" He roared, pushing me so hard I lost my balance and fell to the ground. "It's been made perfectly clear that I should never look at or speak to you again."

My question was answered. Ivar. Ivar did this to him.

I burst through the door to the priests' home and was surprised to find Ivar sitting at one of the tables with a golden chalice in his hand. His head snapped up to the door from whatever christian book he was paging through. His brows knit tightly together in confusion as to who had just barged into his dwelling.

When he saw it was just me he scoffed and went back to paging through the book. This infuriated me more, him just brushing me off like I didn't matter.

"What the fuck is the matter with you?!" I snapped, slamming the door shut behind me.

Ivar's head rolled dramatically before he looked up at me through his lashes, glaring. "And what are you talking about, hmm?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Florian. You had your men beat him for no reason!"

Ivar sat up straight in the chair, taking in a deep breath before he faked a confused look. "I have no idea what you are talking about. My body guards were with me at the celebration feast in the church. The second feast that I have not seen you or Florian at."

I let out a frustrated growl while I turned and punching one of the decorative vases that was sitting on the shelf next to the door. It came crashing to the ground and broke into a hundred pieces at my feet. Ivar was playing with me.

"I just saw him in a back alleyway bleeding out! He told me that you made it very clear to stay away from me!"

Ivar's lip twitched up in a scowl, his fingers clenching into tight fists. "I saw him with you when I was in the bell tower. I saw how close he was to you, the way he looked at you! He needs to stay away from you. You are mine, Briet." He answered in a low growl.

I scoffed. "That's rich coming from you, Ivar when just yesterday you had a naked woman on your lap with her tongue down your throat-"

"That's different!" Ivar cut me off, slamming his fist down onto the table making his chalice shake.

"Yes, Ivar. You're right, that is different. You were going to fuck some girl after you said you wanted to marry me and Florian was there on the battle field protecting me from the enemy. Something you can't do." I barely finished my sentence when I heard his axe land into the wooden door, inches from my face.

My jaw dropped open and I felt myself start to shake. Flashes of Ivar throwing his axe into Sigurd's heart played in my mind and the situation I was now in became all the more serious. Before I knew it, Ivar was towering over me, standing with the aid of his crutches.

I stood there frozen with my back against the door while he glowered down at me.

"I-I-Ivar," I struggled to speak his name before his hand shot to my neck. His hand was like a vice and instantly shut off my airway. My hands clutched his and tried desperately to pry his fingers from me while my mouth gaped open and closed, desperately tried gulp in air.

"You're mine!" He screamed in my face, gripping tighter still.

I quickly hooked my foot around his ankle and kicked his foot out from under him. He screamed from the pain I had caused his legs and without both of his hands on his crutches he crumbled to the ground taking me with him. When we hit the ground he lost his grip on my neck and I clambered to get away from him.

Ivar was fuming and quickly crawled after me, gripping onto the hem of my pants around my hips and tugged me back under him. I'd never seen this look in his eyes before and it terrified me. He laid down on top of me, pinning me down with his bodyweight. His one hand gripped the hair at the back of my head holding me in place while his other back handed me across my cheek.

*******

"Ivar!" Tears involuntarily started to stream from my eyes while I felt the blood start to pool in my mouth from my teeth cutting into my cheek. I struggled against him to get my arms out from being pinned at my sides to while away the blood.

"You. Are. Mine!" He growled behind clenched teeth before his hands gripped the collar of my shirt and tore the fabric in half, leaving me naked from the waist up.

"Ivar, please stop!" I sobbed, finally bringing my hands up to cover my chest. He tore my hands from my chest before he moved his weight to my side so he could pull my trousers down to my knees. "I don't want this!"

I brought my knee up to his chest while he was still rolled to my side and tried to push him away but he still had a tight grip on my hair and held me still. His lips crashed down against mine in a rough kiss. When I didn't part my lips for his tongue, he bit down hard on my bottom lip. I opened my mouth to scream but was silenced as his tongue invaded my mouth.

He tasted of mead, christian wine and blood while his tongue assaulted mine. I tried to move my head from side to side to break the kiss but he only held onto my hair tighter. When he finally broke away from the kiss, I saw crimson stains on his lips from my now bleeding lower lip.

"I always knew I was special. Why else would the gods curse me with these legs, hmm?!" He shook my head violently with his rhetorical question and then let go. A sob escaped my lips and I quickly turned my head away from him, anything to feel like I was hidden from him and not left naked and bared in front of him.

His calloused hand gripped my chin and forced me to look back at him. My knotted hair covered some of my face and I silently thanked the gods.

"Freydis told me that I am special," His hand jerked my chin as he spoke "the Gods favor me!"

"I-I always t-told you you were s-s-special," I stammered, still trying to avert my eyes from his.

"You didn't think I should have gone with Ragnar! You told me I would die if I went with him. You didn't believe in me and now look. LOOK! All of this, all of this was because of me, going with him, learning what they were going to do to him and then coming back to form the great heathen army for his revenge!"

He leaned in and placed another dominating kiss on my lips causing me to whimper. "At least someone believes in me."

I could feel my heart starting to tear again from his words. "Ivar, I love you, please-"

He scoffed at me. "Yet you run to him whenever you think I'm not looking! You're mine!"

His hand moved to between my legs and possessively cupped my sex. I gasped realizing that he wasn't going to stop. Terror grew in my belly and I could feel bile start to rise at the back of my throat.

"Ivar, please stop, you're scaring me." I managed between sobs.

"I've always loved when you're scared," his tone was low and threatening.

He moved two of his fingers and pushed them inside me causing me to scream out in terror. I thrashed under him trying to escape but to no avail. He pumped his fingers in and out of me while his mouth latched onto one of my nipples. He bit down just hard enough to make me cry out in pain before he rolled his tongue around in circles over my now erect nipple.

"Stop!" I begged, clutching the hair at the top of his head trying to yank his head from my now aching breast.

Ivar quick propped himself up on his free arm and ripped his fingers from my pussy before he struck me again across the face. I seized the moment when most of his weight was off of me and rolled to my side and freed myself from under him.

I scrambled towards the bed where I knew the dagger Lagertha gifted me was hidden under one of the pillows. Ivar grabbed at my pants that were still pooled around my ankles but I kicked them off and ran naked towards the bed.

Ivar roared in rage and I could hear him slithering his way towards me. Frantically I shoved my hands under the pillows trying to feel for the blade. The tips of my fingers brushed against the sheath of the dagger just as Ivar reached the bed.

He pulled himself up onto the bed next to me. Just as I turned to look at him, his closed fist collided with my already bruised cheek, jerking my head back in the opposite direction. I gripped onto the handle of my dagger and turned to him, pressing the sharp blade against his throat.

His head dipped down as he smiled maliciously at me. Before I could react, both of his hands gripped onto the sides of my head and he slammed the back of my head against the stone wall behind me. My body crumbled onto the bed the moment he let go of me. My vision went black and my head throbbed in immense pain. The sound of the steal dagger clattering against the floor made my head hurt even more.

I laid there limp on the bed while the world spun around me, not wanting to move as Ivar got himself the rest of the way up on the bed. He grabbed my ankle and spread my legs before he got on top of me. He tugged at the string of his trousers until he was able to free his hard cock.

My eyes were unable to focus but I could feel Ivar rub the head of his cock against my wet folds. I hated that my body betrayed me, getting wet for him like this. I moaned groggily in hopes that that would stop the spinning but as soon as he drove his dick deep inside me the spinning got worse.

"Please, no..." I begged quietly. He put his hand over my mouth to silence me which only made my hot tears spill faster.

He thrust his hips erratically, grunting as he did. I laid under his now sweating body, taking the abuse as he fucked me with such anger and what felt like hatred. The spinning had finally started to subside as Ivar was reaching his climax. His thrusts were even more wild and painful until finally he stopped, stiffening while his hot cum filled me.

I could feel the contents of my stomach rise in the back of my throat as he finished. I choked it down just before he finally took his hand from my mouth. When he pulled himself from me to lay down on the bed, I quickly moved to roll away but he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into him so that my back was pressed against his chest.

I was trembling from what had just happened. I could feel his cum dripping down my legs which made me feel used and disgusting. Worst of all, I felt a huge gaping hole in my chest where my heart used to be. I wanted to disappear. To be struck down by the Gods. Anything to be away from him and to no longer feel like this.

******

When Ivar was finally sleep I made my move. I rolled from the bed and grabbed for one of my linen dresses I had laying on the floor from a few nights ago and slipped it over my head. The moment the cloth material brushed against my head I felt like I was going to pass out from how badly it hurt.

I glanced back to the bed and saw him still asleep. I felt numb looking at the one person who said he loved me. Flashes of his face from earlier played in my mind and I fought with everything I had not to start crying again.

My eyes fell to the pillow next to him where my head had been. The once white linen pillow was stained crimson. My fingers brushed the back of my head and I could feel my hair was damp and sticky. My skin must have split open when he...

I shook my head. I wasn't going to finish that thought. Bending down to grab my dagger, I quickly turned and ran.

I'd found a hidden way out of this Odin forsaken town and curled into a tight ball against one of the trees in the surrounding forest. I brought my knees into my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs and rested my forehead against my knees.

Vidar had managed to find me as I wept in the darkness. He must have escaped the town to hunt for food. He whined when he first found me and tried to push his snoot between my legs and arms but I wouldn't let him. Even though he was a wolf, I still didn't want anyone to see me like this. He eventually stopped trying and curled up in front of me, guarding me.

I wasn't alone for long, though. Vidar rose to his paws and started growling. I didn't bother telling him to stop. He could attack whoever was there... and I was praying it was Ivar.

"Briet?" Ubbe spoke softly.

I heard Vidar snap his jaws which prompted me to finally lift my head. Ubbe jumped backwards, clutching his hand against his chest.

"Vidar, come." I whispered. He continued to growl as he backed away from Ubbe and towards me but now his teeth weren't bared.

"What happened to you?" His eyes roamed over my face, seeing my now swollen cheekbone and blackened eye, my bruised and bloodied lip and the blood stained hair at the back of my head. He knelt down on his haunches and inched closer to me.

I couldn't meet his gaze. Instead I stared out into the dark woods. "Ivar... h-he, he raped me."