"So...........a foundling..............?" The old man asked, as he finished off the food in the bowl. (Y/n) had told the one eyed man about what had happened to find her in the old cabin. About the day and night that had led to her fleeing Kattegat. About Ivar and his words; his cruel jibes and even crueller accusations. But now.........now things had moved onto her...............

"Yes. My father............the man that found me, is called Floki. He was in the woods one day looking for good trees. He made his way into a small clearing and there I was, fast asleep under the watchful gaze of an ancient stone carving of the allfather. He picked me up and took me back to Kattegat and gave me to his wife, Helga. I have been their daughter ever since. Though I do always go back to speak to the allfather whenever I need help................."

"And does he.........help...........?" The visitor interrupted, as he leant back in his chair.

"I.............yes, I think he does. My father always taught Ivar and I to respect the gods, especially Odin. Some still say that he should have left me for the allfather. That he should never have taken me; that I had been left as an offering. But my father always said that I was a gift to him. That Odin had led him to me that day. But whatever the truth, I am glad that he took me. I love my mother and father a great deal." The shieldmaiden explained, before she got to her feet and made her way to the fire, stoking it and then throwing on another couple of logs to, keep the cabin warm.

"And did you go and speak to the allfather after what Ivar had said............"

"No.......I must confess that I didn't. I should have, I know that; but it would have been the first place that anyone that knew me, would look. And I didn't want to be found. Part of me............part of me still doesn't.........."

"And the other part..................?"

"The other part............oh, that part wants to go home. Wants to see my father's smiling face, hear his laughter as he carves the dragons head for the front of the ship. Wants to face Ivar and make him take back all he said. To have him explain why he has begun to treat me as he has. And then............and then have him say that he loves me as much as I love him; but I don't think that for one moment that that part will happen. In all honesty, I have nowhere to go, but home. No other place that I would really rather be, than with those that I have grown with; that I have fought with. Perhaps I should have stayed and spoken with the allfather; hoped that he would give me a sign, a message. But it is too late now..................."

"It is never too late to speak to the allfather, my child. Odin is always listening. If he were here, what would you say; what would you ask him...........?" The old man interrupted. A soft groan leaving his lips, as he struggled slightly to get up from the table, before making his way over to where (Y/n) now sat by the fire.

"If Odin were here now............I would say thank you, thank you for my parents; thank you for allowing me to grow up with Ivar, Ubbe, Hvitserk and even Sigurd. Thank you for making me strong so that I could become a shieldmaiden in his honour. And then.............then I would ask him what I am to do next. How I am to make sense of all this and forget about Ivar. How I can go home and move on from him, and hopefully find a man that will care for me. A man that will honour my parents and the allfather." The foundling sighed; suddenly feeling very sleepy, as the heat of the fire seemed to surround her. (Y/n) finding herself curling up on the thick fur beneath her. The old man smiling at her, as her eyes closed.

"Sleep my child. And when you wake, you will see that the allfather has been listening, as I always have when you come to me. That Ivar will realise what a gift he has lost and be there to make amends." The one-eyed man told her, as he brushed the hair away from her face.

                                                      >>----------------------------------<<

Ivar sat at the front of the cabin, looking out into the rain that hadn't stopped falling since the others had called off the search for (Y/n). He knew that this was all his fault; he had hidden away so that no one could tell him that. Ivar well aware that the likes of Sigurd, even though he and (Y/n) had never got on, would take great delight in making all of this worse.

She had been gone for two full cycles of the moon now; each passing day getting worse and worse for him. He hadn't meant anything that he had said to her. Not a venom filled word that had left his lips, had been true. (Y/n) and Floki were the only ones that had ever truly understood him. She had been his friend from the moment that his mother had taken him to the boatbuilder, to be taught all the things that he needed to know to be a true Viking, to respect the gods. (Y/n) the only one that wasn't scared of him. The only one that was always there when he needed someone. Always there when his anger threatened to tear him apart. When he couldn't stop the chaos in his mind. And now she was gone; Floki, not even wanting to look at him. The inside of his cabin smashed and broken.

He had been useless. He had been a coward. He hadn't gone out with the others to look for her. He and Floki should have been the ones to check the spot where she had been found. It was their place, his and her place. It was where they would tell one another their secrets; where he would let the tears fall, never having to worry that the beautiful shieldmaiden would tease him, would think less of him. Would tell his brothers that he had been weak. It was where they had shared their first kiss; it was where he had realised that he really loved her. And it was where all the jealousy had started, that had led to this moment.

He loved her, that was the truth. But how could she love him? They were friends, yes; but why would she want to be any more than that, when she could have Ubbe or Hvitserk. When she could have any man she wanted in Kattegat. It not making any sense that she would want to bind herself to, as Sigurd so succinctly put it all the time, a cripple.

Suddenly he noticed something, a figure moving in the darkening street. A black form that stopped and just looked at him, not seeming to notice the rain that drenched them. Ivar struggling to grab his crutches, as the figure pulled the hood from their head, and the youngest son of Ragnar saw the one-eyed man. Ivar making his way out into the heavy rain.

"Where is she..........? Where's (Y/n)? I..........I'm sorry. Bring her back. Bring her back to me. I didn't.............I didn't mean what I said.........." Ivar called out, as he struggled to make his way through the think mud, to the old man. The crutches slipping out from under him, sending him dropping into the dirt. A loud, angry roar leaving his lips, as he looked up to find that the man was gone. To see that perhaps his last chance of seeing (Y/n) again, had gone. The young Ragnarsson unable to do nothing more than crawl back to his cabin, and hope that sleep would come to him soon.