The Son Of Ragnar

Tyr woke up and he saw Gudrun standing over him looking terrified at the prospect of losing Tyr.

The dark-skinned boy could see the fear in her eyes but he was still in a dazed state.

"Mother?" Tyr muttered but which mother was he referring to?

He soon snapped out of it when he felt the warm tears of Gudrun dripping down his face.

"I-I was so scared!" Gudrun said and Tyr was confused as to why she was scared he would die considering they only just met, did she already become this attached after spending just a night together? A night that they did not even have sex?

He flashed Nora a confused look but what he saw was a relief on her face, showing his condition was better but he also saw a very sober Kolbeinn watching over him.

"What day is it?" Tyr questioned, barely sitting up in his weakened state.

Tyr was disgruntled but the worst had passed already, the fact that he was fully conscious told them that.

"It has been two days ever since you fell sick…" Gudrun said but the moment Tyr heard how long he had been asleep, he looked panicked for a brief second but it was a facial expression that everyone missed.

"I-I have to go…" Tyr said. He still had a splitting headache and he did not know if what he just experienced in his dream was just a dream or some locked-away part of his memory.

Gudrun had kept the details regarding the opened door to herself because she did not think much of it.

"You cannot go anywhere, you can barely move!" Gudrun shouted at him, and Tyr once again could not understand why she was so invested in him.

This was a far cry from the timid girl he had met a few days back and Kolbeinn could not help but smile at this revelation, Gudrun was taken with him and she reminded him of his wife when she was younger.

"G-Gudrun? What is going on?" Tyr said; he knew he was sick but he did not know if this was real or just another dream.

"You were sick, I do not know if it was a fever or something else but you were out cold for two days!" Gudrun informed him and Tyr chuckled weakly, he was feeling much better than he did a few days ago but the fact that he could not recollect it was strange.

"Thank you, Gudrun. I am glad you were here…" Tyr said, and Gudrun flushed red but Kolbeinn was wary of Tyr, there was something off about him and he asked everyone in the room to leave.

"Can I have some privacy?" Tyr requested and Kolbeinn granted him this request but Tyr held Gudrun by the hand.

"Not you…" Tyr noted that she was the exception to his request and Gudrun was giddy because her perception of Tyr was changing at a rapid pace.

She thought he was a tyrant that would hack and slash anything in sight. Tyr had a soft and compassionate side.

Kolbeinn, however, began to grow wary of Tyr, there was something unnatural about this, and how quickly Gudrun fell for him was something he did not anticipate seeing as Tyr, himself, had no experience.

Gudrun was left in the room with Tyr, she thought he wanted to get intimate with her but Tyr only asked her to stay because he had a few questions for her.

"Gudrun, I need to ask you something…" Tyr said, and Gudrun gulped the moment he said this. The intensity in his tired eyes and her guts told her he was about to confess something to her, hopefully romantic.

"Did you tell anyone what you saw?" These were the only words that escaped Tyr's mouth and Gudrun's hopeful face immediately dissipated.

"I-I do not know what you are talking about…" Gudrun was hesitant but that hesitation left her face the moment she saw the look in Tyr's eyes.

"I t-think I should go back," Gudrun said and she heard a mocking laugh from Tyr.

She turned back to inquire what that was about, why was he laughing?

"Gudrun, why do you think you are here?" Tyr asked bluntly, prompting the girl to stop in her tracks.

"What do you mean?" Gudrun asked, and Tyr tapped the space beside him.

Gudrun reluctantly went to sit beside Ragnar's son, but the compassionate gaze that lingered in her innocent eyes soon faded.

"Gudrun, you are nothing but a tool used to secure the favor of men your father deems worthy of having their way with you. Like a product, you were presented to me to fuck like you were a common whore," Tyr said and Gudrun clenched her fist because while what he was saying was hurtful, it was the truth.

"You DO NOT have a choice. You cannot leave my side of your own volition and you should be doing everything in your power to be of use to me or your father might have no use for you," Tyr said, striking her insecurity with pinpoint accuracy.

Tyr established that she wanted her father's approval by her crude act of undressing herself in front of him the way she did, and he knew he could take advantage of that lapse.

"But you see Gudrun, I do not see you as a whore and that is why I did not take your honor because I know you are a flower that should not be plucked. I want to water you until you bloom but I need you to…." Tyr said, placing his hand to tilt her face in his direction, he had told her previously that she should not look away when he is talking to her.

".... You have to tell me everything, let me allow you to bloom," Tyr reassured her, he was surprisingly smooth with his words.

Gudrun was speechless, a moment ago she was willing to walk away but now she found herself willing to tell Tyr everything, this was a testament to how weak her resolve was.

"I-I will…" Gudrun responded timidly, Tyr had broken past her hastily set-up defense, and if Gudrun was playing dumb, there was a huge possibility that she did not tell anyone about it.

A gamble Tyr was willing to take.

"I am glad you are by my side, Gudrun. I promise you, you will never have to worry about anything ever again…" Tyr said in low tones as he buried her head into his chest and stroked her hair lovingly even though he held no shred of that for her.

Gudrun's body relaxed and Tyr Ragnarsson knew that he had done just enough to sway her mind. He knew if he could make himself the object to which she would devote herself like she does her father, then Gudrun would make an invaluable asset in taking over this clan.

Kolbeinn had given him his daughter in a bid to entice him but Tyr had found a way to exploit her daddy issues.

-

The brothers had still not arrived, and Njal began to search for them with as little resource as possible but he did not know where, their trails had gone cold, no pun intended, so there was no lead.

But he did not give up, he knew they did not just disappear into thin air, and with the enemies breaking through their defenses, he was worried that they had somehow gotten them.

The brothers were weak links to the clan but Gissur was a fair leader and gave everyone a chance as long as they were willing to die for him.

Gissur took over the clan violently, he did not wait for the natural order of succession and instead, killed his father in one of his tantrums. Njal was intrigued because Gissur was the ruthless brute needed to give them the edge in a war that has waged on since their forefathers.

And he was right in believing in his younger brother, and right now, because the enemies had taken the bait he had set up for them by giving them a false sense of advancement.

The line that they had broken through in all actuality was bait, Gissur might not be intelligent when it came to certain things and has the temper of a child but his taste for warfare was something that cannot be mimicked.

This was all an elaborate plan to draw them out, a plan that might have backfired.

Njal's feet soon stepped on some metal through the snow, a good distance away from their camp but he did not recognize these weapons as the ones the brothers used were the typical sword so Njal was a bit confused as to why he found a weapon within their territory.

"What is this?" Njal thought to himself, he dug through the snow and in it he found a weapon.

It was not the weapon of the brothers but rather, an ax…. Tyr's ax.