Flower Crowns and Withered Egos
My entry for @vikingsevents Summer Solstice challenge Day 7: Flower Crowns (and I apologize for humiliating Ivar in such a way 😂 but I love it) June 24th came way too fast. The idea for this was right in my head when I saw the prompt for the event, but I didn't start writing until two days ago. Therefore, it's not heavily proofread or very in depth. Just a small thing. @vaire-gwir was so kind and sacrificed her time to look for major errors. So if you find any, it's her fault 😏😈
Characters: Ivar, Asa, Ubbe Words: ~ 3150 [AO3] Summary: Ivar wants his privacy and sets off for the cabin in the mountains. But everything turns out differently than planned. Credits: @ofmanderley made this wonderful gif
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"Ivar, Ivar. Look there! We found them!"
The addressed young Viking looked at the little girl next to him, who was looking at the spacious meadow in front of them, in her eyes a gleam of joy and admiration. In front of them were countless flowers in full bloom, one more magnificent than the next. Even he couldn't deny that the sight was beautiful.
"You were indeed right. We found the flowers," Ivar said, smiling warmly at her. "And look at how many there are. Now you can not only make a flower crown for your mother, but for everyone else in Kattegat, too."
Asa seemed to like that idea. Driven by the intention to weave a beautiful crown for her mother, which she could wear the next evening at one of the numerous festivals during the summer, she immediately ran into the meadow and began to pick the most beautiful flowers.
Ivar didn't accompany her. Instead, he settled down on a tree stump at the side. His legs ached after the long walk. He needed a break, but kept his eyes attentively on the little girl. He watched her for a while and caught himself smiling slightly at the sight of her. It surprised him in a way, and he began to wonder what he was doing here at all.
He had never had a special relationship with Asa. Neither with her nor to her brother Hali. They were both Bjorn's offspring, so he was their uncle. The children were part of Ivar's family, and yet he had no idea what to do with them. He wouldn't have shed a single tear in the past, if something had happened to one of them.
Ivar vaguely remembered little Siggy. Bjorn's first daughter. She drowned one day while playing outside without supervision, probably going into the water alone without knowing how to swim properly. Back then, as a child, he had laughed about her death. She had meant nothing to him. He had moved on with his day as if nothing had happened at all, and so far he had kept behaving in the same way emotionally with his half-brother's subsequent children. He knew their names, that was all he thought necessary, or at least he had assumed that this was still the case.
That this might not be the case anymore was proven to him by the fact that he was now sitting here, by now with a respectable selection of different flowers on his lap. At irregular intervals, Asa brought him new ones. Always when her small hands couldn't carry any new ones or when she wanted to hear his opinion about her yield so far.
Actually, he had wanted his privacy, some peace, and quiet to reflect on his current situation and think about his future. That's why today he had left the hustle and bustle of Kattegat and headed for the cabin in the hills which he had often visited in earlier years.
Only a few weeks had passed since he had once again set foot into the town in which he was born and raised. The town whose throne once belonged to him, whose people were once his subjects. Now everything was different, weird in more than one way.
It had felt right to return back home after he left Kiev together with his brother Hvitserk. After all the time he had spent in this foreign land and after all the hardships he had gone through there, along with new experiences and newly made alliances, if not friendships, Ivar had longed for something familiar. Not knowing who would sit on the throne and how the townspeople would react to them - he, the former tyrant, and Hvisterk, the murderer of the most famous Shieldmaiden, they still dared to do it. They had nothing to lose at that time. Both lost in one way or another.
Neither Hvitserk nor he would have expected to see Ubbe sitting on the throne as they were ushered into the great hall by a scowling mob of people. Torvi beside him, as his queen. It came as a surprise, but at the same time seemed equally fitting. Ubbe had always possessed that charisma of a ruler and he was certainly a better one than Ivar had been.
Their arrival wasn’t met with enthusiasm among the townspeople. Boos and insults echoed through the streets as they made their way from the harbor to the great hall, and they didn't fall silent when both brothers came to stand before the throne and paid their respects to Ubbe. It had taken Ivar great effort not to bury one of his throwing knives into one of the loudest screaming Vikings, but he had been able to control himself. For the sake of peace.
Ubbe's face had also shown no signs of joy when he realized who had returned and why everyone was so upset. Instead, there was astonishment, sadness, and confusion to be read in his expressions.
The following hours had been more than strange. Ubbe, in his merciful way, had welcomed them home after the first tense silence, had given them shelter, despite the above all unpleasant separation between him and Ivar years before. In doing so, he defied the calls for revenge from the common people, who had also gathered in the great hall, eager to see bloodshed.
Since then, they were under constant observation. Everything Ivar and Hvitserk did was scrutinized, judged. Everyone seemed to expect a conspiracy, a hostile takeover, but Ivar wasn't the least bit interested in the throne of Kattegat or any other at the moment. He had had the pleasure once before, and all it had brought him was nothing but too much of an ego and a deep fall from grace. He had no desire to repeat the experience. Hvisterk cared just as little about any of that. They both had no problem recognizing Ubbe as the rightful ruler of their hometown.
However, no one seemed to believe them, or at least not Ivar. Even Ubbe continued to behave in a distant manner toward him. Hospitable, but his reservation was still clearly noticeable. With Hvisterk, however, it was different. Ubbe had warmed up to him almost immediately, and after only two days they began spending time together. Just the two of them, restoring their previous bond.
Somehow it made Ivar sad, but it didn't come as a surprise to him either. The two of them always had had a special relationship, and so it was only natural that it would show again. They had a lot of catching up to do, and although he couldn't deny that he himself felt the same deep bond with Hvitserk, Ivar felt strangely out of place when they were all three together.
That's why he preferred to be alone lately. Far away from the piercing glances of people who suspected something insidious behind his every action. He couldn't blame them, but he was tired of it nonetheless.
His hoped-for solitude was however suddenly interrupted when he met Asa. In the forest, which he had to cross on the way to the hut, he had heard a child's voice singing in a cheerful manner. Ivar didn't know directly that it was his niece, but his curiosity had won out and he had followed the sound until he had the culprit in sight. As he had found out, after she had recovered from the first slight shock when he suddenly emerged from behind a tree, she had sneaked out of Kattegat as well, all alone without an escort.
She had set her mind on finding the great meadow at the foot of the mountains, where the most colorful flowers were supposed to bloom. Without his asking, she had told him that she needed them for a crown she was going to make for her mother. It was going to be a surprise. One that Asa was determined to make a reality.
His first impulse had been to continue on his own path unperturbed, but then a small hand had slipped into his and round blue eyes had looked at him pleadingly. The small fright had probably made her realize that dangers could lurk in the forest, which she had not thought of before.
It was not necessarily this gesture that had softened him. She was still Torvi's daughter, the closest confidant of his former nemesis Lagertha, and thus another reason why he usually wouldn't have cared about the little girl's fate. He would perhaps have even killed her with his own hands earlier if it had been to his advantage. He was sure that he would have never passed up the opportunity to hurt both his mother's killer and her allies.
What stopped him, however, and finally led him to search together with Asa for the place she had heard about, was his knowledge of Ubbe's love for her. She was like a daughter of his own to his big brother. Ivar had been able to observe this over the past few days, and it had become clear to him that the little girl occupied a large part of Ubbe's heart. It would break him if something were to happen to her, and although Ivar couldn't understand why she had been able to sneak away in the first place, he somehow felt responsible to keep a watchful eye on her.
As a result, he hadn't had a single quiet minute on their journey here together. Asa was an enthusiastic storyteller, and on top of that, he was now busy weaving flowers into a crown himself. Under the watchful blue eyes and strict guidelines for color patterns and arrangements, he tried to follow the instructions and help her in her endeavor. Asa seemed to know exactly what she wanted and was not afraid to say so. She didn't seem to be afraid of him, the infamous Ivar the Boneless, as she repeatedly scolded him in a playful tone when he got confused with the stems, and thus the stability of his wreath suffered badly.
Ivar had certainly imagined his day differently, but despite the fact that he had been deprived of his tranquility, he felt that his mind could still relax. The innocent laughter of this child that often rose due to his clumsy attempts at weaving flowers had a calming effect on him. He didn't mind being laughed at, in fact, he sometimes made an extra clumsy effort to elicit that sweet laugh from Asa.
He liked her - somehow.
Occasionally a flower would also land on his hair, tucked between the simple braids he had decided to wear today. He granted Asa this favor since it gave her equal joy to embellish him a little. Soon he started to do the same, using flowers that didn't fit into the crown to decorate her blonde head with them instead. These simple gestures felt initially strange, too familiar almost, but he was soon infected by the child's laughter.
It reminded him of the time in Kiev and especially of the days he had spent there with the young prince. He missed Igor, often thought back to him, wondering if he was doing well. He had been older than Asa and, despite his childish features at the beginning, not quite as silly, but the carefree hours with him and his beloved puppets had helped Ivar get over many a bad day in equal manners.
After a while of sitting side by side and working diligently on their crowns, Ivar felt more and more weight pressing against his side. A glance from his working hands to Asa explained why. Her body had sunk further and further sideways against him. It was clear that she was struggling with tiredness, the day had been too exciting.
"Let's rest a bit, hmm? And after we've had a nap, we should head back. I'm sure your mother is already worried about you." Ivar put his materials aside and leaned back a bit as well. When he said that, it was a done deal, and Asa put her flowers aside and rested her head on Ivar's lap, careful not to break her colorful and fragile hair decorations.
Ivar had no intention of dozing off as well, but the peaceful atmosphere made him close his eyes as well. He listened to the wind blowing among the grass and flowers, the birds singing their songs, and the busy insects making sure that the meadow would be in full bloom again next year.
He had no idea how long they had rested like that in the end. Only when a loud calling for his name came through to him, he opened his eyes again, a bit startled and disoriented. A glance at the sun told him that it had moved on and was no longer quite as high in the sky as before. Some time must have passed, but it was still bright.
Cautiously, he straightened up a little after involuntarily slumping down in his sleep. His gaze first turned for a moment toward his lap, where the little girl's head still lay, her eyes still tightly closed as far as he could see. Asa hadn't seemed to be disturbed by the loud shouting, she was still asleep, holding the fabric of his trousers with one hand.
Next, his gaze drifted to the source of the sound and again his name rang out. This time louder than before, threateningly sounding.
"IVAR!"
It was Ubbe who rushed toward them. His eyes were full of worry, his breathing heavy as if he had run all the way up the hill. He was clearly in distress, and Ivar knew immediately that his brother was not worried about him. They were no longer children, and he was no longer the little one who had snuck away and left his family in fear for him. Now he was the one causing the fear.
Ubbe didn't need to say anything. His worst fear was written all over his face as he came to a halt in front of Ivar, his gaze fixed on the lifeless-looking little body.
"What have you done?"
His brother's voice sounded faint, seemed powerless, but the accusation in his voice was still clearly audible. Ivar was aware of how the situation seemed, what Ubbe assumed straight away and it hurt deeply. Calmly returning Ubbe's accusing gaze, he placed a hand on the back of Asa's head and gently stroked it, trying to wake her up in a tender way.
Ubbe watched this warily, already about to grab the little body to bring it to safety when he saw Asa's eyelids begin to twitch and her eyes open sleepily. Pure relief spread across Ubbe's face and he finally put his plan into action and took the little girl into his arms. He picked her up, held her close to him, and kissed her several times on the temple.
"What I did was watching your daughter while everyone else was too busy to notice a little kid sneaking off," Ivar finally said as he watched the scene in front of him. He used the term your daughter on purpose because he could just see again how much Asa meant to his brother.
The emotions on Ubbe's face changed. Where before there was concern and the beginning of anger, now realization and shame appeared. Only now did he notice his brother's unusual hair ornament and he slowly realized how wrong he had treated him.
"I'm sorry," was all he said, and he sat down in the grass as well, Asa still hugged tightly to his chest. Just a minute ago, Ubbe had thought he had lost her for good. He needed the reassurance of her soft breath against his neck now to calm his nerves.
Ivar just shrugged his shoulders. He was hurt, but didn't want to show it to the outside world.
Asa was the one who saved the rough atmosphere. Now awake again, she remembered her actual intention and after she had let a few more kisses and a firm hug pass over her, Ubbe released her again. The little girl eagerly continued to process the remaining flowers. Much to Ivar's shame, she also involved him again and it was obvious to Ubbe that the two of them had spent their afternoon like that.
"You've changed, little brother," Ubbe let his watchful gaze slide over the scene before him, observing how the two got along so well.
A snort was the only answer he got at first. It had been several years without contact between them. Years in which Ubbe hadn't thought of his youngest brother with good feelings, and yet he was still familiar to him. He could still read Ivar's gestures and facial expressions. They were nothing unknown to Ubbe, though certainly somewhat different than before. Softer.
"What is it?"
"Hvitserk said something similar when we left Kiev together," Ivar explained as he turned his gaze into the distance and looked up at the sky to observe the clouds gathering there. Even as a child, he had learned to read them, because unfavorable weather changes could occur quickly, especially at higher altitudes.
"Maybe there is some truth to it, then."
"I don't think so. As I told him before. We never really change, we just think that we do."
They sat like that for a while longer, talking about trivial things to keep the mood light. Only when the sun had approached quite close to the horizon, they decided to start on their way home. Ivar would tackle the path to the cabin again another day.
He was about to remove the flowers from his hair, which earned him a sad look from Asa, when his eyes fell on Ubbe, who was also looking at him, a broad grin on his face. He hadn't said anything teasing about it until now, smart as he was.
"If you tell anyone, I will slice you open in your sleep. That's a promise." It was not only the slight grin on Ivar's lips that took the gravity out of this threat. The flowers in his hair also contributed to the fact that Ubbe only looked at him with amusement.
"I don't doubt it, Princess," Ubbe said as he let his hand brush over Ivar's head and leaned over to him, bringing their foreheads together in the process.
It was just a simple gesture. A step towards more closeness, which was not only visible through the connection of their bodies. Ivar felt it on a deeper level. At that moment, a wall inside him, which had already sustained numerous cracks beforehand, broke. A curse was lifted.
"I missed you, Ubbe," He whispered quietly, closing his eyes for a moment, just allowing himself to feel the lips of his brother which now also brushed over his temple.
"I missed you as well, little tyrant."
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Normally I would put my tags on here now, but this time I wasn't so sure. It's nothing against you - just a war I have with myself ;)
