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The sun was setting, pinkish rays flowing down the mountains and onto the bustling streets of Kattegat. The people were finishing the last of their chores while there was still light left. There wasn't much for Lagertha to do here now; soon she would return to Hedeby and her own duties.
There weren't many people in the Hall when she entered - just a few, really - but it was still noisy. She knew the voices of the children - Ragnar's children - and she could think of a day when she wouldn't have, even in her wildest dreams, thought that Ragnar's children wouldn't be her own. That day was long past now. She regretted nothing, though. Björn was more than she ever could have asked for. Gyda had been, too. But it was too painful to think of Gyda. Time heals many things, but never grieving mothers.
In the back-room, Lagertha could see Aslaug chasing two of the boys all the while holding Ivar in her arms, and Siggy on the other side trying to undress a boy Lagertha discerned as Sigurd from this distance. Aslaug didn't look very queenly now. Most of the time these days, she looked nothing like a queen except when she had to, sitting next to Ragnar during official business. Now she looked so anxious she could burst into thousands of pieces, her hair all messy, her clothes not entirely clean, and with such a scowl on her face as would carve lines into that forehead permanently. She was sweaty, too, exhausted to the bone. She was shouting, but the boys never listened. When Lagertha entered, Aslaug looked ready to start crying, exasperated. Siggy managed to catch one of the boys so they'd stop chasing each other. That calmed the situation a bit, and with Aslaug's final shout, moderate silence was brought back again.
"To bed, all of you!"
"But it is not dark yet-"
"I do not care!! Bed, now! Or I will send you to work on a farm until you beg for home!!"
There wasn't much grace in all that, but it worked - the boys had all proceeded to their bed-room. Lagertha was sure Aslaug had never dreamed of having to behave like this one day. It was sympathy for a fellow woman and fellow mother that she felt now. Ragnar was nowhere to be seen again, of course.
"They're quite energetic," Lagertha smiled politely.
Aslaug huffed and pulled her messy hair back from her face, rocking Ivar lightly in her arms to try and put him to sleep. Siggy was trying to bring back order to the room. The boys had made quite a mess.
"Quite," Aslaug said with anger that both of the other women knew was now redirected from her children to her husband.
"Let me help," Lagertha offered as so many times before, "I have nothing but free time here, and I love being with children. Really, it is no bother."
"Thank you, Lagertha, but they're my children. It is my duty to take care of them, and Siggy is all the help I need. Still... you're very kind."
"Siggy can only do so much."
Siggy didn't deny nor confirm. She just gave them a vague look and continued cleaning up the mess.
Aslaug sighed. "I should go check on the boys," she looked to Lagertha as though reluctant, "Could you hold Ivar for me?"
"Of course," the other woman smiled before she gently took the child. Aslaug's smile in return was fleeting; she swiftly made her way out of the room.
Ivar was drowsy, on the verge of falling asleep. Lagertha made sure not to make any sudden moves and cast away that misty wall of sleepiness.
"He's still the same?" Lagertha asked even though she knew the answer.
"Always away. Spends half his time up that wretched mountain, thinking. Rollo tried talking some sense into him, but to no avail," Siggy shook her head, "Whatever he's going through, he better go through it fast or this woman will lose her wits."
"Men," Lagertha muttered. But she knew Ragnar all too well - if he was secluding himself and not spending time with his sons, he was deeply troubled.
"They're finally asleep," Aslaug sighed upon return, "I am so tired, I think I could sleep a month."
"Ivar is asleep too," Lagertha smiled, gently handing the child over to his mother. Aslaug smiled too, seeing her baby's sleeping face, and slowly went and put him in his crib.
"You need rest, woman," Siggy said, throwing a cleaning rag atop a table, "I will not watch you work yourself to death quietly. Leave the older boys to me and Lagertha. Ivar and Ragnar's official business is more than enough for you to deal with."
Aslaug sat on a bench, her elbow on the table and her head in her hand. She looked ready to cry now for sure.
"I cannot do everything."
Siggy and Lagertha sat at the table as well, and Siggy placed a hand over Aslaug's.
"You do not have to," she said.
"I do have to. I haven't properly spoken to my own husband in days, and I cannot tell what is wrong," she sounded desperate, and surely she was if she was allowing herself to be like this in front of Ragnar's ex-wife, Lagertha thought.
"A lot has happened," Lagertha said, "He just needs a couple of days of solitude after all of this coronation business."
"He will not talk to me, he will not talk to Rollo, and he will not talk to Björn," the despair in her voice was obvious now, "If I could find Floki, perhaps..."
"You should not worry about that," Lagertha assured, "Focus on what you must, and let yourself be helped."
"There was a time when I would have rather died than asked you this, Lagertha, but I must," Aslaug frowned, the expression marring her beautiful face. Too beautiful perhaps, Lagertha thought.
"What is it?"
"Talk to him. As much as I hate it... you're still the one person he trusts most. Not me, not Floki, not Björn. You."
"I-"
"Please. He will talk to you. And he will listen. So just try to talk him out of this madness. Please."
The queen was begging. Every crevice and curve of her face was showing it, every tone of her voice sounding it. Lagertha would have perhaps done it long ago now, if not for Aslaug. She didn't want to near her family without her permission, for she knew she would have hated it if roles were reversed - if Aslaug was the ex wife and spending time in Lagertha's household. So she tried to keep a polite distance. But she was worried about Ragnar. She wanted to exchange a few words with him, as she knew no one else knew how.
"I will do it," she smiled kindly.
"Thank you," Aslaug breathed out.
"And just so you know, what you do here? It's much more valiant and important than fighting in the shield wall."
With that, Lagertha left the other woman with a small appreciative smile gracing her worn features.