Chapter Text
Askeladd enters the audience hall together with the prince and King Sweyn who are both walking in front of him.
„Where is Thorfinn?“ The prince interrogates.
Askeladd answers right away. „Well…There is no need to feel worried about your safety.“
Looking through the guests in the hall, he doesn’t see the boy with the messy rye blond hair around. Maybe that’s for the better. He is probably somewhere licking the wounds of their fight yesterday like a stray dog.
Askeladd didn’t hold back. In fact, he beat up the boy more than was necessary. But he needed to teach him a lesson. To push him away from him. Recently, they have become far too close. The boy even had the indecency to duel Thorkell for his freedom, like a suitor fighting for the hand of a maiden. Which was bad. Really bad. Over time, the boy seems to have forgotten his place.
But what was worse that Askeladd couldn’t say that he wasn’t flattered and that Thorfinn managed to impress him.
That’s when he realised that he has to draw the borders even clearer than before. For the sake of them both. No way in hell is he going to admit that he’s falling for a flea-infested brat. He hopes that he wouldn’t have to see Thorfinn for the rest of the day and even a few days more.
As guests of honour Thorkell and him take seat at a long table close to the royal family. Askeladd is determined to enjoy this banquet and won’t allow the boy to pester his thoughts. With the wine carafe on the table, he fills up his drinking horn and takes a long sip from it.
Meanwhile, Thorfinn sits in a random shit hole in a corner of some random street at this godforsaken place called Jorvik. He has pulled his knees to his chest, his head rests in the space in between. His broken arm still hurts a bit but not worse than the new wounds from his recent fight with Askeladd. That bastard really beat the shit out of him. Again. He didn’t go easy on him at all so naturally his body hurts like hell. Although he should be used to it by now, he is sulking about it.
A few hours ago, he met Uncle Leif. The old man was searching for him far and wide while travelling as a merchant. He seemed to be happy to have finally found him and begged him to go back to Iceland with him. But Thorfinn ran away. Too many things are happening recently and he’s pulled between the forces. If he had the chance to go back to his family, why would he still stick with Askeladd? Was it still because he hasn’t completed his revenge yet?
The memories of the fight don’t let go of him for some reason. It was like always but also different in so many ways. Askeladd made him lose himself again. In this aspect, it was like usual. Askeladd would pick on him until he would go berserk, only without having Bjorn’s strength behind him. Eventually, he was just beaten up to pulp like every time.
Although Askeladd used the same strategy, it had a different nuance this time. Thorfinn could feel it. This time, Askeladd used his hotheadedness not only to put him in his place, to show him who’s the boss. No. This time he did it to cover something. To hide his own miserability after losing his most loyal friend. And to hide something else.
After the mutiny, Thorfinn has been the only one left. Askeladd couldn’t deny that they have spent ten years together. Neither could Thorfinn. They have grown close to each other without noticing. And now, Thorfinn has become his only companion. Pathetic.
Thorfinn wasn’t a little brat anymore. He was seventeen. And he has started feeling it for some time now. That the ongoing rage in him has been fading with every day, giving way to a new feeling. Something he doesn’t know if he is ready to accept yet.
When Thorfinn went into that duel yesterday, he was inhibited for some reason. He couldn’t attack right away. It was like he didn’t want the duel at all anymore. He didn’t know why he suddenly didn’t feel like attacking the murderer of his father. Luckily, Askeladd saved him the embarrassment, lured him out as usual and without further thinking, Thorfinn like a starved dog went for that bone again.
During the duel, he didn’t notice it but now that he has time to take a recap, he sees himself fighting Askeladd as if the scene would take place right now in front of him. Contemplating, he can feel it now. Askeladd’s loneliness. He tried to cover it so no one would notice. As not to be vulnerable. To pretend that he was still nothing but a bloodthirsty Viking. Someone without emotions.
To maintain the image that he doesn’t care for anyone. That even someone like him could be weak. And need someone. But that isn’t true. Thorfinn has come to see behind the facade.
Realising that, Thorfinn’s heart hurts now more than his body. He can’t deny it. Right now he has that strange yearning in him. He wants to be with Askeladd.
When he looks up into the sky, he sees a snow-white seagull sailing across the blue horizon.
„Stupid brat.“ Askeladd’s vision appears in front of his eyes, turns his back on him and scolds him. Why does it make Thorfinn so sad? It is like, Askeladd says farewell to him. Unavoidably, his heart squeezes tightly. It hurts.
In the next second, two Jomsvikings pass him. At first Thorfinn doesn’t even take notice of them but then he catches a slip of their conversation.
„Isn’t today the celebration of Prince Canute‘s return?“
„Yes, and I think Captain Floki said something about getting rid of his closest follower.“
„You mean Thorkell?“
„No, that guy named Askeladd.“
Thorfinn’s eyes widen. Whereas he was lazing around a few minutes before, he has come to his senses now. Blood rushes through all limbs of his body as he shoots up and stands on his feet now fully awake. He doesn’t have to think twice and his feet move on their own, running towards the the palace.
It was just like a sixth sense. He felt the imminent danger Askeladd was in. Similar to the situation, when he was riding on the sleigh together with Bjorn. When Askeladd didn’t follow them, he knew something must have happened and he took instant measures. When he stood on top of that hill, spotting Askeladd circled by the mutinying mercenaries, his heart leapt into his throat.
This time is no different.
Thorfinn storms through the city in direction of the palace. Naturally, he doesn’t watch his way and couldn’t care less of all the people he bumps into. Upset they yell at him but he just ignores them and continues running. Most people move aside just in time, but suddenly there is someone right in front of him he can’t avoid anymore. Inevitably, he crashes right into the person and they both fall to the ground by the impact.
„What the—?!“ Thorfinn curses as he is the first to collect himself and jumps up to his feet.
Meanwhile, the other person has also bobbed up. Thorfinn is surprised to see, that it’s actually two people he has knocked off — and that they have two very familiar faces. Atli and Thorgrim.
„Thorfinn!“ Atli greets him likewise surprised. „What a coincidence. We separated in Gainsborough but it seems the world is a small place after all.“
Thorfinn sees it as his chance and grabs Atli by the collar. He won’t be able to rescue Askeladd alone this time. Maybe he’ll get him out of the palace, but the city is full of Jomsvikings. They will be chased in no time, so he will need an ally. During the mutiny and his fight with Thorkell, he was on an open field but escaping in a narrow city he doesn’t know his way around was a different matter.
„Atli, you have to help me! They want to kill Askeladd!“ Thorfinn looks at him eagerly and doesn’t tolerate no as an answer.
At first, the man’s eyes start to shine. Atli felt horrible after betraying Askeladd. And it was even worse when they separated the other day in Gainsborough and the former leader gave him that beautiful piece of jewellery. Now Atli has the chance to pay his debt because he just owes it to his former leader.
But after a second thought, Atli’s first motivation fades and he slumps down. „But Askeladd said he was to kill me if I ever picked up a sword again.“
„You won’t have to!“ Thorfinn counted, stood up and was about to leave the spot again, giving Atli the last orders how to behave and what to do. „I just need you to be ready when I’ll come to the port with him! I don’t care how you do it but you better have a ship ready by that time!“
Atli nods and takes his brother to the port, while Thorfinn continues running to the palace. When he arrives there, the entrance is highly guarded. He won’t be able to enter from the front so he sneaks all around to find another way in. There are screams and noises of a wild massacre coming from the inside. Thorfinn fears the worst and jumps at the window openings and although he can’t enter from there he gets a glimpse of the scene inside.
The hall is complete chaos. He sees the body of the beheaded King Sweyn lying on the floor among many other corpses. In the middle of the hall, Askeladd is swinging his sword to all sides, rampaging around, killing everyone in his immediate range. This is bad. The former leader looks like he has completely lost his mind. He’s like a wild animal trapped and having nowhere to escape so he goes crazy and kills everyone around him. Thorfinn has rarely experienced him like this.
Scanning the hall with his eyes, Thorfinn also spots Thorkell. Askeladd won’t hold a chance against him alone, so Thorfinn has to get in there no matter what. But Askeladd is not like any other Viking. He’s one of the strongest and even though professional guards and skilled soldiers of the Jormsvikings have come at him, they don’t stand a chance. Other lords have started to fear for their lives, open the main door and flee the hall. That’s Thorfinn’s chance.
Back at the main entrance, he tries to get in, which isn’t easy at all. With all his power, he squeezes in the opposite direction of the stream of people trying to get outside to save their lives. While Askeladd fights Floki and has forced him to his knees, Thorfinn is finally able to get inside and help out.
„Askeladd!!“ He screams and catches Askeladd’s attention who shifts his focus and looks shocked into his direction.
Askeladd’s guard is off but luckily even Floki is taken by surprise. Thorfinn uses the moment, gets in between them and with a move disarms both of them. As Floki leaps for his sword, Thorfinn grabs Askeladd’s wrist and pulls him with him. Before the former leader can protest, Thorfinn runs off with him. What surprises Askeladd even more is that his feet seem to move on their own. Without his assistance, they develop a will on their own and follow the young man in front of him.
Within a few minutes, they haven’t even left the inner circle of the royal court but also the outskirts of it. They run further, leaving the palace and all the chaos behind them and are now in some random streets of Jorvik. The normal population doesn’t seem to have noticed anything yet, but soon they will and guards will start to look for the king’s murderer. Askeladd has no idea where Thorfinn wants to take him but they are close to the port now.
After reaching the main business street along the docks, Thorfinn pulls him into a narrow sideway, presses Askeladd against the wall and covers him with his body.
„Down! Don’t make a noise, old man!“ Thorfinn orders him harshly and Askeladd has no idea why but he plays along.
Askeladd still can’t grasp how all of this has come to happen. A few minutes ago, he was in the audience hall, slaughtering the former king and all those Danish scum, giving them what they deserved. Who was that pig of a king for threatening him? He is Askeladd and the descendent of the great Lucius Artorius Castus. Serves him right!
To some of those dumb lords it might have looked like he had become insane but that wasn’t the case. He was still in full control over his mind and body and he was sure the prince was clever enough to see all behind it. As a matter of fact, he even played along Askeladd’s little act when he ordered the guards to attack and kill him.
Although it seemed like he had the upper hand and even forced Floki on his knees, Askeladd knows this wouldn’t have gone well until the end. At some point more guards would have flooded the hall, outnumbered him and struck him down eventually. It would have been just a matter of time until he would have died there. To see Thorfinn storming in there was the last thing he expected to happen.
That damn insolent brat! Askeladd can’t believe it. He saved him. Again.
Leaning against the wall and panting, he has to accept the hard facts. Right now, he can really feel his age. And no matter how furious he is at him, there is an uncomfortable truth he can’t deny. He was trapped. Like during the mutiny, he wouldn’t have been able to escape without Thorfinn. Even if he is too proud to admit it and it scratches his ego, he isn’t blind.
Now that they have escaped the situation, he is overpowered by exhaustion. His body isn’t the youngest anymore. He feels drained, like all power has left his body. His muscles feel strangely numb, like having overused them. Apart from the mutiny, he hasn’t been in an intense fight like that for ages. He really is too old for this shit. Maybe it would have been better to die there.
Thorfinn presses him harder against the wall, pushing him even down on his knees a little, so he can cover him with his body and hide them under his cloak. It’s a nasty kind of closeness. Annoyed, Askeladd turns his head to the side because otherwise his face and nose would be all in Thorfinn’s chest.
The brat smells incredibly nasty like having not bathed in a month. Askeladd doesn’t want to know where the lad was lying around last but the intense stench of piss and shit, garbage and the boy’s own scent of strong sweat with a heavy note of musk, aged cheese and tallow is almost unbearable. And as it couldn’t get worse, Askeladd can literally see how the fleas are jumping right on him from that close distance and his body already starts getting itchy everywhere.
„Fuck, kid, I can’t breath.“ He grumbles and tries to push him away.
Instantly, he is silenced by threateningly widening eyes and an aggressive „SSSHHH!!!“ which is far louder than his own voice before.
For now, Askeladd holds his breath and stays silent but when this is over, he will definitely beat the shit out of him for that. Although his panting has calmed down, his heart doesn’t stop beating for some reason. It must be from all the running. And fighting. He’s an old man, after all. It’s certainly not because Thorfinn is pressing him to the wall and the young man is that close to him. And obviously his cheeks flush because he’s holding his breath.
While they wait and Thorfinn is focused on watching the main port street, Askeladd has the chance to have a closer look at him. The chubby round cheeks that Thorfinn had as a boy until recently vanished. His eyes are piercing and unforgiving as ever, like a hawk hunting down his prey. They still have the same fire behind them, the one Askeladd loves to see burning, especially when he looks at him during their duels. His plush lips still have the same pout. The tips of his blond ruffy long-short hair seductively fall around his beautiful slim neck. The skin tightly covers the bones and Adam’s apple. A sign of his becoming manfulness.
Since when has the kid become that handsome? It’s the first time Askeladd notices it, but he is strangely androgynous in a way. Askeladd wouldn’t say that he is handsome in an objective perspective like Prince Canute. No, Thorfinn has another quite sublime beauty behind him. Maybe it is one that only Askeladd can see.
Finally, after Askeladd has almost suffocated, Thorfinn releases him from his cage and stands up.
„I think it’s safe. Let’s go.“ He says and takes Askeladd’s hand again, ready to move out of their hiding place.
Askeladd stand up as well, but instead of following him, he twists Thorfinn’s hand and grabs his wrist in return with an iron grip. When Thorfinn turns around, Askeladd stands behind him with the same furious aura he had during the audience with King Sweyn. Thorfinn can literally see the flames radiating from his body.
„How dare you?“ Askeladd says calmly in a threatening voice and Thorfinn knows he’s in big trouble.
Instinctively, he tries to pull his hand away but Askeladd’s grip is just too tight.
„Fuck, let go, you ungrateful bastard!“ Thorfinn screams and pulls with all his power but it’s no use.
If there was something else between them one moment ago, they are back to their old habit and Thorfinn remembers why he hates that man so much. He hisses, pinches his nails and drives his fangs into Askeladd’s skin, drawing blood and scratching up his whole arm but the former leader doesn’t loosen his grip one bit so he could escape out of it.
„Ungrateful? Oh no my boy, I think YOU confused something here.“
Askeladd will punish him so hard the boy would never ever interfere with his plans again. Slowly, he walks along the pier and drags Thorfinn who is screaming his lungs out behind him. He looks for a way to teach the brat a lesson he will never forget. A way to finally get rid of him. Maybe he could tie a rock to his feet and throw him into the river. Or he could jam him into an empty barrel, close it up with the lid and dumb it with the other cargo on a merchant ship. This would probably be the happiest day in the last ten years because it would be a goodbye forever with the pest that annoyed him for a whole decade.
Suddenly, Atli and Thorgrim who Askeladd thought he parted with in Gainsborough, appear in front of them. It also seems as if they were particularly looking for the two of them.
„Thorfinn, there you are! What now?“ Atli addresses the young boy in his grip as having expected them.
Thorfinn orders him to help him but one stare of Askeladd and Atli freezes to death. Never ever would he dare to mess with the former leader.
„Thorfinn, my boy! I’ve been looking far and wide for you!“ Another person shows up in front of them. It’s a half-bald old man with a moustache and it takes a second for Askeladd to recognise him.
As the old man has emerged from a vessel that’s tied to the dock just next to them, Askeladd doesn’t need long to come up with the perfect idea how to get rid of the boy for good.
„Perfect timing.“ Askeladd looks at the old man and ignores Atli. „Weren’t you also with Thors that day? I assume you know Thorfinn, too. You’ll do as I say, if you know what’s good for you.“
Askeladd pauses before he gives the final order. „Untie the ship. You will take Thorfinn back to Iceland right now.“
Except for Thorgrim, who doesn’t comprehend what’s going on anyway, all show the same expression which is a spectrum from surprise to utter shock.
„Don’t think you can threaten me, but it isn’t like this wasn’t already the plan until Thorfinn ran away.“ Leif says with gritting teeth. He would rather die than follow an order given by Thor’s murderer but for the moment being it looks like they had the same goal. Bringing Thorfinn back to Iceland. To his home. His family. His mother and sister.
Thorfinn can’t believe that the three men talk above his head, decide over his future without even asking him and he has no say in it whatsoever. Disbelieving, his head moves shocked from one man talking to the next, his face showing massive objection. All are ignoring him as he’s clearly the last in the hierarchy.
„Atli.“ Askeladd now addresses his former subordinate who stiffens up nervously. „You’ll ride with him. See that Thorfinn doesn’t escape while he prepares the ship.“
„No way, baldy! Are you out of your mind? I’m not going to—Fuck, Atli, don’t you dare touch me! You bastard, I fucking kill you!! I will go nowhere, I stay right here where I am and where you are!!!“
The former leader is about to hand the boy over but Thorfinn fights tooth and nail. Screaming and raging around, he threatens to kill them all, yelling so loud that the whole merchant street was staring at them, unsure what the matter was and if someone should interfere. Even though, Thorfinn was trying to get away minutes before, he is now clinging to Askeladd like a leech.
He would go nowhere. Neither with Leif, nor with Atli and most definitely not to Iceland!
Finally, Thorfinn’s protest has become so annoying that Askeladd decides he has enough of it. With a skilled hit on the neck, Askeladd knocks Thorfinn unconscious and the boy falls motionless to the ground.