Of Broken Rabbits - Part 1
Characters: Ivar “the boneless” Ragnarson x Reader, Bjorn “Ironside” Ragnarson
Summary: Y/N is being forced to marry the cruelest of Ragnarsons to keep the peace of her hometown, she sees Ivar’s cruelty first hand and finds an ally in the most unexpected places.
Warnings: mild aggression and violence
A/N: Hi, so… it’s been a while since I published any kind of fics here, so yeah, enjoy and let me know what you guys think!
Credits: photos from Pinterest, editing app is picsart
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You wept as you walked down the aisle with your white dress and flowers crown, cursing the day you heard the news, you were happy, the daughter of an Jarl that lived in Oslo, a place far from Kattegat, but gods decided that when you go to buy milk in the market with your brother, the king of Kattegat would come across you and admire your presence.
He had threatened your father and brother, you either marry him or he will terminate your entire village, you had begged your father to decline, telling him of a death sentence that he was agreeing on, his first was sent to madness, his wife was murdered by him alongside with his unborn child, but your father reminded you of your duties and sent you off to marry him, sealing your fate with doom and misery.
He sat at the end of the aisle, a crown on his head and a man in white robe ready to marry you, all eyes on you as you tried to held back tears, your father didn’t attend the wedding nor allowed your brother, you were all alone, the ceremonies went hazy the moment you arrived the altar, it was meaningless conversations and congratulations from different people.
After the wedding you were accompanied to your husband’s chamber, he requested to have private time with you, everyone respected their kings’ wish, you stood frozen in the middle of the room “don’t worry, I have no interest in your body” he had told you, untying his leg braces, lifting the damaged ones on the bed to rest “then why did you marry me?” He shrugged “because I wanted to” his answers only made your blood boil “go on, make yourself comfortable, this might become your home for a while”
You took a deep breath to calm yourself down then took off your white dress and replaced it with sleeping gown, you crawled into the bed, sobbing quietly, that’s when you felt his breath on your neck, your eyes were open wide “I know you are awake and that you can hear me, if you tell anyone that nothing happened between us I will sacrifice you to Loki” he whispered, you felt your body trembling with fear.
That night you cursed your father and brother for not being strong enough, for not telling him off, for giving you to a monster as if you were nothing but a replaceable treasure of theirs.
The celebratory week passed quietly, Ivar ignored your presence unless someone was watching, his brothers looked at you with pity, knowing too well that you are miserable in this marriage, who wouldn’t be? Imagine marrying the bloodiest man, one that can not walk, one that can not defend you, one that can not give you children, one that can not love.
When you walked down the alter that day, your father’s words repeated themselves “a woman who knows how to love a man can make a rock turn into water” you had hope, that your presence will matter to him, that perhaps he will love you or at least acknowledge your existence, you had hope that the rumors were untrue, but you were nothing more than an arm accessory to him.
He returned one night, wet from the rain, barely able to stand with his crutches and braces, a feeling of worry took over you, you rushed to his side and wrapped an arm around his shoulder to drag him into the bed, he pushed your hand away “don’t, I’m fine” he said aggressively “let me help you, no need to play a strong act in front of me” you whispered, soothingly, but your gesture was met with a slap on the face “I said I’m fine woman!”
You fell on the ground, your hand right where his handprint was left, with tears in your eyes, you looked at him “you- I wish I never met you” you said, picking your fur coat and running outside of your marital chamber, sobbing, you stood in the rain, trying to wrap your head around what mistakes have you made for the gods to be so cruel to you with this marriage.
You cursed yourself, you cursed him, you cursed your father, and your brother for being too weak to save you from this doomed fate, you prayed for Odin, for Freya and even for Loki to have mercy on you and take your life.
You were sinking in sorrow that you didn’t notice the man standing in front of you until he cleared his throat, your weeping eyes moved to his sight, Bjorn Ironside, Ivar’s brother “Y/N, what are you doing here?” he said, stepping closer, you shook your head, he noticed the handprint on your cheek and sighed “did Ivar do that to you?”
“Why would you allow such a monster to marry? You are the son of Ragnar, the bravest, yet you couldn’t find the guts to tell him that wedding me is not right” you bursted, the man looked at you with pity, he took off his cloak and covered your already wet one “let’s go somewhere warm before you fall ill” he spoke softly, you rejected his offer and handed him his cloak “let me be, perhaps I would die and my misery will end”
The man sympathized with you, truly, but you knew he wasn’t able to do anything about your situation, you knew he wasn’t going to help you, all he could do is pity you.
Bjorn stood next to you until you calmed down, your guessing was to protect you in case anyone decided to take advantage of your vulnerability, and when you were finally calm, you returned to your bedchamber, the maidens prepared a warm bath for you, and you tried to relax as much as possible, ignoring the man staring at you from the bed.
Once you felt warm enough, you dried your hair by the fire and headed to your shared bed, your back to him, if you can’t get out of this marriage you might as well ignore it, you closed your eyes, that’s when you heard an apology, followed by the placement the gentlest kiss on your cheek, the one where he hit you, a kiss that you couldn’t believe is coming from the same man.
You didn’t move or say a word, you waited for him to sleep before you could, although he apologized but part of you still feared him.
The next morning you woke up with him gone, and three maidens showering you with food and gifts “what is all of this?” you asked sleepily “King Ivar had requested that we bring you our finest” the maiden had replied, you examined the items, fresh fruits, gowns of silk, cloaks of the rarest fur, jewelry from different raids, the gesture was nice, if only it wasn’t to beg for your forgiveness “and where is king Ivar?” you requested “breaking the fast with his siblings and the earls, do you wish we call him?” you shook your head.
“Tell him that I reject his gifts when you see him” you told them then returned under the fur blanket, the maidens’ faces were colored yellow of terror, who dares reject anything from the king “but my queen-” one of them pleaded “I don’t remember stuttering” you snapped, they lowered their heads and left the room at once.
It didn’t take long for Ivar to storm into your bedchambers, angry, you knew from the sound of his unpaced crutches and the dragging of his foot, he glared at the maidens who knew it was their cue to leave “why are you being difficult, huh? I apologized, I brought you gifts, what else do you want?” he yelled at you, you rolled your eyes and sat up “I want for you to leave me alone!” you snapped “I can have you beheaded for picking that kind of tone with me”
You scoffed “please do, it is a better fate than a lifetime with you!” your answer caught him off guard, he was surprised, speechless for a moment, you could swear that you saw sadness in his eyes as well “fine! You can stay here until you rot” he said calmly, then looked at the maidens “she is not to leave the room until she accepts my offerings, if she does not wear one of the gowns and the jewelleries and come dine with me, then she is free to starve to death”