"I set her on my pacing steed,

and nothing else saw all day long.

For sidelong would she bend, and sing

a faery's song"

Ragnar was invigorated as he stared at La Belle Dame after they had kissed. Their faces were close and they could feel the breath of the other, it was a drug. And for one moment Ragnar's head overpowered his heart. He could not. He must not. But how he wanted to.

"Bjorn would love you,"

He laughed at the joke he found genuinely funny.

La Belle Dame rolled her eyes at him but the words secretly broke her heart. She only had eyes for the Lothbrok in front of her.

To reply to him, she gave herself her sweet sin again, a kiss. But sins always multiply and sinners never stop.

Ragnar stopped.

He broke the kiss, leaving La Belle Dame leaning into mid air. Her red curls flowed around her in the breeze, occasionally a strand catching in her mouth. Ragnar outstretched his hand instead and brushed them gently to the side. Hopefulness filled the women, a glimmer of hope that they could actually be together; hope misplaced.

"But right now it's my turn."

There was a glint in his eyes, it turned them from clear blue and the shade of the sea to the murky and devious shade of seaweed. A look of lust, for love and lust.

She gracefully took his hand whilst trying to act like a lady, and put on the tiara of a Princess. In reality Ragnar had always wanted a warrior, a women he deemed worthy to rule beside him but maybe he has been wrong this whole time. Maybe he needed a beautiful lady without mercy to share his crown with.

They both stood up and the breeze never came, the air was still but it had the warmth that came with the change of seasons. It helped the couple on their feet, guiding them to the outskirts of the slight clearing where Ragnar's horse spent his time.

It should have left straight after they arrived, for no attention had been laid to the horse yet here the magnificent creature stood. Waiting for the day it would ride again with an affection for the King that rivalled La Belle Dame's.

The mare greeted the King with love, letting the man stroke his face and neck as Ragnar chuckled. It has been too long, it was only know that he realised what he had been missing.

La Belle Dame's innocence to the world showed as she hid behind Ragnar like a child when meeting a stranger, she clutched hold to his tunic and her cheek grazed the Vikings shoulder.

Yet it was not entirely ignorance that kept her there. Animals could sense things that humans could not, too many times had this horse looked at her before like it knew she was there. There was risk, she did not belong in the mortal world and the natural world knew how to rebel against any cause of chaos.

"Don't you like horses?"

Ragnar asked with a concerned expression but a smile.

"Only if they like me."

She replied as the horse began to nudge past Ragnar and in her direction. She held her breath, not daring to show anything - like her lack of a pulse.

"He seems to like you."

And as soon as Ragnar said that, it was as if she had stolen the horses heart, the hostility morphing into affection before her very eyes.

The lady had to laugh at the creature and Ragnar's power over him as she ran her hand through the creature hair. She could feel the coarseness and wiry nature of it, so different to the delicateness of her own. It was a welcome change.

"I am glad."

La Belle Dame confessed and she was, with all of her heart.

"Have you ever ridden before?"

The King began to heave his body onto the horse but his stomach slammed into the harsh muscle of the creature sending a grimace of pricking pain through him. It was a reminder that he could never be carefree no matter how fitting La Belle Dame's spell was.

"I-"

She was going to tell the truth, the shameful fact she had never used her own legs before this day let alone contemplated four animal ones.

La Belle Dame lied,

"Yes, many times."

The smile on Ragnar's face was her reward for treachery but it made her stomach flip. He did not speak just offering her his hand.

He then thought about how strange the action was, his previous lovers had never needed his assistance, they wanted to do it by themselves. The truth was the women in front of him needed so much more guidance then he could have ever imagined.

She took his hand and allowed him to pull her in front of him on the horse. It was strangely uncomfortable at first for the women, she tried to adjust herself but to no avail, the bones of the horse seemed to know exactly where to be to cause her discomfort.

"Comfy?"

He laughed into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist to take the reigns. His height meant he could clearly see over her head with no issues and La Belle Dame allowed herself instead to relax as she let her back fall against him.

"Yes."

She responded by tilting her head back and blessing him with a smile.

"Good."

He said simply before whipping the reins to set the horse off in no particular direction at all, just into the woods. Just away.

Their speed could only be described as serene, they neither ran nor rambled. Their sweet-tempered walk was perfect to get them to their destination and allowing them to enjoy the ride there in each other's silent company.

At first they didn't speak but observed the passing bark of trees and the humming of bird songs. Although Ragnar Lothbrok was more concerned at watching La Belle Dame by looking down at her, he smiled as she smiled and crinkles formed at the side of her eyes. Nature, to her had never been so full and alive. Never been able to see it such an open mind.

"You must be from far, I have never seen somebody so interested in trees."

His voice was like honey to her, dripping sweetly into her ears.

"You do not lie."

She answered cryptically, not wanting him to know of her other worldly origins and it was as good an answer for the Viking who did not touch the subject again.

So the women sat there with the occasional feeling of Ragnar's hand brushing against her waist.

It was serene, and she absentmindedly began to hum under her breath, letting the sound travel on the wind and join the occasional bird song.

It was a tune of Norse Gods, passed down from generation to generation and mother to son. La Belle Dame however had heard it from the gods themselves. The tales of woe and triumph against all evil, a story as familiar to Ragnar as the back of his hand.

"You sing beautifully."

He confessed to the women, her voice was also like honey in his ears, slowly lulling him into a dreamlike state.

"I do not."

She did not take the compliment, when you can only compare yourself to gods, your self esteem suffers.

"I have not heard that song in so long, my mother used to sing it to us when I was a child..."

His voice was lost to the surroundings as he stared nonchalantly at the ground, the thought of Rollo was too heavy a burden to add onto his already broken shoulders.

"She chose lullabies well."

La Belle Dame chuckled at the end, trying to lift the spirits of Ragnar.

"Her son did not."

His thoughts were brought back to when he had his own daughter, it was too long ago for the memories to be crystal clear. They all fade over time, it was the memory of her death that was without fog.

Ragnar does however remember the soundtrack to those merry and simple years of his life. He could hear the one lullaby he would sing to his children in his head, it was the same one from his very own boyhood. He had not thought about it or heard it since Lagertha had left.

Ragnar never sang to his sons with Aslaug; he loved them like a father but treated them like a man.

With this in his mind the pair continued on they continued on the path less travelled and lost track of the passing sun above them, the only thing changing was the formulation of nature around them. Trees would engulf them one second and then they would travel leagues across open plains.

The sound of La Belle Dame's sweet song lulling them closer together yet further and further away from the world.