The kiss prompts are 26: Brushing a kiss along the shell of the other person's ear, and 27: Kisses exchanged while one person sits on the other's lap.

Warnings: mentions of madness, mentions of violence, mentions of death, cursing

When King Ivar the Boneless, the one who thought of himself as a God, had taken Kattegat, your home, a reign of terror and brutality had started that seemed to have no end.

You and your family always lived in fear, in fear of what the mad King would do, or simply in fear of who his men, men that held far too much power, would want to rape or burn next.

Their King didn't care, he encouraged violence, rallied by his Queen, whom her rise from thrall to Queen had taken all her humanity or remorse, it seemed.

The people in Kattegat were left unprotected, with a King enthralled by his merciless Queen and men that were left to reign however much terror they found fit, which was far too much for the good people to take.

You tried to stay at home as much as possible, but you needed to make a living as well.

Your parents were too scared and too old to sell the craftwork they made, so they reluctantly sent the only child they had to do so.

You were instructed to waste as little time as possible and to return straight back home, which you always did.

At the market you weren't safe from the men that whistled after you or even groped you inappropriately and definitely without consent sometimes, but it was too public for much else to happen.

You endured it because you had to, because speaking up would very likely cost your life.

It was very rare to see the King outside of the great hall though it had happened occasionally, just like this time.

You were on your way to your usual spot on the market when you felt someone's hand wrap around your arm, pulling you close to them in one one swift motion.

It had never happened to you before, the men of the guard usually only had the guts to grope whilst you were walking past them, but this one held you close.

You were entirely taken by surprise and fear seeped into you as you struggled against his grip, not quite brave enough to speak up.

When you finally started to protest softly you heard an authoritative voice demand the guard to let you go, which he did.

You were entirely relieved and about to thank the person who had the courage to speak up against one of the mad King's guards when you turned around to face your savior.

You came face to face with the Boneless, and your thanks stuck in your throat.

He was standing there, towering over you leaned over his heavy crutches, a wicked grin forming on his face once he took in your face.

"You. Come closer", he ordered and you did so, intentionally not meeting his eyes as you stared at the ground.

You could hear the people around you stop and stare as the King took you in.

"You are very beautiful, little one", he said, and you could hear the dangerous smirk without having to look at his face.

There was a long silence after that before the sovereign spoke again, a silence in which he took his gloved hand to your chin, tilting your head up so you had to meet his intoxicating eyes.

"Come to me, at the feast tonight. And stay until after it is over. I want to get to know you", he said loudly so anyone could hear, though it sounded like a hiss only a snake could emit and you were surprised it sounded so loud.

As soon as he let you go you sank into a curtsy as you nodded, slipping away as quickly as possible, and feeling all the eyes of the people on the market following you.

Ivar the God had never talked to a woman but his wife, but now he made it clear that he wanted your company in any way he saw fit, something that left you trembling in fear, and you ran back home without even thinking of selling a single trinket.

Your parents were as shocked as you were, but neither of you saw a way out of doing what the mad King wanted from you, which was why you went to the feast.

Even on your way there the haunting eyes of your reigning King kept coming into your mind, the way he had so deeply stared at you, a way that made fear and excitement spread through your body equally.

You were a respectable citizen, you had only ever had one kiss with a neighbor's boy that was fawning over you, and you were respected by the sane citizens in Kattegat, though you knew that this would change everything.

If you wanted to survive you would have to do things you wouldn't be comfortable with, even if the crippled King couldn't pleasure women you were sure he could take his pleasure from them.

You went to the feast expecting the worst, which you knew would come.

Once you entered the great hall you were faced with a room mostly filled with drunk men of the guard, and at the head of the hall the King and Queen sitting at a table overflowing with food.

You weren't starving, because the good people Kattegat payed well for good handcraft, but you certainly had far less than what you were seeing.

As soon as the King saw you he waved for you to come closer, an evil grin on his face as the hall grew noticeably more silent when the men realized a new female face was in their middle.

The Queen's confident smile faded as she saw her husband's wink and grin and she stared at you with so much disdain you felt like you couldn't breathe in the thick and musky air of the hall.

When you stopped in front of the Boneless you curtsied, waiting for further instructions.

"Look at me", you heard his authoritative voice once again this day and you did so without hesitation.

You were faced with his eyes that were staring you down while a grin again spread on his face.

"Come here", he said as he patted his lap with his heavily clad hand, cocking his head to the side.

You were taken aback by his request, mostly because you knew his legs hurt most of the time, or so you had heard, and you moved around the table to simply stand next to him.

"Come here", you heard him repeat himself and you saw his hand again patting his metal-clad thighs, his voice being even more demanding than before.

"The poor thing is as startled as a deer", you heard the voice of the wife of the man that wanted you to sit on his lap, the sweetness laced with venom, directed entirely towards you.

"I do not care for anything you say, Freydis", you heard the man's voice and you felt his attention entirely focused on you, strangely giving you a calmness that felt like the silence before the storm.

You climbed onto the King's lap as he had asked you to, feeling one of his hands settle on the inside of your thigh, the other again angling your chin to look up at him.

His stare had intensified, probably because of the amount of pain he was in, but his diabolical grin had ebbed down as he watched your every move.

"Tell me about yourself, fawn", he said as he gently squeezed your thigh, not in any sexual manner but rather in a possessive one.

Calling you a baby deer, following his wife's venomous nickname for you let an icy shiver run down your back.

When you glanced at the Queen you could see her staring straight back at you, her face even more prideful and harsh than the King's.

You were lost in her gaze when you felt King Ivar lean forward, his lips grazing your ear as he grinned at you.

"Do not be scared, little doe, I will make sure that no one will harm you", you heard him whisper in a taunting way, and you weren't sure if he actually meant it.

When you tried to lean away to look into his eyes he stabilized you by setting a hand on your waist, keeping you in place as he breathed in your scent, and gently letting his lips graze along the shell of your ear, sending goosebumps racing over your body.

Again, the strange calm you had felt before reutned and you nodded carefully, starting to tell him about you.

It was just the mere minimum you told, your name, that you were living with your parents and working as their saleswoman, but the King seemed intrigued by every word you spoke.

When the feast ended you were still on his lap, and drinking ale from his cup like he had ordered you to.

You didn't mind the ice Queen's evil stare anymore, and you felt better and braver through the ale, and though you were still scared it wasn't overwhelmingly so anymore.

The King had been kind to you, invested in your conversation, and you entirely forgot about the danger you were in.

It didn't seem like it, there on his lap you felt safe surrounded by his arms and his evil stare had died down to an intrigued glance.

You had an hours long conversation with him during which he asked you to simply call him Ivar and he answered questions you wouldn't have asked beforehand, but the ale gave you enough strength to do so.

You talked about his family and yours, his ambitions and your job, and though you wouldn't have found it possible before you realized that the King seemed as sane as any other person.

You had seen so many gruesome things he had done and you had heard many gruesome stories, one of which that he had killed his own son, but being so close to him and talking to him like you would with any other person calmed you down.

The fact that he was the best looking man in Kattegat even with his crippled legs helped you like him even further.

It was strange, you hadn't felt this way about him before but maybe the ale gave you the confidence you needed to act.

Looking at your King and getting lost in his unnaturally blue eyes you leaned in, kissing him enthusiastically through pressing your lips almost aggressively against his, letting your tongue dart out and trace his lips as well.

You had never kissed anyone like this, but with Ivar you felt a need to do so.

He returned your kiss and you could feel him grin proudly as he set one of his gloved hands on the back of your head, pulling you further towards him.

He let you deepen the kiss, but you didn't once have the illusion that you were in control, you knew that he was and there was no denying it.

You were so fully enthralled by the kiss you didn't even notice that his wife was staring at you angrily, jealously, and you could have even seen the dangerous way she was looking at you, as if stalking her prey.

When you pulled away you were breathless, and the entire hall silent, before you heard Ivar shout.

There weren't many people there anymore and all of them were drunk, but still you had an audience.

"Out! All of you", he shouted in his usual mixture of a growl and a hiss, sending another wave of goosebumps down your spine.

Everyone got up, stumbling out of the hall, except for his wife, who was sat on her throne like an ice sculpture, having her gaze now entirely focused on her husband.

Looking at you he seemed to collect his patience, as if he was angry, and you stared back at him.

"I said all of you", he hissed, this time sounding like an actual snake as he turned his head in a smooth movement, angling his head to the side and his chin forward before pulling it back and looking at the Queen expectantly.

Without saying a word she got up, he gaze still trained on her husband before she made her leave into the rooms behind the great hall.

When Ivar looked back at you all the intensity and anger had left his face, and instead all he had in his eyes was honesty.

"You are not made for this world. You are too good for it", he said, the usual melodic dance accompanying each word.

You smiled at his words and all the fear and nervousness seemed to fall off of you like a weight on your chest, as soon as everyone had left the room.

You reached your hand out, placing it at the side of his neck to gently play with the braids that fell to his shoulders.

You had been quite drunk from the ale when you had kissed him but after he had shouted in such close proximity to you you had sobered up quickly.

"Where have you been all my life?", you heard him ask and you frowned, as if you hadn't heard right.

"What?", you asked softly, a mere whisper, but you were sure he heard you.

"I would have lived so much differently with you by my side...", he said as you felt his hand on your thigh start to gently caress it, letting his thumb graze over the material of your skirts.

The position had started to become uncomfortable for you after hours of sitting like this, but he didn't seem to feel any of it.

"I lost so much that was dear to me because I let that scheming cunt blind me", he said and you straightened up as you heard how he talked about his Queen.

"I want to get to know you more", he said as he set his hand from your waist onto his armrest, giving you more freedom than you had had before.

His face was now more clouded in sadness and grief than anything and he didn't dare to meet your eyes.

"Everything will be over soon and I... the bitch will be dead, maybe I will be too, if I am lucky, and either of my brothers will rule Kattegat", he said out of the blue and you instinctively set one of your hands on the one that was sitting on the armrest of his chair, and he intertwined his strong fingers with your much more delicate ones.

When you looked back up at him he was watching your face, and though you had no idea what he was talking about you shared a deep look of understanding.

"Will you stay with me these last few days? To give me at least a few days of sanity and comfort", he said, and all the intimidating attitude had vanished to leave him almost vulnerable under you.

"I will not hurt you or your loved ones if you do not wish to comply. I understand that you do not want to spend more time than necessary with the mad...", he tried to finish his sentence but you shut him up.

Very carefully you set your hand on his cheek and your lips on his, gently silencing him.

"I will stay, Ivar", you whispered softly, and you had never seen such an amount of relief, gratefulness and appreciation in anyone's eyes before, and you finally understood.

Just because a King had visions that went far beyond the ordinary, was physically different than everyone else and so desperate for love that he had been used by the one person he was closest to didn't mean that he was more mad than any average person in Kattegat.

Which was why decided to stay with him, and fight for his life if there was any way to save it.