#lmk if there are any typos that i missed cause i literally whipped this up and edited and posted it within the span of like an hour lol

[tovalhallaandback]

Some News Isn't Meant to Be Shared

Pairing: Sigtryggr Ivarson/Stiorra Uhtredsdottir

Summary: With the peace between saxon and dane threatened, war is not the only thing brewing in Eoferwic/Jorvik. Moments before the king and queen depart their stronghold to meet Edward's arm, Stiorra contemplates sharing news that could change everything.

Aka - just a teeny tiny moment set during episode 5x05, right before they leave Eoferwic to meet Edward's armies.

Warnings: Implied pregnancy

Wordcount: 405w

AN: Yeah so I'm one of those shippers that headcanons Sig/Stiorra did eventually want kids (just not right away) and that Stiorra was pregnant in S5. I'll probably eventually add more canon stuff. Expand. Just wanted to write something light-ish and fluff-esque - and voila, this is what came to me.

Crossposted onto AO3

Her breath hitches in her throat, chest straining against the leather of her armor as his hands tighten the the strings then the belt that hold the garment flush to her chest. The adjustments he makes are usually minor, just tightening the bodice a thread more, a gesture that will hardly have an affect on whether she lives or dies if she meets a blade. But nevertheless, it's their little pre-battle ritual; something that must be done before they depart. And even if the adjustments are obsolete, his shoulders and jaw always relax after he’s finished, so she holds her tongue, not willing to take the one thing that grounds him away from him when the threat of violence looms like a dark grey storm cloud on the horizon.

“There, that should hold,” he says, lips brushing against her nose. “The men are ready.” 

Her hand skims across her belly, tongue brushing over her lips as her voice strains, “Sigtryggr-“ 

He turns on the stairs, bright blue eyes like the sky on a clear day blinking back at her as he hovers, awaiting for her to continue. 

Now seems like the time she should share the good news, and yet the words she wants to stay stick to her tongue like bees trapped in their own honey, unwilling to make themselves known. She’d only realized it herself yesterday afternoon, the past few weeks pushing it into the far corners of her mind. She should tell him; she wants to tell him. They’d waited years for this blessing.  Yet, if she tells him now, he’ll fall back on his word to his people. And they need him more than she does right now. They need to know that they have his protection, that Edward will not succeed in wiping them from their rightful homes, that he will not undo all that they have fought for in Eoferwic, that the peace will prevail even if war must be stirred again to protect it. 

So instead, she swallows them for a better time will come. “I’ll be down shortly.” 

He nods, flashing that soft just barely there smile that always weakens her. Then, the stairs creak as he disappears, leaving her in their bedchamber. Alone. 

Her thumb brushes across her abdomen again, just barely beginning to swell as she takes a steadying inhale. Her husband is cunning and tender; they’ll all make it home. There is still time.