Ragnar shot her a long, sharp sidelong glance at her cruel jab at him, about having a piece of his heart broken. In reality, he felt only betrayal more so than a broken heart. He was not in the mood to be petty with her. They had bigger concerns than their crumbling love life. “I feel only the stab of betrayal. I trusted her and she took that trust and destroyed it,” Ragnar fixed his Queen Wife in a piercing stare. “Don't you feel lucky, shield maiden? Do you not cherish that at the end of the day it was her and not you? That out of all of my wives you are the only one that has lasted so long.” Of course Ragnar understood what it meant. That Thistle, despite their frequent arguments and disagreements with one another, that she was his true love. “I don't care what her problem was. She did not want the same thing as me and she should have been honest with me from the start but she wasn't and she has done what she has done and she will deal with the consequences of her actions.” Ragnar spoke coolly, dismissively. He did not want to speak of Nerian, not ever again, the same way he did not speak of his past wives unless he absolutely needed too. They were in his past for a reason. He was quiet when Thistle spoke to him, thinking that if Nerian did return she would not call for him out of fear for him, as to which her fear would not be wrongly placed.
“If Julooke comes back at all I will deal with it when the time comes,” He would at least hear her out because that was his job as Jarl. Not to continue riding his assumptions, but to take what he knew and apply it to the given reasoning and make the best decision he could with what he had to work with. “I am not an unfair Jarl but I cannot coddle and brush things under the rug just because of friendship. That is not how this works and I will not show favoritism. My subordinates are all equal to one another in my eyes and I will not treat one better than any other.” Truthfully, his people didn't coddle. They were a harsh culture with harsh practices and harsh beliefs. Ragnar had not changed, would never change because he was who he was: a Viking, and if they couldn't handle how he dealt with things, the traditional way for him then perhaps they needed to find a posh pack to join in the stead of the Bay.
“Verrine is gone, too. His trail ends at the sea. There is no body and no other evidence that he has walked elsewhere. We have no choice but to assume the worst. The Ostrega children should be moved promptly to our den,” Without parents they were vulnerable and Ragnar would not see them die under his case as their Jarl. “With Nerian and Gyda gone there is ample room even with Mercury and Gunnar.” He wasn't asking permission, he was telling her what they were going to do. They were the only two in the past experianced enough to take in the young orphaned children, as far as Ragnar was concerned.
