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Uhtred sat on the bench in their cell as she leaned against the bars, Uhtred turned to her in curiosity and she sighed.

"Why did you kill those men? You barely know Finan." She frowned at his claim and kicked the rock in the corner. She bit her lip as she decided what to say, the truth or a lie.

"I-I think I have unconsciously grown attached to him." She answered and Uhtred nodded slowly as he stood.

"I thought you and Sihtric were..." He trailed off in confusion and she grew horrified.

"No! Gods no! Gross. Not like that, Uhtred. And Sihtric is merely a friend at best." Uhtred observed her for a moment as she grew uncomfortable.

"I do not follow, Lilith." She blankly looked at him until she groaned.

"Finan reminds me of my father, the man he was before Skade." She mumbled quietly as he picked at her leather bracelets and froze when Uhtred placed his hand over hers.

"That is nothing to be ashamed of, Lilith. Beocca is like another father to me. It is perfectly normal." Uhtred speaks soothingly like he is speaking to a frightened animal. She jerked away from him when Aethelflaed walked in, the princess looked between them in minor bewilderment before looking at Uhtred.

"Is there to be a trial or a simple execution?" He asked with a smirk.

"Uhtred, it was my mother's intention to cut your throat, but she has been persuaded to revert to banishment. You are to leave Winchester and Wessex, and never return." Aethelflaed pleaded as she held Uhtred's hand.

"And what of Edward? What of the king's letter, his pardon? Does that count for nothing?" Uhtred asked in annoyance and confusion. "What about Lilith?" He asked a moment later as the woman in question sat down.

"Uhtred, you must leave or she will have you killed. And Lilith, she will be sentenced to trial for the death of those men." Aethelflæd said softly and Uhtred frowned.

"She will be sentenced to death." Uhtred corrected and Lilith shrugged.

"I wish to see my father again, Uhtred. I do not care what happens to me." Uhtred looked at her sadly as he reached out to caress her face.

"I will not allow you to die a death that is not one of a warrior. Find Beocca, I must speak to Beocca. Fetch him, please." Aethelflaed gives him a look of sympathy as she hesitates.

"I cannot fetch him. He has trials enough."

"What trials?" Uhtred asked.

"I am here. I have heard what the lady has said, and I am here to beg you, Uhtred, to beg you to stay." Beocca says from the entryway.

"Father Beocca, he cannot stay." Aethelflæd claims and Beocca ignores her.

"There will be a hearing?"

"Perhaps." She says quietly.

"And we shall be heard, we must." Beocca said determinedly.

"What has happened?" Beocca ignores him.

"Accept a trial and speak out. If you do not, the devil will have won." Beocca satiated in anger.

"Beocca?"

"Do not against what you helped to build." Beocca continued.

"There is a change in you." Beocca walked to Uhtred with watery eyes.

"Thyra is with God...the Gods, even." Beocca whispered sadly, Lilith looked to Uhtred who staggered a bit.

"How?"

"Fire. Set by good Christian men, no doubt." He says with bitterness. Lilith frowned as she watched the two, Thyra seemed kind.

"Which men?"

"She is with Gisela now. She is with her mother. We cannot allow ourselves to be consumed by her death. All that Alfred stood for us crumbling. You, Uhtred, cannot be dragged into the shadows. You must become the light." Uhtred and Beocca place their foreheads against one another and cry. Not long after, the door opens once more and Steapa shows himself.

"It's time," They walk through the halls when he speaks again. "I am to take you to the frontier of Mercia, to witness you leaving Wessex." Steapa explained. "Lady Lilith, once he leaves you will stand trial." Lilith nodded as she eyed the guards.

"Lord? What is this, a hunting party?" Finan asked when he saw Uhtred and Lilith.

"I am an outlaw once again, to be banished or executed." He says with amusement. "And Lilith will be sent to trial." Uhtred says and Finan frowns when he looks at the young woman.

"I have made peace with it, Finan. It is alright." She says to lessen his guilt, Sihtric and Osferth look at her with sadness and she has to look away.

"Should we follow you, lord? Leave Winchester for the Danes?" Uhtred stops when he hears what Sihtric said.

"Lord? Walk," Steapa motioned to the horse as Uhtred turned to Edward. "Uhtred, you will get up onto your horse." Uhtred sighs and slowly holds up his hands and shows off the letter.

"I am a free man, I have a letter of pardon. It bears the king's seal it is written in the king's hand. Does the word of Alfred count for nothing in Winchester now that he is gone?" Uhtred shouts as he turns.

"And you are a man who once held a knight to the king's throat!" Ælswith shouts in anger.

Show us one witness who can say this letter was written willingly. One witness." The bishop says smugly and Uhtred looks away.

"There was no witness."

"We are gifting you your life! You shall be grateful and you shall leave this land in peace!" Ælswith says.

"There will be no peace, lady. War is coming! There is a Dane army marching this very moment and I will abandon the people of Wessex—" He is quickly interrupted by the Ælswith.

"Who do you think you are? Steapa!" The man in question unsheathed his sword as two men grabbed Uhtred.

"Lady Ælswith, I cannot let this injustice go unchallenged. If Uhtred of Bebbanburg claims to have been made a free man by King Alfred himself, we cannot dismiss it so lightly. Only a king can deny a king." Beocca defends the man.

"Wessex has no king." Aethelwold says in bitterness.

"We have Edward Rex."

"The Witan decides who is king." Aethelwold hissed out.

"Edward is the aetheling." Uhtred adds.

"He has no authority. He is Alfred's son and no more. I'm sure the monasteries are full of Alfred's bastard sons. Do all bastards have a claim to the crown?" Aethelwold claims with a smirk.

"Aethelwold, I am already sent to death. It would not matter if I killed you to join me." Lilith hissed out and felt Uhtred nudge her arm to stop her.

"Bishop Erkenwald, you will end this display."

"King or not, if Edward believes the letter of pardon to be untrue, then I will leave Wessex." Uhtred offers as he looks directly at Edward.

"Steapa, you will return the prisoner to the palace. This is no place for such decisions." The bishop orders.

"This is precisely the place. Justice must be seen, to be done." Beocca replied with a glare.

"Steapa! Unhand the prisoner. Though he remains a prisoner, I will allow lord Uhtred to speak. He has earned that right." Edward ordered instead with a determined look.

"Though you have not, lord, not yet. You have no authority."

"Do you object to the people bearing witness to justice, lord Aethelwold?" Edward says shutting the boy up.

"I do not."

"Uhtred, the king swore that you were to die. Why the change in his heart?" Edward questioned and Uhtred sighed.

"Because he believed that I deserved his forgiveness."

"Is that a boast?" Ælswith questioned.

"Look at his chronicle. I am there on every page."

"That is a lie! You are not named, even once." Ælswith screamed in anger.

"But I am there, unwritten lady, but I am there. The Warriors of Wessex know it, the Danes know it and it is what the king has told me himself. I am with him from the Somerset marshes to Ethandun and all of the battles that have followed, we were bonded him and I.  He was the man that I could never be nor did I wish to be. He was the man that I loved and despise, but it was never less than an honor to serve him. He was my king, and he did not wish to go to his God, without granting me what I have earned many times over, my freedom." The crowd begins to murmur about when he finishes.

"But the question remains: why did he choose not to announce it?"

"You will remember my great friend, Leofric, a warrior and a Saxon to the bone. He told me once that I could never better Alfred because 'the bastard thinks,' he said." The crowd chuckles. "Perhaps your father chose not to announce my freedom for this very reason, so that people could witness their new king, Edward, dispensing justice. Fairly, I hope."

"Will you accept the decision of Edward Rex?" Beocca asked.

"I will give you my word."

"Lord?" Beocca questioned.

"Again, I say, and with respect, the boy does not have the power to make such a statement. He is an aetheling and nothing more. He is no more an heir to the crown than myself." Aethelwold snapped in envy and hatred.

"Lord, the decision is yours to make." Beocca glares at Aethelwold.

"My father, King Alfred, demanded loyalty, unity. He believed in his God and doubted those who did not," Edward begins to walk to Uhtred and Finan readied himself to unsheathe his sword if necessary. "A heathen would not be trusted completely until he has embraced Alfred's god as his own. And yet, it was a heathen he did trust most. It was the word of Uhtred that he respected most. Uhtred of Bebbanburg, I find the letter written by my father to be true. Alfred's pardon does stand. You are a free man, able to choose your own path." The crowd cheers. Edward looks to Lilith who arched an eyebrow at the new king. "And you, you are a free woman. You have been forgiven for your crime. Do not make it a habit."

Lilith wasn't happy. She wanted death, she wanted to die. She just wanted to join her father in Valhalla and never worry about pain and loss again. Uhtred squeezed her arm when he noticed her defeated look.

"He would want you to live." He whispered to her.

"May I ask? Lord Uhtred, may I ask now that you are a free man once, where will your path lead? I would like to know?" Beocca questioned the Dane.

"Steapa, my sword. One day, Father, I hope that my path will eventually lead north to Bebbanburg, but not, I believe I am needed here. I will follow Edward Rex." Edward pulls Uhtred into a hug.