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"Lord, we need to change our plan. We cannot wait for him to attack because he will not. Her value is even greater than I thought. He will wait for as long as it takes." Uhtred says once the group meets in the hall once more.

"Æthelred and the Mercians will be close." Alfred claims.

"They will be seen. What we must do is stop them on the road. I can send Finan to do just that. And then we must join them, we must choose the place of battle, lord. But we must act quickly while his blood burns." Uhtred said looking at the king, Finan watched nervously.

"Join Æthelred where?" He asked.

"I am thinking Fearnham. There's a hill."

"I know it, lord. It gives us an advantage." Beocca backs up Uhtred's advice.

"But how do we join Æthelred here at this hill? And how do we ensure Earl Sigurd will follow if that is the plan?" Alfred questions and looks to Uhtred for the answer.

"Finan will find the Mercian's and we will ensure Bloodhair follows. You and Uhtred will draw him."

"And if Æthelred cannot be found?" Alfred asks.

"We fight alone but we must act quickly. It must be today."

"I'm ready lords, it won't take me long to find the Mercians." Finan says and stands up looking between the king and lord. Alfred gives a slow nod.

"To Fearnham. Go." Finan nods.

A couple of days later Uhtred and the group arrive in Winchester, Uhtred dismounts his horse and walks to the woman with a worried look. Sigyn looks over at Skade who shows no emotion.

"Uhtred, she is gone. She has given you a son but she's gone." Hild speaks and pulls him into a hug before he can fully grasp the situation, he sniffles against her shoulder.

"I must go to her."

"Uhtred, no." She whispers and Uhtred looks at her with sad eyes.

"No, I must go to her." He begged crying. Sigyn's heart hurt for the man, she glanced at her sister again with a frown.

"Uhtred, she's in the ground, it was days ago. She's gone." Hild said quietly. Uhtred turns to Skade and Sigyn with teary eyes, she notices he avoids looking at his newborn child as he walks away. Once Sigyn dismounts from her horse she follows her sister who is led into a shack of sorts.

"You did this." She said looking at Skade.

"I did say he was in need of a woman." She smirked with no care as Sigyn paced the floor worried for the man.

"You are right about me being spineless when it comes to killing, Skade. But I swear to you now, you will die. I will kill you and myself to save Uhtred and his family if that's what it takes." Sigyn threatened and watched Skade scoff at her, she knew her sister well enough to know it had hurt her to hear Sigyn say such harsh things.

"You cannot," Skade said instead. "They will kill you, Sigyn. You are here because they believe I care for you."

"And do you? Care for me?" She whispered knowing the answer.

"No, you are nothing to me. You are worth nothing." Sigyn flinched back at the words and felt as if Skade had cut her heart out.

"I am a fool then. I will always love you, Skade. Even when it brings me nothing but pain." Sigyn snapped and slammed the door on her way out, ignoring the worried looks of Uhtred's men. She wasn't sure where to go but she kept walking until she reached a small clearing. Sigyn sat down on the grass and hugged her knees to her chest, she hissed in pain when her wrist started to burn.

"Lady Sigyn, is everything alright?" She flinched at the voice and noticed it was Osferth, his expression showed one of concern watching her. "My apologies, I did not mean to frighten you."

"You are lucky, Osferth. I envy you, you are free." She said quietly as the monk sat down next to her. He looked down at his hands as she fiddled nervously with his fingers before looking at her.

"You could too. Skade does not control you." He watched as she frowned and rubbed her wrist again, his eyes widened when he noticed the wrap Sihtric had applied was drenched in blood. He did not hesitate to take her wrist in his hands, he gently opened the bandage and winced at the sight of it. "Does it not hurt?" Sigyn gave him a sad smile and nodded.

"It always hurts, Osferth. But when I am not by her side it burns and bleeds." The monk helped the girl up while being careful of her wound. He may be the healer of Uhtred's group but curse-inflicted wounds are outside his knowledge of healing.

"Come, let me wrap this for you." Sigyn hissed in pain when it felt like her flesh was burning from her bone and leaned against him.

"Thank you, Osferth." She whispered and allowed him to lead them back into the fortress. She sat down by Finan and Sihtric as Osferth rushed to grab his bag of healing supplies, Sihtric grabbed her wrist with a frown as he looked over it.

"Skade did this?" Sihtric clenched his jaw in anger at the sight of the bloody rune. Before he could say anything else Osferth arrived, he placed her wrist in his lap as he dabbed the blood from the wound with a sterilized cloth.

"Uhtred! Uhtred! You are needed at the palace by the king." The group looks over at Uhtred who walks toward them with his daughter.

"For what reason? We are to return to Coccham." Uhtred sighs.

"It would be better if you heard it from him yourself. Alone." Beocca stated with urgency. Uhtred sighed and placed Stiorra on the ground as he followed Father Beocca. Stiorra walked over to them with curiosity and stood in front of Sigyn with a grin.

"Hi, there," Sigyn says with a kind smile as the girl giggles happily at her. "My name is Sigyn. What is yours?"

"Stiorra! Uhtred is my father." She stated with pride. Sigyn looked over at Osferth who was focused on cleaning up her wound, she must admit, she liked the view from where she sat. "You look like those Christian statues in churches." Finan chuckled at the young girl when she looked at him for the name.

"Angels?"

"You look like an angel, Sigyn. You are so beautiful." Stiorra gushed and reached up to run her fingers through Sigyn's blonde hair.

"Very beautiful." Osferth whispered and then blushed when he realized what he said.