Sihtric dropped to his knees in front of Astrid and placed his hands on her stomach. He had a dazed look in his eyes, staring blankly at her belly button.

"Pregnant..." he mumbled, "as in there is a human growing in here... that we created?" He looked up at her, his jaw almost hitting the floor.

Astrid cupped his face in her hands and said, "yes, my love. We are going to have a child."

Sihtric leaped to his feet and picked her up by the armpits, with Astrid being able to hold onto his shoulders at arms length, and spun her around. He had a childish grin on his face, even when he put her down and hugged her with the strength of 50 wolves.

After a moment, Sihtric broke the hug and held Astrid at arms length. "We have to tell Uhtred, Finan and Osferth! They will be so happy for us!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. Astrid, however, stayed put, a worried expression on her face.

"What is wrong, my love?" Sihtric said, grasping both of Astrid's hands in his.

"Uhtred's a Saxon by birth, and you know how they feel about having kids before marriage." Astrid looked up at Sihtric and rubbed her thumbs along Sihtric's hands.

"Let's get married then! We must ask Uhtred's permission, of course, since we have both pledged our swords to him, but there is no reason why he would say no." Sihtric went from concerned to happy in a split second at the prospect of them getting married, and luckily, Astrid felt the same.

"Is this you proposing to me, my love?" Astrid smiled and moved closer to Sihtric so their lips were almost touching.

Sihtric was momentarily stunned, actually processing what he had said. After a moment, he smirked. "Astrid Hergilsdottir, will you marry me?"

"Yes. In this life, and the next, yes." She let go of his hands and held his face, then kissed him with the passion of a thousand warriors.

"Come on love birds!" Finan burst in, not even thinking to knock. "Skade's dead, time to get us a new queen of Mercia, then for Bebbanburg!" He yelled 'Bebbanburg' so loud that Alfred probably heard him in Wessex. Sihtric and Astrid looked at each other momentarily, then shouted along with him. They grabbed their gear and went to their horses. On the way to Aegelesburg, Sihtric seemed to be more protective of her than usual, riding close to her and keeping one hand on his sword, just in case. Astrid loved him for this, his increased concern for her because of the obvious outcome of the copious amount of humping they did. Not even Uhtred matched their frequency, which was a shocker given his reputation.

They had not had a chance to ask Uhtred for his permission during the day, as he insisted they keep moving as long as there was light. Although, an opportunity did present itself that evening at their camp. Uhtred was coming back from taking a piss, and Astrid and Sihtric approached him.

"Lord," Sihtric said, "I would like permission to marry Astrid."

Uhtred folded his arms and tilted his head. "Would you now? Is this what you want, Astrid?"

"More than anything, Lord." Astrid took Sihtric's hand and made eye contact with him. He gave her a small nod, and she moved her free hand to her stomach.

"I see." Uhtred looked angry for a split second, then decided that he should be happy for his friend. "Well, best you two get married. We will perform the ceremony at Bebbanburg so you can perform the usual traditions."

Each of them with a beaming smile on their face, Astrid and Sihtric said in unison, "yes, Lord." With that happy news, the three of them headed back to the camp and told Finan and Osferth. Both of them were elated, but not surprised. That night, they just cuddled together next to the fire, wrapped in each other's arms. Astrid had her back up against Sihtric, who had his hands covering her belly. He had said that he didn't want to harm the baby with sex, even with Astrid's assurance that it wouldn't. Even so, Astrid felt Sihtric get a boner, so she reached her hand around behind her and started rubbing his dick. She heard his breath falter, and he let out a quiet moan right into her ear. She felt the loose strands of her hair move with his ragged breath. 

After a moment, he ran his tongue up her ear and whispered, "keep that up and I might just have to fuck you regardless of the baby already in your belly..."

Astrid turned over to face him, keeping her hand on his dick, and said "you don't want twins do you?"

Sihtric started to moan, and Astrid kissed him to keep him from waking the others. "If they're our twins," he said once Astrid stopped kissing him, "then of course."

With a smirk, Astrid said "tomorrow, maybe. We need a good way to celebrate the new Lady of Mercia, do we not?" Astrid moved her hand from his dick and grabbed his ass.

"How could I say no to you, my love?" Sihtric kissed Astrid on the forehead, and they fell asleep.

The next morning, Finan woke Astrid and Sihtric up by kicking Sihtric in the thigh.

"Wake up, ya pair of princesses, time to get us a good ruler of Mercia." He said, chucking a supply bag to Sihtric, who had woken up just in time to catch it. Finan walked off towards the horses, laughing to himself.

"Thanks, Finan!" Astrid and Sihtric said in unison, with as much sarcasm as they could muster. They both stood and got their armour on and their horses ready.

Before they left, they went over the plan one last time. Astrid would pose as Aethelflead's bodyguard and a lady in waiting. This way she could wait outside Aethelflead and Athelred's bedroom without raising any eyebrows. When a signal was made by Aethelflead, Astrid would walk in wielding a Saxon dagger and kill Aethelred. While this was going on, Sihtric would capture a member of the Wittan that would be most opposed to Aethelflead's rule so he could be placed at the scene of the crime. Aethelflead would hit him over the head, at which point, Astrid would come in and help her throw him out the window. They would then alert the guards, and tell them that the Wittan member had barged in, and before Astrid could stop him, attempted to push Aethelflead out the window, but Aethelred got in the way, leading him to be pushed out instead. This would be backed up by Uhtred, Osferth and Finan, who would be taking a piss in the area.

On the last stretch to Aegelesburg, everyone was laughing and joking with each other, and everyone had seemed to come to trust Astrid, not just as an ally, but as a friend. That's what spending all day, every day will do to people, Astrid thought, that's why Uhtred's men follow him because they like him enough to put up with him all the time.

Eventually, they made it to Aegelesburg and seeing Aethelflead with them, they let them in right away. One of the guardsmen rushed off, clearly going to tell the Asshole Lord of Mercia about his wife's arrival. Aethelflead and Astrid had grown close over the last couple of days, being the only women in the group, and they walked through Aegelesburg together on the way to the castle. Of course, Sihtric was right behind her, with Osferth, Uhtred, and Finan up ahead, but both Aethelflead and Astrid enjoyed the attention they were getting from their respective love interests in the group. Astrid could see that Uhtred was attractive, but he was too Saxon-looking for her, she preferred the Danish look, which Sihtric was the perfect example of, at least according to her. Every so often, she glanced behind her, just to see Sihtric smiling a goofy, puppy dog smile at her. She would walk backward for a few seconds and blow him a kiss, making him melt. She would then turn back around and laugh with Aethelflead about it. She could hear Osferth laughing at Sihtric for it every time, which only made Aethelflead and Astrid laugh more. This served as a good distraction for what would be unfolding later that evening. They were all incredibly nervous about it, but Aethelflead said that all of the Eldormen were suspicious of each other so this would be easily believed by the Wittan, but Astrid didn't know if she meant it or if she was just trying to calm her nerves.

They eventually made it to the castle, and everyone took a collective deep breath as the guards opened the doors.