**Author's Note: This chapter and the rest of this fanfic will have significant story departures from canon, but since you're here, reading a fic with an OC, I don't think y'all will mind at all**

"Lord, lord!" Sihtric shook Uhtred awake, while Astrid kept an eye on the horse and rider in the distance, sword in hand. Finan and Osferth awoke too, hearing Sihtric's voice. Uhtred stood and squinted in the low light of the moon towards the rider. Whoever it was had long, blonde hair, and wore a cloak with the hood down.

"Skade?" Uhtred whispered, "Astrid, stand down." Astrid sheathed her sword, but she knew that this could be a trap, as did the rest of the men, as they all had hands on their weapons. Uhtred approached Skade, who demounted her horse. They had a short conversation, then approached the camp.

Uhtred explained, "Skade has escaped from Bloodhair, she won't say how, but she is here, which is all that matters. We need to move, if she found us, so could Bloodhair. We ride for an hour, then Finan and Osferth, you two watch." Everyone quickly packed their gear and rode off, Skade and Uhtred in the front, then Finan and Osferth, followed by Astrid and Sihtric at the back. All of them had weapons drawn, just in case they had to defend themselves. Eventually, they found another place to set up camp, and everyone, bar Finan and Osferth fell asleep.

The next morning, all six of them traveled to the nunnery where Aelthelflead was hidden, arriving by nightfall. They were all hungry, so everyone, bar Uhtred, who went to meet with Aethelflead, went to the kitchens. Even though they all had their weapons concealed, the nuns were terrified of them and ran out of the room before any of them could explain their presence.

"Oi, Osferth," Astrid said, grabbing an apple from the bench, "I thought your God gave you strength and bravery?"

"Well yes, but..." Osferth started to say, getting cut off by Sihtric.

"You're just that terrifying, my love." He said, kissing her on the cheek, stealing her apple in the process. Astrid noticed almost immediately, but she didn't feel mad about it like she would have with most other men. Maybe because he did it with a kiss, or because he was so damn attractive, Astrid didn't know.

"I'll show you terrifying if you steal my apple again," Astrid said, giving Sihtric a peck on the nose, making the man stop in his tracks momentarily. She loved that she could do that to him. He could charge into battle, and kill anything and everything in his way, but it was a simple kiss on the nose that made him freeze.

They continued on to the dining hall, where Aelthelflaed would most likely be, given that it was around suppertime. Uhtred was there with her, and some other nuns already, and they all sat around the table, eating a hearty dinner. Skade had been locked in a bedroom somewhere with food and a piss bucket, Uhtred promising to let her out momentarily in the morning to do her spells.

"Both of you have problems that can easily be solved," said Finan, pointing at Uhtred and Aethelflead, "kill the bitch and be done with it. With Skade gone, Uhtred will be free of the curse, and, lady, with your husband gone and your father on the throne of Wessex, the Mercian throne would be yours."

"No, it's too risky. I can kill Skade, easy." Uhtred, no matter how headstrong he was normally, was always incredibly cautious when it came to Aethelflead. "The ealdormen would never allow for anyone apart from their own children on the throne."

"Uhtred, as much as I'd love to be cautious about this," Osferth said quietly, so the nuns around the table couldn't hear, "I, as would we all, I think, want somewhere to settle down, to call home. We can't think about that with the country in as much turmoil as it is."

Sihtric nodded in agreement. "With Alfred's daughter on the Mercian throne, that's one less kingdom against a united country," he said, "I hate to say it, but if you want the support to take Bebbanburg, and have a home for your children, we need Alfred's England."

"With a few changes, obviously," Astrid added.

"What do you think Aethelflead?" Uhtred asked, grabbing her hands.

"I will have no personal involvement with the death of my husband, but if something tragic were to befall him, I will do what I must to ensure a smooth transition of power and the unification of my father's England." She said. Astrid, being present for many negotiations with the Saxons, knew that this type of language was meant to imply that the speaker did not want to do something, but wouldn't stop others from doing it.

That night, they made a plan. Uhtred would start the morning by taking Skade out to the lake and drowning her, thus breaking the curse while everyone else prepared the horses. They would then ride to Aegelesburg, quietly assassinate Aethelred, and install Aethelflead as the new lady of Mercia. They prepared as much as they could for the journey that night, ready for a quick departure the next morning.

As per usual, Sihtric and Astrid shared a room. It was no secret now that the two were together, so they felt no need to sneak off if they wanted to spend the night together. As soon as the door to their room was closed, they started kissing. It was habitual for them now, they kissed at almost every opportunity. After a few seconds of kissing, Sihtric picked Astrid up, one hand supporting her weight by holding onto her ass, the other running up and down her back. He walked towards the door, and moving the and on Astrid's back to her side, he slammed her against the wall. Sihtric broke the kiss, and before Astrid could complain, he started kissing and biting her neck, making her sigh. The hand Sihtric had on her side started to unbuckle her armour, and Astrid returned the favor, taking off as much as she could from her position.

Sihtric paused for a breath and Astrid took the opportunity to grab his face in her hands and kiss him, intertwining his tongue with hers. Sihtric dropped Astrid slightly out of shock, meaning that Astrid could jump to the ground and push him to the bed. Sihtric took a few paces back and stopped, looking at Astrid. She started to take off what was left of her clothes, making her way toward Sihtric, who took a step toward her. Astrid pushed him back again, making him fall onto the bed. Astrid was now down to her pants, yet Sihtric was still mostly clothed.

"You seem overdressed for the occasion, my love," Astrid said, lying on top of him.

"Would you be able to help me with that?" He raised his hands up, placing them on her hips, "I appear to be trapped underneath a beautiful woman."

"Well, when you put it like that, I would be happy to help." She kissed him on his lips, his jaw, then his neck, all the while taking off his clothes. Once he was shirtless, she kissed him all the way down the torso, tracing his muscles with her hands. She loved feeling them contract under her touch. When her mouth reached his pants, she extended her tongue out, pushing his pants down in the process. She heard him take a sharp breath in, and he sat up, about to get out of his pants.

Extending a hand up to his neck, Astrid said, "do you need me to come up there and make you lay down again, or are you big and strong enough to do it yourself?"

"I think we both know the answer to that, my love," Sihtric said, a smirk on his face.

"Well, then Mister Big and Strong..." Astrid, keeping hold of Sihtric's neck, stood up and straddled him. She moved both of her hands to his hair, pulling at it slightly, and started kissing and biting his neck, leaving similar marks to what he had left her earlier. He placed his hands on her boobs, massaging them and moving his thumbs over her nipples in circles.

"...Sihtric..." Astrid moaned, having to stop her kissing momentarily. "Don't stop..."

In a low, barely audible growl, Sihtric replied, "now why would I do that, my love?"

Continuing to kiss his neck, Astrid moved her hands down Sihtric's toned arms and torso and back to his pants. She hooked her thumbs into the waistband and pulled his pants down. He lifted his hips slightly so she could remove his pants. As she was moving her hands behind her to remove his pants fully, he moved his hands from her boobs to her shoulder blades and leaned her backward. Astrid was about to protest when Sihtric started to suck on her right boob, tongue moving over her nipple every so often. He moved his right hand to her left boob, continuing what he had been doing before, his left hand moving to the center of her back to support her more. With a moan, Astrid pulled at Sihtric's hair, which only seemed to make him more enthusiastic with his hand and mouth. She started to move her hips around on his, just to see what his reaction would be. His mouth and hand faltered, and Astrid pulled his head by his hair off of her boob and up to her mouth, and he happily started kissing her. Astrid sat up so she could more easily grind her hips. She then finally got Sihtric's pants fully off, and he excitedly returned the favor, Astrid stopping her grinding so that he could take her pants off. His hands slid down her legs, his eyes following his hands, sometimes lingering on her scars. Once her pants were fully off, Astrid sat on Sihtric's dick, and she started grinding again, pushing him back onto the bed. Sihtric moaned loudly, gripping the bed sheets with both hands and throwing his head back. Astrid slid her hands up his torso, landing on his nipples. She played with them, making his jaw quiver, a ragged breath escaping.

"More..." he pleaded, "more... please..." Astrid was happy to oblige, and as she continued to grind on his dick, she picked up his right hand. She licked his palm, then sucked each of his fingers in turn, starting with his thumb and moving along to his pinky. As she was doing this Sihtric made eye contact with her, and held it, with the biggest smile on his face. She then grabbed his other hand and placed them on her boobs. He then massaged them for a bit, making sure to play with her nipples with his thumbs as well, making her moan quietly. He then moved his hands down her body, his eyes following with a hunger she had only seen in men who were truly in love with their woman. His hands stopped on her hips, and he guided her around in such a way that felt amazing for both of them. In one smooth motion, Sihtric moved Astrid onto her back and started thrusting into her, one hand by her head, and the other on her hip. Astrid splayed her arms out and gripped the sheets. Astrid came first, followed closely by Sihtric, who then pulled out and lay down next to her. They were both extremely out of breath, and Sihtric put one arm behind Astrid's head, and Astrid pulled the covers over them both to keep them warm. Sihtric's hand made its way to Astrid's breast, and his thumb grazed her nipple through the sheet. Astrid looked up at Sihtric and smiled at him. Sihtric returned the smile, and they both drifted to sleep.

The next morning, Astrid awoke expecting a blood stain on the sheets. She had even got up in the middle of the night to put on a cotton protection garment so that Sihtric didn't have to sleep in a puddle of her blood. But to her surprise, both the bed and her cotton garment were completely clean. It wasn't like her cycle to be late, ever. Not even in the midst of a long, high-stress campaign was it late, even by a day. Sihtric, being the night owl that he was, was still asleep. This wasn't a good sign, she didn't want to have to deal with another member of the group, especially today when things had to go smoothly.

"Sihtric! Sihtric!" Astrid shook him awake.

"What is it?" He immediately jumped for his sword, but immediately rushed to hug Astrid when he saw her worried expression. "My love, what is it?" Astrid pushed him away and sat him on the bed.

Putting his hands on her stomach, she stuttered, "Sihtric... I... I'm..."

"You're..." It looked like he had a slight suspicion of the truth, but didn't want to say it out loud in case he was wrong.

"I'm pregnant..."