╚════════*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*════════╝

"The great lord Uhtred and his army. Ready the archers and prepare every last man. The Dane-slayer shall die this morning." Hæsten announced. Rúna felt Sihtric lean against her as Uhtred taunted the Dane, she ignored Finan's smirk at the sight of them.

"Yes, lord."

"Lord Uhtred, such a frightening sight." Hæsten taunted.

"You are a coward, Hæsten. Hiding inside your fortress when the priest of Eoferwic did rise you fled? When Sigefrid attacked Alfred, you fled. And at the nunnery once again, you fled." Uhtred said with a smirk and she laughed quietly at Hæsten.

"I took your woman!" Hæsten shouted childishly.

"And as long as I live and breathe she is still my woman," Skade shot Hæsten a glare. "Fight me. I will wait for you in the clearing there, bring a guard and no more. Let us make the square and let the two of us fight." Uhtred shouts.

"That is what you want, to die?"

"What I want is an end to this. What is most likely to happen is you will remain a coward, you will remain inside your fortress," Finan and Sihtric chuckle as their men join in. "Songs will be sung about your cowardice, I shall pay for them to be written."

"I am no coward dane-slayer! If death is what you want, then you shall have it." Hæsten yelled as he left.

"Lord, the job is done." Finan says as they wait.

"It has been half a day." Uhtred says in annoyance. Rúna has once again used Sihtric as a pillow, not that he cared.

"Maybe he's scared of the priest." Osferth smiles softly at that from where he kneels against his sword.

"We leave." As they walk away Osferth begins to shout for Uhtred.

"Lord," He says softly before standing. "Lord, lord! Lord!" They see Hæsten's army approach them from the distance.

"Run!" They do as Uhtred orders. "Halt! Two lines shield up!"

"Surround them! Give them no escape and then we'll kill every last one of the bastard!" Hæsten shouts.

"Turn." Uhtred says when more surround them from the back.

"No, no, no. No, no, no." Osferth says quietly as he walks away. "May the good lord protect me. Protect us all."

"We hold! We give them no ground!" Uhtred orders.

"We've no ground to give, lord." Finan said in a panic.

"Give up Uhtred and the rest of you will live. All I want is the Dane-slayer!"

"What you will get Hæsten, is my sword up your hairy arse!" Hæsten chuckled at the comment.

"As you wish, you will die on your knees."

"Lord, where is Alfred's army? Why are they waiting?" Sihtric asked next to them, Rúna moved to his side to reassure the man.

"I want the head of Uhtred Ragnarsson!" Hæsten orders as his men close in.

"Stand fast!" They begin to fight as the wall is broken, and she distantly hears Osferth shout Sihtric's name. She slashed down any man that was in the way to get to Sihtric, she was relieved to know he wasn't fatally injured. However, she did take out her anger on the Danes for even attempting to kill him.

"Turn the field red with Saxon blood and flesh!" Skade shouts to Hæsten's army. Rúna shouts happily when Sindri, whom she had sent to Frankia, arrives with her men just as Alfred's army closes in aiding them in battle.

"Stand! Every man is to stand! Dagfinn! Everyman is to stand!" Hæsten shouts but eventually runs like the coward he is. After the battle Saxons kill any living Danes that lie on the ground, she speaks to her men briefly and clasps Sindri's arm with her own.

"Thank you." The man nods with a soft smile as he moves to help drag the bodies. She turns to Sihtric when she feels him place a hand on her lower back, she frowns at the blood that covers his beautiful face.

Raising a hand she gently checks the head wound, she only stops when he hissed in pain. She leads the Dane to the tents, passing Finan who helps Osferth and shoves the man down on the wooden log. She kneels before the male as she assesses the cut, luckily for him, it wasn't too deep. She smiled when he held the hand in his own as he intertwined them, she watched in silence as he kissed her palm lightly.

"I am alright, Rúna. You made sure of that." He teased with a kind smile, she hummed to distract herself.

"Next time —" She was cut off when he leaned in to kiss her, she gasped in shock and melted against him when he moved a hand to her neck lightly. She placed her hands on his knees to move close, she deepened the kiss. For once, she didn't feel the need to rush it, to turn it into something lustful. She allowed the kiss to just...exist.

"Perhaps the head wound was more severe than I thought." Rúna spoke with a soft smile and stifled her laugh when he glared at her.

"I still would have kissed you, it just may have been under different circumstances." He said with narrowed eyes, she just tapped his cheek with her hand and stood, she pulled him up with her and ignored the lack of space. She couldn't help but get lost in his gaze, she shivered at the intensity of those mismatched eyes.