iv. guthred

╚════════*.·:·.☽✧    ✦  ✧☾.·:·.*════════╝

Luna smiled when Uhtred pushed her softly to Finan's side so he and Ragnar could see the camp from their perch. Finan quickly reached for her waist to help her kneel next to him, even though she didn't need it.

"I see three on watch, the rest will be huddled inside their furs." Uhtred announced to the group.

"There could be more behind the tents sitting low." Ragnar muttered uncertainly.

"I don't have a good feeling about this." Brida said looking worried.

"Uhtred, don't underestimate them. I would hate for Gisela to lose her husband." Uhtred softened his gaze looking down at her, he reached out to caress her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Which tents are full and which are empty?" Brida asked and looked at the two with a questioning look.

"And in which tent is Sigefrid? Which is Erik? We are blind." Ragnar said turning to Uhtred.

"Tafl," Everyone turns to Aethelwold in confusion. "The game, tafl. The king is positioned at the center of the pieces, I would say that tent there is the king." He points to the center tent proudly.

"He isn't wrong, unfortunately." She mumbled making Uhtred nod.

"From any other mouth, it'd make perfect sense." Finan said and leaned into Luna when she giggled quietly.

"It is perfect sense." Aethelwold defended.

"I will go in alone." Luna stood immediately and reached for Uhtred's hand to gain his attention.

"No, take someone with you. Please, Uhtred." She voiced worry for the man. Uhtred leaned in to place his forehead on her own and squeezed her hand to reassure her.

"I think you should." Aethelwold said instead.

"No, we go in as agreed, together." Ragnar snapped.

"We cannot risk the both of us being killed." Uhtred pleaded and he let go of Luna's hand.

"Yes, we can." Ragnar urged, Brida touched his arm to comfort him.

"This is for Alfred. You must save your sword for Kjartan."

"If it is for Alfred, I will go with you." Steapa looked at Luna uncertain about leaving her here alone.

"And me, it was my bastard plan." Finan looked up to Uhtred, Luna turned to him when he brushed past her. Luna grabbed his arm lightly and when he turned to her she grabbed his face gently and leaned up to kiss his forehead.

"Be careful, please. If not for yourself, then for me?" She whispered and relaxed when he gave her a firm nod.

"Of course, m'lady."

"If you get caught?" Brida asked Uhtred who watched Luna and Finan with a small smile.

"Do nothing." Ragnar scoffed at Uhtred's answer.

"Ragnar, think only of our blood feud and of Thyra." Uhtred says and walks away, Finan stands and walks to Steapa.

"I hope you're light on your feet big man." He teased and mockingly patted Steapa's chest.

Uhtred and his men were successful in scaring off the brothers, she sighed when Uhtred used Sigefrid's hand to wave at her.

"Stop." She batted the hand away from her face with a smile. The group then rode out to Guthred's estate and she grew tense the closer they got, she knew she was making it obvious if the concerned looks sent her way were anything to go by. Guthred had not only betrayed Uhtred and his sister but her too. He was a close friend of hers and he turned on her. Uhtred helped her off the horse and adjusted the string of the bow around her shoulder.

"You know him?" Uhtred asked her quietly, Luna nodded with a frown. "Did he hurt you?" Uhtred moved his hand to fix her braid which was starting to loosen.

"He betrayed me."

"You do not have to speak with him, you can join some of my men for the time. Sihtric and Clapa are loyal and kind." Luna hesitated for a moment, she was not one to avoid people, but seeing him might cause her to kill him on sight.

"I will join your men. Find me when you are done, yeah?" He agreed and called for one of the men, she leaned up and gave Uhtred a chaste kiss before walking away leaving the man with a smile. The man, named Clapa, gave her a friendly smile.

"What do we call you, lady?" He asked and bumped her shoulder with his own, she smiled at him as she sat with him and a few other Danes.

"Luna. There is no need for any formalities." She said and waved off the title. She looked around the table and noticed a few Danes looking at her in ways that made her uncomfortable. Clapa noticed and slammed his axe on the table gaining their attention with a scowl.

"She is not meat to drool over." Clapa said sternly and patted her back. Next to her, a younger dane blushed when she looked his way, from the brief eye contact she noticed his eyes did not match.

She never paid much attention to features until she met Finan and the Danes. Gisela with her comforting laugh, Uhtred's blinding smile, Finan's soothing voice, and now this Dane's beautiful eyes.

"Sihtric, hand me the ale." Clapa reached around her for the jug and Luna noticed that the Dane with the beautiful eyes was one of Uhtred's loyal men. Maybe her taste was people who were close to Uhtred.

When Uhtred walked to the tables with his brother and Brida she noticed he didn't look happy. Luna moved from her spot and sat next to him, she placed her hand in his hair to run her fingers through the knots gently.

"Uhtred? Are you alright?" She whispered and frowned when he sighed, he leaned more into her hand but chose not to speak. And that was okay. She would never push him outside of his comfort zone.

Ragnar slid a plate of food to her with a mug of ale and gave her a grateful smile. She tore the bread and fed Uhtred a piece while she ate the other part, she continued this routine until Guthred interrupted.

"Uhtred? Uhtred, will you join me? Please?" The turd king asks with fear. Uhtred leaves her side reluctantly and the two speak quietly until Uhtred slaps him, Luna coughs to cover her laugh, and that unfortunately draws attention to her.

"Lady Luna? I had thought we would never speak again." Luna scoffed at the man in disbelief, she stood up next to Ragnar. With a vicious smile she reached back and notched her bow, she pulled the string back and released the arrow into Guthred's shoulder, and he screamed out in pain. She sent one more arrow into his thigh, the turd king gasped in pain as she walked up with the bow still drawn. She pointed the arrow at her chest and sneered at him.

"Speak? Oh, no, no, no. You will listen as I speak, understood?" She asked the man who lay on the ground, Uhtred and Ragnar had their swords pointed at the turd king's men to protect her. Guthred nodded as she smirked down at him.

"You were my friend, Guthred. And I trusted you! You told my father where I hid and for what? Some silver? Allies? Answer me!" She screamed down at him, a scorned woman was not one to mess with.

"A woman needs a man. I was trying to help you, I truly am sorry." She snarled at the excuse, she looked at the dane holding a slave girl by her hair.

"You have this one chance to redeem yourself or you will die in the mud." She threatened and she saw Uhtred move closer to her with interest.

"Anything! I will do anything!" The dane shoved the slave to her and she nodded and took the dagger he handed to her, looking into Guthred's eyes she slit the girl's throat. Her blood gushed out onto his face and chest and he gagged when some got into his mouth.

"You will burn her body and send it to my father. You will tell him I was killed, I do not care by who," She reached up to take off her necklace and placed it on the slave with the same hair color shade as her own. The necklace was one-of-a-kind, specially made for her when she was born. "If you betray me again, I will gut you and feed you to the pigs."

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top