xiii. the trade off

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

"And we will do what, hide?" Aethelflæd questioned turning to them. Skade propped her chin on Luna's shoulder as she listened, normally Luna would shove her off but she was too busy pissed off at Uhtred to care.

"We will make an advantage out of this abbess, the hostages are dead men breathing. You cannot save them what we must do now is save the lives of your nuns and my men." Uhtred said and glanced at Luna and Skade with a frown.

"And Aethelflæd." Osferth added.

"Abbess?"

"Aye." The Abbess said with a nod.

"I will do it." A woman says stepping up but the Abbess waved her off.

"No, no this is my house. It's my responsibility, I will do it." Abbess says and walks outside.

"It is Hæsten, with no more than forty men, that I can see." Uhtred informed making Luna sigh in annoyance.

"Then let us fight them." Finan said making Luna glance his way.

"No, wait." Uhtred ordered as Aethelflæd gasped at whatever she witnessed outside.

"Lord, now?" Finan practically itching for a fight.

"We do nothing yet." Uhtred demands. Finan and Sihtric share a look, Sihtric fidgets with his sword ready for a fight. They wait for Hæsten to open the door before attacking. Hæsten and his remaining men run.

"We are trapped." Aethelflæd stated the obvious.

"Oh, wow. I did not notice." Luna deadpanned making Skade snicker.

"We're alive and they are twelve or thirteen men less." Uhtred said looking at Luna who shot him a dirty look.

"But we are trapped under a wooden roof." Aethelflæd stated.

"What do you suggest then, lady? That you give yourself over?" Finan questioned and only calmed down when Luna placed a hand on his arm.

"Yes, Hæsten's right. Why should I live when so many others have died." Aethelflæd said looking at them.

"I will not argue. I say we toss the whore out." Luna spoke with a tone full of fury, Aethelflæd flinched back at the harshness of it.

"Hæsten has never spoken the truth in his life. Do not say as much again, never of those men have died for no reason." Uhtred snapped walking to the princess and then turned to Luna. "And you, what has gotten into you?" He demanded making Luna scoff.

"Secrets never stay that way for long, Uhtred." Skade spoke moving to Luna's side with a smirk.

"And yet, Skade has been more honest than you have." Luna claimed looking at Uhtred before turning away with Skade following.

"If my gift was able to channel through women I would have chosen you." Skade said caressing her arm softly.

Luna stands with Sihtric once night falls as Finan checks on the doors, Sihtric kisses her cheek making her smile softly.

"All doors have been blocked on the outside apart from that one." Finan announced when he entered the main entrance.

"Will they set a fire?" Aethelflæd asked.

"No, not yet. He will want you alive." Uhtred answered.

"So we should fight, lord. We should open the doors and fight." Finan looked to Lina who smiled at him in agreement.

"He's right." Luna added.

"And die." Osferth stated glancing at them with a frown, she just shrugged.

"It's as good a plan as any." Skade moved to stand next to Finan as he spoke.

"Osferth, you'll open the door on my word and retreat. We form a shield wall and then we negotiate." Uhtred ordered making Luna scoff.

"Negotiate?" Sihtric questioned incredulously and looked at her in disbelief.

"He has lost it, my love." She spoke to Sihtric as he turned to lean against her.

"Hæsten will want his prize, to the door," Uhtred says as he moves to Skade. "If you truly belong to me you will do as I ask. In return, I will not abandon you. I will come for you." Skade looks over at Aethelflæd who is already watching them.

"You're choosing her over me and Luna?" Skade asked as Luna moved to her staring at Uhtred suspiciously.

"I am keeping us alive." Uhtred said looking between them both.

"By making me a prize?" Skade said.

"I will not abandon you," Uhtred pulls her close to whisper into her ear. "I will lie with you." Luna rolled her eyes in disbelief and shoved past him, he tried to reach out to her but she brushed him off.

"You shall remain cursed until your word is made true. Your life shall wither, Uhtred until you find me." Skade demanded as looked at Luna's way with a frown.

Skade didn't understand how Uhtred could choose the royal whore over her and Luna.

"And I will find you, shield wall, ready. Lift the bar and open the door, move!" They open the door at Uhtred's command. Finan peaks his head out from the shields making Luna snort in amusement.

"I count a few more than thirty of the bastards." Finan announced and shot her a grin.

"Fight Hæsten and you will lose men, many men. I guarantee it." Uhtred shouted to the Dane.

"I have many men." Hæsten answered.

"But you have just the one life and I plan to take it." Finan shouted aggressively making her laugh quietly.

"Move out."

"I will not leave without her, Uhtred. I may lose many men but you will lose everything and the bitch will still be mine." Hæsten declared. For once Luna hoped he would succeed in his goal.

"Then take her because that is what you will have to do or we can strike a bargain. One woman in place of another." Uhtred yelled looking at Skade.

"I am in no need of a nun. Who is this woman?"

"Skade, the seer." Uhtred shouts as she walks forward to be seen. "Finan," The man opened the wall and watched her cautiously. "She's yours! In return, you and your men ride clear of this place and do not return."

"She is not yours to give. She belongs to Bloodhair." Hæsten said interested.

"I belong to the man I choose. The man who has the will to lead, to conquer. Bloodhair is not that man." Skade stated with her usual hatred.

"She has sent Alfred's death and in battle, her man will benefit from that death greatly."

"Is that true?" Hæsten asked the seer.

"It's true."

"May I approach?" Hæsten slowly walks up the stairs as Finan turns to Uhtred.

"Uhtred, you cannot bargain with this sack of chicken shit." Finan stated with urgency.

"Kill him or hand over the princess. She is not worth risking your soul for." Luna demanded looking at him and for a moment he considered it for her.

"You're close enough, lord. If a bargain is made I will not be handed over like you would a whore. I will walk to my new lord and should either man go back on his word, I shall see he is tormented till the end, I swear." Skade said to the men.

"Do we have an agreement? Skade in place of Aethelflæd?" Uhtred questioned.

"Agreed, the seer is mine."

"Then step back and she will walk to you and then you leave." Uhtred watched the seer and Luna exchange a look that he couldn't determine.

"I will."

"And you are cursed once more Uhtred of Bebbanburg, you shall wither." Skade cast the curse and reached out to place a hand on Luna and her unborn children. "You and your children have my protection, I will not allow Uhtred to damn you to death with him." Skade said with seriousness and Luna began to wonder when Skade had become she trusted.

"Go, open. Let her pass." Skade walks to Hæsten.

"This does not mean the princess is forgiven, Uhtred. She is safe for now, no more than that." Hæsten said with a smirk.

"Leave, go." Skade looks at Uhtred with a glare and Sihtric turns to him with worry.

"Your life is not your own, lord." Sihtric speaks quietly and moves to check on Luna.

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top