Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
༓࿇༓
"Come on, Yrsa," The auburn haired teen jumped onto her horse, making sure that all of her weapons were on the saddle, or her back, before taking off after Hild. There had been a meeting of the lords the day before where it was decided that they would be a holy army to march on to their next target along with the body of a long dead saint.
In Yrsa's opinion, she thought they'd just dug a body from the ground and called it the saint instead of it being an actual supposed saint but Uhtred had warned her that words like that would get her killed.
"Yrsa, come here," The girl shook herself from her thought, trotting over to Hild's horse with a grin on her face. She was happy to be back in the saddle and on her way to a fight, for she had missed fighting and getting her weapons bloody. "Did you rest up?"
"Yes, Lady," Yrsa leant down, tightening the girth of Beast's saddle with a smile. The horse was prancing now, more than ready to take off and into the distance. "I slept most well. The prisoner is to come?"
"Yes, Uhtred wishes for him to travel to camp with us," Hild replied, as Yrsa watched the Danish man walk past. His arms were still tightly bound together, but there was some colour in his face and he had not died of loss of blood so Yrsa was happy with her help. She had thought that she might have accidentally killed him, but luckily not. "I do believe he wants information on Kjartan's stronghold."
"We should just burn it to the ground with everyone in it," Hild didn't respond to that comment, shooting Yrsa a sharp look.
༓࿇༓
"Lady. Archer woman. Shield Maiden!" Yrsa paused, turning on her heels to look at the back of a cart, where the prisoner was tied on the floor.
"Yes?" He looked slightly embarrassed, as Yrsa raised an eyebrow and waited for him to say something.
"I need to go into the woods there," She waited for him to say something else, wondering why he was talking to her. "I need to shit. I do not wish to fill my breeches."
Yrsa snickered at that as the Dane blushed red. She shook her head again, walking away and laughing all the while.
"Halig. The prisoner requires attention," She replied, before stretching her muscles and going off to find Hild once more. It seemed that she had only left Halig and the other for two minutes before the other soldier came running back.
"The prisoner...holding Halig...Uhtred," He choked out, as Yrsa's eyes widened and she picked her bow up once more, sprinting towards the woods. Sure enough, the Dane held a sword to Halig's neck and Yrsa notched an arrow and drew it back to her cheek.
"I could have killed him, Lord," The Dane replied, as Yrsa huffed and narrowed her eyes. Maybe she should have let him die from blood loss. "Made my escape."
"I can make the shot, Lord," Uhtred sent her a look, as Yrsa pulled her bow tighter. "Do you want me to take it?"
"Hold, Yrsa, hold." The girl did, raising an eyebrow at the Dane who was looking slightly more fearful. "Kill him, I'll let her take the shot and you have already seen that her aim is true."
"It is," Hild stood on Yrsa's other side, her sword drawn.
"I asked your man to fetch you, Lord. I do not murder, I wish to bargain." That caught Yrsa's attention because in some ways, that was similar to how she came to be in Uhtred's service.
"A life for a life, is it?"
"My life for my sword," The Dane replied, as others began to join including the annoying abbot and the turd king. Yrsa watched them from the corner of her eyes, not liking that they were there and hovering like persistent flies did to the dead. "I wish to serve you, Lord. I could have killed both, but I wish to serve you."
"You are Kjartan's man," Uhtred stated, sitting down and holding a placating arm out to Yrsa, who reluctantly untensed her bow arm.
"No," The Dane looked disgusted at the thought of it. "I am Kjartan's bastard son, whelped on a slave girl. And you are Uhtred Ragnarson, and I wish to serve a warrior and a lord, a true lord."
Yrsa faltered, before placing her arrow back into her quiver and slinging her bow over her shoulder. He spoke the truth, there was no lie in his voice and she doubted that she would need to shoot him after all.
"If you believe me to be these things, then put down your sword." The crowd gathered around them was causing the Dane to falter, his eyes darting to and fro.
"You guarantee my life?"
"Put down your sword," Uhtred's command did not answer his question.
"Kill him," The abbot spoke, and Yrsa raised an eyebrow. Was that the Christian way?
"No. Put down your sword," The teenager paused again, before throwing the sword to the ground and stepping back from Halig.
"I can be of use to you, Lord," He murmured, his eyes wide and every muscle in his body tense like a deer waiting to run.
"He's nothing but a heathen, kill him!" Hild grabbed onto Yrsa's arm, stopping her from moving to stand with Uhtred. She didn't need to draw attention to herself, as she was also a heathen.
"No one is to move."
"Kill him now!" Hild's grip tightened as Yrsa reached for her dagger.
"I said no one is to move and no one is to speak but me!" Uhtred roared, turning to glare at the abbot. "No one!"
The abbot backed down, as Yrsa took her hand from her dagger and looked back at the nervous Dane.
"What is your name?"
"I am called Sihtric, Lord," He replied quickly, shaking his head. "Please...I'm not loyal to Kjartan and never can be."
"You swear your sword is mine?"
"On Thor's hammer, I do, Lord," Sihtric clutched the talisman around his neck, as Yrsa stood up straighter, a grin forming at the thought of having another Dane in the camp. Sihtric knelt down quickly when Uhtred still said nothing. "I swear."
"Then you have my protection," There was an audible sigh of relief, the tension leaving the crowd.
"Lord, thank you. Thank you," Yrsa pulled her dagger out now, as Uhtred nodded to her.
"Sihtric is with us now. He serves in King Guthred's army," Stepping forward, Yrsa held the dagger up for Sihtric to see as she cut through the ropes that held his hand.
"No hard feelings about shooting you, yes?" She cocked an eyebrow, as Sihtric nodded, before holding her arm out for him to grasp in greeting. "You have no idea how happy I am that there is another Dane with us. I feared that I would have to suffer the Saxons and their talk alone."
༓࿇༓
Hiya,
Sihtric and Yrsa are sweethearts, I don't make the rules. I just really love them to be honest and I'm so excited because now we get chaotic Sihtric and Yrsa from here on in. They're out to give Uhtred and Hild grey hairs.
