Northwind

29

Uhtred forced me to stay behind the walls of Winchester in the palace with Aelswith and Alfred. Alfred tried to entertain me with his books but I could only stand it for so long. "Come warm yourself by the fire warrior," Aelswith said gently resting her hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off. 

"You needn't be so nice to me," I told her. 

"No, but it's a custom that we treat our guests with the respect they deserve," she said and gently helped me to a seat in front of the hearth. 

"We also promised Uhtred we would take care of you," Alfred said joining us. 

"I don't need to be taken care of," I snapped, my two wolves joined us too and sat on either side of me. I heard footsteps stomping toward us and his sword rattling on his back, as soon as the door opened Uhtred ran to me. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his head on my now noticeable bump. He stroked it softly. I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed his head. 

"I have missed you both," he said now lifting his lips to mine and kissed them softly. "She hasn't tried escaping today has she?" He looked between Aelswith and Alfred but they shook their heads. 

"She has spent most of the day with me in the library," Alfred said. 

"Well until I found her asleep on the table," Aelswith said. 

"The little one has been keeping me up okay!" I exclaimed. They all chuckled. 

"It's okay, I understand," Aelswith said. "Hopefully the birth will be fine." 

"Hopefully?!" Uhtred and I exclaimed. 

"It doesn't always go well," she said, Uhtred looked at me and rested a hand on my cheek. 

"Freya nothing like that is going to happen," he said trying to comfort me as fear washed over me. My hands shook a little but Uhtred did his best to make them stop. "By Odin, you will be fine Freya." 

"We will leave you two in peace," Alfred said and both him and his wife left us alone in the silent hall with the spitting flames. Uhtred took a seat next to me. 

"It's not just the baby you're worrying about is it?" he asked and took my shaking hands in his again. 

"Uhtred, I'm sorry, but I can't bring a baby up in our world," I said. "It's dangerous, we don't even have a proper home. I am The Warrior of the North, what if I don't have time to raise her?" 

"How do you know its a shieldmaiden?" he asked. 

"I just have a feeling," I replied, rubbing my hands over my stomach. 

"Freya, my She Wolf, we will pull together," he reassured me, "steady yourself and just focus on keeping her safe until she greets us." I nodded and rested my head on Uhtreds shoulder, he wrapped a calloused hand around mine and gently squeezed it. "You are not alone, we will get through this." 

"I hope so," I said. 

"There is no hope, we will."