Hope for the Hopeless :: Finan the Agile

Chapter 3

Síofra could see the shock and wariness on the newcomers' faces. She knew the stories told of the Scots. Her time in England had changed her, but she still wore the evidence of her homeland with the blue markings peeking out from her clothes and on her face. However, she needed these people to know she meant them no harm at the forefront of their meeting.

"I'm sorry to intrude Lady. I meant no harm when I happened upon your estate. I thought it was vacant and just wanted out of the elements for a night. When I met the children, with a knife point in my back may I add," she gave a meaningful look at Stiorra who returned it with a proud one, "I thought I could help them a bit while they waited for your return."

The eyes on her studied her for a moment.

"Wait. wait, wait. You can't be Pict and Irish.'' The voice's accent took her back to the summer she spent in Irland for her sister's wedding. The dark haired man from before was the one who spoke.

"Tá mé, Éireannach. An bhfuil fadhb agat le Picts?"

The man looked stunned at her words, and she had the thought that he most likely hadn't heard the language of his homeland in a while if he was all the way in this part of England.

"I have no problem with the Picts as long as they don't start any trouble with me. Just never met one who claimed to be Irish."

"Well now ya have. My father is Irish Scotty and my mother is Pict. I got the worst of both of them, so I'm good at starting trouble if I need to."

The man looked as if he was about to reply when Lady Æthelflead cut in, "there will be no need to start any trouble."

Æthelflead stood tall in the doorway, meeting Síofra's eyes head on and standing in front of the children and Uhtred. Síofra liked the Lady instantly. She had a backbone that would not meet a bed easily. All too often Síofra had met women that were content to just appease the appetite of men and deal with life's handouts.

"Stiorra said you were looking for me. Why?" Uhtred asked.

"Curiosity. Expectation," Síofra shrugged, "I've met men that have not earned the title of respect they bear. I've heard the stories of Uhtred of Bebbanburg and wanted to know for myself if you were not like the others."

Síofra watched the man. He did not speak immediately, which showed that he thought before he acted. She liked that. Many spoke without cause, and if the stories were to be believed, this man always seemed to have cause but lacked rashness.

"Do you intend to stay?"

"If ya let me. However, I am a stranger, and I would understand if you wanted to send me away. Especially given present circumstances and company." Síofra nodded in the direction of Ælfwynn and Æthelstan.

Both Uhtred and Æthelflead studied the woman. They didn't seem to think she was a threat, but as she had said, she was a stranger.

"You can stay for now," Uhtred concluded. Síofra released the tense breath that had been lodged in her lungs.

He introduced the rest of their party as Æthelflead spoke more to the children. The Irishman was called Finan. The Dane who had scaled the wall to open the gate was Sihtric. The monk was Osferth. It was an odd band of warriors. Síofra was most confused by how the monk could be both a holy man and a warrior.

She also had the pleasure of meeting Stiorra's brother that the girl had mentioned briefly, named after his father as Uhtred. The poor boy seemed to be the most pious of all the group, much to the disdain of his father and sister.