Warriors at Heart (The Last Kingdom Fanfic)

Chapter 48

We continued to run a while longer when at last we reached the signal fire Alfred had left behind after giving Uhtred up as a hostage. I collapsed to the ground panting. Uhtred somehow found strength to the light the wood ablaze before collapsing down next to me. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Never better," I replied, my lungs on still on fire and my legs feeling like mush. Without warning Uhtred began laughing. "What?" I asked.

"We almost died," he laughed.

"And that's something to laugh about?" I asked. He shrugged. "Have to find something to laugh about in these trying times, so we don't lose our heads." I rolled my eyes at him but had to quietly agree. It was nice to see a glimpse of the old Uhtred back. The Uhtred I knew before the mass murder of the Ragnarsons, my brother, and so many more.

"We should try to find shelter," Uhtred said, looking at the greying sky.

"A storm is coming," I agreed. "But there's no village for miles."

"We'll find something," Uhtred smiled tiredly. I nodded. We stared at each other for a bit, not moving. Uhtred looked at me and began to laugh. "What?" I asked. "You," he continued to laugh, reaching out and quickly planting a kiss before I could react.

"What was that for?" I frowned, though internally my heart was racing. Uhtred shrugged and smiled once more before jumping up and extending his hand to help me up. "You can't do that!" I protested. "Alright then," he replied, retracting his hand, and turning to walk off. "That's not what I meant," I scowled, standing, and following him.

~~~~~

We walked a while before we found shelter between two large rocks. It wasn't perfect, but it still beat being directly out in the cold rain. Heavy winds whipped trees back and forth and lightening cracked across the sky. Thor was preparing for something.

I sat huddled against Uhtred's side as we hid away from the harsh stormy night. We built a small fire to avoid choking ourselves out with smoke in the small shelter, but it hardly kept us warm. "You're shaking," Uhtred commented, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, encasing us in the warmth of his cloak. "I'm fine," I shivered. Uhtred looked at me in disbelief and rested his ontop of mine. "You know a good way to stay warm?" He asked deviously. I playfully smacked him, and we both laughed a while. I felt him pull his cloak tighter around the two of us and nuzzled my head with his. His sun blistered lips planted a gentle kiss on my temple and I relaxed into his warmth and felt my eyes slowly droop as I fell into a deeper sleep than I had in a long while.

~~~~

The next morning Uhtred and I vacated our camp early and made our way along the cliffside until he found a place we could climb. We worked our way down the slippery steep rock until we touched down on the soft damp sand. We walked along the beach for a bit before coming along a group of men scavenging wreckage of two to three Danish ships, it was difficult to tell. I scanned the remains and relief fell over me as I thankfully did not see anyone familiar. My attention was directed to Uhtred talking to a Saxon man on his horse.

"How much for your horse?"

"It's not for sale," the man replied, eyeing us.

"I'll pay you twice its worth in silver."

I felt the man's eyes fall on me. "Twice its worth and your woman," he smiled. Uhtred turned to look at me, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

"How about twice the horse's worth for the horse and your balls," I grinned wickedly. The man bit his lip and Uhtred chuckled. "She jests."

"Do I?"

Uhtred continued to chuckle and wisely decided to change the subject. "Have any washed up alive?"

"Not on my beach," the man grumbled back. "Gods have taken the bastards. Though it's said hundreds more have landed safely up the shore. Friends of yours?"

"You should take your families to safety," Uhtred replied calmly. The man considered this before dismounting his horse. "Twice its weight eh?"

"That's right," Uhtred replied, handing the man his coin pouch. The man greedily began counting the pieces and didn't notice us mounting his horse and riding off.

"Where are we going?" I asked, clinging onto Uhtred's waist.

"My estate. Then to join Alfred's men," he replied, spurring the horse towards our destination.

~~~~~

When we arrived back at Uhtred's estate it was deadly quiet and still. "Where is everyone?" I wondered aloud.

"Probably hiding in the hills," Uhtred replied.

The silence wasn't for long. We heard noise coming from Uhtred's if you could call the small hut with two rooms a hall, hall. "You are a wonderful plow girl!" A man's voice called out. I grimaced in disgust. Uhtred didn't need to tell me twice to wait outside while he took care of whatever was happening inside his home. I mockingly bowed to him, "as you wish my lord," and went about tending to the horse. After a while, a scared looking chunky man came running out of Uhtred's house with his pants barely back on. I was tempted to taunt him and perhaps even shoot an arrow or two at his feet, but let him scurry away like the rat bastard he was. A frightened looking young woman was quick to follow. Uhtred stood in the doorway to his home waving me over that it was clear. I gave the horse one more pat and made my way over to where Uhtred stood.

We ever so gracefully stuffed our faces with dried meat, almost stale bread, and ale. After filling up we prepared fresh horses to ride towards Cynuit hill where Alfred's army waited, and as I had anticipated we were once again less than welcomed, though I swear I saw a small smile on the bear like man, Leofric, as he watched us approach from his perch on the hill.