[ act ii - burn the kingdom down ] CHAPTER NINETEEN ( time to say goodbye)
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
ALTHEA'S MIND RACED WITH THOUGHTS AS SHE CONTINUED to pack her things. It was time for her to say goodbye, goodbye to this so-called great heathen army. To move on to bigger and better things. She was expecting a child after all. And if she was being honest she was over it, over being in such a dull land. One her mother might have been from but one Althea did not know.
Maximus had brought up the idea to bring one of the Saxon doctors along as they were a little more skilled than the mothers back home. Yes, the mothers' techniques might be centuries old but Maximus worried. Althea was terrified and Maximus knew that, after all, Gunnar would not be there to support her through it or watch the child grow.
Maximus only wanted what was best for his princess, even if it was a Saxon doctor. Although, the Saxon would not only be tending to her; he would be tending to any wounds her people had. It would help to have someone who actually had experience in such a field. Most of her people had died from their wounds because they would become infected and the infection would spread.
Soon enough her things were packed and taken from her tent, when she left she had asked the men to take it down and pack it away. Her cloak dragged across the ground as she made her way just outside of the gates of York and to the place where Gunnar's body was burned. When she reached the spot she sat down.
Nothing was left standing of his funeral but she stared at the view in front of her. She thought about all the times they shared. The times no matter the emotion, whether it was happy or sad, cheerful or dreadful. It did not matter she thought of it all. The first time Gunnar held her face in his hands. The way his skin felt against hers. The small and large scars that littered his body and face.
Oh, how she missed him. How she longed for him. This was the first time since his funeral that she had come to this place. His ring still hung on a necklace over her heart and hers was still on her finger, which she moved round and round absentmindedly. She closed her eyes imagining him sitting next to her, sharing the happiness that she should feel about their child.
She imagined his arm around her shoulder as he held her close and they looked out at the land. He would whisper sweet nothings and tell her everything was going to be okay, that they could do this together. She imagined him kissing her forehead, but before she knew it the imagination floated away as someone cleared their throat.
Althea opened her eyes and looked to the side before looking up at the person. It was Ubbe, his face was bruised and bloody. One of his eyes was swollen shut. Althea had heard he and Hvitserk had gone to the Saxons to make peace. And they came back beaten and bloody.
"May I join you, Princess?" Ubbe asked.
Althea only nodded before she looked back out in front of her. She breathed in deeply as Ubbe sat next to her. Her hair flowed slightly in the wind as the sun peaked through the clouds. The sun hit her just right and Ubbe saw this glow that radiated off of her. Now he could see why people called her a Goddess.
