A Saint To A Sinner

2.25

Separation anxiety was not something Y/N felt before till she arrived at Winchester with Lord Aldhelm. Her heart ached. As if she had abandoned everything that she knew, but her wounds had not recovered. Both physical and non physical. When she arrived, she was taken straight to Alfred to confirm her position in Winchester.
"Lord King. Lady Ælswith." Y/N said politely, feeling completely exposed in front of them.
"You came alone with Lord Aldhelm?" Alfred asked as he looked between Y/N and Lord Aldhelm.
"Yes Lord King. I came alone." Y/N said, as she looked awkwardly at Lord Aldhelm.
"And Lord Uhtred, is he still in Mercia? What news of your husbands?" Y/N scratched her eyebrow awkwardly. She did not know how to address the situation of Sihtric leaving. She did not know whether to tell the truth or lie and defend him.
"Lord Uhtred has gone alone to visit Ragnars grave, as he has not yet paid his respects. My husbands are still in the Lady Æthelflaed's estate." Alfred clasped his hand, taking the information in.
"I see. Thank you for your honesty, Lady Y/N."
"Will your husbands visit?" Lady Ælswith interrupted Alfred. Questioning whether the banished warriors would too enter.
"No, Lady. They will not. I will join them when my wounds have healed." Y/N confirmed one last time.

As she exited out of the building, Lord Aldhelm walked slightly closer, questioning her."There have been rumours that Sihtric has left Uhtred."
"He will return." Y/N said, gritting her teeth at him.
"Who are you trying to fool, Lady? You or everyone else." Y/N stopped dead in her tracts, looking at him carefully. She did not trust the man, even though he gave her a safe passage to Winchester.
"Both." Y/N spat.
"Then again. It is not my business, but do not forget how rumours spread, Lady." Lord Aldhelm whispered, just as Fathed Beocca and Thyra interrupted them.
"Lady Y/N, it is good to see you. Please rest up in my home. I must see the Lord King." Y/N nodded, thanking Father Beocca before she turned to Lord Aldhelm, who bowed.
"I bid you a farewell, and I hope your husbands return soon." Y/N nodded at Lord Aldhelm as she watched him returning back to his horse.
"Did you see it?" Y/N said. Avoiding Thyra's gaze.
"See what? Has something happened?" Thyra grabbed Y/Ns hand, forcing her to look at her.
"Sihtric abandoned Uhtred and I." Thyra shook her head quickly. Her eyes held no lie, only confusion.
"Let us talk where ears do not listen in."

Y/N dragged Thyra away, back to Father Beocca's home, where she could explain to Thyra what had happened over the last few months. Thyra did not understand why Sihtric would betray his own wife. None of it made sense. It did not make sense to her either.
"Sihtric will come back. I know he will. He loves you." Y/N smiled at her. She had already accepted her fate.
"You know it, or have you seen it?" Thyra looked down. "Exactly. I know he is not coming back. He would have returned by now. It has been a week." Thyra leaned over the table, holding her hand, gently squeezing it, trying to give her that hope that he would return.

"We might have some good news." Y/N and Thyra looked at each other as Father Beocca came into his house with a  chuffed expression.
"The King. He may pardon Uhtred and allow him to return to Wessex." Father Beocca's smile left his face when neither of the women reacted.
"Oh no." Father Beocca hastily sat down with his hands clasped, ready to hear the news.
"I am missing a husband." Y/N said with a sarcastic smile. "Sihtric in particular."
"The Dane boy?!" Father Beocca gasped, making a cross.
"He's alive but has left to join Hæsten and Cnut and the rest of the Danes."
"I'm not following, Lady." Y/N breathed in. Not wishing to think about the pain he put her through.
"Sihtric would rather be a Dane than live with a saxon wife." Father Beocca looked down. He did not have an answer for such actions, nor did he have any words for a Dane abandoning their wife.
"It could be a Dane thing." Father Beocca said carefully. "That some Danes are known to commit various acts."
"Sihtric would not commit adultery. He loves her too much, Beocca." Y/N placed her head on the table in defeat at Thyras' words. She felt like a helpless could.
"He did once." Y/N mumbled.
"Did he tell you he does not love you?" Thyra asked.
"He hates the marriage. He said. In his own words."
"Lord. What is wrong with that man. You should have never married a Dane." Y/N looked at Father Beocca. She did not wish to cause an argument or speak of it any longer. She only now wished for Finans return to her.