A Saint To A Sinner

3.29

"Finan!" Y/N whisper shouted. "Fin. I have gossip!" Y/N said as she found Finan sitting on his own, watching the two boys at a distance.
"Eadith likes Osferth! They kissed." Finan snapped his head round with a confused look as he sat up straight to listen.
"She told me she-" Y/N stopped when she heard someone rustling in the bushes. It was Sihtric. Y/N huffed as she crossed her legs while Sihtric looked at her with an eager expression as he waited for her to tell them.
"Uh?! You gossip worse than Finan, Sihtric Kjartansson." Y/N said playfully.
"Yeah! No gossip for yu." Finan said as he pushed Sihtric playfully.
"Come on. I really want to hear." Sihtric said impatiently.
"You have to swear it on Cynlæfs life you will not tell the others or anyone else. I have been sworn to secrecy. And even against you both but I am no Christian!"
"Yes! Yes! Tell the story, woman!" Finan joked as he nudged her playfully. Y/N laughed as she explained what Eadith had told.

It was the first time that Finan and Sihtric had found joy in their travels. Their heads nodded with interest as they listened to her words, occasionally looking back at Eadith, who was putting the children to sleep.
"I'm so proud of the Baby Monk!" Finan giggled. Sihtric and Y/N rolled their eyes, telling him to be quiet as the two boys were approaching.
"Come on. Let's go to sleep." Sihtric said as he pulled down his son to sit beside his mother. Æthelstan followed, pushing Finan slightly out of the way so he could slot in between Y/N.
"What the-" Finan grumbled as he looked at Æthelstan who buried himself in her shoulder, while Cynlæf pulled her arm over to keep him warm. It was almost quite funny to see. Finan rolled over with a huff, keeping a small distance from the boy so he could go to sleep, but his mind wandered off to the thought of Osferth and Eadith.
"Finan, go to sleep." Sihtric scolded as he could hear Finan giggle to himself through the night. Even till the morning, he was like a child who heard the best gossip in the world.

It wasn't until Finan saw Osferth that she was really regretting telling him. Eadith had started to notice on their journey and decided to approach her.
"Your husband seems to be amused?" Eadith questioned.
"We explained to Cynlæf how sex works." Y/N said quickly, a slight embrassment forming on her cheeks. Eadith seemed to believe her.
"I take it they were not ready for those questions." Eadith said with a laugh.
"Well." Y/N said with a nervous laugh, "Cynlæf is a lively boy who likes to ask questions. Too many sometimes." She said, as she looked at her son proudly. "But he has an honest heart, and I hope he never loses that liveliness."
"I don't think he will. With Finan as his father." Eadith said with a laugh as they walked through woods.
"Believe it or not, Sihtric answers all the questions. He has the patience. Finan does not have patience, but like all things, he gets bored." Y/N said with a laugh as she looked back to find Cynlæf on Finans back, while Sihtric held Æthelstans hand. It amused Y/N at how the children had accepted their fate so easily now, compared to when they had stated the journey. They stopped bickering and merely got along.

Futher down the road, they finally reached a path, which meant they could be close to a village. Cynlæf, however, saw the path and made a complaint that they all looked the same. The poor boy was so tired and disoriented like the rest of them.
"The next village we get to, we can get some horses to move more quickly." Uhtred assured, noticing their lethargic energy. "Without wind, the sickness can not have reached this far north." Y/N looked at Finan, who still bore an unsure face, but kept moving as he held his sons legs. It wasn't until Y/N looked back at them that she heard the sound of horses.
"Lord, horses!" Y/N called out, alerting them all.
"Head over that ridge, go!" Uhtred called out as they started to run. "Help the children!" Y/N grabbed Æthelstans hand to drag him along, his little legs trying to follow the pace as they ran. She could hear the horses catching up with them, and she knew they could not outrun them. Sihtric ran on ahead to look for a place to hide, but he had reached a swap of dead bodies. Finan looked at the bodies and grabbed Cynlæf, covering his eyes shouting, "It's the sicknesses! Stay back."
"Dear God, we can swim through!" Sihtric said, making Y/N twist her face in disgust.
"You what?" Y/N said as she pulled Æthelstan behind her.
"No. I'd rather face them, than die now. I'm not sweating and shitting it in three days' time." Finan shouted back as he pushed Cynlæfs face into his shoulder.

Y/N turned back to head forward when she saw the men had caught up to them. She instantly drew her sword, carefully eyeing them.
"Give me Lady Ælfwynn and you will all be spared." Eardwulf called out, just as the men released their arrows, shooting at the ground.
"Shield the little ones." Uhtred said as they pushed the children slightly back. Y/N used her left hand to push Cynlæf behind her as she watched Eardwulf carefully.
"Ælfwynn, come with me or I will kill all of these people. Then I will find your mother and I'll kill her too." Eardwulf taunted to the poor child, "save your friends and leave with me." Y/N could hear Ælfwynn cry. She looked over to her to see her move towards Uhtred to protect her.
"Ælfwynn we are betrothed." Eardwulf called out, making Y/N feel sick at his words. She was just a child, and it sickened her.
"When the fighting kicks off, run like hell towards the trees, Cynlæf." Finan said as he gave his son his spair sword, while Sihtric gave Æthelstan his knife. 

The men stepped closer, walking slowly towards them. Each step scaring the children.
"Sieze the child!" Eardwulf called out with impatience.
"No. No. Do not do his bidding!" Eadith called out, stepping forward in front of them to face the men.
"He has betrayed you all. He murdered Lord Æthelred! I witnessed it," Eadith called out. "As he layed mortally wounded in his bed."
"This is the words of a whore!" Eardwulf shouted back as his sister called out with honest truths.
"I will swear to it, on the book. Æthelred refused to allow my mother to marry this poor child." Eadith shouted as she looked back at Ælfwynn, before looking back at her brother with rage, "so he killed him. In rage. And that is the man you serve." Y/N looked at Finan, who shrugged his shoulders, not sure whether Eadith was telling the truth. In truth, she believed Eadith, something told her she was telling the truth.
"I have proof of his crimes. Look at the pouch he wears around his neck. Inside, you will find the ring that he stole from your Lord as he laid dead." Eadith spat, telling the men to look in the pouch. Y/N watched carefully as Eardwulf handed the pouch over to the man beside him for him to look inside. The man pulled out Lord Æthelreds ring before Eardwulf slapped it to the floor. Y/N relaxed slightly, dropping her arm as she watched Eardwulf flee after his treachery was revealed. They where safe for now.