𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐑 <𝐬𝐢𝐡𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐤𝐣𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧>

8. 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒

Trigger Warning: major character death and miscarriage

"Uhtred, she's gone!" Hild's voice had wavered, "She's in the ground. It was days ago. She's gone."

Now with a clear line of sight to the nun, Hild quickly became all Ghylena could focus on, her vision tunnelling.

"What?" She choked out, "Hild, what happened?"

"Lena... I'm sorry."

Realisation slowly crept into her, her speech breathless and wobbly, "Gisela..."

"I'm so, so sorry, Ghylena." Hild was crying now, silently.

A sob wracked through Ghylena's body then, sudden and violent, her breathing quickening as she choked and gasped.

"No, no, no... No, Gisa... no..."

Sihtric watched his wife in stasis, unable to comprehend what was happening until she wailed.
It was a sound pulled deep from within her, the sound of a soul splitting. Her low howl rattled around the courtyard, and Sihtric flinched. He never wanted to hear her cry like that ever again in his life.
It was the sound of his heart breaking. He ran for her.

Now clutching at Sihtric instead of Hild, Lena's whimpers seeped into him as he struggled to stay strong for her. The Lady Gisela had always been kind to him, his sister through marriage, his wife's soulmate— and now she was gone.
Gisela was dead.

Sihtric faltered.
Ghylena suddenly pulled away from him, her eyes bloodshot and streaming. The brown eyes he loved avoided his, instead searching behind him, directly at Skade.

"You," her voice was full of venom, "You, witch. You killed her! YOU KILLED HER!"

As fast as ever, she slid from his grasp, drawing his sword from its sheath as she lunged for Skade. Only Finan, close as he was to the horses, was able to stop her, deflecting the blade and catching her in his arms. Finan held Ghylena tight, but still she thrashed, begging to kill Skade through her tears.

"No, Ghylena, stop. Stop."

Drawing close to the pair again, Sihtric swore, taking back his sword and nodding at Steappa to clear the crowd of onlookers.
As the courtyard emptied, and a teary-eyed Osferth led Skade away, still Lena wailed, trapped in Finan's grasp.

"She's dead," Ghylena cried, "My sister is dead."

Sihtric slowly reached out, his hand barely grazing her arm before she doubled over at her waist, a new yelp escaping her lips this time.
"Lena?" Finan was alarmed, bodily passing her to Sihtric, "Lena, what's wrong?"

Still hunched over in pain, Ghylena felt a sharp pulling in her stomach, a twinge and then a release of pressure. Her vision clouded with tears, she dropped a trembling hand between her legs, only to pull back when she felt wetness.
Sihtric's eyes widened at the small blood spot on his wife's hands, Finan's voice cracking as he whispered, "Oh, God, no."

Sihtric's knees buckled.
Ghylena fainted.
They pooled on the muddy ground, a strange pile of armour, tears and blood.
Finan ran for help, and Sihtric finally sobbed, rocking Lena's body.

<>

Ghylena dreamt of a baby's cry... A boy with brown and green eyes... A wolf howled somewhere far away... Gisela's soft smile... Ghylena dreamt...

<>

Uhtred had killed a monk. That was all Ghylena could really understand about why they were suddenly on the run from Winchester and Wessex.
She didn't care. She couldn't.
All Ghylena could feel was a deep aching, an empty numbness in her soul.

Hild had tried to hand the baby Osbert to her before they left, but she couldn't stand to even look at him, turning her head away at his crying and flinching from his hands as they grabbed for her. Finan had looked at her with pity.
Sihtric couldn't even look at her.

She was still too weak to ride on her own, having lost too much blood when she lost... when she lost Gisela. She couldn't think of more than that right now, scared that if she let herself slip into a deeper grief that she would drown, drown and never return.

The cart she lay in was stuffed full of furs and soft blankets, piled in by Osferth as she watched, stood close to Finan in case she dropped again.
Sihtric had been prepping the horses.
No one spoke.

They were travelling north now, to Dunholm and Uhtred's brother, Ragnar. Uhtred had been wounded in his escape and was worsening by the day.
When he fell from his horse, Ghylena had been asleep again, Osferth riding behind her cart watching over her.
When she woke up, it was to a much warmer and more cramped sleeping arrangement; Uhtred's mighty body had been placed in beside her, furs thrown over them.

He was still asleep, eyes closed and breathing heavy when Finan drew up beside the cart.
"A few days more," He tried for a smile, "It's your cart that's slowing us down. Even your beast Shaeda is struggling to pull the two of you."

Ghylena wanted to smile at him, thank him for his attempt at humour— for everything he had done for her these past few days— but she couldn't.
Her eyes closed again.
Uhtred's steady breathing lulled her to sleep beside him.

<>

"You should drop back, Sihtric, ride alongside the cart." Finan advised.

Sihtric's jaw clenched, and he shook his head, "No. We have to lead. We need to get to Dunholm."

"Sihtric, what you need is to be with your—"

Sihtric cut him off, "No. I—I can't"

Finan frowned, unable to think why his brother wouldn't listen. They led on.

<>

This continued on for a few more days— Uhtred and Lena taking turns awake, tucked close into each other, joined in their grief for Gisela— until Brida reached their camp one night, and brought them into the fortress at Dunholm.

Ghylena began to recover the next day, her body healing from the damage dealt it from within. She had been given a bed in the shared steadings— Finan, Osferth, Uhtred, Sihtric, they all slept in the same room as her.
They all heard her whimpers in the night. Her small cries from behind the curtain which surrounded her bed. They didn't seem to know what to do, how to help.
They couldn't protect her from her own mind.

No one spoke of it in the mornings, but Lena knew she had woken them.
One night she swore she saw someone silhouetted against the thin fabric draped from her bed. Still, no one came.

Word Count: 1064

up next: 'dunholm and beyond...'