The Forgotten Princess | Avery x Leofric x Uhtred | The Last Kingdom

Becoming a Dane

Avery rushed back to her chambers, helping Sara to pack clothes most women would be scared to be seen in. But she didn't care. She needed to wear comfortable clothes so she could fight, so she could be up to the same high standards that the men would be. She now wore a corset and silk shirt that covered her breasts and leather breeches that hugged her form and heavy boots. Her dagger remained around her thigh and her sword strapped against her back. When she approached the courtyard and tried to join the men, she could see all of the judging looks already. Leofric was quick to approach her with a look of confusion on his face.

"What are you doing? You cannot come with me." She laughed a little at the fact he thought she was some kind of lovesick woman, desperate to follow her lover around.

"The King has given me permission to train. To learn along with the Saxon warriors. So let us leave." She pushed past him, following the other warriors as they made the short journey to the field where they would be training.

She didn't speak to Leofric for the rest of the journey now. She knew the men hated the fact they were traveling with the Princess. And she wasn't exactly thrilled about it either, but she wanted to train properly. To be known as something other than a Princess or someone's wife.

"Alfred allows his sister to train with us. He surprises me." Uhtred appeared beside her, and she refused to even look at him. The last time they had interacted she had threatened him and got herself in such a mood she had to seek out Leofric.

"He wants me to be happy. This will make me happy." Her eyes were set on the dirt road before them, keeping up pace with the fellow soldiers as they marched to their destination.

"Or do you follow your giant and his cock?" He chuckled softly as he watched how his words had already irritated her. Then he noticed the choker around her neck. "What are you hiding?"

She instantly pushed past him too, joining a group of the older men who were quiet and focused on the journey. Just what she wanted. She didn't want to be near the two men who seemed to frustrate her beyond all recognition.

It took a day before they finally reached their destination, tents were quickly put up and after an hour or struggling she had finished her own. She did not want any special treatment. Denying any help from the few men who offered. Once she was inside her tents, she set up her cot and put her clothes away in a dry corner. The horn outside was blown, and she knew her training would begin.

She knew the training wouldn't be easy. She didn't expect it to be. She didn't want it to be. But her entire body ached after just a few short hours, dirt covering her body and clothes as she was taught every evasive manoeuvre the Saxon armies had to offer. Learned how to attack in ways that she would never have dreamed of. And when it came to Uhtred's teachings, she was beyond thrilled to learn such methods. Being part of a shield wall, part of an army. It made her feel whole. Like she finally belonged somewhere, but she knew this wouldn't be her fate. Whoever she was fated to marry would never allow her to have such freedom.

The sun had set, the sky started to darken and yet she remained out on the field. Practicing her footwork. She had no idea that both Uhtred and Leofric had been watching her. She pulled the choker from around her neck, no longer caring about hiding the bruises which she could easily blame on training, but it had caused the two men to have an argument. Uhtred becoming protective of the Princess and Leofric trying to convince the man he would never hurt her.

She finally caught sight at the two of them and just walked away from them, she didn't want to be dealing with any of their dramas tonight. She just wanted to sleep and return to their training tomorrow. Sleep came too easily, her body truly exhausted from her busy couple of days with traveling and training. She didn't care how she was unprotected, in an open field. She just wanted rest.