I Want to be Kind [-Thorfinn X Reader-] [Vinland Saga]

Welsh Words

I won't lie that I have been through so many battles throughout my life on the battlefield. And with those battles comes being under fire from archers on a regular basis. So when arrows rain down around us they come second in my mind to the body I'm up pressed up against.

Thorfinn's arm is slinked around my waist and pressing me closer to his body. I could smell him. I was so close, the heavy scent of male musk invading my nose. It smelt nice considering we haven't been able to bathe for a couple days while on the road. Unconsciously I lean in closer and inhale the smell of pine wood with a hint of spice pervade underneath the smell of sweat and male musk.

Once the arrows had stopped, my father called for us to not fire back at the men. Thorfinn turns his head to face me, which was a problem because we were the same height and currently were squished together. Almost nose to nose with him I startle and lean my head back, blushing profusely, scared he might have noticed that I had just been sniffing him.

He's just as awkward about our close proximity as he quickly lets go of my waist and backs up a step, giving me space. For some odd reason I wanted him to be close to me again. Missing the touch of his arm around me.

"You okay?" He asks quickly, running his eyes up and down my body. "Yes I'm fine. It doesn't seem that any of the arrows hit anyone in our group." I answer, looking around us. Noticing Ragnar had taken after Thorfinn's lead and picked up a shield to protect Canute. 'Shit that was supposed to be our job.' I think to myself. I guess Thorfinn only had his thoughts on protecting me and him from any ambush. Cursing myself for not noticing the ambush, instead I had been too busy speaking to Ragnar to notice Thorfinns gaze on the hills and tense body composure. Which should have been a red flag that he was on edge. So much for being on Guard Duty.

"You stay here and protect the prince. I'm gonna go upfront and find out what's going on." I say jumping out of the carriage leaving him behind hearing a "be careful." In response.

As I make my way to my fathers side I find that he horse was now dead with arrows jutting out of its head, poor thing.
"I find your greeting rather insulting." Askeladd says to the men in Welsh. As I grew up he made it a point to teach me the language, ever since I was young he would switch between Danish and Welsh to get me to use both of them. It was the only other one I knew other than Danish.

"Oh so you barbarians can speak Welsh? I thought you Danes were uncivilized and had no use for any spoken language." A man farther up the road sneered. "Withdraw your troops Asser. Stirring up trouble with the Danes will bring us no good." Captain Gratianus says.

"We can make our own decisions on what brings us good Gratianus. We will be taking the prince from you in order to keep the Danes out of our land. We shall use him as a shield to our great nation!" Asser cries out. Gods I hope this doesn't turn into a bloodbath, we would be at a major disadvantage with them having the higher ground.

"Gratianus." Askeladd says, grabbing both Gratianus' attention and myself. "I will be telling him of our plan."Askeladd continues before Gratanius asks "Are you sure that's the right call here?" My father shrugs and says "We don't have much of a choice do we. It's either we let him know what we have in store, or he stays ignorant and tries to attack us for the prince."

I'm confused on what the two were talking about as I watch them interact. Could this plan happen to coincide with the one he had talked about all those nights ago? And where did I fit in all of it if it was. Askeladd calls out for the men to stay put before going to join the captain Asser with Gratanius. As I go to follow them my father stops and looks back at me "That means you too. I don't want you in this meeting, little dove."

"Why not? You've always let me in situations like this?" In the past he would have me join in on talks with men in higher power, mostly because he wanted me to have experience in this world of politics. Even if it was as simple as making a contract as a mercenary group, I was involved. When he would make plans against those who contracted us he would involve me in the process as well. Or he would at least let me know what he was planning on doing. A sneaking feeling comes over me that this has to do with what he had been talking about the other night with Bjorn.

"Just do as I say. I will be back soon enough." He orders, turning his back on me and walking away before I could even try to argue with him again.

Clenching my fist I watch as he heads over to the man Asser, and all three move away from the large group of Welsh men to have some privacy.

"Do you speak Welsh?" I heard from behind, I spin around and see Thorfinn. "Yes I do. I'm quite fluent in it actually. Father made it a point to have me understand and speak in the language from a young age." I tell him as he approaches me. "The prince, okay?" I ask.

"Yes, Ragnar said he can guard him for the time being." He says, taking a second before continuing. "That's impressive. Knowing another language. My father had never taught me anything other than Danish. Though I doubt he knew any other language, and if he did know he didn't have much time to teach me."

I raise a brow at him as I stare him down. He almost never mentions the man he called father. I was surprised he would even bring him up now. "Well, I could teach you. But I doubt you would pick it up, it's a hard language to grasp if you're not raised by it."

"You'd be surprised at what I can pick up." He replies teasingly. "Ya, like me off a carriage seat." I nudge him gently with my elbow as I talk.

He lets out a small chuckle and says "I wouldn't mind learning something new. But I doubt it'll be much use to me."

"You never know. At least we could pass time more easily with something to do. And it might be funny to see you struggle." I tell him with a smirk.

"Maybe.. we'll see. I'd hate to burst your bubble when I'm actually good at learning." He said smirking right back at me. "Well maybe I'd enjoy that." I say looking back to where my father had gone with the two men. "How could you guess that I understood Welsh." I ask curiously, I hadn't spoken it the whole time.

"I could tell you understood it. I saw it on your face." I frown at that information "How long had you watched us?"

"Not much, I followed after you not long after you had run off. But I only heard the last bit of whatever was being said." He explains and I nod. "Let's get back to the prince. I'm sure they'll be talking for a while." I say turning to head back through the crowd of men on the road. Thorfinn walks by my side when something occurs to me. I hadn't thanked him yet for shielding me, Gods I've been needing to thank him often nowadays.

"Thank you for grabbing me. But remember we need to protect the prince too. It is sort of our job."

Thorfinn scoffs at what I say. "I couldn't give less of a fuck about him compared to you."