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

Death of a Princess

TW: Self harm. 

Avery fell asleep in the corner, hidden in the darkness. Tears staining her cheeks. When the door to her room opened, she was already wishing this was the end. But when her eyes fell on Sigefrid she glanced down at the mug in his hand.

"Poison? Was my public embarrassment not enough for you?" He handed her the mug and after the aroma filled her nostrils, she knew exactly what this was. The tea Iseult showed her all those years how to brew. Which herbs to pick. After a moment of hesitation, she took the mug from his hand and drank the contents.

"You knew what it was? What use would a Princess have in that knowledge?" He seemed to be confused by her. She was not like he had imagined. Even after the humiliation she faced last night she still looked at him with the eyes of a killer. "Has this happened before?"

"You mean being fucked in front of hundreds of men? No. Men usually respect me. But you proved my brother right. You do not care about anything or anyone." She dropped the mug now, not wanting to even look at the man who ordered her horrible fate.

"At least I do not pretend to be something I am not. You hide behind these pretty dresses and your brother's name." His words hit too close to home and before she knew it, she had clamoured to her feet, her left-hand curling into a fist as she punched him with all of the strength she could muster in that moment. He laughed loudly, spitting blood at her bare feet. "You and I are more alike than you can imagine."

"I would never put anyone through that hell. I will carry that with me for the rest of my life. I will despise you until the end of my days." The tears were threatening to fall again but she swallowed down her emotions. She would not give him the satisfaction in seeing her break again.

"Well if that is the case. Why do I have to try and pretend to be a nice person." He scoffed and pushed past her to leave the room, the mug being thrown at the door after him as the porcelain shattered.

Her eyes focused on the sharp shards of the porcelain mug and in that moment of insanity she dropped to her knees and picked up the biggest piece. She hissed as the tip of the shard cut into her right arm, relief filling her when the pain reminded her that she was still alive. That she was stronger than this. But her face fell when the door opened again, Sihtric being thrown into her prison now too. He was the last person she wanted to see and when he saw the blood his eyes grew wide, and he dropped beside her to stop the bleeding.

"Why?" Was this Sigefrid torturing her even more. By forcing her to be in the same room with Sihtric again after what happened last night.

"Sigefrid. It seems you upset him, so I am your punishment. I just want to say how sorry I am. I hate thinking about what I did to you." His voice was soft, and she already felt somewhat comforted by his words and presence. It was probably because she knew he was Uhtred's man.

"If you refused, someone worse would have taken your place. I am thankful it was you." Her words seemed to shock him a little and he tore some of the fabric from the bottom of her dress to wrap it around her wound. The bleeding stopping as he just sat beside her, and she found herself leaning against him. "Will Uhtred come for us?"

"There is a plan. But right now, we cannot talk. We can trust Erik, but Sigefrid will kill us all if he knows we are plotting." His arm wrapped around her carefully and her body grew tense when he lifted her, especially once she realised that he was laying her against the bed. "You need to sleep. I'll watch over you."

"Sigefrid did not send you in here to watch me sleep. We need to at least play the part." She moved to her knees on the bed, removing the remaining bits of her dress before she laid beneath the thin blanket. She saw how Sihtric's breath hitched in her throat as she laid bare before him. Yes, they had technically had sex, but he was yet to see her like this.