𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 || ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴋɪɴɢᴅᴏᴍ

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 - ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀᴍɪꜱꜱ.

—— • ° ☽ ★ ☾ ° • ——

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 —
ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀᴍɪꜱꜱ.
ᴀᴄᴛ ᴏɴᴇ — ᴏᴍᴇɴꜱ

—— • ° ☽ ★ ☾ ° • ——

SNOW KISSED THE TIPS
of her fingers, ice brushing over the skin as she poked the gathering of snow between the cracks of the wall, bedding the hairs of moss that grew beneath, latching its roots into the hard, stone surface.

Freyja leaned her hip against the very edge, half sitting against it as the heel of her foot supported her weight. Her eyes took in the thatch roofs that stood below her from the balcony, overtaken by sheets of sleet white snow that winter had brought upon them.

She smirked at the humourous thought that plagued her mind, eyes lighting up in amusement as she glanced towards her brother who rambled on about his hopes that the woman he was to marry was indeed a woman.

"Perhaps she has a beard." She thought aloud to herself, hiding her expression from her brother by looking out over the balcony to the buildings that stretched across the distance. "Or maybe she's as tall as a giant with boulders for arms to crush you in your sleep."

Leofric chuckled knowingly to himself, being the only one out of the three to actually have seen Uhtred's future bride — but despite knowing what she looked like, he was amused by the image Freyja had described.

A look of worry passed over Uhtred's expression as he considered the possibility, the look slowly turning into one of horror as he glared at the back of her skull. "You are not funny."

Freyja spun around, pressing her back against the cold wall, arms folding over her chest. She shrugged, tongue slipping out over her bottom lip. "Why would Alfred reward you with a beautiful woman?"

Uhtred's played his fingers across the tips of fire. "Perhaps he's warming up to me." He hummed in acknowledgement. "Perhaps he sees that I am of value and sees that I am indeed an aelderman."

Freyja have a mere shake of her head. "I don't buy it." Her eyes drifted to the flames in front of her. "There has to be some ulterior motive." She noted Leofric's silence, but it seemed Uhtred had not.

"You are too paranoid, sister." Uhtred smiled lightly, hiding his anxious thoughts that spiralled through his veins. Raising his right arm, he set his hand upon her shoulder, squeezing before allowing it to fall back to his side.

Shifting his gaze, he stared across the flames to where Leofric flinched, the heat of the flames burning the skin of his hand. "I wasn't allowed to meet her. I haven't seen her."

Stepping away from the fire, Leofric reached out, touching the younger man's back. "It is the way." They began walking before Leofric spotted, noting that Freyja wasn't with them. He turned to catch her eye, tensing at the uncertainty that flickered through the green haze — he was surprised she hadn't figured it out yet.

"You coming along?" He asked, slightly impatient with her stubbornness and waved a hand to his side.

Reluctantly, Freyja pushed off the wall and stalked alongside him.

Uhtred frowned deeply at the ground, brows furrowed, lips downturned, eyes filled with a mixture of fear, uncertainty and reluctance. "I was unaware of her existence till yesterday." He turned his head, lifting his chin to see Leofric's face. "She'll be plain and pious?"