From Cradle To The Grave~ Sihtric Kjartansson x Reader

Ch.1 ~ Dreaming Of A Battle

Y/n's POV

Year 866

I squatted on the beach below my fathers fort drawing letters into the sand using a stick. One letter flowing to the next in smooth strokes as I wrote my name followed by my last. Y/n Dóttir of Uhtred. I was the third born to my father and his only daughter. My father was Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg. One of the kingdoms in Northumbria.

He was a strict man easily agitated by disobedience. Something myself and my twin brother Osbert were renowned for. We both had sharp tongues, another thing my father made sure we knew we inherited from our mother... or his new wife Gytha.

The waves gently greeted the shore as the sound of a black hawk came fluttering back to my fathers hand. I glanced up at the bird that was perched upon his hand while father stroked its feathers.

"Why do we send the hawk out to explore the waters?" I asked while curiously glancing up at my father who looked down at me when I spoke.

"We do this to discover if there are lands nearby, or if invaders are sailing the water. If the hawk brings back a stick it usually means it's discovered something." Father answered as he fed the hawk.

"But he comes back empty handed... or should I say empty beaked." I giggled slightly, finding my pun amusing though my father didn't show his amusement. He did ruffle my hair and pushed my head away slightly as if to tell me he was slightly amused but too proud to show it in front of his men and the priests...

Did I forget to mention the year was currently 866, where Christian's or Saxons ruled most of what would now be considered England though we are filled with fear that one day the Danes from Denmark will travel to our boards and plunder the lands. We hadn't long driven the Romans away and now a new threat made itself apparent to the holy lands of Mercia, Wessex, Northumbria and the other 4 kingdoms to occupy the lands.

The waves began to become more aggressive as they greeted the shoreline of the beach just outside of Bebbanburg causing a horse to whine loudly.

"Boy! The tide is on the turn. I'll not warn you again!" My father yelled towards my brother Osbert who had been glancing out of the amber gem my father had bestowed upon him when he was born.

I had a purple one which I kept draped around my neck on a piece of string. Our older half-brother Uhtred had a green one though unlike mine and Osberts which were mere trinkets to our nobility, Uhtreds was a representation that he was next in line for lordship of Bebbanburg.

Osbert let his gem fall against his chest on its string as he glanced from my father to the waters. "Ships! There!" He yelled pointing out beyond the peak of the cliffs where a fleet of ships came sailing around. Long boats with monsters carved onto the faces of the ships with shields aligning the sides... They were Danes.

"Danes... the devil's turds." I heard my father whisper in shock as I stood up intertwining my small hand into his larger one as fear coursed through me.

"Are they traders?" My brother yelled as he walked towards us.

"No. They come as vikings! We go!" Father yelled, releasing the hawk from his hand that went fluttering away in seconds. And in those seconds father yanked me up from the ground, throwing me onto my black horse and shoving the reigns into my hands.

We all took off along the beach. Osbert and I fell behind due to our much younger selves being unable to properly support ourselves on a bolting horse. From the beach to common lands all the way through the outer village which lined our fortress we rode like there was a target on our backs. Which there was.

"Where's my son? Uhtred, take half a dozen men and ride to the river. There are pagans there. You watch them, see how many there are." Father yelled to my brother.