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

Shattered hearts

The battle was won, about twenty of Haesten's held captive within the fortress they had once ruled. Alfred had left immediately after the battle to return to Winchester, but Edward remained behind to fortify the new grounds they had earned. The surviving men and the bound prisoners were all in the great hall, eating and drinking whatever they could get their hands on.

Avery entered the hall; she could see one of the tables full of Uhtred and his most loyal men and she swallowed hard. It was now or never; she would have to face the music of that decision to make all those years ago. Before she could even reach the table of men she could hear the raised voices, shocked to her core when she realised that it was Sihtric who was yelling. In all of the years she had known him, she had never seen him this upset. She remained hidden in the corner of the room, just witnessing the whole carnage unfolding before her. Finan was trying to play peacekeeper between the group, but it ended with Uhtred leaving the hall and even threatening to kill Sihtric if he was still here when he returned.

As soon as Uhtred had left the hall, she finally allowed herself to approach the group. Finan was confused how quickly everything had escalated and there was a brief look of sorrow in Sihtric's eyes before he refused to look at her anymore. He slammed his mug of ale down on the table and he left the room too, but she followed. Determined to get to the bottom of all of this.

"What just happened? Are you okay?" She asked because she genuinely cared about him, but something had changed within him in that moment.

"Have I ruined your plan? You can no longer keep using me until Uhtred decides he wants you again." The venom that left his tongue hit her hard. In all of the years he had been in her life, he had never been anything but kind to her.

"I told you I love you. I followed you, not him." She hated that they were having this conversation out in the open but thankfully everyone seemed to be inside the hall. Only the two of them were outside.

"Because he seeks comfort inside of your niece instead." His eyes still never looked her way because he would break the second that he saw the pain in her eyes. Why had he suddenly turned on her?

"This is not you. This is not the Sihtric that I know." She dared to approach him, attempting to turn his gaze to her so she could look into those beautiful eyes of his. "What has happened?"

His body remained rigid; she was making this tough. She would ruin the whole thing if she carried on so he knew he would have to be harsher. This was Uhtred's wish. Everyone had to believe he had turned on Uhtred. So, after a small breath he turned to face her, how he would hate himself for this.

"You were just a prize to me. Something to make me Uhtred's equal. Last night I won my game. I won your heart and your body. And all I had to do was buy you some ridiculous jewels." Her body tensed, listening to the words that left his lips. Had he truly been faking it all this time?

"You came to find me when you thought I was dead." Her voice was already breaking, and he wanted to pull her into his arms and take back everything he had said but knew it would never be that simple.

"So that I would be his equal. You should have remained dead." She still refused to leave, knowing this was not him so he had to take it that one step further. His left hand reached for the jewels he had gifted her, pulling with such force that the chain broke and snapped. But when he saw the mark it left, he hesitated, but that was it. Avery had run away from him in floods of tears. Little did they both know that Finan had witnessed the entire thing.

She had found one of the abandoned buildings, her fingertips rubbing at the mark around her neck as the tears continued to fall down her cheeks. She was so happy that last day with him and now she felt broken. How had she been so stupid to fall for his antics?