Wolf Warrior (The Mórrigan's Wolf, Part 2) The Last Kingdom Fanfiction

11 - Giants Will Fall

They broke camp the next morning and began the procession back to Wessex, Uhtred and his group heading for Coccham rather than Winchester.

"Uhtred," Beocca called out as the party split. "Uhtred, where are you going?"

"I am going home to Coccham, where Alfred has asked me to remain," Uhtred smirked and pointed at Æthelred, "and where I left my wife."

Faoladhean would have laughed if it wasn't such a dire situation. She did allow herself a little smirk at Uhtred's insistence in rubbing salt in the Mercian lord's wounded pride.

"But the king, he may need you!" Beocca insisted.

"The king," said Æthelwold, "in his wisdom, has all but banished him, Father Beocca."

Uhtred led his group on without further word to Beocca and the Mercians, and they rode in silence for a while. Finan rode up alongside Uhtred, while Faoladhean hung back near Sihtric, Clapa and Rypere.

"Do ya think it was wise to taunt the arseling, Uhtred?" Finan couldn't help the slight worry, especially after learning what Faoladhean had said to Æthelred the previous day. "I don't know whose mouth is the bigger danger - yours, or my wife's."

Uhtred chuckled. "Much like your wife, I said nothing that was untrue."

"We do not need to alienate supposed allies though, Uhtred. Æthelred may be an arseling, but he is still a lord, and one that has the ear of Alfred."

"Do not concern yourself, Finan. After Alfred learns of what has happened to his daughter due to Æthelred's idiocy, I do not think I am to be in any danger of further punishment."

Sighing heavily, Finan glanced at him. "I hope you're right about that."

Faoladhean sighed, the ache in her thigh causing her to be irritable and wanting nothing more than to be home, instead of stuck on the road for a few more days of travel. She sucked it up, and tried not to focus on it, or the nagging worry for the wellbeing of Æthelflæd. Knowing that Thyra was unscathed did offer her some comfort, as did the knowledge that Thyra had defended her when the pompous lordling dared to speak ill of her in Thyra's presence. It warmed her heart and put a small smile on her face.

"What are you smiling about, lady?"

Faoladhean turned her head in the direction of Clapa, seeing a smile on his face. She chuckled briefly. "Just thinking about how fortunate I am to have the friends that I do."

Clapa's smile widened into a grin, his eyes twinkling despite the overcast skies. "And we are fortunate to have you, Lady Wolf."

As her own smile widened, a sudden flash rose up in her mind's eye: it was night, and Clapa, bloodied and beaten, was falling to his knees, his ax swinging as he fell. Faoladhean gasped, a hand flying to her mouth as it happened.

Clapa's smile faltered, replaced with concern. "Are you all right, Faoladhean?"

She shook her head, feeling her throat constrict with grief. "I-I..." Her eyes began to sting as tears threatened to fall. Faoladhean took a deep breath and cleared her throat, willing the overwhelming emotions to stay buried. "It was...a-a twinge of pain...in my leg. That is all." A shaky exhale left her as she turned her eyes to the road, and she tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. Please, do not let that be a flash of Future Sight, Faoladhean prayed to her gods, hoping that what she had just seen was a result of stress or an overactive imagination, while feeling deep within her gut that it was a glimpse of something yet to come.

When they made camp that night, Finan became increasingly concerned for Faoladhean, seeing how withdrawn she'd become during the day's travel. As he helped her off the horse and got her seated beside where they would make a fire, she was quiet, lost in thoughts that he was loathe to break her out of before he had the chance to sit and listen to her, uninterrupted.