Blood Moon| The Last Kingdom| Sihtric Kjartansson

TWENTY-TWO

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"Lady, I urge you to reconsider," Father Beocca sighed heavily, standing a safe distance away as I threw dried food and clothes into a thin blanket.

"I will not," I did not look back at him, slipping my mortar and pestle into my satchel.

Uhtred blocked my path back to the blanket, his hands settling on my shoulders, "Gyda, you have to know this is not the clever thing to do. Leaving Coccham is dangerous for you. Where will you go?"

The door to the small house Saga and I had been inhabiting slammed open, and the redhead barged in, dropping a basket on the floor.

I brushed Uhtred's hands off me, stepping around him, "Foxglove?"

"Monkshood," Saga corrected me, "the forests here do not give us much to choose from."

I nodded curtly, "Monkshood will work just as well, pack it up."

"What is Monkshood?" Osferth whispered quietly to Finan and Sihtric.

"It's a poisonous flower," Sihtric muttered, his eyes darting between Saga and I.

"Gyda," Uhtred tried again, "where will you go? Winter has barely ended. It is still too cold to live in the forest."

"Do not concern yourself with her," Saga snapped, glaring up at him, "we will look after each other."

"I am sure that plan will work out grandly when hungry bears find you in the middle of the night," Finan muttered bemusedly, leaning back on against the wall.

I huffed softly, facing Uhtred, "We will find an inn for the nights."

"But where will you go?" Uhtred pushed, "Do you have a plan?"

"The plan is to get out of here," Saga snapped, bundling up the blanket with all our things in it and tying it up.

"Will you go to your brother?" Sihtric's quiet question made me tense, "You spoke of war with him..."

"Mind your own—"

"Yes," I cut off Saga, turning around to face Sihtric, "I intend to kill my brother. I intend to take back what belongs to me."

"You have no army," Uhtred blurted, disbelief crossing his face, "you have no support."

I swallowed, glancing at him before meeting Sihtric's eyes again, "Henrick rode out to find people. He is older, and he has fought with many. He knows where to look for good warriors."

"How long have you been planning this?" Finan frowned, "This is serious business."

"But it is not your business," Saga quipped, throwing each man in the room a warning stare. "What we do and where we go is not your concern."

"You are on my land," Uhtred reminded her calmly, "I have a right to answers."

"So you can pass them along to your Saxon king?" Saga sneered at him, "So he can find us and kill us?"

"The king will not kill you," Beocca sighed again, "if you are leaving Wessex as you say you are, he will not follow."

Saga sniffed, tightening her armour hastily, her armbands catching candle light, "Finally... some good news."

"Gyda," Uhtred summoned my attention again, "tell me of your plans, I can help you."

I turned to him, eyeing his wearily, "I do not want your help."

"But you will need it," Uhtred combatted easily, "I am a warrior. I know battle."

I wanted to trust him because I was limited in my friends right now, and I wanted to change that. Uhtred had been good to us for the most parts, but his alliances to Edward made him dangerous to us.