Painted Blade || sihtric

12.

   DAYS later, back in Winchester, Bemia walked beside Finan and her brother with Osferth behind them.

The Danes and the King had come to a price for the princess but now Wessex was going to hell, and it seemed that Lord Odda was taking it the hardest.

"He's been there for part of the day and all of the night," Osferth informed them. "He is a good man, and I worry that it will damage his reputation, Lord."

"If he can stand, it can only enhance his reputation," Finan muttered as they came up to Odda sitting on his own at a table, cup of ale near him.

"Lord," Uhtred said and Odda looked up at him. "May we join you?"

Odda looked down at his hands. "Is he here still or has he already left? Aethelwold?"

"That can't be good," Bemia murmured.

"Um, no, he's long gone, Lord," Osferth informed him with a worried look.

Odda looked confused as he looked away from them, accidentally tipping over his cup of ale.

Bemia sighed, walking around her brother to Odda. "Perhaps you had drunk enough, Lord," she gently said, picking up his cup.

Odda sighed. "It is entirely possible," he confessed, barely able to keep his eyes open. "Though the ale they brew here is weak, upon the orders of Alfred."

Finan huffed a laugh as Uhtred pulled out a money bag from his belt. "Are you jokin', Lord?" he asked and looked at a serious Osferth. His face dropped. "What, that's true?"

Bemia picked up the cup of ale, sniffling it once. "Definitely true," she laughed, placing the cup down as Uhtred placed silvers on the table.

"It is so a man can work the next day and swords remain in scabbards," Odda slurred. "But they must not."

Bemia looked at her brother and then Finan, cocking her head.

"Somebody needs a bed," Finan drawled, stepping up to Odda's side.

A few minutes later, Uhtred and Finan were helping Lord Odda lay down on a bed in an inn as Osferth and Bemia watched.

"You will stay with him," Uhtred ordered Osferth as Bemia laughed and Finan joined her side.

"And do what?" Osferth asked, eyes wide with his arms crossed over his chest.

"If he needs to piss or spew, you will fetch him a bucket," Finan informed him, and he scoffed.

"I have a plan," Odda mumbled, half asleep, "though it is likely I will die."

"That sounds lovely," Bemia deadpanned, shaking her head.

Uhtred furrowed his brows, kneeling down beside Odda's bed. "What is this plan, Lord? Tell me."

"I will raise the Devonshire fyrd," Odda announced and Bemia's widened her eyes.

"Against the King's wishes, Lord?" Bemia questioned.

"That is not something he would forgive," Uhtred added but Odda had fallen silent. "Lord?"

Bemia reached over, shaking his chest only to hear snores in response. "How did he fall asleep that fast?"

"You did in the pig pen," Finan snickered, and she turned around, shooting him a glare that had him stepping back.

Uhtred stood up with a sigh, looking over at Osferth who moved out of Bemia's path. "He will go nowhere. And you will go nowhere, and you will say nothing about what you've just heard."

"Yes, Lord," Osferth answered.

Finan moved around a pillar to keep distance between himself and Bemia as he said, "You mean 'no, Lord'."