Painted Blade || sihtric

13.

BEMIA'S eyes were counting the guards around the boats in Beamfleot a few days later, her body hidden in tall marshes with Uhtred, Sihtric, Finan, and a few men behind her.

Since the day she told Sihtric her story of why she couldn't bear children, he had been stuck to her side like glue. She'd even woken up this morning to find flowers beside her head, hand-picked by him and she was in a happy mood until now.

"Twenty guards," Bemia quietly groaned, shaking her head.

Finan scoffed from beside her. "Sihtric, you said it'd be no more than eight or ten."

"He cannot count," Clapa joked.

"No, Lord." Sihtric shook his head. "It has never been more than ten men."

"Rypere's group will strike first from the water," Uhtred explained to them. "They look to the river and then...we kill them."

"But Lord, we are just eleven," Osferth shakily said.

Bemia unsheathed her sword and then passed it back to Osferth who took it with wide eyes. "I would feel better if you had a sharper blade on you, baby monk." She then looked at her brother with a nod.

"We attack as soon as it is dark," Uhtred instructed.

Bemia sighed, laying back into the grass as she unsheathed a dagger. "It'll be dark any time now," she muttered, looking over at the sun setting behind the hills. "When should we get into position?"

Uhtred grabbed her arm, pulling her up with him. "Now, sister."

"I was clearly relaxed," she scoffed, pulling her arm out of his grip as she followed behind him with Sihtric at her back. "Are we sure baby monk will be okay?" she asked in a quieter tone.

While Rypere and his group stayed back, Uhtred continued to lead the way while nodding his head. "Tonight, he might very well get his first kill. He has to be okay."

"I'll remind you that we both weren't okay during our first kill," she taunted, unsheathing an axe. "So do not expect miracles from him tonight."

Uhtred suddenly halted, making her eyes widen on him as she dug her feet into the ground to stop herself. "Why do you care so much for the baby monk?"

Behind Bemia, Sihtric raised a brow. "If this is your way of saying no to marrying me for him, then I am deeply hurt." He mocked a pout.

Bemia rolled her eyes at the both of them. "I care for the baby monk because he is the youngest person we've had with us since me," she stated, walking past her brother. "The boy was abandoned by his father, his uncle died, and who knows who his mother is. Someone has to watch over him."

Uhtred was still standing in place, faintly smiling at his sister and then Sihtric. "She would've made a good mother."

"She is a mother in a way," Sihtric countered, following after her. "She always takes care of the orphans at Coccham."

"BABY monk, please try and keep close to me," Bemia whispered to Osferth, standing beside him near the docks with the sun fully set now.

Osferth nodded, holding her sword in hand. "Oh, believe me, I will."

Sihtric snorted and then pressed a kiss to Bemia's head. "Kill them all, darling."

She smiled up at him before pecking his smiling lips. "I always do."

A few minutes later, Rypere appeared in the water, stabbing a spare through a guard. With the other guards rushing toward the commotion, more men appear out of the water, climbing on the docks and starting to kill Danes.