Painted Blade || sihtric

51.

   THE next day, Bemia was peacefully teaching Espen better English by the window as Osferth often helped them from her other side and Sihtric played some game with Finan near them.

But that peace was ruined when Stiorra rushed into the library with Katja on her hip. "Aunty," she breathlessly said, and when Bemia saw the worry on her face, she was instantly up. "Men are riding this way."

"Which men?" Bemia questioned, taking Katja into her arms.

"I don't know," Stiorra admitted, "but they're coming."

All the men stood up, grabbing their weapons, and starting to walk toward the door.

Until Bemia held up a hand and halted them. "We have a plan," she simply said and then turned to Stiorra with a small grin. "Hide the children while I hide the men."

"On it." Stiorra nodded, taking Katja's hand and Aelfwynn's hand, looking between the two girls as she walked toward the back door. "We're going to play hide and seek, okay?"

The two girls happily cheered and Bemia grabbed Aethelstan's hand, passing him to Young Uhtred. "Follow your sister and keep them hidden, okay? Espen, go with him to protect the children."

Young Uhtred took Aethelstan's hand with a nod as Espen asked, "How do I know when it's safe?"

"When you hear me call out hviskende vind, then it is safe," she assured him and then gave the three of them a slight push toward the back doors before facing back to Sihtric, Finan, and Osferth. "Follow me."

None of them argued as they followed behind her, just when Stiorra had rushed back inside.

"Osferth, you need to stay silent in here," Bemia instructed her son, opening a large chest and pulling up many pillows. "Stiorra will cover you back up once you're inside."

"You sure she won't lock me in here?" Osferth questioned, eyeing the small space.

Stiorra laughed, crossing her arms over her chest. "No promises."

"Just hurry!" Bemia urged, already walking away and into a room near the front doors. "Finan, you're in the wall." She lifted up a green tapestry and with a groan, she pulled back a piece of the wall that acted like a door. "Get in."

Finan sent a prayer up to his God before he crawled into the wall with his sword and Bemia didn't bother to check if he was comfortable before she closed it and fixed up the tapestry.

As she grabbed Sihtric's hand, pulling him up the stairs, the men outside the closed gates got louder and she prayed that the children were hidden safe.

"Where will you hide?" Sihtric asked his wife when she let go of his hand, rushing over to a bed.

"In the beams," she simply answered and then pointed at the bed. "It's hollow underneath so you can hold yourself up and stay hidden. Hurry!"

"What the hell are the beams?" he muttered to himself before he held his dagger in hand, ready to get under the bed.

Bemia left him, rushing over to the mezzanine where she looked down to see Stiorra near the door, waiting for her. "Everyone is hidden?"

Stiorra nodded. "Everyone but you, aunty."

"Go out now," Bemia instructed her, climbing onto the lip of the mezzanine.

She didn't look down to check if her niece listened as she whispered a small prayer to the Gods before reaching up above her head and grabbing the thick wooden beam. Bemia had never been more thankful that no one was around to be able to look up the skirts of her dress while she pulled herself up on the first beam with a grunt. And then the next beam was easier and by the time she was hiding in the roof, voices sounded downstairs.

Carefully, Bemia looked down, spotting Wessex guards searching downstairs as Stiorra sat herself down on the chest Osferth was hidden in.

In the corner of her eye, she spotted a guard checking where she hid Sihtric and she held her breath, hiding back behind the beam that covered her from sight. She swore if her heart raced any faster then someone would hear it.

"I told you," Bemia heard Stiorra say, "Aelfwynn's not here."

A few seconds later, "Let's go," sounded and Bemia sighed with relief.

The sounds of the guards got further away and after a few minutes, Stiorra was proudly smiling to herself. "Aunty! It's clear!"

"Thank God," Bemia sighed, sitting up on the beam before looking down to see Sihtric rolling out from under the bed. "Keep the children where they are until I'm down!"

At the sound of her voice, Sihtric snapped his head up to see his wife lowering herself down from the beam, making his eyes widen. "Bemia, how the—"

Bemia let go of the beam, making his heart drop before she landed in a crouch in front of him with a small smirk. "I'm a witch," she teased, standing up.

"Stiorra!" Uhtred's voice echoed. "It is your father!"

Bemia furrowed her brows and then ran over to the mezzanine with Sihtric to see Uhtred tightly embrace his daughter.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked.

Stiorra smiled into the hug. "No, it worked." She pulled away from him. "I sent them away."

"Want to scare him?" Bemia whispered to her husband.

"Of course, I do." Sihtric grinned.

Bemia held in a laugh and then climbed over the mezzanine with him before the pair dropped down. Uhtred looked as if he saw the devil himself as he pushed Stiorra back, his hand rushing for his sword.

But when Bemia and Sihtric rose up from their crouches, his face filled with relief. "Bloody hell!"

Bemia laughed, placing a hand on her hip. "We couldn't miss that opportunity."

Stiorra laughed with her, facing her father. "I told you. We prepared ourselves for an invasion."

Finan walked out of the room behind Bemia with a chuckle. "Lord," he greeted Uhtred and then lifted up the lid to the chest, revealing Osferth who threw the pillows off himself. "Hey, little trickster you got here." He threw an arm around Stiorra's shoulders.

"I must admit," Bemia started with a smile, helping Osferth out of the chest, "your daughter is brilliant with these plans."

"Where's Aelfwynn?" Uhtred questioned, not an ounce of amusement on his face.

Bemia made sure Osferth was okay before she walked past her brother and went outside, picking up the bottom of her skirts as she jogged toward the open gates that led to the long grass near the house.

"Hviskende Vind!" Bemia yelled and a few seconds later, Espen was standing up from the grass with Katja on a hip and Aethelstan on his back while Young Uhtred held Aelfwynn's hand.

"What does that even mean?" Finan questioned.

"Whispering wind," Bemia quietly answered and then smiled brightly at her children. "So, brother, why were guards here for Aelfwynn?"

Uhtred's face slightly fell at that as he looked over at her. "Edward wants Aelfwynn betrothed to a man—a man older than your son." Bemia whipped her head toward him with disgust covering her face. "We cannot allow that to happen which is why we must leave, and we'll meet Aethelflaed on the way."

"I'll kill any man that tries to marry that little girl," Bemia snarled, clenching her hands into fists. "No child deserves that."