Warriors at Heart (The Last Kingdom Fanfic)

Chapter 22

Several weeks passed and we remained unbothered in the village. Word of my pub brawl had made it around, though not one man dared retaliate. The two men I'd humiliated tried to deny the story and figured staying away from me was the best course of action. I remember when Uhtred had first found out about it and he had laughed harder than I'd seen him laugh in a long while. "How'd I end up with such aggressive women?" he barely got out between laughs.

"Just got lucky I suppose," I replied, smiling at him.

"My sword will be done today. Would you like to go see it?" he asked.

I nodded and followed him to the blacksmiths. The man saw us approaching and reached up to remove the sword from its nail. "I have given her some beauty, but she is a tool," he said, handing the blade to Uhtred who stared at it in wonder.

"It's beautiful," I smiled.

Uhtred spun her around and felt her weight. "She's exactly as I hoped," he smiled. "We said ten?" he asked the man.

"We said eight," he honestly replied.

"She's worth ten," Uhtred said kindly, handing the man ten more silver coins.

"Thank you," the man said.

"Thank you," Uhtred replied.

He turned to hold the sword up to the light and I admired its beauty.

"Lord," the man said softly, turning our attention to him. "Men have been asking of you, and your women," he said.

"Danes or Saxon?" Uhtred asked.

"Take your pick," the blacksmith replied. "Five or more."

Uhtred looked at me with wide eyes and I bit my cheek. He looked about us and saw nothing.

"Make her sing," the blacksmith said smiling at him.

Uhtred nodded and thanked him once again. I nodded my thanks at him and followed Uhtred out and back towards our hut. Uhtred was on high alert and kept checking our surroundings. I herded him forward and he turned, "Tara get the horses, I'll get Brida," he said.

I nodded and parted from him towards where we were stabling our horses. I didn't make it very far when I came face to face with a familiar Dane. He smiled at me and I stood my ground, hand caressing the head of my axe.

"You won't be needing that," he smiled at me.

"Oh yeah?" I responded, not believing him.

"I come with an offer from Earl Ubba," he said.

"Speak then Barth Sogard," I said, "I'm a bit busy."

Barth took a step closer to me and I tensed. He continued to smile, "My Lord Ubba says you may go free with no hard feelings if you give him Uhtred's head."

"Why me?" I laughed.

"You can get close to him," Barth replied, now standing in front of me, close enough for either of us to stab the other.

"If I refuse?" I asked, eyeing him.

"Then I have orders to kill you, and then him," Barth replied, so close now I could feel his breath on my face.

"Hmm..." I said, bringing my finger to my cheek. "Those are my options?"

"They are," he replied, brushing a piece of hair behind my ear.

"What if I kill you first?" I asked, running my finger along his jawline.

"Then more men will be sent. More men less merciful than I," he smirked, catching my hand in his hand and planting a kiss on it.

I gently pulled my hand back and he released it. "Well, I guess you're going to have to kill me then," I smiled, slamming my knee into his groin as hard as I could.

He crumpled to the ground and I took off running. I ran as fast as my legs would take me and soon found myself smashing into Uhtred. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Saving you," I grinned, pulling out my axe and swinging it around as one of Uhtred's pursuers rounded the corner. It crashed down on its target, letting a sickening cracking sound into the air.

"Get to the horses," he shouted at me, as he took on a second attacker with his short sword.

I nodded and took off running without him, crashing through a clothesline in time to see a Saxon looking man with a knife getting ready to kill an unconscious looking Brida. I rammed my body into him, and we went crashing to the ground. I worked swiftly and had slit his throat before he knew what had hit him. A second man had come out of nowhere and I attempted to ready myself for his blow, but Uhtred came out of nowhere, running him through. "Are you alright?" Uhtred asked.

"Yes, behind you!" I shouted, as a third man came charging at Uhtred's back.

Uhtred easily disarmed him and ran him through. I shook Brida and tried to lift her. She was dazed and I got her to a seated position but couldn't make her stand. Uhtred ran over and helped haul her to her feet. "There's another one," Uhtred shouted and I turned to see a shaggy haired man charging at us.

"I got him," I smiled, standing and charging at him. Uhtred pulled Brida to her feet and they took off running. The man seemed a bit confused by my charging at him but didn't have enough time to stop as my axe met his throat. I looked at my handwork and then took off after Brida and Uhtred. I ran through several buildings and saw a dead body lying on the floor before another door. I pushed it open to find the two of them panting.

"Why aren't you still running?" I demanded. They stared at me blankly and I shook my head in disbelief. "Come on then," I said, tugging on both of their sleeves.

Wemade it to our horses and rode fast and hard out of the village. I looked overmy shoulder to see Barth smiling after us. I glared at him and he gave me asmall wave and then walked back into the village, clearly not intending topursue us at this time. I turned my attention forward and followed Uhtred intothe cover of the wood.