Warriors at Heart (The Last Kingdom Fanfic)

Chapter 31

We walked far and out of earshot of Wessex, towards the woods to search for Brida. "What are you going to do?" I asked Uhtred.

"Think about it," he replied.

"You just told Alfred you'll help him negotiate against the Danes?" I jumped in front of him, causing him to stop abruptly and look me in the eye. "Uhtred, you can't go. Guthrum will kill you."

"He won't," Uhtred replied smiling.

"How can you be sure?" I asked.

Uhtred placed his hands on my shoulders and bent down slightly so he'd be eye-level with me. "He won't. Alfred won't allow it." Uhtred released me and kept walking through the woods. I groaned with frustration and followed.

After a while we reached where Brida was laying. She looked almost dead. Her face was pale, and she did not wake upon our approach. Uhtred picked up a small stick and began poking her with it. I shook my head at his antics and sat down nearby.

Brida woke with a start and swatted at the stick. When she realized it was Uhtred she relaxed some and then groaned that she wasn't feeling well. I watched her roll over onto her side, pulling the blanket over her head.

Uhtred laughed and pulled the blanket off her face. "So what did you see?" he asked her.

"What I saw is my business," she moaned. "I don't feel well."

I squatted down near her smoldering fire and poked it some with a stick. A little flame kicked to life and I warmed my cold hands. Uhtred offered Brida some water which she swatted away. He looked at me and shrugged. He fell backwards onto his butt. "Where we find ourselves is fate. It's the work of the three spinners. They sit deep in this earth at work, and have brought us here," he declared with a smile.

"Did Ravn tell you that?" I chuckled.

"Perhaps he did," Uhtred smiled at me.

"We should go. To Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, anywhere but here," Brida said, sitting up.

"Why?" Uhtred asked her.

"Escape," she replied. We both stared at her and when we didn't say anything she continued, "safety."

"From what?" I asked, getting slightly concerned, for I knew Brida had the gift of sight even though she rarely shared what she saw with others.

"I saw Ragnar's ship."

"In the past?" Uhtred asked.

"No, Wind Viper," she replied.

"Young Ragnar?" Uhtred questioned her.

"We saw it sink," I protested.

"I was there, on the ship, with him. I saw it. I want to leave here. Come with me," Brida pleaded with us. More Uhtred than I, but she still glanced at me as she made her plea. "Come with me."

"I've given a promise to Alfred," Uhtred's face fell. "To attend the negotiations. To advise." Brida remained silent, so Uhtred continued on, "Brida, there is no place else for us to go."

"We cannot stay here!" She cried aloud.

"It's a beginning."

"Leave me!" She shouted at Uhtred.

"We cannot wander and do nothing," he replied.

"How can you trust him? Alfred. How do you know he won't simply turn you over to Guthrum? You know nothing about him," She yelled.

"I trust Beocca and Beocca trusts him."

"The priest?" I asked, losing some faith in Uhtred's big plan.

"I said leave me!" Brida shouted, throwing leaves at Uhtred. "Leave me, both of you!" She screamed, turning her fury on me.

I hopped up and followed Uhtred away. Brida screamed after us, "You were not on the ship with me. Go to Alfred. I'll gladly watch him betray you!"

"Uhtred, wait up," I called after him, trying to catch up to him as he quickly stalked away.

He whipped around and looked at me, "I don't understand what Brida's issue is. We need to survive; how can she not see that?"

"I think you both agree on that, but the how we survive you don't so much agree on," I replied.

"And what do you think Tara? You follow me why?"

"Because I trust you Uhtred Ragnarson. You said it yourself, the fates have worked our paths to here. We both have lost everything and everyone we loved. I guess a part of me knows that we are destined to stay together. I am destined to follow you wherever you go. I have no other person I care about. No other purpose."

Uhtred looked at me a long while, not saying a word. Part of me felt rather stupid for my outburst, but I meant every word. There was not a soul on this earth that I felt loyal to anymore. I had tied my fate in with Uhtred the moment I told Guthrum I served Uhtred Ragnarson.

Uhtred's silence was making me uncomfortable. "Uhtred?" I began but found him pulling my face close to his. He rested his forehead on mine. I felt his warm breath tickle my face. "Do you mean it?" he asked.

"Mean what?" I replied.

"You care about me?" he smiled.

"Aye," I responded, my heart beating a million miles a minute.

"You would swear an oath to me?" he asked.

"Aye," I replied, suddenly feeling my knees tremble slightly.

"I will accept no such oath," he replied, pulling away. "But I will allow you to follow me if you so wish," he smiled.

"Why?" I asked.

"Oaths trap men," he replied. "And I would never want to trap you," he finished, turning away and walking towards Winchester once more.

"Where are you going?"

"To get drunk," he called back, not turning around.

I rolled my eyes at his idiocy and chased after him.