Kingdom Come

III. Slavers

"Gisela, I would like you beside me at the negotiation," the King told her mother. She knew her mother and father weren't technically married yet, but everyone knew they loved each other. "Uhtred, mine is the only voice that the brothers shall hear." gods, Jaehaera wanted to throw these knives at him and the abbot's eyes and twist them to make them both blind. Blinder than they already were it seemed. Her mother and father shared a look of unhappiness.

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Sihtric, Jaehaera, Bjorn, Hild, Clapa, and Halig all stood with their army outside the negotiation tent. Jaehaera no longer has to hide her frustration and anger. "This is utterly idiotic," she huffed to no one in particular. "Demented even."

"Jaehaera, hush," Hild warned her, as Saxons were still around them. "Someone could hear you, and then you'll be as good as dead."

"I am sorry, lady, but I cannot keep quiet any longer," Jaehaera replied to the nun. Sihtric and Bjorn shared a smirk, the boys not seeing the other do so.

"You must, Guthred is the king, and he decides," Hild reminded her. "It could be for our good."

"That does not mean it's a good decision," Jaehaera replied back quietly. "A dog decides to piss on a tree. Who is that decision good for? The dog? Or the tree?"

"Jaehaera, hold your tongue, I am warning you," Hild hissed at her. Jaehaera relented and huffed before crossing her arms over her chest. "I agree with you. We should be fighting, not talking. But you and I don't make the decisions."

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As they marched into Eoferwic they were met with no fight, just monks and priests. They bowed to the body that is supposed to be their saint. She followed after Hild, her father, and her mother glaring at the back of Guthred's head. Once they were settled, her father went out to the stable for something for his horse and found Sihtric, Clapa, and his daughter walking together. Talking. He didn't know how to feel about that. Maybe he could see the appeal. An older boy with darker features, but what happened with her and Bjorn he wondered. The two haven't been spending as much time together as before.

"Sihtric," her father's voice rang out, interrupting the three's conversation. He quickly walked over to him, Jaehaera close behind, even though he hadn't called her.

"Yes, lord?" Sihtric answered.

"Kjartan's fortress at Dunholm, you will tell me of the weaknesses," he commanded him.

"There are none, lord," Sihtric answered. He spoke the truth, she could tell. Jaehaera turned her gaze onto her father. "Lord, there are no weaknesses," he repeated when his father gave him a look. A look she didn't understand, but Sihtric did. It told him to keep away from his daughter.

"There are always weaknesses," he told him, glancing at his daughter as he walked towards the boy with his horse. He got onto his horse and looked down at his daughter, who stepped a bit away from the boy which seemed to please her father. "I will go, and see for myself."

"Your father does not like me," Sihtric commented to her as her father rode away.

Jaehaera shook her head, "no, he just does not know you," she answered. "He will come around to you. Trust me."

Just when Sihtric opened his mouth to reply to her, the annoyed blond bug that followed found them. Bjorn glared at Sihtric, and Sihtric glared back. "Jaehaera," Bjorn called before walking to her. "Would you like to come train with me?"