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"Lord, we need to change our plan. We cannot wait for him to attack because he will not. Her value is even greater than I thought. He will wait for as long as it takes." Uhtred says once the group meets in the hall once more.
"Æthelred and the Mercians will be close." Alfred claims. Finan props his leg on the bench behind Revna once she sits down.
"They will be seen. What we must do is stop them on the road. I can send Finan and Revna to do just that. And then we must join them, we must choose the place of battle, lord. But we must act quickly while his blood burns." Uhtred said looking at the king, Finan watched them nervously and looked down at Revna who shrugged.
"Join Æthelred where?" He asked.
"I am thinking Fearnham. There's a hill."
"I know it, lord. It gives us an advantage." Beocca backs up Uhtred's advice.
"But how do we join Æthelred here at this hill? And how do we ensure Earl Sigurd will follow if that is the plan?" Alfred questions and looks to Uhtred for the answer.
"Finan and Revna will find the Mercians and we will ensure Bloodhair follows. We will draw him." Uhtred says, Revna leans back listening to the plan with interest. She glared at Finan when he nudged her back with his knee.
Uhtred wasn't so dumb after all.
"And if Æthelred cannot be found?" Alfred asks.
"We fight alone but we must act quickly. It must be today."
"I'm ready lords, it won't take us long to find the Mercians," Finan says and stands up looking between the king and lord. Alfred gives a slow nod as Revna walks past him without a second glance.
"To Fearnham. Go." Uhtred orders. The two quickly gather their horses and head out to find the Mercians, color her surprised when the leader of this army was a woman.
"Finan?" The woman questions and looks at her in confusion. Finan quickly explains the plan and Aethelflæd agrees to help almost immediately. Once they reached the peak of the hill they began to give cheers and war cries, they rode down to the Bloodhair's men with the intention to kill.
Revna slashes and stabs anyone that stands in her way as she tries to reach Bloodhair, she gouges the eyes out of a dane and points her sword at Bloodhair with a scream. He quickly backs away in fear and knocks a guy off a horse to steal it, he and a few others run leaving his men to be slaughtered.
"Coward." She sneers at the man and takes her anger out on the remaining Danes. To no one's surprise, they win the battle leaving behind bodies, she searches for Sihtric who is giving a victory scream. Once the siblings confirm they are both fine they search for the rest of the group, Finan moves to her side when they join Uhtred.
"Back to Winchester, lord?" Sihtric asks and Uhtred nods as they retrieve their horses.
"We will stop to rest in a day's time." Just like Uhtred said they stopped to make camp a day later, Uhtred and Finan were sitting hunched against a tree watching Osferth cook the deer Sihtric killed and watching Skade from a distance. Revna noticed the lake next to them and decided to bathe, she had blood on her skin that was both a day and weeks old.
Revna removed her breastplate armor and sat it next to Sihtric, who stood to help her untie the underarmor. Once she lifted it off her brother started cleaning it for her, Revna patted his head affectionately.
"I can clean my armor, you know."
"I want to do this, sister." He said with a smile. She nodded and slipped off her trousers and bloody tattered shirt leaving her in undergarments, Uhtred made a sound of approval when he glanced her way and Osferth blushed at the sight. Sihtric chuckled at the monk and started to tease him, she glanced at Finan who was gazing intensely at her bare thighs and then up to her barely covered breasts.
Revna dived into the cold water of the lake and started to scrub the dried blood from her skin and sighed in comfort. Revna dipped her head into the water and ran her fingers through her hair to wash out the blood and dirt.
When she decided she was clean enough she caught the towel Uhtred threw at her, wrapping her body with it as she squeezed the water out of her hair and walked to them before tossing her clothes into the flames.
"What? All that blood was not coming out." She spoke unbothered when they looked at her in shock. She went to the pouch on her saddle and slipped on the extra set of pants she had, she turned around and raised an eyebrow when Finan stumbled over a log and fumbled with the shirt he was handing her. Sihtric scoffed at the man, clearly not liking the attention his friend was giving his star, and turned to Osferth while Uhtred laughed.
She grabbed the shirt from him and noticed how Finan seemed to not know where to look, deciding to tease him a bit she dropped the towel leaving her chest covered only by her undergarment. Finan choked on air seeing them so close and Revna couldn't hold back her laugh as she buttoned up the shirt that she assumed belonged to him.
"Freyja would be jealous of your beauty." Finan stuttered as Revna smirked at him.
"Is that so, Finan? Not very Christian of you." She said brushing past him with a smile.
Upon arriving back in Winchester they find out Uhtred's wife had died in child labor. He mourns his woman and gathers his children to go back to Coccham.
"Uhtred! Uhtred! You are needed at the palace by the king." Beocca shouts to the Dane.
"For what reason? We are to return to Coccham." Uhtred sighs.
"It would be better if you heard it from him yourself. Alone." Beocca stated. Uhtred sighed and sat his daughter back on the ground hesitantly.
