The Last One

twenty

Time to go.

Outside, I turned down the street towards the tavern and hoped everyone would be there. It was busy this morning, despite it being early. Traders had arrived ahead of schedule, and so it was a bustle of activity. I stood right beside the docks for a few moments and thought back to my dream of sailing away with them for a moment before I shook my head and continued to the tavern.

Inside, everyone was already seated around a table. I sat down next to Uhtred, and Finan offered me a fried egg, which I took with a smile before popping it into my mouth whole. The egg yolk popped in my mouth delightfully, and I gave him a thumbs up in thanks.

"It appears the men camped on the river in Mercia are not Erik's men," Uhtred said softly to me.

I chewed and swallowed before speaking. "Then who are they?"

Sihtric leaned on the table on his elbows, his eyes locked onto the feather in my hair and then to my face. "Njal Ivarsson. A Northman."

"He has men and support. Though I have never heard his name," Uhtred mumbled.

I stared at Sihtric a long moment. Trying to gauge what the spark in his eyes meant. I leaned on the table, too. "How many men?"

"Enough," Sihtric said as he diverted his gaze.

"So we take this to the King?" Finan asked as he leaned in.

Uhtred leaned in closer, too. Now we all huddled over the table like we were children sharing secrets. "We must. We should go today, but carefully." His eyes trailed over our faces. "There are eyes and ears everywhere."

I gnawed the inside of my lip. Did something happen? Why were we all huddled and whispering about our travel plans. I felt like I was missing a big piece of the story here, but I guessed that was my fault for missing the meeting yesterday so I could commune with the Gods instead. I had no regrets on that front, though.

"Did something happen?" I whispered, but my eyes never left Sihtric as concern crept into my voice.

He shook his head. "They knew that Uhtred was looking for Erik, and they knew what happened at the farm. They also seemed to know a lot about what we do in Wessex and Mercia.. someone is watching."

My skin crawled with the possibilities of what he spoke. Someone was watching us? "Who?" I squeaked.

Uhtred shrugged. "No way to know. So unless we know we are alone, we should speak on battle plans or movements very little." We all nodded our agreeance, and soon after, we were following each other down to the stables and saddling our horses to take out again.

It seemed that we never stopped moving, from here to there and back again. The game of politics and war seemed to be never-ending. Until the next battlefield. Until the last fight.

Outside of town, we fell into lines of two by two. I looked over at Sihtric with questioning eyes. He looked back at me. A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth and sent butterflies shooting through my belly again. I glanced up towards Uhtred. Had he told him anything yet?

Sihtric's subtle smile turned downwards, and he shook his head. He hadn't told him yet. I tried not to huff in disappointment. The more this went on in secret, the more I felt like we were trapped in some dangerous game that only we knew the rules of. I wanted it to be over. I diverted my eyes away from him.

I had half a mind to go tell Uhtred myself. To trot my horse up the line and say to him: "Uhtred, Lord, Sihtric and I have been humping each other in secret, but now we want to court, but he's too scared to talk to you about it, so here I am."