Blood Moon| The Last Kingdom| Sihtric Kjartansson

TWENTY-TWO

"Lady," Beocca drew my attention to him as he covered his cross with his hand, "accepting aid when you need it is always the right thing to do. Uhtred is a good man. He can be a bastard, but he is a good man. I swear it on my God."

His heart did not falter, and no lies crossed his lips.

"I have commanded Brynjar's men for five years," Saga stated, her voice cool, "I know how to lead, and I know how to battle."

"But do you know how to pass between Wessex and Mercia undetected?" Finan challenged her easily, "Do you know how to avoid the eyes and ears of Edward's spies?"

Saga shrugged calmly, "If spies have no heads, then Edward will learn nothing."

"Is your answer to everything cutting heads off?" Finan snorted, toying with one of the many wooden figurines that littered the small house.

"If the method is effective, I don't see the need to change it," Saga concluded plainly, turning to me then. "What do you want to do?"

I look up to the ceiling, a small huff escaping me, "I want people to stop asking me that."

Saga's lips twitched, "Being a Jarl means needing to make decisions."

I rolled my eyes, turning back to my packing, "I am a Jarl with no land, no men, and no luck."

Saga made a strange noise in the back of her throat, "Land can be stolen, men can be convinced and luck can turn."

I raised a talisman off the table, round and smooth, time having worn down the runes that had once decorated it so proudly. My father had worn it into battle against the Welsh, the night my mother was killed. She'd carved it for him out of the bone of a horse.

"Lady," Uhtred came to the table I was standing at, "I do not like being in debt to people. Allow me to pay my dues. Let me help you get your land back."

His heart jumped strangely, and I paused, lowering the talisman and turning to him, "What are you not telling me?" 

Uhtred frowned, "I have told you everything—" His heart jumped again, and I raised my hand to stop him, walking around him and heading for his men.

Finan whistled under his breath, staring at the wooden duck in his hand with a newfound ferocity.

Osferth took up praying, looking up at the ceiling and talking to it.

Sihtric stared at them in bemusement before he met my gaze, smiling softly, "Lady."

My own lips twitched, and I shook my head slowly, "I have told you to use my name, Sihtric."

"I am forgetful," he pushed off the wall, his hands clasping behind his back.

"Well, let us hope you have not forgotten your Lord's ambitions," I snorted softly, glancing back at Uhtred before looking to Sihtric again. "What is it your Lord seeks to gain from helping me take back my lands?"

"His home, Lady," Sihtric replied without missing a beat.

Finan groaned under his breath, "He didn't even try..."

I raised my brow, taking a step closer to Sihtric so his heartbeat was the clearest in the room to me, "His home?"

Sihtric looked down, his eyes lighting up from the hue of candle lights, "He lost it when he was a boy, Lady. Bebbanburg."

I tilted my head to the side, wracking my brain for answers, "That name is familiar to me. Is Bebbanburg not in Northumbria?"

Uhtred cleared his throat, taking a step towards me, "It is, Lady. My uncle stole the lands from me when I was a child."