New Shores ➳ The Last Kingdom | Finan the Agile (The Northman's Daughter 1)

THE ARMOUR

Finan chuckled and then broke away from her. Shaylee watched him slip quietly out the door and then fell back into the cushions. She grinned like a Cheshire cat. Strangely enough, she had been sad to death last night, and now she couldn't stop smiling. She already knew that she would soon have to break out of her bubble. But for this moment, she just wanted to enjoy this happy bubble just a little bit longer.

She must indeed have fallen asleep again because the sun was already above the horizon the next time she opened her eyes. Outside her window, she heard that the city had already woken up and that it was bustling with activity. Moaning, she swung her legs out of bed and rubbed her face. She had never been a real morning person.

But today, getting up was even more exhausting than usual. She noticed the effects of her excessive alcohol consumption. It took her much longer than usual to get through her morning routine. But when she came down the stairs to the large courtyard afterwards, she again felt like a human being.

Uhtred was sitting on a bench in the courtyard, sharpening his sword. Shaylee had noticed that he often did that to gather his thoughts. And sometimes, he did not even notice what happened around her when he lost himself in the steady movements. But today, he looked up as Shaylee came down the stairs. He smiled lightly as he saw her suffering face and wished her a good morning. Shaylee just grunted a bit unhappily and scooped some porridge into her bowl.

"I told you to go to bed," Uhtred said, but Shaylee could hear the grin in his voice.

Shaylee looked over at him and grinned crookedly: "And I did. But you never said when I should go to bed."

Uhtred smiled: "You smart aleck.

Shaylee grinned and started spooning her breakfast into herself. As she pushed the bowl away from her and leaned back, her uncle stood up and put his sword aside. He looked at her attentively and then asked, "How are you?"

Shaylee sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm fine. Please apologise; I shouldn't have stormed off like that last night. That was not exactly dutiful."

"Don't worry. I totally understand," said Uhtred and looked at her sympathetically, " And I usually wouldn't ask you about it either, but now it's something else. We need to know who we're dealing with."

"I get it," Shaylee replied, smiling rather tortured at her uncle, "What do you want to know?"

"What do I have to know?" Uhtred replied. He had got up and walked over to her. Across from her, he sat down at the table. Shaylee let her gaze wander across the room and realised they were alone. Even the maid was not in sight. Gratefully, she turned to her uncle again.

"Well, as I said before, his name is Aidan mac Laigni. His father is the King of Cuib", Shaylee saw the uncomprehending look from her uncle and explained: "There are many small kingdoms in Ireland. The King of Cuib is a nice title, but it does not come with great power. But the title doesn't need to bring real power either. His father, Aonghus, has that anyway." Shaylee poured herself a cup before continuing: "Aonghus mac Laigni is a rich man. Very rich, in fact. One of his ancestors was King of Ulster, but the family lost that title decades ago. It's a shame that Aonghus never really digested. That is why he made himself king of the Cuib."

"And what is his relationship with his son?" Uhtred asked.

Shaylee shrugged: "The two are not very close. They are similar; Aidan has his father's brutality but not his intellect. He is driven by his own greed. And he does not care what his actions mean for others."

Uhtred sat back and said, "And that's why he's here?"

"I wouldn't put it past him. Of course, I can't rule out the possibility that there are other reasons. But when I left, I'm sure that hurt his ego. He can't let something like that slide," Shaylee confirmed.