While Sigyn was frantically packing supplies she felt the familiar weightless feeling that accompanied her visions. She saw her sister, calling out for Bloodhair through the night and she saw Bloodhair going to find her. So, she would stay here, for now. Storming out of her tents and into his own, she was quick to grab the redhead from Bloodhair's bed and throw her out of the tent before throwing her clothes after her. Her sister had been gone less than a day and he was already trying to find a replacement. Men truly were pigs.
"She calls out for you. Your men hear her yet you decide to hump the first person you see!" Throwing his sword for him to catch she turned her back so he could change. "We have prisoners of our own. We can offer a trade. If this Uhtred is a man of his word, he will return Skade in exchange for their lives." She stormed out of his tent, leaving him speechless and rushing to change into his battle gear.
"You go again for battle?" Hilda asked cautiously, afraid to approach Sigyn and face her temper. But instead of the outburst she had prepared herself for, she was shocked when her lover pulled her closer. Their foreheads resting together as a small comfort.
"I will bring her home. I will not let the same fate befall my sister." Hilda silenced her with a gentle kiss, she was one of the few people who knew why Sigyn found comfort in women. Why she would try and kill as many women on the battlefield as possible so they wouldn't be captured, tortured and raped. Skade had saved her. Sigyn had to save her in return.
"We follow the men with the prisoners. We leave now! Reclaim our own and strike down anyone who tries to get in our way." Bloodhair rallied his troops and they headed to Aescengum where the Danish spies had heard Skade calling through the night.
Sigyn and Bloodhair were the only two to ride on horseback, their men positioned either side of the prisoners who were all connected by rope and attached to their horses so they wouldn't fall behind. It was a couple of hours ride, they rode throughout the night and when they arrived at the gates the following morning they were greeted by several men hiding behind their great walls.
"So her cries did fill the air like I had hoped." Uhtred spoke cheerily, like he didn't have a care in the world. But as soon as Sigyn locked eyes with her younger sister and her lips silently mouthed one word, Sigyn suddenly couldn't stop the smile spreading her lips. Curse. Skade had cursed Uhtred when he found her at the church. Climbing down from her horse to stand beside Bloodhair who dragged all of the Saxon hostages to kneel before them.
"Return my woman. Or their blood will be on your hands." Bloodhair claimed while waving around his sword but already Sigyn grew tired. She would not stand back and watch her sister be at the mercy of two men who decided to have a dick measuring contest.
She withdrew her dagger and went to stand behind the woman whose eyes were already glazed over. The horrors she had already seen and experienced. The blade easily sliced through her throat and without as much as a protest she bled out on the ground. "Return our seer or I keep killing them." When the men don't even flinch she approached the last two women in the line and this time their deaths were a bit more theatrical. Her blade forced under ones chin until the tip poked out of her left eyeball, the connection with the brain rendering her dead instantly. The third woman did plead, begged for her life and haunted by the images of when Sigyn was captured by the Saxons and raped by every man in the fortress for two weeks triggered her anger at the world. Each swing of the blade was driven with pure bloodthirst, slicing and stabbing every bit of flesh she could reach until the body dropped to the floor and Sigyn was covered in the crimson liquid. Turning back to the men, all of them doing their best to hide the horror in their eyes.
"Bloodhair, control your hound! Any more hostages die and I will let every man in here take his turn with your woman." Uhtred called out and to add more insult to injury he didn't hold back as he punched Skade in the gut, but she just laughed out. The threat almost got everyone else killed but Sigyn managed to ground herself. No one would suffer such a fate if she could help it. "Release the prisoners before sunset and I might consider releasing your woman."
Sigyn approached Bloodhair as she placed her dagger away after wiping it on her leathers. She leaned close to whisper so no one else could hear. "We release the rest. I will see my sister live another day."
Bloodhair seemed angry, not wanting another man to get the better of him. Even if it meant costing him his lover. But Sigyn had pulled him away, leaving the remaining prisoners to continue to kneel before the gates.
There was a stand off for hours. Uhtred keeping Skade on display as his men ushered the prisoners inside the keep. When the new day broke through the skies Skade was no longer on the wall, mounted as an unreachable trophy. Sigyn hadn't slept a single second, she paced the fields but every single time she grew too close to the walls a warning arrow was fired in her direction and one of Uhtred's men hadn't taken his eyes off her. The sound of a horn approaching was what broke the staring contest. Then the fighting starting so quickly she barely had time to draw her sword.
She was caught between two shield walls, only Bloodhair and his men fighting by her side and they were dropping too quickly.
"We need to retreat!" Bloodhair shouted above the screams of his men and Sigyn charged at him. Wanting to strike him down for giving up so quickly on someone he claimed he couldn't live without.
"You would abandon her?! After all these years. You coward!" Pulling her sword back before making the move to drive it into Bloodhair one of the shields hit her hard from behind and her vision went black. Her eyes attempting to open as she felt a horses hooves and her body being thrown against someone. How heart-breaking to realise that Skade had witnessed her lover not only abandon her, but he took her sister with him too.
When she was finally able to open her eyes for longer than five minutes she was met by Hilda who was already caring for her wound. The shield had punctured her skull, it was a miracle she was alive. Or it was Hilda being her overprotective self.
"Bloodhair, where is he?" Sigyn moved to sit up, her head was throbbing, but she could not sit back and wait for news on her sister. She had to do something. The only thing that helped the worry in her stomach was the fact she knew that Uhtred wouldn't risk killing Skade while he thought he remained cursed. She was safe. For now.
"In his tents, with another Dane called Haesten. He has dealt with Uhtred before." Hilda had attempted to hold Sigyn in her bed but she knew better. So, she instead finished cleaning her up and helped change her into more of her armoured leathers. "If you must leave, I will travel with you."
Sigyn should have known better. To have such a weakness around. To make that weakness known. No one except Bloodhair knew that Skade was her sister so she wouldn't be used in a way to hurt her. But Hilda wasn't exactly discreet in her feelings. But in that moment, Sigyn found that she needed her. Needed someone. "Pack our things. I'll come back for you."
Storming into the tent of Bloodhair he seemed shocked to see her standing yet alone dressed for battle. "My warrior. You still live." The look of pure distaste on Sigyn's face earned a laugh from the Dane she had never seen or heard of before.
"I see you have a type Bloodhair. Maybe when we get your woman back, I could have this one?" His hungry eyes gazed over every single curve of her body but he was soon nervously laughing when he felt her cool steel against his throat without her so much as looking in his direction.
"Uhtred. Tell me everything you know. How do I get to him?" After a few seconds of the man daring to move she finally dropped her blade, turning her gaze to him finally. "I could gut you like the pig that you are if you would prefer."
Of course. The pig started to squeal. "He was born a Saxon. Captured by Earl Ragnar and accepted as his own. His brother Ragnar is now commander of that army." Ragnar. Of course. But he knew Skade was her sister. He would know of her hidden agenda. Unless.. The idea was enough to turn her stomach.
"That's all I need. Now run along little pig." She sheathed her sword and he growled at her nickname before leaving her alone with Bloodhair. "I'm going to join Earl Ragnar. We lived with him before we found you. He will welcome me back with open arms."
"I will meet you there in a few weeks and we will attack Uhtred again." There was no goodbye between the pair. If anything, Sigyn was glad to be getting away from him. But knowing she would have to bed Ragnar to play on his affections for her was filling her with anxiety already.
The road to Dunholm where Ragnar and his men had set up home was a long four days. By the time she approached the gates she was glad to be off her horse. Hilda had accompanied her in a cart with some of their belongings and after arguing with the gatekeeper for a few minutes they were let inside once Ragnar had realised who was at his gates.
She barely set foot in the dirt when his strong arms had wrapped around her and honestly, hugging him back took less effort than she expected. It had been years. She was a woman now. A warrior. She had killed more in battle than most Danes did in a lifetime.
"Is this what Valhalla truly looks like? Have they sent you as my Valkyrie?" He chuckled, pulling back from the hug to inspect her. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he liked what she had grown into. Maybe with enough ale, this could be bearable. They were soon joined by his woman, Brida but the two always respected each other.
"Two warrior women? Maybe this is your personal Valhalla after all." Brida chuckled softly before she gave the woman a small smile.
"He would be so lucky." Sigyn attempted a joke but seeing Hilda glaring at her from the distance she already knew this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. "Can I meet with you two later? In private?" Of course, Ragnar was quick to agree before Brida dragged him away laughing.
"So, this is your plan. Hump the Earl to gain his favour?" The venom in Hilda's words were nothing like what Sigyn had heard before. And for some reason it made her laugh. Not because she was laughing at Hilda and her feelings. But at the fact someone would be jealous over her.
"I promise you. I will not enjoy it. But it is a necessary sacrifice. He knows Skade is my sister. So I need Ragnar and his woman on my side for when the time is right." Sigyn approached her fellow warrior and grabbed her chin between her thumb and index finger to direct her gaze back to her own. "My pleasure is yours. Don't forget that." There was a quick hungry kiss shared between the pair before Sigyn left to find Ragnar as Hilda set up a tent of their own.
The men in the fortress were already drunk, unworthy of even a second of the Gods attention with how they behaved. But she weaved through them to the middle of the camp. The biggest tent would be where Ragnar slept. But before she could approach she heard her name being called. When she turned around she saw Brida who was buried into her cups of ale.
"He will be busy for the next five minutes." Brida pointed at the seat opposite her and Sigyn wasn't in the position to turn her down, so she joined her. They could see the shadows from here. The outlines of Ragnar humping someone in his tents and Sigyn offered a genuine smile to Brida. "I give him permission. My womb betrays me, and he needs heirs. He only does it to further his line. He comes to me for his pleasure."
"And what about your pleasure? There's more to humping than making snotty nosed children." Brida laughed softly at Sigyn's choice of words but it was obvious that not being a mother upset her. "Does he make sure you are pleasured?" This next question seemed to catch Brida off guard. She swallowed down her ale nervously. Sigyn stood now, throwing back the rest of her ale before she held out her hand for Brida and within seconds she was stood too. "Do not let him make a mockery out of you. If he wants a bitch to bear his pup, I offer myself."
Brida grabbed her hand tightly, knowing what Sigyn was hinting at as she pulled her into Ragnar's tents. He was mid thrust when he pulled out of his whore, throwing her away from him as he looked at the two women who haunted his dreams.
"What is the meaning of this?" He grabbed one of the pillows, attempting to cover himself from their eyes and the woman who was enjoying his company scrambled out of his tent to return to her own lover probably.
They didn't answer, instead Sigyn turned to face Brida. Capturing her face in her calloused hands as their lips touched, the kiss was rough in an instant. Both of them trying to quench a thirst they didn't know they had until that moment. Ragnar seemed to understand what was happening and he moved from the bed to stand behind Brida, his lips kissing along her neck as his hands clumsily groped at her breasts. Brida moaned into the kiss and it was a sign to break the kiss momentarily, Sigyn's eyes locked with Ragnars now as they both worked on removing Brida's clothes. Within seconds Brida stood before the two and Ragnar was trying to undress Sigyn but she slapped his hands away.
"Worship your woman like the Goddess she is." Sigyn now pushed Brida back onto the bed, her hands pushing down onto Ragnar's shoulders so he had no choice but to kneel before her. "Use your tongue." He seemed a little confused at first with his orders but once his tongue locked onto Brida an unearthly moan left her lips and he knew he was doing something right. This would work in her favour. She could teach Ragnar how to pleasure Brida without having to actually do anything herself. Sigyn did however kneel beside Ragnar to whisper commands into his ear. "The tiny bud of flesh. Pay attention to that. That will make her come apart." He listened to her, Brida soon writhing in the messy bed against his tongue as her moans quickly became screams. It wasn't long until she had reached that blissful ecstasy and Sigyn had pulled Ragnar's head back to let them both have some rest. "Look at her. Look what you can do to her. Would you like to continue to learn?"
"Yes.." Brida breathlessly whispered out, her body still hadn't returned to her yet. She had never experienced such a high.
"When do I get to do this to you?" Ragnar asked as he wiped his mouth on the bedding to clear away any juices left over on his beard.
"When you can make your woman reach this high without my coaching. Now kiss her." He quickly climbed into the bed, doing as he was told because he wanted Sigyn. He needed her.
The rest of the night was stolen kisses, stories being exchanged and ale being shared. Ragnar would only touch Brida and Sigyn would continue to tell him what to do to get the best possible reactions from her body. It was a nightly routine she could live with until she had earned their trust.