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"Saga!" Henrick's voice echoed in my ears, sounding distant and blurry, as though I were underwater. "Saga!"
I could feel one of his hands on my back, keeping me on my side and his other hand held my cheeks firmly, forcing my mouth open.
"Saga!"
I could feel a searing cold coating the tent and my skin felt like it was wax from the frost now coating it.
"Sag-"
"I am here!" Saga's breathless voice burst into the tent, "I—What happened?!"
Through my blurry vision, I could make out her red hair flying through the room.
"She went to sleep, to share the soul of raven and—"
"She only just recovered!" Saga snapped, her hand brushing his fingers off my face, instead slipping something uneven and bitter into my mouth; tree bark.
"I told her as much, but she didn't listen," Henrick snapped. "She went to take a letter to Ragnar, she was asleep for just over two hour—"
"Two hours?!" Saga yelped, "You fool! You could have killed her!"
"She would not wake!" Henrick yelled back, "I could not leave her and go find you!"
"She must be beyond exhausted," Saga quipped, "you will go and find Olav. You must sacrifice something big, a bear, perhaps, or a boar."
"Right," Henrick let go of me, "I will retu—"
"Go!" Saga demanded, "I will handle this."
I could feel myself shaking, my muscles aching and my stomach turning; I had to get up. I had to tell them Cnut had betrayed Ragnar. I had to tell them Ragnar would die. I had to tell them Daga was going to try and kill me too. But, I could not.
Saga bundled up some bear skins I had in my tent, shoving them under my stomach and back so I could not move. Then, she jumped up, racing to dig through my apothecary table, looking for anything that would help me.
My teeth bit into the bark in my mouth so hard, I felt blood pour out of my lips and my eyes rolled, pictures of the raven's limp body falling haunting me.
"By the Gods..." Saga mumbled softly, digging her finger into my mouth, forcing me to release the bark so she could place a vial into my mouth. She lifted me after the vial was empty, propping me up against the wall.
My vision began to clear slowly and my ears unclogged but I still shook violently.
"You can hear and see me again," Saga stated, lifting the bear skins to wrap them around me in thick layers. "Good. Then, you can hear me cuss you out and smi—"
"Ra—" I coughed violently, slumping forward, against Saga who helped me stay up right.
"What?" Saga murmured, the anger leaving her bones as she stroked my hair gently, "What are you trying to say?"
My mouth would not move and all I could do in my own frustration was cry.
"Gyda!"
"Sh!" Saga shushed Olav swiftly as the young man burst into my tent, "She is not well, you will be less of a brute today."
Olav rushed over, knocking into my table and falling to his knees at my bed, his hand raising to cup my cheek. "Dear Gods, give her strength."
"Are the sacrifices done?" Saga demanded, looking down at him.
"Henrick has lured a boar," Olav murmured, his blue eyes staring into mine, "he cut its throat when I left. Gyda should start to regain her strength soon."
"One can hope," Saga muttered, pushing me back to sit against the wall again. "I will go look for more potions. You will sit with her."
"Of course I will," Olav grinned, taking Saga's place on the bed and covering my hand with his.
Olav and I had been bound since the night my mother died; we shared something the others did not understand. We shared fear.
"You will be alright," Olav reassured me, his clothes smeared with dried bloods of all kinds, "it was a beast of a boar."
He must have been telling the truth because I could feel the frost on my skin melting as he spoke, my teeth no longer clattering as harshly.
"Rag—" I bit the side of my cheek by accident, pausing to taking in a few sharp breaths.
"Rag?" Olav frowned, "What are you trying to say, Nightshade?"
"I thought Aconite was her name by you," Saga called over her shoulder, grinding up something in a mortar.
"That was last month," Olav snorted, "this month, she is a new deadly flower."
"Charming," Saga mused dryly, grinding the pestle firmly.
I twitched my hand under Olav's, drawing his attention back to me, "Ragnar..."
"Ragnar?" Olav frowned in confusion, "What about him? He is at his camp."
I opened my mouth, my throat dry and unwilling to force words.
"He will live?"
I jumped slightly, looking to the doorway where Henrick stood, his armour dripping blood on the tent floor.
"Will he live?" Repeated Henrick, stepping further into the room, the stench of dead meat following him.
"What do you mean, will he live?" Saga came around my divider, the mortar in her hand.
"Gyda had a vision," Henrick muttered, "of Ragnar's death. She flew to warn him."
Saga's face paled and she rushed over to me, scooping the mixture she had made into a spoon. "You will eat this and you will tell us what you saw."
Olav moved to let Saga sit and he hovered in front of me, beside Henrick, all of them waiting impatiently.
The mixture Saga had made tasted like moss but it soothed my throat and I was able to force my voice to work. "Ragnar... has been betrayed."
Saga raised her hand, covering her mouth, "No..."
I nodded slowly, using my shaking hands to push myself up further. "Cn—Cnut has betrayed him. He took the letter."
"Ragnar did not see your message?" Henrick demanded, "He remains unaware of his fate?"
I shook my head, raising my hands to rub my face, my voice coming out muffled, "Ragnar will die."
"I do not understand," Saga mumbled under her breath, "the Gods chose him..."
I leaned my head back, looking at her through my lashes, "This is not the will of the Gods. It is the will of the seer Uhtred rides with."
Olav swore promptly, turning on his heels, "We must inform my father. Someone should ride to Jarl Brynjar and tell h—"
"No!" I yelped, nearly falling forward in my attempt to reach out to him.
Olav paused, glancing back at me, "What?"
I shook my head, forcing myself back up. "Cnut... works with Daga. A messenger travels to tell Daga that he should be rid of me—"
"That bastard!" Henrick roared, his hand rising to his blade.
"He will try to kill me!" I yelled over him, shuffling to the end of my bed, "We will not give him the chance."
"Of course we won't," Saga offered me her arm, helping me stand, "what do you want us to do?"
My legs shook as I tried to walk to I decided to stay in one place instead. "We will gather the wolves and the horses and we will ride."
"Ride?" Henrick frowned, "Where to?"
My heart jumped uncomfortably and I rubbed my chest, "We... we will look for my father."
"And if we don't find him?" Olav mumbled, creeping closer to us, "What if he is already at Ragnar's camp?"
Cnut only appeared to want to kill Ragnar. He did not seem like the type of fool that would waste two hundred good men by killing Brynjar. He would just have to be clever and convince my father to join him, despite Ragnar's death.
"Then, we cannot go to him," I sighed, "Cnut will have me killed."
Saga swallowed, wrapping her arm around my waist, supporting my weight. "What about the Saxon lover?"
I leaned against her, turning my face to frown at her, "Uhtred Ragnarsson?"
She nodded promptly, "We could go to him. We could tell him of Ragnar's death and Cnut's betrayal."
I considered it; Uhtred had seemed fair and clever when I had met him. He was not like most Danes, he was more patient and aware of the world outside of Danelaw.
"What can he give us?" Henrick asked lowly, "He is a Dane slayer, no?"
"That is a foolish rumour," Saga muttered, "he has only killed Danes who sought to kill him. He has wealth and men, but more importantly, he has strategy and knowledge."
"You trust him?" I whispered, pushing off her to stand by myself, my strength somewhat returned.
Saga flushed slightly, "No, but I lost a card game to his Irishman and the price I paid was giving his Lord the benefit of the doubt."
I almost smiled at her logic but instead, I nodded slowly, "It is a good plan. Uhtred will want revenge for his brother's death and if he rides into battle, I will be able to find my father one way or another."
"What about my father?" Olav jumped in, "He will remain here. What will happen to him when Daga starts taking over everything?"
My heart ached for him and I offered him a sympathetic look, "Tell him. Tell him to be ready and to be sure Daga knows nothing of his plans. Give your father a chance."
Olav's cheeks flushed red with colour and his heart leaped, "Thank you, Gyda." He rushed out before I could change my mind.
Henrick made a noise of disapproval, "Torben may slip up to Daga, then we will be in the shit."
"We will not be," I mumbled, walking over to the table with Saga hovering behind me.
"And why not?" Henrick frowned at me as I collected papers.
"Because we leave now," I revealed, "tonight, in the next hour." I raised my eyes to meet his, staring at him until he bent his head and nodded.
"I will go and pack." He left my tent promptly after, revealing my wolves sleeping at the tent flaps.
"You should go pack too," I mumbled to Saga, stumbling through my tent, looking for my satchel.
"I have nothing to take except my axe and my father's band," Saga shrugged, raising her wrist to reveal the arm band in question. "I am ready to go."
I nodded slowly, "Then, help me. I need to take some medicinal tonics, my mother's talisman's and the mortar and pestle."
"Any clothes?" Saga joked lightly, though her voice was strained as she moved around.
"We will buy new clothes in every town we stop in," I whispered, "so no one can remember us."
Saga did not say anything, simply stuffing my belongings into my satchel.
"We must burn my tent, Saga," I let out a shaky breath, leaning back against my tent wall slightly.
Saga paused, her eyes flitting around before she continued packing, "Because of Daga?"
I nodded curtly, "He cannot read the old prophecies. He cannot know how much I knew. He cannot discover the strength of my potions. He cannot."
Saga tied up my satchel, objects clanging around inside it slightly as she slipped it onto her back. "Do you want my help?"
I wet my injured lips, the taste of blood hitting my tongue. "Bring Helios to the back gate. I will meet you there. Bring the men there."
Saga nodded shortly, "I will return in ten minutes if you are not there."
I smiled as best as I could, watching her leave before I took a torch from a handle in my tent, walking slowly.
This tent had many years of my life in it, hidden away and carefully protected. I had nurtured the power here, raised it as though it was my own child... and now, I would have to kill it.
"It is for the best," I whispered to myself, taking a bear skin off my bed and bundling it into my arms before I started to walk backwards out of my tent.
Derya and Arya rose as I walked out, both of them watching me, waiting for an order.
I took one last look at my tent and then, I lined the tent flaps with fire.
I did not watch as it burned; I could not. I led my wolves away from it, muttering my mother's lullaby under my breath.
Saga, Henrick and Olav greeted me at the back gate, dressed in all black, their faces painted with chalk, ready for battle.
"Where do we head, Lady?" Olav asked quietly, his eyes looking behind me.
"East," I muttered, climbing onto Helios, Derya and Arya preparing to run beside us.
Henrick nodded, turning his horse and leading us forward, "East."
None of us could look back at the black smoke rising behind us; our lives here were now burned away.
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