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"They are watching us," Saga muttered under her breath, swinging her axe again, chopping a block of wood in half.
"Let them watch," I picked at the skin on my hands, removing splinters from my palms. I sat on the fence as Saga took over the work from me. "We are nice to look at."
A few feet away, Uhtred and his men were fixing up the roof of a house that had been damaged in the winter, their eyes casting to us over and over again.
Henrick had left right before dawn, right after he had sacrificed a crow in the pit, and Olav had stayed in the pit, praying for us all.
"I would prefer," Saga huffed as she slammed her axe down, nearly splitting the stump we were using to balance wood, "if they minded their own business."
Uhtred had been very curious about Henrick's sudden departure. He had sent Sihtric and Osferth to us at dinner, trying to coax information out of us. It had failed, and now, we were regarded with suspicion.
"Perhaps they have a right to know," I shrugged, dropping my hands to the fence, "this is Uhtred's land, after all."
Saga snorted, picking up another piece of wood, "Perhaps not. Does land mean you are a God? Uhtred is just another man. We owe him nothing."
"He did not let Edward kill us," I countered, trying to decide as we spoke what my course of action would be.
"Edward," Saga brought her axe down again, "is a boy. Uhtred had to say no once, and Edward tucked his tail between his legs."
"Has Uhtred not been kind to us?"
Saga let the blade of her axe sink into the stump, letting it balance there while she wiped her forehead with her arm. "Sihtric has been kind. Osferth and Hild have been kind. Finan has been decent." She paused, dropping her arm, "Uhtred has been a Saxon."
"You do not trust him?" My heart jumped slightly, and I tightened my grip on the fence.
"No," Saga shrugged, grabbing her axe again and wrenching it out of the stump, "and you should not either. The baby king has a hold on him, as Alfred had a hold on him."
I slid down from the fence, turning my back to the men, "You speak of the punishment Edward wishes to give us?"
Saga nodded curtly, lining up more wood again.
I trusted Saga more than I trusted anyone in the whole world. She was too clever to be deceived, and if she thought Uhtred was under the boot of the new king, we were not safe here. "What do you wish to do?"
Saga watched as the split wood fell to two sides, her face set in a grim frown, "I wish to return to Daneland."
"Dunholm?" I asked, stooping to pick up wood and move it to the pile we had made.
"No," Saga shot back swiftly, "it's too dangerous. I was thinking we join a new Jarl or form our own camp."
"Where?" I wondered. If we returned to Northumbria, Daga would surely seek us out.
"Eoferwic," Saga grumbled, "Mercia. Anywhere we are amongst our own and do not have the fear of a boy king looming over us."
"Henrick will want us to fight for the fortress of Dunholm," I reminded her. Henrick was not one to give in once he settled on an idea.
"And when we have our own camp with horses and swords, we can fight," Saga huffed, abandoning her axe on the stump to face me. "But right now, we can barely afford to travel from one town to the next. War with Daga will have to wait."
"War with Daga?"
I whipped around, staring as Sihtric looked between Saga and I, "Sihtric!"
"You are going to war with your brother?" Sihtric repeated, his face forming a deep frown as he started to move backwards, aiming to tell Uhtred of what he had heard.
"You will shut your mouth, boy," Saga hissed, raising her axe, turning it in her palm threateningly.
"Sihtric, you misunderstand," I rushed out, crossing to stand between the pair, facing him. "We are not going to war with Daga. We are just dreaming."
Sihtric met my eyes, and I reached out to touch his wrist, "Dreaming?"
I nodded quickly, "We are only four people. We have no intentions of fighting anyone. We just wished to be able to fight Daga to fulfil my father's wishes. We are not crazy enough to do it."
Sihtric heart lurched uncomfortably. He was not convinced.
"Sihtric," I went to try again, but Saga groaned loudly, stepping around me to push Sihtric's shoulder.
"You will mind your own business, boy," she snapped, "this has nothing to do with you. These are Dane matters."
"I am a Dane," Sihtric protested immediately, pulling his wrist away from me, "and I did not come here to listen to your talks. I came for wood."
His heart skipped a beat; Sihtric was lying to us.
Saga turned to me, silently asking me if he was telling the truth or not.
I took a step back, lowering my gaze to the ground, "Let him be."
Sihtric turned on his heels immediately, rushing back up the path, gathering Finan and Osferth before making for the hall, where Uhtred was.
Saga stared at me, "What now?"
I met her gaze, clenching my fists at my side, "Olav is at the pit?"
Saga nodded curtly.
"Then, we go to the pit."
We took Derya and Arya with us as we exited the gates of Coccham, walking out to the forest behind it.
We saw horses come over the hill tops as we disappeared behind the trees, men dressed in drab clothing, priests, or monks. We paid no mind to them.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Olav teased from inside the deep pit, his face streaked with dirt, a cheeky grin raising his face.
"We have grown tired of the Saxons," Saga snorted, sitting down on the edge of the pit before slowly sliding down into it.
The wolves had dug the pits for us, their paws strong and quick. They rested beside it now.
Olav always decorated the rim of the pit with small stones, leaving the bigger ones for the sides to use as ladders. He dripped blood down the sides as well, sticking leaves and animal bones into the trails.
Above the pit, sacrifices were hung up with vines from the trees along with a few windchimes that Saga had made from the broken glass of the church in Coccham.
My body buzzed with energy as I stepped into the pit, my heart beat racing, and my senses sharpened. Freyja was with me here, all the Gods were.
"I am not surprised," Olav joked, holding his hand out for me to take so I could jump the last bit of distance to the bottom of the pit. "What have they done?"
"It is not safe here," Saga quipped, "Uhtred is a Saxon lover, his men all the same. His king may choose to kill us yet. We need to leave."
Olav hummed, leaning backwards on the side of the pit, "Uhtred has been nice to us. He has fed us and clothed us."
Saga snorted, sitting down in the dirt, her axe balancing on her knee, "So did the Scots who captured us two springs ago. At least, though, the Scots were honest about their intentions for us."
"You are being dramatic," Olav shook his head slightly, "we will be fine here. It is practically Daneland."
"Uhtred is not a Dane," Saga grit out again.
I had not really questioned Saga's sudden change in attitude to Uhtred since the battle, but I had assumed that she knew something I did not.
"He was not born a Dane but—" Olav tried to joke somewhat, but Saga cut him off.
"A Dane does not allow his people to be taken hostage," Saga muttered, "a Dane does not let Saxons spit and mock their people. Danes do not let sacred shrines be torn down, shrines built for the dead to honour them."
I frowned, sitting down beside her and crossing my legs, "What has happened, Saga?"
Saga stared at the armband on her arm, her eyes slightly unfocused. "I built a shrine for your father in the forest. I sacrificed a bird. Saxon men came. They pissed on it and broke it to pieces." She met my eyes, hers burning with anger, "Uhtred told me that I had aggravated them."
Olav pushed off the side of the pit, crouching in front of us, his hand coming out to squeeze Saga's knee. "Why would he say such a thing?"
Saga sneered, "The kingling was there."
Olav sighed, shaking his head, "He seems to have proven he is only loyal to Saxons."
"Which is why we can not stay here," Saga stated simply, "we will be killed here, by Uhtred's order or by Edward's."
My heart lurched, and I gasped slightly, clutching my chest right before a small smile grew on my face.
"Freyja?" Olav asked softly, passing something into my hands.
I studied the small stone he had handed me, a small cat carved onto the grey surface. "Yes. She wishes to assure me that she is close and we are safe."
"Safe for now," Saga muttered, laying back against the soil, her hands dropping to play with the dirt.
I sighed, running my thumb over the cat stone, "We can not leave without Henrick. He will return here, alone or with warriors. He can not think we have abandoned him."
Saga sat up again swiftly, "So we go and find him."
"You want to search all of Wessex?" Olav asked dryly, a look of bemusement on his face.
Saga rolled her eyes, "He will have left hoove marks in the dirt that we can follow."
"And after it rains?" Olav challenged, "What will we follow then?"
Saga did not have an answer, so instead, she pulled a weed from the soil and tossed it at him.
"The wolves may be able to find him," I offered slowly, "he has a smell after all, and they know it well."
Olav raised his brow at me, "It is not like you to dabble in recklessness."
"I think it is more reckless to stay here," I mumbled, toying with the stone, "besides, my father would not want for me to be amongst Saxons."
"Brynjar would want us to be Danes," Saga nodded firmly, "he would want us to plunder and sail, not farm and cook."
Olav nodded slowly, his heart beat mellowing out as he began to agree with us, "Perhaps but travelling is tiring, and we do not have the silver to—"
I pulled out the coins I had taken from my father's belt before he was buried, enough gold and silver to last us a few months. "Enough?"
Saga took the coins from my hands, studying them, "This is a small fortune."
"It is enough," Olav agreed, "we can use it to buy food and stay in inn's on colder nights."
"Then, it is decided"? I took the coins back, placing them back into the deep pocket of my dress.
Saga nodded sharply, "It is decided. We ride tomorrow."
"Will we be ready by then?" Olav wondered, standing as Saga and I did.
"Lady?" A familiar voice called out to us hesitantly, and I tensed as Freyja's whispers surrounded me.
"Osferth," I replied, letting Olav boost me out of the pit, "what are you doing here?"
Osferth stood nervously at the opening of the forest, "Lord Uhtred has requested your presence in the hall, Lady. Saga is to come too."
"Do not fight it," Freyja whispered in my ear, "Go with him."
"Very well," I sniffed, "why are we needed? May I know?"
Osferth flushed, bowing his head slightly, "King Edward has sent priests, Lady, to reveal the results of your tria—"
"Our punishment has been made ready for us," Saga cut him off, rolling her eyes, "how gracious of the damned king."
Olav came to my side as well, "We will follow you."
Osferth swallowed, "I am to escort you inside."
Saga scoffed, storming forward, and the monk scrambled to dodge her, hurrying after her back into the walls of Coccham.
I followed too, "Olav,"
Olav rested his hand on his sword, "Yes, Lady?"
"We have to be ready by tomorrow."
Olav's face darkened slightly, his eyes staring at the gates of Coccham before he nodded, "Yes, Lady."
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