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Riding in the shade of the trees was a blessing and a mercy that I was grateful for as our journey to Saint Milburg's continued. The back of my head and neck no longer burned, and my clothes no longer stuck to me. Once my discomfort was eased, the nervousness I had felt upon finding Uhtred and saving Aelfwynn dimmed, and I found myself going quiet.
I had rode little as a child. I could only recall one time when I tried to mount one of my brother's horses, and he had pushed me into the mud before I could get onto the saddle. As an adult, I rode even less, I was always made to take a carriage or a cart. I had never simply been in the wild. I had always been needed in Aegelesburg, tending or mending or teaching, or if I was taking messages to Winchester, then I was praying and grovelling.
"Finan," I mumbled quietly, my eyes trailing up a large tree that had somehow bent strangely and now hung over us, "do you know how to climb a tree?"
Finan made an 'um' noise for a moment before he shrugged, "I have done, and I can do. Why?"
"I should like to learn how to climb one," I decided, turning away from the tree and back to the path.
"Do they not teach you how to climb trees when you become a Lady?" Finan joked easily, glancing back briefly at Sihtric, who rode behind him.
"I scarcely attended my lessons, so I fear if it was taught, I missed it," I sighed softly, turning back to check on the cart again.
Osferth offered me a small smile, "She is alright, sleeping, I think."
A pang of concern shot through me, and I frowned, "I fear she is hungry, and that is making her tired."
"There is bread," Finan sighed, "but the bread is stale enough to take out a tooth. It is not fit for children."
"Find the fresher bread and pass it back to the cart," Uhtred called back, "we can eat the hard bread, we have stronger stomachs."
I cursed myself for not thinking to raid the kitchens before I left Aegelesburg, but it was too late to consider that now.
"God will provide," Young Uhtred spoke up, "he will send us food."
I opened my mouth to at least make out an 'amen', but I was interrupted by the sight of two people darting down the side of the hill and making for the cart. "Oi!"
"No! No!" Stiorra's voice shouted, "Father!"
"Lord Uhtred!" I turned as well, sighing in relief as the warrior turned his horse around and raced to the back of the cart.
"Go back! Stay back! The road is closed!" A voice called out and further ahead of the land, an elderly man waddled out his hand raised.
"Stay here, Lady," Finan gruffed, urging his horse forward along with Sihtric. They dismounted further ahead and drifted towards a few dark shadows hidden behind some trees.
"Stop there!" Young Uhtred's voice chirped, with little to no intimidation, and I turned to him before looking down where the two beggars crouched beside my horse.
Mare took a few steps back, whining softly as beggars got too close, and Uhtred used the space to approach them. "What are you—"
"Stay back!" Finan's voice yelled.
I turned to look at him, watching as he raced towards us, his eyes wide and his face pale with panic.
Uhtred went to ride towards him, but Finan held his arm out in protest.
"Lord, stay back! It's the sickness. They're dyin' of the sickness!" The Irishman blurted out, fear lacing his words.
"The sickness?" I frowned, turning to Young Uhtred, "There is a sickness in the land?"
"I am afraid so, Lady," Young Uhtred admitted, "it has taken many."
"God help us," I whispered, making the sign of the cross over myself.
Uhtred went ahead, going to see what Finan and Sihtric had seen before he exchanged curt words with the Dane in question.
"Lady, you will want to look away from them," Finan blurted out, rushing over to Stiorra and grabbing a hold of her elbows, "Which hand did he grab?"
Stiorra held out her hand to him, and he poured water from his can over her hand frantically.
"What is out there, Finan?" I frowned in confusion. I had scarcely ever seen a warrior be afraid, and if he ever were, it was for good reason.
"Leave her be," Uhtred sighed, returning to us and referring to Stiorra.
"Lord, it is spread by touch," Finan huffed, dropping Stiorra's arm.
"No, it is the air that spreads it," Uhtred sighed, looking to the two beggars that cowered together, "Do you have it?"
They both sharply shook their heads. The bread they had stolen was clutched tightly in their hands.
"Go," Uhtred ordered with a jerk of his chin. They did as he asked.
"The animals," Finan rushed out, "we should kill the horses."
"Why ever should we kill the horses?" I frowned, my head spinning with all the new information coming my way.
"Father, what if I breathed the air?" Stiorra fret, holding her hand to her chest.
"It will not matter. It only takes sinners," Young Uhtred spoke primly.
"That is complete nonsense," I scoffed, "a sickness does not choose who to take. It does not think or feel. If it travels, it is most likely to have travelled by air."
"They are right," Osferth quipped, "it's in the air, and it could take us, any one of us."
My heart lurched, and as gracefully as I could, I slid off my horse's back, "Aelfwynn!"
"We should return to Aegelesburg," Finan suggested, "If there's sickness in the land—"
"We can not go back," Uhtred huffed, "we can not defend ourselves against Edward's men or Mercian Guards."
"Aelfwynn!" I called out again, rushing over to the open curtains of the cart, "Aelfwynn, are you well?"
The little girl wept softly, sitting closely beside the little boy whose name had not been given to me when I had enquired about it.
"She is frightened," the boy revealed softly, "she is not hurt, though."
I breathed a sigh of relief, scrambling to climb into the cart before I crawled through it on my knees, "Come on, come here."
Aelfwynn seized her crying for a moment, only so she could throw her weight forward and collapse against me.
"It is alright," I tried to soothe her, letting her bury her face into my stomach as I brushed her hair with my fingers, "quite alright. You are safe." I glanced at the boy, raising my hand to him, "You are both quite safe."
The little boy hesitated, and then, very slowly, he shuffled forward and allowed me to settle my arm around his shoulders.
I tried to think of what to say to them or how I could explain why we had stopped, but my mind came up blank.
In the end, it was the boy who spoke. "Are we going to get sick?"
I sucked in a sharp breath, tightening my grip on him, "No, I would hope not."
"Hoping is not the same as being sure," the boy murmured, his hand reaching out to pat Aelfwynn's head as the girl continued to sob.
"You are annoyingly wise for your age," I sniffed weakly, trying to force a smile onto my face.
He did not protest when I pushed his head down so that he could no longer stare up at me. He simply fell quiet.
"Finan, we have no choice," Uhtred's voice echoed inside the cart faintly, "We have to alter the plan. We'll leave the horses somewhere safe. We'll go across land to Wenloca on foot. We'll be safe from the sickness, trust me." He paused slightly, "All right?"
I had to assume Finan agreed because a moment later, Uhtred raised his voice and called out to the rest of us.
"We go to Wenloca! We find Aethelflaed, and we get to Ceaster," he slid off his horse, his feet hitting the ground with a thump, "Let's find a place to hide the horses."
I sighed softly, seizing my stroking of Aelfwynn's hair, "We must leave the cart, Lady Aelfwynn."
"I am scared," the little girl managed to choke out, her fingers bundling into my dress, "I do not want to go."
I sighed heavily, "Aelfwynn, if we do not leave the cart, we can not go and find your mother. We have to keep going."
"Come on, Aelfwynn," the boy coaxed softly, standing up in the cart and stepping around us to make to leave it.
Aelfwynn was seemingly won over by the boy's bravery, and she sat up swiftly, wiping her eyes and nose with the sleeve of her dress.
I helped her stand on shaky legs before I crawled after her, stepping back out of the cart and grabbing a hold of both children's hands.
"Come," Uhtred called out to us, the horses already hidden away somewhere, "we have to get off the path."
I used my elbows to raise my dress up, bundling the fabric under my arms as I began to walk after the men who climbed the side of the path.
"Allow me to—"
"No, thank you, Osferth," I shook my head curtly as he reached to take either Aelfwynn or the boy out of my hold, "I can manage."
Osferth smiled softly, lowering his hand, "Are you not uncomfortable, Lady?"
I huffed out a heavy breath as I took a wide step up the raised soil, "I shall be fine."
Aelfwynn and the boy helped to balance me unintentionally, their hands turning sweaty and warm in mine as they agreed not to let go.
"I would not mind helping the boy," Osferth offered again, "you must be uncomfortable with your dress so... high?"
I let out an annoyed breath, stopping to flick hair out of my face before I looked down at my feet. Up to half of my shins were on display as I walked. I rolled my eyes, glancing back at Osferth, who lingered behind me, "Good God, Osferth, it is an ankle. Surely you have seen one before?"
"He might not have," Sihtric grunted softly as he passed us, throwing us a small smile, "he's very innocent."
"Goodness," I snorted, "do catch him if he faints. In the meantime, I shall keep my dress raised so that I may salvage some of my dignity by not greeting the soil with my face."
We hurried up the ditch as best as we could, coming up through a short plain of trees where the soil evened out somewhat. Then came the next challenge, which was the fact that the even path had fallen trees and branches strewn all over it.
I groaned softly under my breath, following after Uhtred and his men as they began to step over the branches and slide over the ones that were too wide. "Come along then." I raised the boy over the branches first and then, Aelfwynn, before I scrambled over the wood unsteadily.
"Are you sure you will not accept aid, Lady?" Osferth offered again.
"I," I huffed as I caught my foot on a twig and was forced to hop to keep from falling, "have depended on aid most of my life." I caught my footing again, reaching my hands out to the children again, "That is the way it is for Ladies, and I wish to try standing on my own two feet."
"You have already proven yourself to be capable, Lady," Osferth mused, clasping his hands behind his back and walking alongside me, "you kidnapped Aelfwynn to safety, did you not?"
"That was hardly difficult to do," I grumbled, walking unevenly over stones and branches, "Edward hires men much like himself."
Osferth frowned in confusion, "Lady?"
I sighed heavily, "Fools, Osferth, fools."
"You do not like him?" Osferth seemed sorely entertained, and I noted that Uhtred and his other men were listening too.
I shrugged, "It is hard to like a man who has so few redeeming qualities."
"Nevertheless, you escaped his men," Finan threw back, "that is an achievement."
"And this shall be my next achievement," I decided, looking around the forestry, "I shall think of this as a simple stroll through a nice garden."
Osferth smiled slightly, trying to hide it as he did, "I do hope you will not mind the bugs and snakes in the garden too."
"Snakes?!"
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