Dragonfly

Glory or Valhalla!

Gulf spreads his arms like wings. Gulf is happy and breathes so easily. From now on, no matter what happens, he and Uhtred have a special bond. Mew's gift lies in his palm. And on his chest there hangs a small cross.

The day is full of light, late northern spring gives long-awaited rays of warmth. And like a bolt from the blue, the voices of the servants that announce the arrival of the king, surrounded by jarls and two squads of the Hird.

"Why didn't you even warn me, My Lord?" unsuspecting anything Uhtred greets guests with an anxious smile in the courtyard in front of the long house.

Without dismounting from his horse, Mew measures him with a stern look:

"You didn't warn me either when you sent that little snake to my bed."

"I don't understand you, my Lord… Who are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend, Uhtred. Don't lie to me, don't dodge. That omega, Sigurd, clearly mentioned your name as the one who sent him for the purpose of killing me. So did you really think that a weak omega would be able to deal me a fatal blow? What were you counting on?"

The longer Mew talks, the more he is overcome with doubts. But it's true... A traitor who would like to kill him would surely have entrusted this vile mission not to someone who is obviously weaker than the powerful king. But anger still tightly covers the mind.

"I would never dare betray you, my Lord," Uhtred replies meanwhile, looking straight and firmly into his king's eyes. "And the one who did it would be the first to be punish by my hand."

"Who do you serve now, Uhtred? The kings of the British lands?"

"As I served you, so I do. Nothing has changed."

Recent slander rings in my ears:

"We saw him many times in a Christian monastery, his former slave runs everything there," "he gave freedom to the enemy and became an enemy himself," "he forgot the orders of his ancestors, our gods, and he himself became a slave of their God."

Mew finds himself on the ground, right next to Uhtred, who is proudly waiting for his destiny, and then tears the clothes on the jarl's chest:

"And what is this?! Do you worship him now? You carry gifts to the altar in his temple, instead of ours…"

"My faith in the one God does not prevent me from keeping military loyalty to my king."

"Of course. It doesn't bother you so much that you meanly sent an assassin to me! Did you really think I couldn't cope with the omega?"

"I didn't send anyone to you."

"What are you waiting for with him, my Lord?" Roderick's haughty voice sounds, which meets Jarl Gustav's approval with his eyes, "let's finish him off, and that's the end of it!"

"For betraying our gods and me, you will be executed, Uhtred, son of Uhtred. And you, a vile criminal, will never be taken to Valhalla."

The arrow flies past Mew's ear, digging into the gate post; the bravest and most desperate omega in the world appears next to Uhtred.

"Then you will have to execute me too, my Lord," Gulf takes Uhtred by the hand and with the other pulls out a small wooden cross on a simple rope from behind his chest.

Mew is so stunned that he doesn't understand what to listen to in his head.

Gustav turns to the alpha with displeasure:

"Why are you waiting, my Lord?"

"And why do we need a king who can't make a decision on his own?" Roderick chimes in. "Am I right," the alpha turns his gaze to the red-haired Jarl, who has been silently watching what is happening, "Sverre?"