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One | Welcome Home
All great stories start with a doomed damsel and a heroic knight to save her, not this lady; this lady firmly believed she only needed herself and she stood by that whilst holding onto the ear of a rather impotent snivelling man, Aggressively opening the doors to the throne room where the witan were currently in council with the king and an apparent threat to Winchester let alone Wessex; All turned to see the current interruption, King Edward almost couldn't help but smile ear to ear at one of his oldest friends who he had most definitely not been expecting today of all days, Athelflaed sat to his left with a small grin upon her lips for she had been the one to summon the lady to court in the first place.. Even further to her left stood the all mighty Uhtred; Dane Slayer with his men; According to Edward, some of the best warriors this time had ever seen although she already knew this.. Mumbles and whispers erupted through the room but the first thing she heard clearly was the obvious displeasure at her appearance;
"Not this Bitch"
She knew the few men and women at court who could barely stand to look at her let alone address her genuinely.
"Yes this bitch" she answered clearly and loudly for all to hear. She walked further into the room, still gripping the guards ear, only coming to a halt next to what must be the current threat to her old home; "I'm assuming this one is yours" Letting go of his ear he dropped next to his commander, "So you know, miraculously if there is a next time, I will take his cock for even looking upon me"
He barely acknowledged her, a small chuckle escaping his ugly mouth before speaking, attempting to sound menacing.. as if he could scare her.
"So you know my lady, I am Aelfri-"
"SO YOU KNOW MY LORD, you will stand when I enter a room and you will shut your mouth when I speak or I will shut it for you!
An even smaller cluster of sniggers from across the room and she knew it was Uhtred and his men.
She knew who he was, he was Aelfric Uhtred's, 'the' Uhtred's uncle and current usurper of Bebbanburg. This lady did not care for him much, nor did she care for anyone who brought threats into the place she grew up. It had been under attack from the danes as long as she could remember but for as long as she could remember Uhtred had fought along side the the late king Alfred to protect it the best they could, it seemed then that even though Alfred did 'love' Uhtred that he could never fully trust him.. he would never actually believe he could be on our side fully.. and he was right, he couldn't; but Uhtred was in fact a man of his word for he was honourable and so were the men he chose to keep by his side to fight. This is why Edward chose to trust him even against his mothers wishes.
"Now I guess we must get to the matter of why you are here, what do you want?"
With a scowl Aelfric stood, he was more than displeased, stood over and embarrassed by a women.. how dare she make a fool of him... maybe one day he would get his revenge for that but for now she was as safe as could be, standing next to the king with Hound at her side. She was untouchable.
"I want my nephews head on a pike.. for that I will leave Winchester peacefully with my men"
The lady Mikáel was many things but she was not a traitor, she would never abandon the king nor his most loyal soldiers. Pulling a face she pretended to consider his words,
"Hmm, well you can't have him, he and his men are under my protection, so rally what pathetic men you have brought because if this must end on a battle field, the king will hold victory"
The witan again burst into mumbles and whispers, the majority were cowards, she would rally her own banner men, Edward would support her; it's why he let her speak so openly. She held more banner men than what this weasel had possibly brought with him, possibly more than what he had in total.
Aelfric glared in her direction for a moment, he did not bring enough men for battle.. a small siege at best. The embarrassment was real but he had no choice but to leave now and live to fight another day.. once again his nephew was held safe in the walls of Winchester with no way of grabbing him away and now with the second most powerful family in all of Wessex and Mercia protecting him. Without even bidding the king goodbye, a consistent scowl on his face, he stormed from the throne room taking his guards with him.
Aelfric Uhtred's was not the kind of man to accept defeat easily, he would be back; one way or another.
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The witan was dispensed and with many things playing on his mind Edward had promised to talk soon, on his way to prepare for a possible war, one that Lady Mikáel had promised her loyal men for. All that remained was Uhtred, his men and the dear lady Athelflaed. "My lady, it seems I am in your debt although I do not know your name"
His flirtatious charm shone through any expected ability to be a brutish Dane but little did he know that this lady was completely aware of his rather interesting dalliance with the lady Athelflaed, one of the few people the princess and lady of Mercia had trusted with the secret, it defeated any swoon an unknowing woman may have for him.
"Uhtred May I introduce the Lady Mikáel"
Her oldest and closest friend stepped into the conversation, His smile widened;
"This is Sihtric and-"
"Finan, yes I know who you are"
The one and only Irishman stepped forward a little, he held the cross around his neck and instead of charm, a cheeky smirk was spread on his face,
"Forgive melady, are we familiar"
His smirk was all too familiar but it was something never directed at her until now, she was too young for him to pay attention to when they had last known each other.
"We are, not that you would remember"
"I'm quite positive I could never forget a face as fine as yours"
Athelflaed giggled from behind, covering her mouth quickly. She was all too aware of how the lady knew of Finan and there was no wonder he didn't recognise her.
"I used to help the kitchen maids as a girl.. many a time I brought your meals and mucked your boots after yourself and the other men returned from battle"
It was definitely not what he was expecting and that is why he didn't remember her, she was just a child back then.. the last few years had done her a real justice.. she had grown into herself.
"Now if you excuse me men, I have plenty to discuss with the Lady Athelflaed, I bid you goodbye; for now"
She glanced at Finan one more time before turning and linking arms with her friend and exiting the throne room, not before hearing his final words;
"She is bloody magnificent".
Authors note | 1248 words Remotely pleased with it but I still feel as if I could do better.. I'm trying to enunciate his accent but I'm hopeless with that.. so if you spot something I could fix please say so.. thank you.. I'm going to switch between narrating and point of views
