War and Fire

- Chapter Seven -

Three years have passed since the battle was won. three years since they'd returned to Coccham , and three years since Odetta and Osferth were reunited.

Osferth had started his training, and depending on the weather, he would start early in the day and go until mid-afternoon or mid-afternoon to the evening when the sun was setting, switching between Finan, Sihtric, and sometimes Uhtred. Odetta was pleased to see his progress and felt more at ease in case they were called back to battle. She had often come to the training yard to watch, or sometimes read.

Neither Odetta nor Osferth had confessed their feelings for one another; it had infuriated the group as they knew something was happening between the two, but as the years passed, their friendship blossomed into something beautiful. And in those years, the group of boys plus Gisela and Odetta became as thick as thieves and became a happy family of sorts.

Gisela was pregnant with her and Uhtred's third and last child. When Odetta was informed of the news, she was ecstatic—Gisela was rather certain the babe in her womb was a boy, so she and Odetta started thinking of boy names for the babe. Odetta knew that regardless of gender, he or she would be very loved. Her bump was rather small but growing by the day—3 months along she was. Little Uhtred and Storria, who were seven and almost four, loved kissing her growing bump whenever they could. It was rather sweet, and she knew they were excited for the arrival of a new brother or sister—they all were.

Odetta had often wondered what it would be like to one day get married and have a family on her own. It was something she would one day like to have—if she found the right guy, of course—perhaps someone like Osferth. Gisela had always told her to marry for love, never settle for anything less than love, to marry someone who was like your best friend, who would protect you and your family until his very last breath, and who would never bring you any harm—men like that were rare to find. Loads of women found themselves in loveless marriages—Odetta wished for a marriage filled with love and laughter and not one filled with hatred.

——
Odetta took a stroll around the grounds—the air had crisped up and brought the chilliness of autumn. Her hair was up in a loose braid; a few strands at the front of her face had loosened, framing it. A white flower was tucked behind her ear. She wore her usual blue dress, her thick, warm cloak wrapped around her shoulders as the light of the evening began to fade. In her arms she carried a wooden basket—filled with vegetables from one of the gardens and some flowers she had picked from the fields—and two light leather canteen bags filled with water she was to give to Osferth and Finan after their training.

A few small children ran around the grounds—laughter and squeals filled her ears, and a soft smile appeared on her face. She had spent the majority of the day alone, reading another one of the books Osferth had given her. Every year on her birthday since they met that summer three years ago, he has gifted her with books and a few smaller items, of course. But always books. And most often, they'd read them together.

Osferth was off training with Finan at the training yard. When Odetta arrived, she scanned her surroundings—there was a long table toward the back wall, and littered on it were a variety of different weapons—from swords to axes of all different sizes and weights, bows and arrows, shields, spears, and daggers. For Osferth, however, he was stuck training with the wooden swords until Uhtred saw fit or until he improved his skills some more.

Her gaze left the table and scanned the area, where a few men were also training, and she looked to the corner of the training yard, where she had noticed Osferth dodging Finan's advances, a wooden blade in hand—shifting his feet to correct his stance. This goes on for a few moments; the clashing of swords fills her ears, as does the sight of Osferth lunging forward and blocking Finan's sword with his own.