The Last One

two

We rode all day, I on the ass end of the horse. My body was sore, and it was not a particularly smooth ride, but my feet were grateful for the break regardless. The sun was warm on my skin, but the air held a chill that brought gooseflesh.

Further into the evening hours I began to shiver.
Uhtred offered me his furs and I was happy to take them. The men chatted amongst themselves about everything from women to enemies to crude jokes. I was not privy to most of the information they spoke upon, but it passed the time. I began to feel more at ease the more time I spent with them. I still didn't know the name of the third man, and he was mostly silent aside from the occasional chuckle or small comment.

After dark, we finally stopped among the trees for the night, near a stream. Uhtred helped me off his horse and started tasking us with a checklist of items to do to prepare camp. He gave me to task of finding kindling and getting a pot of water for tea. This was easy work, of course, I had done it before.

I gathered an armful of sticks and returned them to camp, dropping them next to where man number 3 was building the framework for a campfire. I left again, taking careful steps down to the water's side, I did not want to fall into the icy water. It was dark, only the moon reflected on the water's surface giving me its approximate location. After a few tries I was able to get a good scoop of water, and headed back to camp with my bounty.

I sat the water pot on the edge of the campfire, now just beginning to spark to life. Finan had laid out our bedrolls, and Uhtred returned from the nearby trees, empty handed and began shuffling through his saddle bag. Man number 3 began to feed the fire little by little.

Uhtred approached the fire and put his hands out to warm them. "I could not find fresh meat," he sighed, "but I have some dried meat we can share, and herbs for tea. It will have to do."

I nodded. It was better than what I had yesterday which was nothing.

In time the water was boiling and Uhtred put some of the herbs into it as he removed it from the heat, stirring it once or twice with a stick. He produced a small wad of cloth from his pocket and opened it, revealing a few thin slices or unknown meat. He broke two of the slices in half and passed all but one to man number 3 who passed one to me and another to Finan before biting into the last one.
Uhtred wrapped the remaining strip of meat in the cloth and put it back into his pocket.

Everyone was silent, which seemed weird in contrast to how chatty they had been during the ride. I caught man number 3 eyeing me and I gave him a look back. He did not divert his eyes.

"What?" My tongue finally felt like more than a lump.

"I do not trust you," he said," We meet few Danes worth meeting out here."

Uhtred chuckled. "Sihtric, she is a victim. She is not here to assassinate us in her nighclothes, she does not even have a weapon."

Sihtric sighed and nodded to Uhtred, but his eyes remained hard. "As you say, lord."

"Now, let us have tea and rest," Uhtred reached for the tea and took a sip from the pot, smiled, then passed it to Finan who did not take a sip, but held it a moment as he looked into the flames. Sihtric took the tea from his hand and took a bigger sip before passing it to me. I sipped it slowly, then took one larger sip before Uhtred reached for it again. We went around like this a few times until it was all gone.

It was superbly quiet that night, the winter had sent the bugs to hideaway until spring and the breeze creaked through the barren branches of the forest. The fire crackled and we breathed softly. Those were the only sounds to be heard.

"Thank you for taking me in," I break the silence.

"We could not rightly leave you there in your state," Uhtred said.