The Last One

thirteen

Mercia. We were back in Mercia. Always in Mercia. It seemed that Mercia was pivotal to the future of England as King Alfred had imagined.

Upon our arrival, it appeared that a war party was preparing to ride. It seemed we were a moment too late. Scouts had found an encampment, though it was not near the river. This seemed to be a distraction. It was obviously a distraction, and yet we were wrapped into the rubble of the war party and marched towards it.

The sound of foot falls, human and horse, permeated through the peace of nature as we marched forward. I shifted in my saddle. I wasn't ready for battle again so soon, my shoulder still faintly ached when I swung the axe, and I was aware that made me weaker than usual. It didn't matter, though. It seemed that we would be riding towards a fight despite that.

"Will you be ready?" Finan asked from my right.

"No choice," I smiled to reassure us both.

"There's always a choice," he said softly. That was true, I guess. There was always a choice.

"Til the end then, my friend." I grinned, "it's too bad you won't be coming to Valhalla with me."

"And it's too bad you won't be in heaven with me," he chuckled.

We both laughed. The prodding at each other was becoming a norm. Finan felt like my best friend these days. We always laughed together, and he never got his feelings hurt and decided to ignore me like a certain someone else. It was nice, having a friend, and in truth Finan, despite his thick Irish accent, reminded me of Hakon. They were both so alive and always joking and living right now. My brother had always been carefree and brave and fucking funny. He would make me laugh until I cried, and Finan had that same quality about him.

We made camp that evening after dark. I was absorbed in my own mind and went through the motions as usual. This time, however, there were many men here, and they all had their own routines that clashed with mine. Nevertheless, before long, it was all done, and we were settling in around a campfire.

I watched the flames devour the wood in silence as men around me laughed and drank. Spirits were high among them, but I felt out of place here with all these Saxon men.

Finan sat down on the ground next to me, and it seemed he had brought Sihtric with him. I inwardly groaned at his proximity as he sat down next to Finan. Finan pulled out some flat bread and tore it in three pieces.

"Thank you," I said as he handed me a chunk. I took a bite. It was stale.

"So we advance tomorrow?" Finan asked us.

I shrugged. "If that's what Uhtred says."

"It's a.. distraction," Sihtric said. My insides burned as the word left his lips. I flexed my jaw against the memory of him calling me that.

"Clearly. But it doesn't matter," I said, my tone was pinched. I hoped that they didn't notice.

"You all right, Red?" Finan asked softly. Shit.

"Peachy." What the fuck, Red? Why was I like this?

Sihtric snorted, and I rolled my eyes. I was fine being here. I was fine within this group. Everything was going fine before we had the encounter, and now it was all stupid, and I felt like an outsider again.

Finan could clearly sense the tension between us, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he just took a bite of his bread and looked into the fire. I decided to do the same.

After I finished my bread, I excused myself and went to my tent to sleep. In truth, I was exhausted. I didn't have much time to dwell on the problems of yesterday before I fell asleep.