War and Fire

- Chapter Sixteen -

That night, after the graveyard, Uhtred had managed to get banished from Winchester by the King.

They grabbed their things, and left without a second thought. Odetta was relieved to finally leave—she'd lost so much here. She truly saw no point in remaining in a place that caused her so much grief. She still felt very betrayed by Uhtred and Finan, and she ignored them the whole journey. But all she could think about was the children. They had stayed in the care of Hild, no matter how hard she begged to have them with her, she knew in her heart it would be risky— and as she remained beside Osferth, she felt torn.

Torn for the fact she was not with them. Like she was breaking her promise

But she would return to them if it was the last thing she would do.

———
The further from Winchester they rode, the cooler the air became, making it hard to breathe. The snow began to fall and settled on the ground all around them.

Odetta was glad to have worn her warm cloak, as had the other men. As they continued to ride, the cold winter winds picked up, and Odetta shivered, as the harsh icy winds kissed her face. They had been on horseback for many hours, and by this point, all were frozen and hungry.

There was an eerie silence the whole ride—a tense atmosphere.

"Lord," Sihtric says, riding up to Uhtred, breaking the silence. "She wishes to speak to you."

"I wish to ride alongside you," the witch says

"Your place is at the back of the line."

"I wish to ride alongside you as your woman," she pauses. "You have what you have always craved—your freedom. Embrace it and embrace me."

"Did I not say you would be in need of a woman?"

Uhtred turns to her and says, "Do not dare think that you can replace my wife!"

"I saw what would occur to your wife. I was not the cause."

"I know you would like to bed me."

"You are Bloodhair's woman, are you not?"

"Unless you decide to claim me, then I will have a decision to make."

"Bloodhair's not the warrior that you are. He is not the king that you can be."

"Lord, we can be enemies or lovers. We can suffer, or we can rule."

"Back of the line," Uhtred says, and he rides back up to the front.

"Then you shall remain cursed! It's your choice."

———

The group had travelled until dark.

Osferth came next to her and helped her down from her horse as some of the men began to gather sticks to light fires to warm themselves. As the six of them sat on logs by the first fire in an attempt to warm up, Osferth sat behind Odetta, with her in his lap and his arms around her to warm her up faster—not caring about the cold creeping up his back. Alongside that, Finan had removed the shoes from his feet, placing his bare feet beside the fire.

No one said anything. The crackles from the fire felt like comfort for everyone.

"Why is she not food for the rats right now?" Finan says, casting a glance in the distance at the witch, who sat distantly away from the others by her own fire, glaring at them every now and again.

Uhtred turns to look at Finan, then at the witch. "Because she has a gift," he says, standing up and groans "Because she has taken hold of my path."

"If we kill her, the curse will live on." Sihtric piped in before looking up at him. "It is the curse that must be killed." he finishes his sentence as Uhtred walks away from them.