The Last One

twenty-one

I stumbled from the tavern and down the street, back towards the Inn as laughter bubbled up from my throat. Uhtred grabbed my arm and pulled me against him. My body was at his mercy as it flopped against him drunkenly. I laughed again.

"I'll get you to bed, Red," he laughed as he carried me towards my room. I was a bit too incoherent to make steps, so he ended up just picking me up and carrying me the rest of the way. He dropped me on my bed and stumbled backward himself as he tried to fumble my boots off. I laughed again, trying to contain myself.

He laughed, too. "Damn Finan and his drinking games," he said around a laughing fit. He started to lean forward as he tried to pull my boot off, and his head bumped into my thigh.

I laughed and shoved his head playfully with my leg. He stumbled a bit and then sat on the ground, resting against the side of the bed. "I can not take it off," he slurred. "You will have to do it yourself."

I giggled and tried to form words. They came out slurred, but I managed to say that I was not worried about the boots. The room spun around my head sickeningly, and I closed my eyes against it. I could still feel his presence there as I started to fall asleep, but it was comforting, and I was glad someone was here with me.

With the business of informing the King over, we were dismissed to our own business, and most of that business had consisted of drinking and playing games at Finan's suggestion far too late into the evening. I felt content, though, as I had not had so much fun in so long. Every time we were all together, we had fun, but tonight had been exceptionally fun, and I finally felt like an integral part of the group. I was finally actually one of them.

               ___________________

I dreamt I was running through the woods again, scared and alone. The dream ran me in a different direction, and I never ran into the camp that would save my life. I never ran into Uhtred. Instead, I slowly starved out in the trees. I watched as my body withered and died. I watched even still as it decomposed. Ravens plucked at my eyes, and boars ripped at my flesh and left nothing but bones.

I woke with a pounding heart and grasped at my chest.

Still alive.

My breath slowly settled, and my heart rate slowed. The feelings of adrenaline were slowly replaced with the feelings of a deep hangover. I groaned and laid back on the bed. I laid for a while, wallowing in my own self disgust and trying not to throw up. Did it work? No.

I felt the saliva gathering against my lip and sat up, grabbing a pitcher next to the bed, and heaved up hot bile into it. I set the pitcher back down and wiped my face with my shirt.

Fuck.

I urged myself to get up, and eventually, I was able to pull myself up into a sitting position and peel my clothes away. I stood and padded over to the basin. I used the basin to wash myself as best I could and then started to redress. After I got all my clothes and armor on, I felt a little better. I ran my fingers back through my hair and tried to pull it to one side. It took some doing, but eventually, I managed to get it to look less ratty.

I wandered down to the stables, avoiding the tavern and its savory scents of breakfast. I started saddling the horses between long pulls of water from my waterskin. Uhtred was the first to show up at the stables today, and he approached me with a smile. He held out a little white cluster of mushrooms. I recognized these as something my brother had called "food of the Gods."

I accepted them with a smile and chewed them eagerly, swallowing them down with another gulp of water. I knew that the mushrooms would bring some relief from the terrible hangover relatively soon.