Lady Luck| Finan The Agile| The Last Kingdom

TWENTY-TWO

☼

"I think if you do not shut it too harshly, it should hold," Uhtred mumbled thoughtfully, tapping his chin as he studied the door of my new home.

The door creaked loudly as I moved it back and forth, splinters crumbling away from it with every shove, "I doubt it, Lord."

Rumcofa was not Aegelesburg. It was not large or well protected from every angle. It was smaller and it resided beside a large lake full of small trader's boats. It had a small hall, a watermill and about fifty small houses, one of which I now occupied as a gift from Uhtred.

I had not had a house in Aegelesburg, I had only had quarters beside Aelfwynn's room where I kept all of my things. This house was the size of a cabin, made of dark wood with a small window staring out into the garden and the street outside my fence. It had two cupboards with a wash basin and a cooking pit in the floor for a kitchen. It had furs and a fireplace for a sitting room and upstairs, was a straw bed and a wardrobe with only one door. But it was mine.

Uhtred grinned at me, dropping his hand to his side, "I am sure you have no real need for a door. Rumcofa is a safe place."

I rolled my eyes, shuffling back to lean on my kitchen cupboard, "Lord, I am already sharing a bathroom with all the women in the town. I do not want everyone else to see into my home as well."

Uhtred paused to eye my door as a small gust of wind made the hinged screech obnoxiously, "I suppose you are right."

"That happens a lot," I shrugged, tilting my head slightly, "will you fix it?"

"I am Lord of this town," Uhtred snorted, "what would the people say if they saw me fixing your home?"

"That you are a kind and caring, Lord?" I offered, smiling innocently and trying to bat my lashes at him.

Uhtred snorted softly, shaking his head before he pulled the door open again and reached around to my garden. He brought a bucket, half full with water inside the house and set it against the door. "This will keep it open for the day and shut in the night."

My smile fell and I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest, "Unbelievable. What if some man decides to walk into my house while I am asleep?"

"Uh! Why is a man tryin' to walk into your house when you're asleep?" Finan's voice loudly burst out from the street as he made his way to my house. 

"Uhtred will not fix or replace my door, Finan," I complained immediately, my grin returned as Uhtred groaned in annoyance.

"That is not what I—"

"Why's your door broken?" Finan asked, frowning as he studied the bucket Uhtred had placed against the wood.

"Because the previous residents were driven out by Danes," I dropped my hands to rest on the cupboard, "which, might I add, is another reason to need a door."

"She can't not have a door, Lord," Finan snorted, folding his arms over his chest before leaning on the doorframe.

"I will find her a new door!" Uhtred blurted, throwing his head back before he stormed forward, dodging around Finan, "I will get her a new door even if I have to sail to Denmark to find it so long as you both stop pestering me!"