The Last Kingdom One-Shots

Osferth- (Request) Finan's Daughter

Warnings: None

Scene: Oh my god, we get the baby monk and the Irishman. I'm so excited. Aoife (pronounced ee-fa) is Finan's only daughter, who he adores, and Osferth finds himself falling for her. So much fluff. Protective Finan. For Theexistentialella

Word Count: 3,110

It all started one innocent day when Osferth caught the young Aoife staring at him from across the hall after a feast. He had never thought anything of her, being almost 10 years older than her and very much a celibate monk, or so Finan was convinced he was. And that was the problem, Finan had married, and Aoife, his daughter, was very much so his only child and the apple of his eye. Osferth had watched her grow up, having met her when she was only 6 and he 16, but he had never thought anything of her besides being a little child.

But now she was no longer a child, and she sat across the hall from him, a beautiful young woman of now 19 years, and Osferth noticed her for the first time. Truly noticed her. Perhaps it was the ale coursing through his veins, or the dark lighting, or the fact that she was wearing a light blue dress that brought out her dark brown eyes. Perhaps it was the fact that she had bit her lip subconsciously, unaware of his gaze as her eyes raked up and down his body. His eyes widened as finally their eyes met, and she immediately flushed a deep red, and she looked away. But Osferth did not. He continued to look at her for a moment before he finally coughed and looked away, drawn back into the conversation with Sihtric.

As the night died down and people began to leave Uhtred's hall, before Sihtric could leave with his wife and child, Osferth grabbed him and pulled him in close, whispering in his ear.

"When did Aoifegrow up?"

"By the gods, Osferth, how much have you drank?" Sihtric chuckled before noting Osferth's face and shaking his head. "That's a bad idea. That's possibly worse than any other idea you've ever had. Go to sleep."

And with that, Sihtric left, and Osferth found himself agreeing with him. He waited until the hall cleared before leaving the hall himself. The air was nice and cool, but not enough to make him cold. He took a walk towards the stable, wanting to check on his horse before going to bed, as the mare had gotten ill and was only just beginning to recover.

When he stepped inside, he heard a soft voice speaking quietly into one of the stalls, and he froze when he saw that it was none other than Aoife herself. She looked up at the figure who had entered the stables and immediately froze, seeing the man who she had secretly adored for years.

"Osferth!" She exclaimed. "Sorry, I was uh-" she trailed off, looking at her own horse, a tiny foal that her father had given her for her birthday only a few days earlier.

"It's alright, I just came to see my mare," he said, hesitating. He should not continue further into the stables, but despite his better judgment, he entered anyways. He quickly made his way over to his mare and stepped into the stall, checking her over quickly before exiting. As he exited, he noticed Aoife leaning over the stall door, trying to reach something, but she could not. She huffed in annoyance, pushing her long brown hair back from her face before trying to reach again.

"Do you need help with something?" Osferth asked, causing her to step back and blush a rather deep red as he approached her. He peered inside the stall, eyes following hers to see that beside the new foal was the key to the stall itself.

"I didn't realize that I had dropped it," Aoife said sheepishly, although they both seemed to know that she had dropped it and left it completely on purpose. "And by the time I had realized it, I was outside with no key."