New Shores ➳ The Last Kingdom | Finan the Agile (The Northman's Daughter 1)

THE BATTLE

When Shaylee woke up the following day, she did not feel rested at all. She did not sleep well, but for once, it was not because of her past but of her future. What had she thought when she had forced her participation in the battle? She had no idea about fighting. Hell, she never had been part of a battle before; she had absolutely no idea what she had gotten herself into. Of course, she was not too bad with her bow but was she really ready to be part of a battle? She sighed and stared at the cover of their tent. Well, one thing was sure. She would not pull out. If she did that, no one would take her serious ever again. So she forced herself to get up and left her tent.

The camp was one giant anthill. Men were rushing around, and the air was filled with the noises of swords being sharpened. Shaylee made her way to the small river and tried to dispel her anxious feelings by washing her face with the ice-cold water. She wasn't that successful. That morning she barely ate breakfast; her mouth was dry as dust, and the piece of bread Sihtric put in her hand felt like a handful of pebbles in her mouth. And she wasn't sure she could keep those couple of bites down anyway. The only thing that calmed her a little bit was that the men of Uhtred had also not been as chatty as usual. So at least she knew that it wasn't just her who was nervous in the face of the upcoming battle.

She still felt nauseous when she later climbed onto a big boulder and got ready for battle—the place where to fight had been carefully chosen. Assuming the plan would work and Uhtred and the smaller group could lure the Danes into the forest. They would find themselves in a dense forest patch, hindered by trees and boulders. Some of them were taller than a man.

Shaylee wondered where these boulders came from because there were no big mountains nearby from which they could have rolled down. However, these boulders were the best thing to happen to an army with a smaller number of men. Between the boulders were only enough to place for one to maybe six men in a line. The attackers would have to line up, and the defenders could kill them one after the other.

Shaylee herself had chosen one of the bigger boulders as her place to fight. She had an unrestricted view of the forest around her from this elevated position and would have no trouble aiming. To make sure that she could shoot her arrows as fast as possible, she pierced most of her arrows into the layer of earth covering the boulder. She turned around as she heard someone climbing up the boulder. It took a few moments, but then Uhtred appeared over the cliff edge. He looked around and then meant: "Well, at least you have picked a place that is not easy to overrun."

Shaylee smirked and teased him, "Are you out of breath?"

Uhtred laughed but did not answer her. Then he suddenly became quiet and looked at her intently: "How are you feeling? Are you nervous?"

Shaylee signed: "Would you judge me if I were?"

Surprisingly Uhtred chuckled, then he took a step closer, laid a hand on her cheek, and put his forehead against hers. First, Shaylee was a bit surprised, but then she relaxed and closed her eyes, enjoying the closeness and familiarity. She had felt like she did not belong to anyone or anywhere all her life. But at this moment, she knew that she had found her place. She felt that Uhtred had opened his eyes and opened hers.

"I'd be more concerned if you weren't nervous. That's all the difference between braveness and frivolity. You are brave, so you have these feelings. It's good. It makes you more reliable and solid. Never forget you have the blood of your father and grandfather. To fight - it's in your blood.", he said, and then said urgently, "Be careful, hit your targets, and if the battle turns out not as we planned, get the hell away from here. I had Sihtric take a horse to a nearby clearing east of here. Make your way to Aegelesburg. Tell them Uhtred of Bebbanburg sent you and let them bring you to the Lady of Mercia. Then you will tell her, just her, what happened here and who you are. She will take you into her household and look after you. If I survive this, I will come for you."