the last kingdom ♡ oneshots

the river | osferth x oc

At first, Nairna had expected to travel alongside these men for company and fight when she needed to, for a short while and then go her own way, as she was often accustomed to doing, but fate clearly had other plans. A month or two was all she had planned, but after a year, these men were far more than travel companions to her.

They had taken her in as one of her own very quickly. She had sworn loyalty to their leader, the lord Uhtred, for whom she had a great deal of respect, and befriended the other three men soon afterwards.

Her and Finan had taken to each other almost immediately, Nairna being Scottish and him Irish. Neighbours had been what Finan had referred to the two of them as, though by now they may well have been siblings. They got along very well, making light-hearted digs at each other the way siblings would. She had a quick word for everything he said.

"You're just like him," Uhtred would say, a hint of a smile on his face, "except you're a woman."

"And prettier," she grinned, sticking her tongue out at Finan, who gave a mock-offended gasp.

"You wound me!"

Nairna had found Sihtric to be far more quiet and reserved than the rest, though he had accepted her almost immediately. He was one of the greatest friends she could have asked for, someone willing to sit down and talk whenever she needed to, or simply just to sit in silence with for a while.

And then there was Osferth.

She hadn't noticed him at first, his horse being behind the other three, but on that first journey he had sped up to meet her and introduce himself, catching her by surprise.

"Are you a monk?" she asked rather bluntly, taking in his haircut and the robes he was wearing. She frowned at the breastplate and chainmail on top, wondering what his story was. Whatever it was, she was interested.

"Yes, lady," he responded politely, only meeting her eye for a few moments before his gaze dropped to his hands again. "I was raised in a monastery most of my life but I wanted to be a warrior instead, like my uncle Leofric was, so I joined Lord Uhtred."

Nairna hummed. "So you're a warrior-monk instead, then," she amended, "right?"

"Of sorts, lady, yes," he smiled, and Nairna found herself smiling along with him. He was rather sweet, she thought, and she began to like him almost immediately.

"You can just call me Nairna, y'know," she reminded him soon after. "I'm no lady."

"Alright, Nairna," he said rather tentatively, as though he was testing out the sound of her name, and smiled.

A year on, she was close with all of the men but especially him. She wasn't sure what it was exactly that made her seek out his company more often than the others. Perhaps it was the calm security she felt whenever she sat beside him and talked about anything at all, or maybe it was the genuine warmth of his smile that could always bring one to her own face.

Whatever it was, she liked being by his side, and while the other three had picked up on this, they decided not to say anything to either of them about what they thought of this. Not yet, anyway.

One particularly hot day, she was stretched out by the river bank while the other men took their horses to one side to drink. Osferth had offered to take Nairna's horse along with his, noticing how exhausted she looked, and rather gratefully she relented.

There was not even a breeze that day, and the hot sun was beating down on her until she huffed and stripped off her armour, leaving her in her linen undershirt and trousers. The water looked shallow, and she didn't mind getting her clothes wet too much, so she slipped into the water to wash.