Una stood there, with the knife plunged into her breast. She couldn't believe that she had let her guard down. Una looked deeply into his eyes as the pain began to grow. He had not hit her heart, luckily, but she knew this would impede her from swinging her sword hard. She can still turn with her left, but it will difficult to control.

He has never tried to kill anyone because he stabbed her in the right breast, barely deep enough to penetrate her lung. There wasn't even a drop of blood to be seen.

"Damn you!" Una groaned as she grabbed his hand and tried to pull the knife out.

"You're a fool!" The man laughed as Una tried to pull the knife out of her body.

It hurt, but namely, because she had never been stabbed before in the chest. It was always her forearms or legs that bared the brunt of blade blows. She knew that this man was weaker than her. Even with her right arm weakened now, she could feel his body tremble under her strength.

After struggling, at last, she was able to pry the knife out of her. An evil grin traced over his face. He must have thought Una was going to die by his blade. He underestimated his own strength.

"Oh please, you got to do better than that if you want to kill me," Una said as she pulled his hand up and grabbed the knife with a better grip.

For a moment, the man looked away, and Una could get a tighter hold on the knife, but not on the tang, the blade itself. Now they both began to struggle with the knife. Una had the blade edge in her hands, but she would not let go. The boy couldn't use his other arm to help him pull away. Una's grasp trapped him.

They obviously were evenly matched at this point, and no impasse was coming. This made Una quite impatient. She wanted the struggle to end. She liked quick defeats or triumphs. There was no need to prolong the torment.

"Who said I was here to kill you?" The man laughed.

Una had enough. At the last second, she decided that she would allow herself to win this one. She quickly balled her right hand up and with all her lasting strength. She propelled it forward and smashed her fist square into the jaw of the man. He gasped at first and dropped the knife, Una gasped in pain from her arm and her hand being cut to shreds.

Then Una saw him try to compose himself, but he was failing. His eyes roll back, and she watches him fall back flat on his back. She had knocked him out.

"Hmm...I didn't think that would work but thank the Gods!" Una shrugged in disbelief.

Even more in disbelief was that she held a blade in her hand that had the same-named engraved in the fuller of her sword, in the knife. If she could get the name of the man who the knife foraged, she should be able to find the man who sold the blades to her father's killer. If the man were a Dane, indeed, he would have a record of each man he sold his weapons to.

Una began to swell with joy, even though her body hurt with pain, but it was a dull pain. She had felt much worse in her life. Abandonment was the worst pain she had ever felt. No cut would ever penetrate her so painfully as being left behind in this world, having everyone ripped from you.

"Why did you trouble yourself so, to get here?" Una asked, kneeling next to the man as she slipped the knife in her dress pocket.

She pulled his cloak away to reveal his thin frame, dressed in a loose white tunic and silk trousers. How was it that he too was wearing the garb of noblemen? His clothing was pristine, all but a few drops of his own blood and Una's blood.

Wherever he was from, it must be a great town if he was a slave and was dressed in this fashion. Una thought about how odd these slaves are here in this state if that is who they were. Why were they forced to come to kill the Queen when they knew it was a battle they couldn't win?

Were these people merely a distraction, scout for a larger group coming, to find the weak points? She suspected before that this was their real motive, not to get help. Even more, Una thought that perhaps they would convince her to open the gates for an army disguised as a horde of helpless individuals. They would state that they, too, have been ravaged by Viking pillagers to gain entry.

Una tended to have catastrophic thinking. She only could see the death she once saw. There could be no negotiating with these Danes. They have to be put to the sword, but not until Una figured out who foraged the knife the man yielded.

At this thought, she dragged the man over on his side, who was surprisingly light. It would make sense since he had little meat to his bones. He was a walking corpse, practically. He probably weighed less than Una, even though he was taller than her.

Una slid her left arm under his torso and lifted him with ease. His legs and arms drug the ground, getting caught on Una's cloak she had tied behind her back.

Una got fed up and hoisted him up in her arms. She ended up carrying him in her arms like a child. He had felt more robust than he weighed. Una began to feel a bit bad for striking him, but she couldn't take any chances. He behaved erratically and needed to be stopped.

Una didn't fear for her life. More so, she feared her sanity. The look in his eye was wild. His gaze was Sharper than a thousand swords. It was intimidation on a level Una had never experienced. It was purely psychological. It was a threat in her eyes.

"Una, what are you doing!?" Darren says, meeting Una's eyes as she struggles to open the door.

"Well, this man can help me. I won't allow him to escape my sight until he has answers for me." Una said as she hesitated to pull him up.

Darren would offer to help, but he knew Una would shrug the advance off. She is fiercely independent to the point of being stubborn. She hated to admit surrender of any kind. Even surrendering to her own struggling would be a defeat in her eyes.

"Well, good luck with your endeavors. If you'll excuse me, I am going to fetch me a glass of wine."

"Can't sleep?" Una laughed as she hoisted the man up closer to her.

"Yes, I'm not sure why. I think from the look of it; you could use one as well. maybe even your friend here." Darren said, looking at her bloodied shirt, unaware of her being stabbed.

"That would be lovely, but I have more imposing matters to attend to, but thanks for the kind offer." Una smiled and turned away.

"Well...Goodnight then." Darren said, his voice fading out as he walked away.

Una bit her lip as he continued to make her way down the hall. She felt like an idiot ignoring his apparent offer to drink with her. Una then remembered that they had a purely platonic relationship. Well, that is how Darren viewed it. A drink would be nothing, just another distraction from Una's mission.

Una lugged this man around, who weighed as much as a boy, to the nearest room. Though he was light, it was difficult for Una to carry him without taking baby steps in any direction. As she barely made it through the threshold, she fell forward and fell over him. It was the damned cloak again. Una quickly threw it off of her and cast it aside before going to shut the door.

"Gods!" She shouted angrily.

It was hard for Una to control her emotions right now. So much is happening, and confusion causes her to feel extremely frustrated.

Suddenly she hears the floors creak and a shuffle.

"You blundering buffoon. I feel sorry for the man that sards you." The man laughed with a cough.

"How are you speaking!?" Una shouted, turning around and barred herself against the door.

She did it so fast, fearing that he may try to escape, that she knocks over a beautiful vase, and it shatters to pieces. She pays no regard to it, even though it was a gift to her for the untimely demise of her family.

"I definitely wouldn't sard you. You would end up breaking my neck by accident. It already feels as if you did." He laughed, rubbing his neck with his bloodied hand.

Una stared at him, her cheeks ablaze with anger and shock.

"I came to shortly after you rammed me into the wall back there. You were speaking to that eunuch of a guard, Darren. I believed you addressed him as." He laughed, sitting up.

He stared right at Una, especially now that she had her hand on the top of the hilt of her sword. His eyes pierced her in the velvet darkness of the dim room. There was only one lamp lit in the corner.

"Fear not, mountain queen. I don't have the will to expend any more energy on you. Perhaps we may settle this like civilized beings?" His demeanor completely changed now that they were alone.

Una, in an instant, withdrew her sword.

"You are no civilized being! You Dane, you evil Viking!" Una raised her voice.

The man threw up his hands and grinned, but not in a surrendering way. Una refused to re-sheath her sword. She pointed it at him, ready to strike if he tried something again.

"You're right. I am a Dane, or a Viking if you wish, but I have never partaken in pillaging before. I swear by the gods I haven't. So, if you wish to call me anything, I am just a Dane." He grinned again, lowering his hands into his lap, sitting on his knees.

"Then tell me who you are, Dane. What business do you have here? It is obvious to see you have ill intent toward me!" Una's brow furrowed, and her trembling hand steadied.

"I meant no harm." He laughed.

"Then elaborate to me was there a fucking knife sticking in my chest not many moments ago!?" Una retorted.

"My, my. I can't say I have ever heard of such foul word trace across the tongue of such a fair and lovely maiden, a queen at that." He laughed again, being smart with Una.

"Shut your mouth, you snake! Why have you come here with those others? Who are they, and who are you!" She shouted again.

"You definitely have the Gods on your side since you decided to corner me instead of them. The group is under my command. As I said, I am a Dane, but I am also Frey Lothbrok." He stood up but slumped back down, looking faint.

His face winced when he hit his dislocated arm against the ground.

"Tell me, who are you to be such a fair queen and hold such an ugly piece of metal in front of my face." He laughed.

Una twisted the blade where the engraved words were visible to his eye. The same name on the boy's knife. When Frey saw this, his eyes widened, and a look of terror crossed his face.

"I am Una Elisedd, the real and true queen of all of Snowdonia, from the River Severn through the mountains, I am the ruler." Una seethed in anger.

"I don't doubt that now." He laughed.

"I find it humorous that this is amusing to you. I want to know why you are here, Frey Lothbrok!" Una said, still pointing her sword straight in front of his cold icy eyes.

Frey suddenly knelt to his side and laid flat on his back, and covered his arm over his eyes.

"If you would do me the kind honor of assisting me in resetting my arm back in place, perhaps I would be more comfortable talking instead of focusing on this terrible pain," Frey said, laying there with a grin over his face, concealing his hurt.

Una hesitated, but she eventually put her sword back in its sheath after watching him not care about her presence any longer. He had his eyes closed, an obvious sign of discomfort, but he refused to show any emotion.

"Sit up," Una ordered Frey.

He did as he was told with no hesitation. Una was taken back by this. Even Darren delayed this as many times as he had his shoulder pop out.

"Relax," Una said, reaching her arm over his back and pulling his arm up over his head.

She expected him to make a wincing noise, but he had a gentle grin on his face the whole time. She grabbed his hand and gently guided it down in an angle where she could pull his shoulder forward.

Una leaned over his head more to get better placement, and her thick auburn hair fell and brushed over his face. She realized this mistake as he grabbed a locket of it gently in his hand.

She quickly pulled it up and inward where a large crack was heard, and he moaned out as he released her hair. She feared he would pull her down again, so she slipped a step and pushed his arm back in place. Frey let out a huge sigh, and he slumped over without any tears. She had never seen a man take such pain.

You're a warrior," Una said, walking back over to the door.

She still didn't trust him, even with his drastic change in his aggressiveness. He was always a Dane, and he could know the very man that killed her father. He wouldn't think twice about killing her.

"I once was, but not by choice. My father had to leave me to tend to more important matters. You remember how that feels, don't you.? He laughed.

Una slid down the length of the door with her back. He struck something in her, the flood of emotions about her brother, Eurion. Frey looked at Una with so much sympathy at this moment. Una could feel her eyes swell with tears. How did Frey know about her misery, her pain of being a leader, the most challenging position to take other than a slave?

"Thank you, Una Elisedd." He smiled.

Una could not catch her breath. She started to panic, the emotions and feelings of the nights she lost her family one by one. Una shot up and quickly ran out of the room, and slammed the door. Her back was pressed against the other side where she was a second ago. She couldn't believe how careless she had been, and especially to help him. He had nearly killed her. Was she a fool?

As a watch guard walks by, Una motions for him to come over. She could barely speak without trembling.

"You there, ...make sure that this man does not leave this room under any circumstances. Understood?" She notices in the light that it was Aidan from earlier.

Aidan shook his head and stood at his post, the door with the Dane on the other side.

"Thank you," Una uttered breathlessly as she patted him on the shoulder.

Una walked up to her Chambers and went to bed, but she couldn't sleep. How could she? Images of the nights she could have saved her family tormented her. She grabbed her pillow and cried into it. She betrayed her father and mother, her sister and her brother.

She showed kindness to a Dane, and this exposed her weakness. He brought up abandonment, and she collapsed under the weight of her experiences flooding back to her. They all had died by this man's people, and she couldn't help but feel as if she was the next. It would serve her right, though; she was never meant to rule.