Una helped Frey gather large branches to pile around the horse as Yvar sat and reminisced over his times with Balder. Yvar decided to leave his saddle and bridle with the horse. There was no use in carrying them with him now. Yvar thought perhaps one of the Gods would like to use his horse in the afterlife. Yvar knew for a fact that Balder would suit the Gods well above himself. Perhaps that's why Balder was a twin. He was supposed to be born to a Goddess's horse but somehow wound up in the womb of an earthly mare. Yvar smiled and thought perhaps it was a gift to them, a worthy sacrifice. He also believed that maybe the Gods gifted Balder to him personally. All he knew now was that his greatest possession was gone, but that would ensure Una's survival and his own if Balder is a sacrifice. Maybe Rhiannon herself has blessed Yvar now for his significant loss. She will protect Una. That's all Yvar wants.

Frey and Una didn't speak. Una urged Frey not to help lift anything. He was severely injured and being in such a frail state. It would be foolish of him to push himself. Frey still insisted, so Una allowed him to carry small branches, but nothing large like Una was holding. Una watched as Yvar was still quietly crying as he has knelt near his beloved Balder, but there was a smile on his face. Una couldn't help but smile too when she saw him like this. She hated when people were sad or angry, it upset her more than they would ever know.

"When we light the fire, I want us to leave. Is that alright with you?" Yvar asked, looking up at Una with a tender smile.

"Of course, we can," Una said softly, smiling back.

Yvar smiled again, but Una watched as it slowly faded when he looked back down at his horse.

"I'd say that this would be enough things to burn. I know it rained when we got here, but this wood feels plenty dry at this point of the day. Let's get this over with, please. I wish to look at him no longer." Yvar pleaded as he bent down and touched his mane.

Una dropped the last bundle next to Yvar and gently stacked the branches over the horse's head. Before she covered the last spot, Una hesitated and turned to Yvar.

"Hand me your knife," Una demanded.

At first, Yvar was scared. He remembered how Una's father skinned Selene after she fell and used her fur as a pelt. People thought he was brave and used it as a status symbol of strength, pretending as if he had slain the rare wolf. When Cynan perished, Una kept this pelt. She didn't want Selene to burn with her father. Una liked her wolf friend to remind her that strength doesn't come from fear. It comes from bravery. Una doesn't wear the pelt, but she keeps it close to remembering what Selene died for, to protect her masters. Likewise, Una must be like Selene.

As Yvar handed Una his blade, she gently pulled up Balder's long braided forelock and sawed it off. She looked up at Yvar, studying why she had just done that, but then he realized she was going to make something out of it when she stuffed it into her cloak pocket. Yvar smiled and bent down, kissing the cold head of his beloved horse. After that, Una took the last few branches and covered the horse head completely. Yvar and Una sat there for a moment in silence. The breeze carried over by the river masked the smell of blood, but you could still see it, seeping into the earth beneath them.

"It will pass, the memories won't, but the way you feel," Una said, looking down at the horse's cloudy eye.

"I'm honestly more in shock. It hasn't hit me yet, but it will when I call out his name on accident, and he doesn't come trotting over." Yvar laughed.

"When you're ready, we'll go," Una said with a smile.

She looked over and saw Frey carrying more branches around.

"Don't worry about those. We have plenty now!" Una shouted over.

Frey stood there sulking in the distance. He threw his hands up, and all the branches fell at his feet. He continued to hold his hands in the air as he turned around and walked over to a nearby rock to sit and catch his breath.

"Could you start a fire for us, please?" Una asked, testing him.

Frey slumped over, exaggeratedly as if he was broken. Una knew he was injured, but even a bedridden monk could start a fire with one hand if he had the right dexterity.

"He's trying, Yvar. I know you don't like him, and I didn't know at first, but he'll grow on you. I'm never wrong about first impressions." Una said, looking over at him.

"Oh, and what did you think of him," Yvar said, looking back down at Balder.

"He means well. He has his quirks, but overall, I sense that he is a decent man, underneath his...shall we say his coddled ego." Una laughed.

"What did you think of me?" Yvar joked, looking into Una's deep green eyes.

"You wouldn't be sitting here in front of me if I didn't like you. Trust me." Una laughed.

"Hmm...so not so much for Aaron then?" Yvar suggested.

Yvar remembered what Frey had told him last night. Why would Una choose him over Aaron to accompany her when Una knew that Yvar was the most capable of running a kingdom single-handedly.

"What are you implying? Do you think that he gave me bad omens?" Una laughed, feeling accomplished for distracting Yvar away from his dead companion.

"Perhaps, is that why you left him in the castle?" Yvar laughed.

"Gods know that castle needs to burn down anyway, omens or not!" Una laughed.

"Really? Why so?" Yvar said inquisitively.

"It's infested with rats, fleas, probably lice...and spiders." Una leaned in and emphasized spiders.

Yvar winced at the thought.

"I prefer my nice cottage in the woods." He boasted.

"Honestly though, the place is ancient. All the doorframes and windows are bowing, the foundation is crumbling, and it's bloody cold, always!" Una laughed.

"You're complaining about the cold floors in the summer?" Yvar laughed.

"I would just prefer if I didn't share my bed with rats to stay warm," Una said.

Una looked off in the distance at Frey, trying desperately to start some kindling.

"Though, rats seem nice compared to some things." Una laughed to herself.

Yvar caught on and laughed too.

"Oh, so you have shared your bed with Frey, I see." Yvar chuckled with his mouth ajar.

"I most certainly have not! I am saying I enjoy the company of rats than of Frey." Una corrected Yvar.

"Oh, so that's how it is." Yvar laughed.

"I won't need him anyway. The radiating heat of my castle burning down around me will suit just fine." Una said sarcastically, folding her arms.

Suddenly they heard a loud, spirited voice.

"I did it!" Frey shouted in delight as a small flame could be seen in his little pile of sticks.

"My Gods, he did..." Una said, shocked.

"Hmm, perhaps you are right about omens. Then let's just hope that Aaron burns down the castle before we get back." Yvar asserted.

"Look! Look at this beautiful light!" Frey got up and pointed down at the growing fire.

Frey was so proud that he could still start a fire. He had flint and steel he brought along with him on his journey. He didn't have the fire for a few weeks when he first left home. He had his men try to do it, but the weather would not permit. After many months, and after losing his men, Frey had to do this by himself to cook and for warmth between stops in villages.

"So why me, instead of Aaron?" Yvar gulped and ripped the bandage off quickly.

Una felt frozen by such a question.

"Well, it is quite simple." Una hesitated.

Yvar had backed Una into a corner on this matter. They both watched as Frey started building up the fire into a roar.

"Bring it over here before it gets too big!" Yvar shouted over.

"You mean with my hands!?" Frey sounded frightened.

"Yes, just half of that fire use other sticks to carry the coals. We can build it up from here." Yvar continued.

Una was desperately trying to think. She knew the real reason why she brought Yvar along. He was her right hand after all, so why was he not on the throne back in Snowden and Aaron was?

"That's it!" Yvar said as he uses two flat pieces of bark to carry the coals in.

"Well, to put it bluntly..." Una started, her jaw clenching, and her mind raced.

Yvar looked over and stared into her eyes, intently awaiting her response.

"The systems we have in place in the kingdom allows itself to govern without anyone realizing it. Whether Aaron is a good king or not depends solely on his personality, not diplomacy. He has...a remarkable knack at charming people, almost manipulative in a way." Una began.

Una then realized that she unintentionally insulted Yvar, which was far from what she meant to do. When he looked around with his eyes, she could tell, thinking as they widened with his own realization.

"So, you believe I couldn't charm my way into the hearts of our people, is that it?" Yvar laughed to himself.

"No, that is not what I meant...actually far from it," Una said quietly, pursing her lips.

Frey came trotting over with the hot coals and set them a few feet away from the horse.

"Now those extra branches would be good on this," Una suggested.

"To be so concerned about me lacking flesh, you sure are putting me to work!" Frey laughed, turning around and walking over to the pile he dropped earlier.

"I meant to say, and please don't take this to heart, but you're a Dane."

"And?" Yvar pursed his lips.

"Well, since my father broke off our alliance with the Northumbrian Danes, we are quite bitter towards them now."

Yvar couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was why Una didn't want him to stay and rule because he was born a Dane?

"Oh," Yvar said softly.

Yvar bit his lip and stood up, and helped Frey pile on branched over the coals. Slowly they ignited, and a large fire began near the horse.

"Yvar?" Una asked, watching him scoot the coals and branches next to the pile over the horse.

"I think we should leave now," Yvar said quietly.

"Sure," Frey said and patted him on the shoulder as he walked away and called for Gwen.

Una stood there, her cheeks burning. She had dug herself a massive hold. Not only did she insult Yvar as a person, but as a culture as well. She hated that he was still considered a Dane, even though he lived most of his life as a Welshman of Snowdon. Everyone kept tabs on who was who. If they knew Una had chosen Yvar to be her right hand, surely the kingdom would go up in an uprising.

"Take Roosa," Una said.

Yvar would not look at her. He just stared as the flames slowly ignited the outside branches, encasing Balder.

"Why?" He said softly.

"Frey and I can ride on Gwen. You take Roosa." Una suggested.

Yvar bit his lip. Not only did Una not want him on the throne, but she also didn't want to be near him, even after his beloved Balder had fallen.

"Roosa!" Una called out.

Yvar balled his fists up, took a deep breath, and sighed. He had been misguided by Frey all along. It wasn't like he loved Una anyway. He just saw her as his first love, nothing more. Now he felt nothing for her, not after she just showed she did not care for him at all. As he suspected all along, she wanted to reimburse him for leaving him so many years ago without telling him why. Now he understands that he was a Dane and always be a Dane in Una's eyes.

As Roosa came over, he hesitated to go near the balder. He knelt his long neck down to sniff the poor fallen animal and backed away. Yvar knelt his head down. He didn't question Una any longer. He didn't really want to call her Una now. He was just an acquaintance, not a companion. Without saying a word, he mounted Roosa and stared down at Una with disappointment.

"Yvar, what's wrong?" Una asked, concerned by his demeanor.

"Nothing, I will meet you at the dyke. I don't want to see him burn. I want to remember Balder as a living being, not another sacrifice to the Gods." Yvar said, rearing Roosa and cantering off.

"Yvar!" Una called out behind him.

"What's wrong with him!?" Una asked as she watched him disappear behind the forest line.

Una suddenly saw Frey on Gwen, steadily walking along the shore. She started to smell the grotesque odor of burning skin and hair. She knew the giant stack of wood over Balder was beginning to burn. Una didn't want to turn around and see the flesh of the animal. Like Yvar, she wanted to see him alive in her mind, she more than anything envisioned wiping the tears and frown away from Yvar.

Una began to run in Frey's direction, frantically trying to outrun the smoke and smell. When she approached Frey, the look on his face said all. Una walked up to the saddle without saying anything, pulled Frey's foot out of the stirrup, and mounted Gwen with Frey behind her. Una was expecting Frey to say something crude or snide, but he said nothing. As Una grabbed the reins and turned Gwen around, she could see the plume of smoke towering high above. She knew Balder was burning, like the way Marged and Darren were. Frey wrapped his arms around Una tight as they began to walk faster. Frey leaned in behind Una's ear and whispered.

"What did you do to him?" Frey asked softly.

Una sighed and loosened her reins. Gwen was right about going straight forward without being urged to.

"I don't know. He asked about why Aaron and he weren't switched."

"What did you say!?" Frey asked in a severe tone.

"I came off a bit too harsh and said that he couldn't rule our kingdom because he was a Dane," Una replied.

"Ouch," Frey said.

Una bit her lip. What a terrible friend she was if Yvar still considered her one at this point. They rode for a little while longer until they reached the dyke. It was a large expanse of wall built of large stones, and it towered higher than Una remembered. As she scanned the area, she looked along the wall for Yvar.

"Where is he?" Una asked as she put Gwen into a fast trot along the wall.

"Umm, he was just right here!" Frey sounded frightened.

"Do you think he went north by accident?" Una asked as she traveled up the hill to get a good vantage point.

Sitting atop the hill, they looked around. Roosa and Yvar were nowhere to be seen. Una walked Gwen down the other side of the mountain to see if he was going north by accident.

"Yvar!" Frey called out as Una spun Gwen around.

"Why would he pull a stunt like this now? He would never, even in his plight. He's never run off like this. I said something I didn't mean, but I didn't think he would take it to heart!"

"He's probably abandoned us." Frey insisted as Una turned Gwen around and traveled back up the hill.

"He would never!" Una shouted as they came back over the hill.

Una didn't see coming up the blind hill that a small squadron of warriors from Mercia was waiting for them. These men weren't from Wessex, allies of Wales. These were Anglo-Saxons from north Mercia.

"Aye, but he did abandon ye." Una heard a voice that was not Frey as she looked over the wall.

Una turned around and realized she was walking right into the arms of the men on horseback.

"Gods!" Una cried, trying to pull back old Gwen, but her joints weren't as good as they were with Una's father on her.

"Where are you lasses of to?" A man with a red forked beard grabbed Gwen's bit.

Una and Frey were going nowhere.