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"Rán can be a vixen. This should settle her." Uhtred spoke when he noticed his son's confusion.

Sigrún had her head resting on Sihtric's shoulder as she listened to the father-son duo. She smiled when Sihtric's hand moved to her stomach as he splayed it across her to gain more contact. He had gotten into a habit of touching her there whenever he was anxious, or wanted some good luck, she failed to see how the two correlated. Seidr was asleep in Sihtric's lap as his rattler was resting on her thighs, he preferred to be touching them both at all times.

"Rán is pagan lies. I pity you for believing it." Young Uhtred says with bitterness.

"Finan, give him something to do." Uhtred said as he finished dressing the wound.

"Yes, lord." The men begin to groan in disgust when Finan grabbed the shit buckets. "Oh, God. Whoa. Hey! You can empty this!" He drops the bucket at the boy's feet as they all laugh.

"Tell me the truth. Am I the bait?"

"For what?" Uhtred questioned and frowned when Sigrún glared his way.

"In the plan, you are hiding from me. Am I the bait?"

"Nothing is hidden from you. We are tracking monks who have entry to Bebbanburg. You will befriend them, enter Bebbanburg, and open the sea gate to us." Uhtred claimed.

"I think you have another reason for dragging me into your revenge." Young Uhtred hissed.

"Yes, so you may win honor and reputation."

"The only reputation that matters is my standing with God." Young Uhtred claimed.

"You cannot force a boy to be a warrior." Finan tells him with pity.

"My blood runs within his veins. Why can he not see that?" Uhtred mumbled.

Sigrún felt Sihtric kiss her forehead as he nuzzled her hair gently to rest his face against the side of her head, she rubbed his arm lightly when his thumb started to caress her belly.

"Because your blood is that of a stubborn bastard." She smirked at Uhtred's defeated face.

"Who do you pray for, boy? Hm?"

"The men you will slaughter. You seem to take things when you want them, when you do, show mercy." Young Uhtred claimed.

"To my Uncle Aelfric, who spent a lifetime wishing me dead?" Uhtred questioned in disbelief.

"There is a power in forgiveness." His son claimed.

"Good. Then you may use it to forgive me." Uhtred said with a smile as they sat in silence.

As they docked their boat, Sihtric helped her off the boat while checking to make sure she and the baby were fine, she had learned not long ago that Sihtric would often go into protection mode even for little things like this. His mind was constantly alert as he looked for danger and protected her, their unborn child, and Seidr.

"So, where do we start?" Finan asked as he turned to walk backward. He watched as Seidr sent him a dirty look, the snake didn't care much for him or Uhtred at the moment.

"Where do you look for monks in a place like this?" Uhtred said teasingly. Sihtric slipped his hand into hers as he settled his nervousness, Seidr must have noticed because he slithered over to nuzzle Sihtric's cheek.

"St. Colman's?"

"The whorehouse!" Finan said as they all laughed, even though she cracked a smile.

"That's it. I'm staying on the boat." Young Uhtred said in annoyance.

"It's not safe for you to be alone this deep within Danelaw. Come." Uhtred said as he motioned for his son to follow.

"Then I will pray for salvation."

"I will stay with him, keep us both safe. They do not love a priest in Grimesby." Beocca said softly.

"Thank you, Father." Uhtred said in passing as they entered the alehouse. The men inside murmur as the door thuds signaling customers. Sigrún glared at the men whose gaze lingered on her, pregnancy hormones were no joke, she felt a sudden wave of rage and fought back the urge to kill the drunks.

"Grimesby seems like a lovely place." Finan said mockingly.

"I hear the oysters are delicious."

"Hm," They laugh and the inn goes silent. "Sihtric, don't make eye contact." Sigrún cackled as she leaned into Sihtric's arm, even Seidr rattled his tail to express his amusement.

"What's your business here?" A man asked with crossed arms.

"We're traders. We're taking pelts to Frankia." Uhtred said.

"Really?"

"Mm-hm." Uhtred said with a mocking smile.

"You keep the trouble out of my alehouse, agreed?"

"Hey, we're just hungry for some food, nothing more." Finan said.

"And do you have women? He needs a woman." Uhtred said as nodded his head to Osferth, the monk sighed and dropped his head.

"We're not that sort of alehouse."

"Finan." Uhtred spoke and Finan held out a pouch that the man took without hesitation.