.・。.・゜✭✫・゜・。.

THE
BETRAYAL

Year: 878
Location: South of Cair Ligualid, Cumbraland

.・。.・゜✭✫・゜・。.

.・。.・゜✭✫・゜・。

Ragni flinched with an unfamiliar scream, her body shrinking in on itself. She had been certain it was Guthred's or even Uthred's blood-curdling shriek but to her surprise, it was neither. Opening her eyes, Sihtric no longer held her at sword point but rather held it out toward the hills in defense.

Flying down the hill a band of men ran, each yelling and shouting. But louder than the lot, a bear of a man clumsily ran before the group. His sword still tied with the cloth from the mock battle, and his tunic still drenched in sweat. They came quick, circled Tekil and the group.

"Keep them alive!" Uthred shouted, his voice lost in the shouts and clashing of metal.

It happened in seconds, the death of the young boy, and two others from Tekil's party. Tekil himself was being tossed about by the bearish man, wrestled into submission. The man pinning him to the ground, teeth gritted, and jaw clenched.

It was Sihtric who stood before Ragni, pushing her behind him in an effort to protect her from the slaughter that commenced around them. "Run." He instructed, giving Ragni a subtle push toward the stream.

Between the fear and shock that had taken over, Ragni could do nothing more than follow his order. Moving toward the stream, narrowing avoiding the swinging of swords, and the grabbing of hands she waded into the blood-stained water. The cold touch of the stream waded to her shins, creeping further up her legs with each step. Just as she reached the center, a hand grasped the back of her neck.

In a fit of angst, she began to fight the man who held her. An unsuccessful effort. In seconds Ragni was picked up, confined to the chest of the man, her feet dangling inches above the ground. "Stop your wigglin'." the man cursed, bounding Ragni's arms against her chest.

Being brought back, Ragni was thrown onto the ground beside Sihtric. Just as she began to stand, she was pushed back down, her head coming within inches of battering against the grass below. Above Uthred stood before Sihtric, while addressing the grinning men around them. "You done well!" He called out, causing an uproar from the men.

Ragni watched from below as Uthred in a fit of rage hit Sihtric across the temple with the pommel of his sword. "Where are the other two?" Uthred questioned, a nearby man.

"What other two men?" The man asked.

"They went after horses," Uthred seethed. "Find them." He ordered while hitting Sihtric again.

Sihtric did not whimper, or scream out. He stood solid despite the pounding to his skull, his head snapping to the side with the pelting. Even as blood began to stream down his face, he did not speak. A feat, Ragni would've had a hard time handling.

Guthred, who now was on his feet was rambling about his lack of footwear. Uthred reassured him, stating he had lost his boots further upstream. As Uthred moved toward Tekil, he continued his path of anger. No longer using Sihtric as his hitting post, he turned to Tekil. Rightfully so, for each kick to Tekil, he made Ragni wished it doubled.

"You should've listened to me," Sihtric whispered, glancing down at Ragni with a burning anger.

.・。.・゜✭✫・゜・。

Year: 878
Location: The Roman Ruins, Cumbraland

.・。.・゜✭✫・゜・。

Ragni had grown used to shackles and ropes. Was accustomed to such confinement before Kjartan had taken her in, and yet this all felt new. Perhaps it was the rumors of her approaching death, or the factual matter of the statement. She had been told she'd hang, the demand of an Abbot by the name of Eadred. It was not a shock, for it was the Christian men that wanted to watch the Dane's plead at the gallows.

But it wasn't just death that made the travel to Cair Ligualid different or the impending wry of Ulfhild's death. It was the realization in Uthred's eyes when he tightened the shackles and pushed her into pace behind Sihtric. He remembered her, had took to calling her 'Sigurd's Daughter'. She would've been offended, but that is how she wanted Uthred to view her. The ghost of a man he had killed without mercy, left behind for his men to share and abuse.

"You knew they were going to kill me?" Ragni asked, peering over at Sihtric.

They sat outside a building of the past, vines, and wildlife littering the walls. A Roman building of some sort abandoned and destroyed by both time and man. For even its roof had caved in, and its once magnificent architecture now stood worn and falling apart. Inside, Tekil sat in his lonesome. For the best, Ragni knew she'd damn well try to strangle him with her bare hands.

Sihtric fiddled with the chains of his shackles, picking at the links. "Yes," he murmured, before throwing his hands in his lap giving up on whatever he found in the metal links. "Kjartan had your death planned before we took you hostage."

A fool. A blind, and daft idiot. That is what Ragni had been, had always been to an extent. She should've seen it, at least then she could've ended both her and Ulfhild's life in a peaceful manner. Now, Ragni was to be hanged and Ulfhild was to meet her fate at Kjartan's sword.

"And Ulfhild?" A question she knew she'd regret asking, but it was an important one. The most important.

Sihtric frowned, his hand raising to scratch away the dried blood that stained the right side of his face. "She was to be wed to Sven," he began. "Is wed to Sven by now." He corrected.

She was safe, at least in a sick twist of fate. Secure from death, but not from the hands of Kjartan's cruelty, or Sven's for that matter. "We need to find a way out." She grumbled, testing the shackles that claimed her wrist.

Sihtric did not move, not even when Ragni's efforts took to pulling his chains. The pair attached by the confinements, separated by a single foot of slack. A crafty design, a way to slow them both down if they escaped. But Ragni was certain they were fast enough, both being of lanky stature, and an athletic build.

"Stop." He whispered.

Ragni ignored him, dismissing her pull at the restraints to pick up a nearby rock. In a fit of anger she began to beat at the lead chain, battering it with every ounce of strength she possessed. She needed to reach Dunholm, fuck the Abbot, and his noose.

Sihtric grabbed the rock from Ragni's hand, tossing it a few feet away. "Fucking stop." He seethed, giving Ragni a solid push. "Just quit." He breathed, throwing himself back against the ruin's wall. 

"You eel-faced shit!" She snapped, returning the shove. "I will not die in Cair Ligualid-."

"No, you'll die here, if you don't quit!" He interrupted, nodding toward the soldiers around them. A few looking in their direction, one of which raising in examination.

With a quick jerk of his hands, the chain that connected them brought Ragni to the small patch of ground that separated them. "We are going to be hung when we reach Cair Ligualid." She whispered, pulling herself upward.

"I will find us a way out of this." He promised.

Ragni crinkled her nose. "Why should I trust you? A man who planned on killing me." She raved, throwing herself against the wall he leaned against.

Sihtric frowned. "I warned you, did I not?" He murmured, with a harsh undertone. "It's not my fault you're pig-brained."

Ragni did not speak for a moment, chewing on the words he had spoken. He did warn Ragni and told her to run back toward the encampment. But what good would that of done? The very men that did the same in the retrieval of horses were hunted down, and killed. Guthred killing one, beheading the Dane on horseback. Nonetheless, Sihtric was right, he tried to warn her.

"Why?" She asked, her voice softer now.

Sihtric shrugged, his eyes closing. "I pitied you."

It was an answer. And the end of the conversation, Ragni finding no other reason to speak to the infuriating man. Nothing good would've come out of speaking to him, at least not now when they both were filled with rage. She would trust him to find a way out of this, at least until she formed a plan herself.

They would be in Cair Ligualid tomorrow, and they had until then to weasel their way out of this mess. If not, the Abbot would see them both dead. It was no doubt an example for those who tried to kill Guthred or wished him ill will. They were to be dishonored, hung without sword in hand. It would be Niflheim, Sihtric, and herself would be sent to rather than Valhalla. A death that made Ragni squirm, and her heartache.

If she was to die, it would be an honorable death. One that sent her to her kin, and the halls of Odin. And even then, Ragni did not wish for death now. Not when Ulfhild still breathed, and needed her aid.

.・。.・゜✭✫・゜・。

INDEX

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