CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ─── lunden

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"I do not like this." Yrsa muttered as they stood by the gates of Lunden. They had made camp last night to attack today, yet the city was quiet. No one was around. "Something is off. I swear it, on Thor's hammer."

"I understand, Yrsa." Uhtred nodded, before motioning for Finan and Sihtric to open the gates. The pair did, yet it was empty. There was no sound.

"It's empty, Lord."

"I told you so." Yrsa hissed.

"Do you see guards?"

"None. I see a trap. Yrsa's right, this is not good." Finan agreed with the younger woman.

Uhtred huffed, before sighing and shrugging as he brushed past Finan and into the city. Yrsa followed, her hatchets in her hand as she met up with Sihtric.

"Yes, of course, if it is a trap, we should walk towards it." Aethelwold snarked.

"If you don't shut up, I will bash your brains in." Yrsa growled. The soldiers all followed behind, advancing through the quiet streets as carefully as they could, weapons drawn. 

But there was no one. No one was here.

They turned a corner into the main courtyard, going slowly as they advanced further.

"Any idea what's happening?" Finan questioned.

"None." Uhtred looked up, searching for something. 

"Shield wall!" Immediately, Yrsa was pushed behind the other men, as they brought their shields up, ready to defend their precious archer and Uhtred's daughter. The girl huffed, glaring at the side of their heads as they all fell silent once more. Uhtred pondered for a moment, before his eyebrows furrowed.

"Aethelred?" There was no response, and Yrsa's eyes narrowed. She did not want to see this man. "Aethelred?"

"Uhtred?" Yrsa sighed. Unfortunately, it seemed that the man was not dead as she had hoped. "We've seen not a single man!"

"Same!"

"It's almost like it's a trap." Yrsa rolled her eyes, huffing. "I know it."

A commotion sounded ahead of them, as the shield wall opposite came down and Aethelred appeared, looking jubilant.

"They fear us! The city is ours!" His men all started to cheer, as Uhtred glared.

"No! No, keep your formation!" Uhtred tried to regain control as the Mercian soldiers spread out around the courtyard. "Keep your formation!"

"They are as dumb as their leader." Yrsa was incredulous, but her words drew earned her a sharp kick from Finan, as they all backed away. The cheering continued, growing louder, as Yrsa pulled her bow from her back, fiddling with the string.

"Lord."

"Yrsa, shoot!" The girl turned, watching as Uhtred pointed to a man running away from them. Yanking an arrow from her quiver, the men made room for her to draw her arm back and shoot an arrow at the man. It missed by millimetres, ricocheting off a wall as the call of fire went up. 

Sure enough, far above them, the tower was on fire, plumes of thick smoke wafting away on the early morning breeze.

"It's a signal." Uhtred muttered, their ranks tightening further. "Stand ready! It's a signal."

"No doubt of that, lord. They will come." Finan was not doing much to help matters, shaking his head. But yet, nothing happened, despite the tower continuing to burn. Yrsa watched it, her eyes narrowing as she thought of the wind.

"Lord..." She trailed off, licking at her lips. "I do not think they are in the city."

"It's a signal that can be seen from a mile or more." Uhtred agreed. "Aethelred! Aethelred!""

Uhtred growled, pushing through as Finan and Sihtric turned back to a calculating Yrsa.

"What is it?" Sihtric touched her arm gently, watching his wife with worried eyes.

"It is a trap, I know it." Yrsa nodded, before her eyes went wide. "But it is not a trap for us. The camp. The camp! Gods above, the camp!"

That was all it took. The men trusted Yrsa's words like law, following her as she raced from the city. Uhtred was not far behind, a foul glare on his face.

"Beastie!" The shire horse pulled free of his ties, thundering towards her as Yrsa vaulted upright. She had been in enough battles with the horse for him to know what to do when things like this started to occur. "Good boy. Go! Go!"

Leaning forward, Yrsa pressed herself flat to his back as the horse thundered back towards camp, the others not far behind her. Their horses were swift, but they needed to be faster. There were defenceless women left behind at the camp, not to mention the princess, and they needed to be found alive.

It took mere minutes to reach the burning camp. though it felt more like hours, and Yrsa slowed Beastie to a stop, as the others joined her.

"I was right." Yrsa muttered, her eyes going wide as Sihtric found her side. "I was right."

"Yrsa..."

"I wish that I had been wrong." She muttered, shaking her head. "I knew something bad was going to happen. I knew it! I should have stayed at the camp! I should have said something! I should have come back quicker. I should have stopped that man!"

"Yrsa." Sihtric, who was not normally forceful (especially not with his wife), grasped onto the back of her neck, forcing the woman to fall against his chest. She shuddered in his arms, eyes wide with fear, as Sihtric leant to press his forehead against hers. "This was not your fault."

Calls for the women were going up around them as they dismounted, though a hand fell onto Yrsa's shoulder. Finan's face looked down onto her, squeezing her shoulder gently.

"It wasn't your fault, Yrsa." Finan promised, the two older warriors walking her towards the other. "No one could have predicted this. It was God's will and he did not choose our favour."

Sihtric hummed in agreement, tightening his grip on Yrsa's waist and pressing a kiss to her red curls. He was doing his best to keep them away from the bodies of the dead women, knowing that Yrsa would not fare well should she see them.

"Beocca!" The trio paused, looking up as a figure emerged from the woods, all of their face's lighting up. Yrsa broke free of the men's grip on her, all three rushing forward after Beocca and Uhtred.

Once she saw that it was Thyra, Yrsa knelt to the floor, clutching onto Thor's hammer as she thanked the gods over and over that the woman was alive. The Danes had not managed to kill everyone, and Thyra was alive. The gods had not turned their back on them yet.

Sihtric's hand clasped around his wife's shoulder, his face calm as Thyra seemed to shake her head at the question she was asked. He would guess that it was something to do with Lady Aethelflaed.

"Yrsa, Uhtred needs us." Sihtric muttered to his wife, who finished her prayer and stood once more. Sheathing her sword, she stalked after the older man, her face alight with fury.

The Danes had tricked them and Yrsa did not like being tricked. She'd get her revenge for them ever trying to play her, and her family, for a fool.

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Hiya,

All you need to know is that I love Yrsa and Sihtric with all my heart. They're sweethearts, Finan's such a good brother and it's confirmed that most of the men do think that Yrsa is Uhtred's daughter (which we love to see).

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx