Chapter Text
‘Bring out the Bitch.’
‘Who?’ Uhtred raised his eyebrows to Finan.
‘The fighter you are going to go up against’ smirked Sigfried pointing at him. ‘You want us to leave Lunden, you will fight the bitch. If you lose the Bitch goes free like the priest here!’
Finan stepped forward, a firm look on his face and menace in his eyes. ‘I am Uhtred’s man, I will fight in his stead.’
Sigfried stared him down for a moment and then his face split into a grin and he laughed. ‘Of course, of course.’ He continued laughing as he shouted for his men to bring the Bitch.
Finan moved into the square and waited. Soon the men gathered around one corner of the square parted and two men were dragging a dirty, bedraggled waif snarling and kicking viciously towards the centre. Finan let his face fall into a nonchalant visage. They wanted him to fight what looked like a woman. From what he could see she was barely wearing undergarments. Tight breeches and a sleeveless vest but they were ripped and filthy. Feet bare and dirty. Completely indecent for a woman.
But she was acting like a wild thing, one of her flailing legs caught the chest of one of Sigfried and Eric’s men giving him a serious enough swipe to send him staggering back in the crowd. At that the woman stopped thrashing and threw her head back laughing maniacally. The men brought her in front of Sigfried and he grabbed her viciously by her hair.
Sigfried studied her face for a moment and then snarled at her. ‘You win and you go free.’ She stopped moving at this, staring deeply into Sigfried’s eyes looking for falsehoods. Apparently seeing none she relaxed her whole body, resigned to what was happening. The men holding her let go and Sigfried passed her a saex.
The woman seemed to weigh it in her hand, looking at the dagger in great depth. Then suddenly those eyes met Finan’s, deep brown like his own but sad. She walked towards him and stopped a few steps from him.
Finan unsheathed his sword and his own saex, he weighted them in his arms and took a casual stance. The woman crouched with the saex in an underhand position.
‘To the death!’ shouted Sigfried.
‘To first blood.’ said Uhtred calmly. Finan nodded.
‘Yeah, I’m not killin’ a woman.’
Said woman remained crouched wary of what was happening, looking backwards and forwards to the speakers. ‘Will my freedom be promised if it is to first blood?’
Finan’s eyes snapped to the woman’s deep amber eyes. Her voice was melodic and strange if not a bit hoarse. He then looked at Uhtred, Sigfried and Eric in turn. ‘And if I win you leave Lunden?’
Sigfried looked at Eric and shrugged. ‘Yes, yes!’ He laughed which gave Finan pause. This woman must be skilled if the brothers are willing to bet their place in Lunden.
‘Now fight!’ He shouted.
Finan’s eyes then never left the woman’s as he took up a fighting stance, swung his sword a couple of times and advanced on her.
The woman watched Finan, noting his balance and his strength. I’m well and truly fucked if I’m not quick, Sigfried won’t let me live through this if I lose. She cleared a feint that Finan set up by ducking and moving behind him quickly. He span round with a swift grace but she was quicker and got in close knocking the sword away with her underhanded saex and swiftly kicked him in his right knee. He buckled slightly but recovered quickly, she was already moving bringing the pommel of her saex down on his hand sharply with all her force. It hit the soft fleshy part of the hand between the thumb and forefinger.
Finan winced at the blow to his hand, she was quick but he’d been slightly holding back. The saex dropped from his numbing hand but he was already swinging his sword around towards her. She ducked and rolled, grabbing his saex on the way, she pulled up and went on an even quicker offensive. She was a blur, deftly batting his swinging sword away with one saex and ducking, as she tried to find an opening with the other.
She was going to get tired soon. She had to find a way to end this. They said it wasn’t to the death but to first blood. Did it have to be a big wound? She didn’t know. Just then she saw her opening as she ducked yet another swing by the man in front of her. Coming up from her duck she put the full force of her knee into his stomach and then again into his balls, slashing his upper arm close to the shoulder with one of the daggers she held in her hands. She then swiped his legs out from under him, he hit the ground hard. Before he could move she pinned him with a knee and her full weight, and placed the saex in her right hand at his thigh next to where his femoral artery would be.
They were both breathing hard and watching each other. She was scared. He seemed slightly shocked perhaps that she had gotten the better of him. There was silence all around.
Once she had gotten her breath back she spoke. ‘I’m free to go.’ She didn’t phrase it as a question but as a statement in her strange accented voice.
Uhtred stepped forward from where he was standing. ‘She is free to go with us if she chooses.’
The woman’s head whipped round at that and she stared straight into his blue eyes taking stock of him, measuring his words. Finan still pinned under her knee was watching her. His arm was throbbing with the cut and his gut and balls had certainly seen better times. He fidgeted under the woman’s knee. She flinched then, her eyes meeting his. Was that remorse and regret he saw? She pushed herself up using her hands, not putting any more weight on the knee that was holding him down. She gracefully straightened and then held a hand out for Finan. He looked at it and then at her, then he shrugged and smiled an easy smile, took her hand. She put weight behind her pull and helped him to stand.
Seeing the easy smile on his face put her at ease, though she looked worryingly at his arm.
‘It is nought but a scratch.’ He said in a soft Irish lilt. The woman smiled at him slightly almost shyly.
Sigfried huffed angrily but again like with the priest before Eric said she could go. Uhtred stepped in front of her now looking her up and down and stated. ‘You are coming with us.’
It wasn’t a question and the woman knew again she had no choice. Looking down at her hands still holding the saexes there was no weighing up of options. She could stay with the brothers but likely they would kill her now or worse. Or she could leave with these men more unknown times ahead, you’d think she’d be used to them considering.
She held out the hand holding Finan’s saex to him, he took it his fingers gently moving against hers. The other one she kept, fuck If Sigfried was going to get it back.
Another man came forward then with light chin length curly hair. ‘And Lunden? You will take no money to leave?’ He seemed peeved with what was happening.
Sigfried snarled at him but it was Uhtred who answered. ‘We lost Aethelred. We must now leave.’ A few men turned to go, with one last look at the woman and a flick of his chin Uhtred turned and started walking.
The woman hesitated until there was a light pressure on her elbow. She flinched and turned her head bracing herself. Finan held his hands up but still that smile stayed on his face. ‘Come lady let us take you from here.’
The woman smirked after the word ‘lady’ and quietly said ‘Gwen.’ Like it was a long forgotten word.
‘Gwen? Is that ya name?’ Finan’s smile grew slightly. But Gwen was already following Uhtred and Finan walked after her.