(If you wanna follow this on AO3, you'll see the adult version. XD)

Chapter 3: Ankomst

The King of Wessex leaned heavily on the table and breathed out. He did look remorseful as he shook his head. "He is gone then." Alfred said gravely. "He could be across the ocean by now, anywhere."

"No!" Sihtric exclaimed loudly and shook his head before he could stop himself. "He can't be!"

King Alfred stared at the unknown young man. He hadn't really been introduced. Father Beocca had practically barged in and requested an audience with the King, Hild and the young man in tow. "I'm sorry but… he is lost to us." Alfred said, looking at the young man.

Hild turned and touched Sihtric's shoulder. The boy immediately shrunk back and dropped his gaze to the ground. She turned back to Alfred and stepped closer. "Let us go in search of him." She offered.

Alfred leaned back, as if considering it for a moment. "Just the two of you?"

"I will go." Father Beocca said, stepping closer. "I won't give up until I've brought him home."

Alfred looked at the older man in pity and shook his head. "Thank you, Father Beocca. But I don't think that would be a good idea."

Lord Odda, one of the King's oldest and most loyal friends, stepped forward. The man had remained quiet thus far and listened to the conversation. But he had an idea. "Lord King… what about Uhtred's brother?"

Alfred paused and looked at the man. "Our prisoner?"

Lord Odda nodded his head. "Couldn't he remain a prisoner while he searches? We keep his woman our prisoner."

Alfred tilted his head. "You think he would do this task and return?"

Hild stepped closer. "Uhtred always spoke highly of the love he and his brother share. I believe Ragnar would do it for Uhtred alone, without being asked or told to."

Alfred nodded his head slowly. "Bring him to me."

… … …

He was a warrior. He was a Lord, an Ealdorman, a King by birthright. He wouldn't give up and he wouldn't be broken. It wasn't the first time he'd been captured and called a slave. He'd been only nine when Earl Ragnar had killed his father and taken him. He survived then. He would survive now. He would show strength and courage and he would get these men out of here. As many as he could save. He would be a free man again and he would return. He would seek vengeance. That was the promise he made to Guthred. And it was the promise he would keep. He would make the pretender King regret not killing him.

They were roughly shackled by the man called Hakka and pushed onto the benches and told to row. The cut on his shoulder burned and itched but he paid it no heed. He glanced around at the other slaves aboard the Trader. There was an assortment of them. Danes, Saxons, Norsemen, and a single Irishman who sat behind him. The last, Uhtred hadn't realized was Irish at first. The man didn't speak. He simply sat there, anger on his face and a glare in his gaze, until they were ordered to row. Then he gripped his oar and his lips curled into a snarl and he pulled hard. Uhtred took to watching the man when he could, to listening to his breathing and his grunts when he couldn't watch him. Something about the silent man fascinated him and he couldn't yet understand why. He longed to ask the man his name but the first time Uhtred spoke, one of the slavers hit him and called him nothing. He didn't talk for a while after that.

"This is shit, Lord!" Halig whined a little too loudly after a week in. They had remained pretty quiet thus far but Halig had never been one to stay quiet for any real amount of time.

Uhtred leaned forward and dropped his voice. "Halig!" He hissed. "Call me Osbert."

Halig turned and glanced over his shoulder at Uhtred. He frowned and shook his head. "I cannot, Lord."

"You have to!" Uhtred chided. "I do not want anyone here to know who I am."

"But it is not your name!" Halig persisted.

Uhtred sighed and looked away. "It was." He said softly. "It was the name I was born with. And it is the name you must use." Halig didn't look happy about the fact. He nodded his head curtly and turned back around. Uhtred breathed out again as he turned to watch his friend. He couldn't blame the man in the least bit. It wasn't a name he liked. It was a name attached to a time he just wanted to forget. A father who hated him and ignored him in favor of his older brother, of the first born Uhtred. And then his father had been killed the same day he'd been given the new name. Uhtred shook his head as he held fast to his oar and pulled.

… … …

Just as Hild had predicted, Ragnar hadn't hesitated the moment Uhtred's name had been mentioned. He agreed readily even though Brida had tried to argue for a moment, not wanting to be left behind. But Ragnar kissed her and promised he would return the moment he found his brother. King Alfred assigned a few more men to accompany them and sent them off.

Their first stop had been back to King Guthred's army. The man was completely distraught. The brothers had abandoned him already, there was word of Kjartan's anger towards them, and the King's sister, Gisela, had vanished the moment he'd gotten rid of Uhtred. Guthred had known his sister was fond of the Dane Slayer. He just hadn't realized how much her desertion would wound him. "I sold him to the slave trader, Sverri." Guthred mumbled under his breath.

Ragnar narrowed his eyes as he pressed closer, his hand on his sword and looking very much like the conquering viking he was rumored to be. Guthred shrunk back and looked away and Ragnar smiled. "And how is that working for you?" He asked, tilting his head. "I am told my brother was your commander and friend, that he risked his life to save you and fought for you."

Guthred swallowed thickly and nodded his head, unable to answer.

Ragnar pressed even closer, making the man shrink back more. "This is how you treat a friend?"

"I… I thought… I had no choice." Guthred stuttered over the words. "I needed more men to take Dunholm…"

Sihtric let out a snort and shook his head, looking around. "I don't see any more men." The boy mumbled out under his breath.

Ragnar heard him and glanced back at him. "This is the size when you left?"

Sihtric turned to him and nodded his head. "Smaller, actually. I do not see the brothers and their men."

Ragnar nodded his head slowly. "Erik and Sigefrid." He turned back to the King. "That was almost as foolish as selling my brother." He turned his back on the man and nodded at his band. "We will find this Sverri." He called as he walked off, the others falling in step with him. "And you better pray to your God that I don't find him because I know of my brother's streak for revenge. He will not rest until he has destroyed you."

"I… I hope you do find him." Guthred called. "I still think of him as my greatest friend."

Ragnar stopped and he turned, along with Hild and Sihtric, on either side of him. All three stared at the King. Ragnar breathed out and shook his head. "I will cut your head off for that if my brother does not." He turned and they mounted their horses and rode off.

… … …

The days had turned into weeks and then into months. Uhtred had no real sense of time aboard the ship. He knew it was longer than a few weeks. He knew the season was starting to change, summer had left and fall was starting to set in, it was getting cooler aboard the Trader and he heard talk from the slavers about spending the winter at home when the cold really set in. He wondered where that was and what they would be doing there.

It was dark and the ship was quiet. Mostly everyone around them was asleep, except for a few of the men guarding them. Halig let out a wracking cough and leaned forward. Uhtred pressed closer and rubbed at his friend's back. Halig recovered and breathed deeply and the cold air made him cough again. "It's too fucking cold." He hissed out, his voice barely a breath.

Uhtred suppressed his own shiver and moved closer to his friend, attempting to huddle against him. He offered little comfort, he knew. They were both miserable. They all were. And he knew it would only get worse. Movement to his left caught his attention and he turned.

The man, who for months had sat silent at his back, was suddenly crawling closer. He moved silently and sunk down beside Uhtred and leaned back against the ship. He pressed close, his leg and arm brushing against the other man and he breathed out. "He whines a lot." The man said, his voice thick with disuse and heavy with an Irish accent.

Uhtred stared at him for a moment, his mouth falling open. He was rendered speechless. He had never heard the man speak before. And he had learned from the other slaves that had been there longer than him and Halig, the man hadn't ever spoken to them either. He kept silent and to himself and most thought him mute.

Halig leaned forward a bit and glared at the man. "I am not whiny!" He hissed with a distinctly whiny tone in his voice.

The Irishman smiled and let out a laugh.

"Lord!" Halig shook his head. "Can you believe that? His first words to us and he insults me!"

The man continued to smile as he glanced sideways at them. "I believe he has told you several times to call him Osbert."

Halig scoffed and leaned back against the ship. He crossed his arms and leaned against Uhtred. "That is not his name."

"It is for now." Uhtred said softly, his eyes still on the man beside him. "I was someone else once."

"Aye." The man nodded his head. "We all were. And we will be again. I was once called Finan the Agile, because I danced around my enemies." His smile faltered and he breathed out. "I danced and I killed. Danced and killed." He shook his head and looked away. "Now I push and pull."

Uhtred leaned closer to him and dropped his voice. "We will live." He promised the man. "And we will be again." He echoed the man's own words. Finan turned back towards him, his face impossibly close. The man's deep brown eyes flitted down to Uhtred's lips for a moment and Uhtred felt something stir within him at the look. But before he could think or act on it, Halig's voice disrupted him.

"We won't be anything if we freeze to death." The small Saxon grumbled.

Uhtred tore his gaze from Finan and glared at his friend. "The snows haven't even started, Halig. It's barely fall. It's going to get much colder."

Halig let out a groan and pressed harder against Uhtred, trying to suppress his shivering.

Finan let out a laugh and shook his head. "Whiny."

… … …

The water seemed to stretch out forever in every direction he looked in, endless and daunting. He turned and shifted his gaze and it did just that, stretched out forever. His keen eyesight and perception failed him out on the water. Weeks had passed, months even, and they were nowhere. They had bought a ship and tried to follow the slavers on the water. Every tip they gained came up empty and put them back at the beginning. He felt as if every step forward they made, they took two backwards. They were no closer to finding the man that was on his mind every waking moment and haunted his dreams every time he closed his eyes. Sihtric closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to force the most recent dream away. He bit his lip and tried to keep the whimper from his throat as his mind recalled the intense blue stare and the deep voice as his Lord called him a good.

"Sihtric."

The boy breathed out a shaky breath and shook himself. The cold wind blew harder and he hoped she would assume the redness on his face was due to the winter chill setting in. He turned towards her. "Yes, Lady?"

Hild smiled at him sadly and reached out to pat his shoulder. "Don't give up." She said softly. "We will find him."

Sihtric breathed out and looked away, across the expanse of the ocean again. "It's been too long."

Hild moved closer, brushing her arm against his comfortingly. "Uhtred will have survived. He's too stubborn not to."

Sihtric smiled and let out a laugh at that. "I can imagine from all the stories you and Ragnar have told me."

Hild tilted her head and then shook it. "He sure is something else."

"I didn't even know him very long. I can't explain this… attachment… I feel… towards him." He bit his lip as he admitted it and for a moment, he worried his words betrayed more than he meant.

Hild nodded her head slowly. "That's what he does. He just… has this way around him. He draws everyone around him in. He's just… a good man." She breathed out. "He doesn't deserve this."

Sihtric glanced sideways at her and smiled. If Hild wouldn't give up, he wouldn't either. Sihtric would hold onto the hope of seeing those blue eyes again. Forever, if need be. He would never give his Lord up.

… … …

Once Finan started talking, he wouldn't stop. Uhtred smiled as he listened to him talk and sometimes even sing and he thought that maybe he liked this man. He really liked him. Finan seemed different than the others he'd fought wars with. Men who just obeyed and fought with very little thought of their own. Finan seemed very much his own man, his own volition. He seemed to hold himself well and he was glad to have the man on his side in this war. And yes, this was a war in Uhtred's mind. It was a war they were all fighting and that one day, they would win. He just needed them all to obey, to keep the slavers believing them docile. And Finan was quickly proving to be the man to help him. He was strong, fearless, funny, and he was just as drawn to Uhtred as the Lord was to him. Uhtred didn't have the words to capture the growing bond between them as the time passed, as they huddled together for warmth and maybe more, for a sense of belonging, of family, for feeling anything other than the torment their lives had become. They kept each other sane and focused, whispering lowly together and sharing smiles and laughs when their captors were gone. They kept each other alive, even when things were at their darkest.

Uhtred heard the thump behind him and he turned. His eyes widened when he saw Finan lying on the deck. "Finan!" He pushed his oar away and turned. He bent over the man, worry on his face. The man looked like death and Uhtred pressed closer. "Finan!" He touched his hand to the man's forehead and the Irishman was burning up.

Halig turned, glancing over his shoulder at them. "Get him up!" He hissed. "Hakka's coming back!"

Uhtred hooked his arms under Finan's frame and hauled him up, back into his seat. "Finan, you have to pull!"

The man pushed him again and turned. He bent over and retched, but hardly anything came out. His stomach was too empty as it twisted in on itself. He bent forward and placed a hand over his abdomen. "I can't." He said softly, his voice barely a whisper.

Uhtred laid a hand on the man's shoulder and leaned closer. "You have to, Finan. You have to try! If you don't, they'll throw you overboard and you can't let them! You can't let these earslings beat us!"

Finan breathed out and nodded as he lifted his hands to his oar.

Uhtred quickly dropped back to his bench and grabbed his, pulling it as hard as he could.

Hakka appeared above, glowering down at them. He was a large, ugly brute of a man and Sverri's second. His eyes fell on Finan and watched as he struggled to pull. His eyes narrowed. "Pull!" He shouted.

Finan nodded and put everything he had into it. Hakka nodded and turned, moving to check the slaves on the other side of the ship. Finan paused again and leaned heavily over his oar as he felt another wave of sickness wash over him. That night, Uhtred cradled Finan tightly against him and force fed him slowly, whispering softly to him. Then he slowly rocked the man to sleep and did the same for the next few days, until the sickness passed and Finan was back to himself. "Thank you." Finan said softly, not meeting Uhtred's gaze. "For not letting me give up."

Uhtred smiled and nodded, suddenly too full of emotion to find his voice. He wanted to tell the man that there was no way Uhtred could give up on him. He never would. Finan's determination, his strength and his raw anger that kept him alive, it helped to keep Uhtred alive. He owed it to this man to do all he could to make sure he returned the favor. He felt choked up and looked away.

Finan smiled and laughed, and continued talking. Uhtred loved hearing the man talk and he hung on every word. He didn't talk a lot about his past, before the Trader. He mentioned having a Lord that betrayed him because the man wanted his woman. Uhtred spoke of the same, mentioning Guthred's clear displeasure at Uhtred's interest in his sister. But Gisela wasn't the one on his mind the most when he spoke of what happened before the Trader.

Halig rolled his eyes as he pulled on his oar. "Why do you keep bringing him up?"

Uhtred frowned as he stared at Halig's back. "Who?"

Finan smiled and let out a laugh from behind him. "Your boy."

Uhtred's frown remained as he glanced over his shoulder at the Irishman. "Sihtric? I do not keep bringing him up!"

"You have, Lord." Halig grumbled out. "Every moment you get."

"Aye." Finan agreed. "You worry about his safety."

Uhtred opened his mouth and narrowed his eyes, ready to argue. But instead, he sighed and nodded his head. "I am worried. The King's abbot was very against him joining us and wanted to kill him. And Guthred is a spineless weasel who does everything his abbot tells him to. If anyone has touched the boy, I will kill them all." Behind him, Finan laughed again.

They docked at a port shortly after that. A few of the slavers went inland and left the rest on the ship to guard them.

Uhtred sighed as he leaned forward on his bench. He yawned and shook himself, then rubbed a hand over his face and down his neck. What he wouldn't give for a bath! A real bath, with warm water and soap and dry clothes. Every inch of his skin felt waterlogged and covered with grime. He slid his hand up his neck to his hairline but he couldn't even get his fingers through the ratted mess and he pulled his hand away with a sigh on his lips.

"Here." Finan had been watching him closely. He pushed off his bench and crouched down behind Uhtred. He glanced up, making sure none of the guards were near. Then he pulled out a hidden hair comb.

Uhtred glanced over his shoulder at him, curious at his movements. His eyes widened as he saw the comb, recognizing it as one of the many items they had hauled to a port to sell. "Finan! Did you steal that?"

Finan smiled and nodded his head. "I snatched one when no one was looking. Turn around, keep watch."

Uhtred nodded and turned to do so. Finan moved closer and knelt behind him. He lifted his hands to Uhtred's hair and slowly started the long task of picking out all the tangles. He worked slowly and gently, careful to keep from pulling too hard or ripping the delicate strands. He worked his way up, from the ends to Uhtred's scalp. Uhtred closed his eyes when Finan ran the comb against his scalp. He leaned back against him and sighed out. It was a simple gesture, something silly that he would never think twice about. But after so many months of having nothing to take comfort in, of being more touch starved than he realized he was, Uhtred couldn't help the moan that escaped him as Finan set the comb down and ran his fingers over his scalp.

Finan's eyes widened a bit as he listened to the sounds the other was making. He swallowed and glanced around. Halig had fallen asleep, as had the other slaves around them. He was sure the guards were, as well. He hadn't heard any sound from them in a while. And the sky was dark as night quickly set in upon them. He bit his lip as he quickly started parting Uhtred's hair. He made quick work of it, twisting the locks together tightly and plaiting all the strands as neatly as he could. He longed to both linger, his hands in the man's hair, and to be done, as fear gripped him at them being caught. He heard and saw no signs of the guards but that didn't mean they wouldn't be found any minute. And the soft sounds Uhtred was still making were bringing them dangerously close to a point they shouldn't cross.

Uhtred had been almost in a daze, in a trance as Finan worked on his hair. But when the Irishman stopped and stepped away, it was broken. He opened his eyes and turned in time to see the man rip a small strip of torn fabric from the hem of his shirt. Then he grabbed the end of Uhtred's braid and tied the end. Uhtred breathed out and smiled up at him. "Thank you." He said softly.

Finan nodded stiffly. "It is how warriors with long hair wear theirs in my tribe."

Uhtred nodded and reached for the discarded comb on the bench beside him. "I can do yours."

Finan shook his head. "It isn't long enough."

"Sit down, Fin." Uhtred said softly as he picked up the comb. Finan waited a moment longer, watching him. He didn't question the nickname and simply nodded, turned, and dropped to the floor in front of him. Uhtred smiled as he lifted the comb to Finan's hair. He touched his fingers to the man's neck first and felt the shiver that ran through the Irishman. Then he slowly dragged his fingers up the base of his head, working his fingers over the man's scalp. Finan breathed out and closed his eyes, the rest of the ship forgotten for the time. Uhtred worked just as gently and slowly as Finan had, working the comb through the tangles. Finan had a lot less than Uhtred had had. But still, Uhtred did his best to comb out every strand. Then when he finished, he set the comb down and touched his fingers to Finan's neck again.

Finan promptly pulled away and grabbed the comb. He shoved it back in his pocket, hiding it once again. Then he scooted back and leaned against the side of the ship, where he had slept before he spoke to them. He leaned back and closed his eyes.

Uhtred huffed out, suddenly annoyed and not completely sure why. He likewise retreated to his sleeping spot beside Halig. The small Saxon was snoring deeply as if he were at home and Uhtred wondered for a moment how others weren't annoyed by the sound. He sighed and thumped his head back against the ship and looked up at the sky. The sky was dark and cloudy, hardly a single star dotted its vast expanse. The whole of the ship seemed to be asleep except for him. Several long minutes ticked by as sleep continued to evade him and he glared up at the sky.

Finan had only been feigning sleep. He opened his eyes slowly and his heart ached at the confusion he'd seen in the other man. He rubbed a hand over his face and bit at his lip. "Uhtred." He leaned closer, his breath ghosting a trail up the man's neck. It was an innocent enough gesture, his intent on just getting close enough for only the other to hear, to attempt to explain he was fearful of getting caught or overheard.

It had a different effect on Uhtred, hearing his real name on Finan's lips. His eyes darkened and his mouth dropped open, his breath quickening. He hadn't even realized the man knew his real name. But then again, Halig had slipped up a lot in the beginning. He swallowed and his eyes dropped to Finan's lips. He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth and leaned his head back.

Finan raised an eyebrow as he realized the other man's thoughts had been echoing his own. His lips curled into a smile and he leaned closer again, this time touching his lips to Uhtred's ear as he said, "I know how to help you sleep." Uhtred's breath hitched as he grabbed at Finan's shirt and pulled him closer. Finan stared into his eyes as he reached over and pressed his hand to the other's crotch.