"Let him go. I will not ask again," Uhtred's voice was deceptively calm, but he tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.
Acwel shrugged, "Your man here has disrespected me by attacking my son. The punishment for that in these parts is flogging."
Uhtred narrowed his eyes at the Mercian ealdorman. "He is one of my men."
"He is on my land, under my rule," Acwel rejoined.
"I am not the kind of man you want as an enemy," Uhtred said, "and I do not have much patience."
"Not any, some would say," Osferth murmured quietly, at his side.
Acwel leaned forward in his chair, "You came here to negotiate with me on Æthelflæd's behalf, and we have reached an agreement. If you break the peace, you also break our agreement."
Uhtred looked over at Finan, who was on his knees, hands tied in front of him. There were men on both his sides, and the one who had pushed him down to his knees still had a firm grip on his shoulder.
Finan looked up, and met his gaze. There was anguish in his eyes, and regret. The regret was probably for having one drink too many and getting into a quarrel with the wrong man, whereas the anguish - Uhtred knew why it was there, and knew that this was about more than pride, humiliation or pain. He knew Finan was remembering the last time a whip had been used on him, and neither of them wanted to relive those memories. The change in Uhtred's expression was barely perceptible, but Finan knew him well and was watching him closely.
"No," Finan shook his head, "don't. I won't go back and have Lady Æthelflæd told it was on account of my actions no accord was made here."
What they both knew, and Acwel did not, was that the selling of the nearby lands and their mining rights was not just a clever political move by Æthelflæd, it was born of necessity to fill her near-empty coffers before word got out and diminished her authority.
Uhtred grimaced.
Sihtric half turned towards him and put a restraining hand on his chest, "Lord, if it were me, I would want the same," he said quietly.
Finan nodded, though he couldn't hear the words.
"You stand down, then?" Acwel was no fool. He had taken Uhtred's measure, and that of his men, and knew better than to let the situation slip out of his control, into bloodshed.
Uhtred's hand left his sword, to the collective relief of Acwel's men. Many of them had seen him in battle, and nearly all had heard the tales. Finan had earned their respect, whereas Acwel's son was a prick.
"I stand down," Uhtred conceded, "and I will take his place."
There was stunned silence as his words were taken in.
Finan closed his eyes.
Acwel stared at Uhtred. "You would take his punishment for him?"
Uhtred shrugged in an offhand manner, "I am responsible for my men's actions."
Finan opened his eyes, looked at Uhtred. He was fighting back words, and tears. "Lord, please," he finally said, his voice breaking slightly on the last word.
Uhtred shook his head. "No," he said firmly, "there will be no argument on this, no discussion."
Looking at Finan, he knew they were both remembering the whip falling again and again on Uhtred's back as he shielded Halig with his own body. Remembering the whip falling down on him again, tears rolling down both their faces as they were forced to row and listen to Halig's final tortured cries.
Uhtred gave him a soft look before turning back to Acwel.
He could not spare him the memories, and both of them would choose being flogged over watching the other be flogged, so maybe his choice was even selfish. But they all had things they could live with and things they would rather not live with, and right now Uhtred did not think he could live with watching Finan being stripped of his clothes and whipped, not when he had the power to prevent it, not after everything they had been through as slaves, and as friends.
He clenched and unclenched his fingers, wanting to fight his way out of this, but he knew his men were right - there were more important things at stake. There had been a time when he would not have cared about such things, but he was older and wiser now, or at least so he hoped, and at times even he was able to be more politic than hotheaded.
It was Acwel's turn to grimace now. There was no good choice left to him. Uhtred was a Lord, and had been sent here by Lady Æthelflæd. Moreover, he was not unaware of the rumors regarding their relationship. He would either be risking her displeasure, or Uhtred's.
He sighed. While he knew how to navigate a ruler's displeasure, he would very much prefer not to wake one night to the feel of Uhtred's knife at his throat.
"It is your choice," he said, "albeit a strange one." He nodded to his men.
Finan's hands were untied, as Acwel's men looked at him with mingled feelings of envy and compassion. Uhtred's men spoke of Uhtred with great pride, and now it was clear why they would each of them follow him to Hell and back should he ask them to.
The heavily built man who had untied Finan led Uhtred outside to the courtyard, Sihtric following closely at his heels. The man gestured at Uhtred's clothes, "Strip."
Uhtred regarded him, much like a cat might regard a mouse while contemplating whether to eat it, or play with it. After a pause long enough to make it clear that this was happening only because he allowed it, Uhtred unfastened his sword, then handed over both sword and knife to Sihtric. "You have returned Finan's weapons to him, Sihtric?" he asked.
"I will return them now, Lord," Sihtric reluctantly moved away as Uhtred began to slowly unfasten his arm bracers.
Finan joined the crowd slowly gathering in the courtyard, Osferth at his side. Silently, they watched Uhtred remove his sleeveless leather doublet, and then the black tunic underneath. Finan cursed under his breath as Uhtred's back was bared. He turned to Osferth, "Get our packs and saddle the horses, we ride out of here when this is over."
Osferth nodded, "Aegelesburg?"
"No," Finan ran his hand over his beard, "home to Coccham. We will send word to Lady Æthelflæd about the price agreed."
Osferth glanced over at Uhtred, whose hands were being bound to the wooden beam of an old stone well. "I'm glad I don't have to watch this," he said. He placed a comforting hand on Finan's shoulder, bowed his head and left hurriedly.
Finan cupped his cross in both hands and bit down on it nervously. Sihtric came to stand by him, and gave him a supportive nudge with his shoulder. "Osferth?" he asked.
"Making ready to leave." Finan let out a shaky breath as the whip was raised. "Stubborn ass, no one asked him to do this."
They both forgot to breathe as the whip fell on Uhtred's back. Again and again the whip fell, adding bloody stripe after bloody stripe. Uhtred made no sound, though they could see the growing tension in the muscles of his neck and jaw.
"If that were you, he would have done something stupid," Sihtric said, in a low voice.
"More stupid than this?"
"Yes," Sihtric answered earnestly, handing Finan back his weapons, "and we wouldn't have been able to talk him down."
Uhtred let a small grunt escape him.
"Enough," Acwel commanded.
Finan sighed in relief, letting his cross fall back down to his chest. Sihtric rushed forward, and took on Uhtred's weight as he cut through the rope.
Uhtred grimaced as he lowered his arms and untangled them from the rope. He raised his head and met Acwel's eyes.
"I regret that your visit here ended thus," Acwel glanced towards Osferth, standing at the edge of the courtyard with horses saddled and ready, "I hope we meet again under better circumstances, Lord Uhtred."
He nodded at Uhtred, then turned and left. His men followed him, some nodding their respect before leaving to allow Uhtred as much privacy as they could.
Finan placed a careful hand on Uhtred's shoulder and surveyed the damage to his back, "We need to take care of that."
"Not here." It was a command.
A gangly young boy approached them. "Please. Ointment for your wounds," he stammered, proffering a small leather pouch. Sihtric took it from him, and examined the contents.
"You are a healer?" Uhtred asked. The boy shook his head, "Her apprentice."
Sihtric mounted his horse and leaned over to grab the reins of Uhtred's horse, pulling it alongside his own. Uhtred groaned as he pulled himself up into the saddle with Finan's help.
Osferth clicked his tongue and started off at a trot, Sihtric following after, still holding the reins of Uhtred's horse.
Finan mounted, taking one last look around the courtyard. A few curious onlookers were staring at him, and he caught sight of Acwel's son Drefan leaning against a doorway, watching. His lip was still swollen from the blow Finan had landed, and there was an ugly bruise on the side of his face that Finan suspected had come from his father. Biting his lip to stop himself from causing any further trouble, Finan turned away, galloping to catch up and ride at Uhtred's side.