Author Notes: IT'S ALIVE. IT'S ALIVE, THE MUSE IS ALIVE. Writing that tiny one-shot piece helped my brain to span into something. So here we go. I'm so excited about Season Five and can't simply wait. I hope to keep the momentum up with this story because sometimes I can fizzle out, not going to lie. I have some ideas for further chapters, so I honestly do not know how dark this will get or can get. So Ye Be Warned. From what I have seen from the books, I am going off canon, so hopefully, you don't mind (smiles). I also debated about posting on here due to the fact it seems more people post on AO3 instead of here, let's be honest the ads kill me. But I have never not posted my fanfic on this website so why the hell not.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I do not own any of these characters. I want to take them out and play with them. I'll put em back, pinkie swear. (evil smile) These characters belong to the lovely Mr. Bernard Cornwell.
Timeline: Few months after Winchester Season 4, Episode 10.
If there are any mistakes (waves hands in front of you), these are not the mistakes you are looking for. Yeah, I did it; I Obi-Wan Kenobied you!
Chapter 1 – Prologue
The sound of a heavy metal object cutting through the air as it hit its mark, slamming up against the tree. Anyone that walked up to the scene playing before them would be able to tell this was not the first time this axe had found its mark into the helpless tree. No, this had been done over and over. A soft baby cry pierced the air, stopping the woman from her ritual. She stopped for a second to see what the infant was fussing about and how she could stop it from distracting her. A mix of emotions rushed through her as she came to look down upon the baby in front of her. If this had been Ragnar's pup, with certainty, she would not look down upon this child with such disdain in her heart. She did not feel this maternal instinct towards the thing laying on the ground bundled up in furs. The feeling of happiness had not crossed her thoughts, or a look of content struck her features that she had bared to witness on many women's features across the years. If this had been Ragnar's, maybe it would be a whole different situation. But, instead, this child was Cnut's. The same man was responsible for her lover's death in the first place. All she saw was a child who came out of betrayal and injustices to her lover. She didn't put all her hate into Cnut because he had already died and passed on. No, all her anger and rage was towards a single man who currently walked this world alive, one she tragically thought she would never be apart from. A man she thought would die next to in battle and enjoy the halls of Valhalla. Uhtred of Bebbanburg.
Sneering at the child as it made sounds, she turned around and walked back to her place to throw the axe. She was about to continue her throwing until the hairs stood up on end on the back of her neck. A twig snapped in the distance. She continued to act as though she didn't hear someone approaching from the rear. She changed her stance as another twig snapped much closer behind her; tightening the grip on her axe she then slowed her breathing. Then slightly turning so she could see movement out of her peripheral, she then spun quickly on her heel and let the axe out of her hand when it became vertical to the ground.
"Woman, you sure have the fire of Freyja and Frigg put together."
Brida rolled her eyes at the sight of Haesten. She walked up to take the axe out of the tree that had landed only inches from Haesten's head. "What do you want?" He put his hands up to show that he was not there to fight her. She turned around and began to throw her axe at the tree she had been working on earlier.
Haesten saw movement and heard the soft cry from the baby only a few feet away from where Brida was throwing her axe.
"I see you finally had Cnut's pup. I'm surprised you didn't drown the little shit the minute you birthed it."
As Haesten got closer and tried to get the baby's attention by smiling at it and bending down to the baby, the child was having none of it at the new presence standing before it. Brida's baby started to scream for protection which then Haesten's smile dropped at the infant's reaction. He truly hated children.
"Haesten, if you do not stop hassling my child and tell me why you are here, I will cut off your balls and feed them to my pup."
"I think we could create an alliance, you and I. We are vulnerable. Have you heard of Ragnall?"
"I have had enough of men and alliances. All you do is disappoint." Brida thinking of all the times she had been let down by these strong men, dominating, making promises to do great things type of men. She believed every one of them foolishly. Betrayed and let down time and time again. She had learned her lesson she would not follow a single man ever again.
"Brida, your story is not finished. You and I. I think we have learned from those who had made mistakes and can use it to our advantage."
She had made it to the tree and was starting to pull the axe from the tree as she had just thrown it when Haesten said the one name she did not want to hear for the rest of her life until Valhalla.
"If we kill Uhtred, then we stand,"
Turning around with hatred in her eyes, she held the axe out and cutting Haesten midsentence, threatening him with it, "Say that name again, and you shall live to regret it."
"Hear me out," Haesten put his hands up in defense once more. He did not want to get on Brida's destructive side so early into their conversation and talks. "I've had a lot to think about, and one thing everyone fails to do is," thinking how to say his words without mentioning Uhtred's name. "Take him out, and there is no one to understand how we fight, no one to whisper into the King's ear. No last-minute rescues. He is the key."
Haesten had a long time to think this through. He often, more than he would like to count, had to lick his wounds and walk away from a fight with Uthred and his pretty boys as he always referred to them. But, though it was a blow to his ego, he felt it was a lesson that could be learned. What failed and worked and what missteps to avoid. How all the others before him had fallen and paid with their lives. Though Haesten had said Uhtred was key, Brida was indeed the lock to Uhtred's key and his downfall. She had known Uhtred the longest. She knew him in and out. His likes and dislikes. What could set him off. How to break a man from the inside out was knowing that person, and Brida was the only one who truly understood Uhtred to the fullest. The only men who understood Uhtred apart from Brida were the men who stood next to him on every battlefield and conflict.
The newborn, now red in the face for being ignored for so long, was wailing out for Brida; she then took a few steps and lifted the child into her arms, simply beginning to rock the child to try and calm it's down. Brida denounced her maternal instincts, but in reality, she had them as any fierce mother would. The baby instantly began to settle down in the weight of its mother's arms as Brida looked at Haesten and weighed her options.
"He is the key, but we don't attack the man."
Haesten's eyes showed confusion, not tracking or understanding what Brida meant. Finally voicing what he was thinking, "I don't, what do you mean, Brida?"
Brida looked up from her baby, smiling a kind of smile that would be found on a feral predator about to capture its prey within its grasp. A type of smile that put shivers down Haesten's spine but made him grin in return, knowing he had just gained an ally and someone that could be powerful at that.
"It's simple. We go after his heart."
With the baby in her hand, she threw the axe as hard as she could, and the sound of snapping wood filled the void as the tree finally came down. To her, that tree represented one thing, and one thing only within her mind, Uhtred of Bebbanburg was going to come tumbling down like the tree that he was, and this time no one would be around to help stop his fall.
TBC..
