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“Why is there so many of them?” Canute asked gently, his voice came out among rivulets of steam, pooling gently at his lips.
The snow came up to their ankles, and Thorfinn pulled on his cape as he stepped into the crunchy snow, inwardly noting to boil water for his leather flasks to warm his boots for tomorrow.
“..They can tell there’s a battle coming.” He muttered as they walked up to the vantage point together, Canute had been of mind for a walk while Ragnar would dress the stag, and as his bodyguard, Thorfinn had little choice but to follow Canute up the hill and out of sight of the party.
The wind thrashed the Canute’s hair about, and with Canute’s slow pace Thorfinn who had the displeasure of walking closely behind him found himself in a battle with the other boy’s blonde locks.
“Oi, watch it.” Thorfinn spat, but Canute did not fix his pace.
“I do not see why they’d follow us, why are they?” Canute asked, pointing to the loud flock of black birds in the trees surrounding them. He feigned genuine curiosity to spark a conversation, but all he got from Thorfinn was an exasperated look.
“The ravens and crows follow armies of men, as they feed on the dead.” Thorfinn elaborated, but this just caused Canute’s fair skin to grow pale.
“That’s terrible.” He breathed, as they neared the top of the hill. “Are you telling me, that we are being stalked by birds because they aim to eat us?” Canute asked, his face turning back towards the camp, he could barely make out the light from the campfire, but the dark spots in the trees above it were clear as day, and they were loud.
“Sometimes Askeladd makes me divert them by tying…”
“By tying what?” Canute asked, not that he wanted the answer but his morbid curiosity had gotten the better of him.
However, Thorfinn did not seem willing to humor him, as his eyes fixed themselves on a flock of ravens gathering down the valley.
“This is bad.” Thorfinn breathed.
“More birds to stalk us?”
“Those are following a different army, princess.”
It was then it dawned on Canute, “do you think it might be Thorkell?”
“I’d rather not stick around to find out, we need to tell Askeladd.”
It would probably take Thorkell a day to reach them, and that was a terrifying prospect.
Yet, before they could turn back Thorfinn grabbed hold of Canute’s wrist, so hard that it pained him as the shorter male pulled them behind a tree.
“Wh-what is y-“ Canute’s muffled voice died when a rough, coarse hand covered his lips. The sensation lit his nerve-endings on fire.
“Shut it.” Thorfinn hissed, as he pushed Canute against the tree, Canute merely stared at him petrified. Thorfinn removed his hand, busy watching behind their hiding spot.
That is when Canute heard the faint crunch of snow behind him.
“…You said you saw it over here?”
“Edward I’m serious, I’ve never seen such a striking red color! What if it’s a Dane? Severin would lose his shit and have the entire village bury our food stores under the snow, are you in the mood for eating bread made from rotten rye come January? Because I’m not.”
Canute could feel Thorfinn’s tense body relax a bit against his, so they were just villagers, Canute was sure they were no threat to Thorfinn.
Then the voices became a whisper, and the unsuspecting crunches of the snow grew fainter yet nearer.
“Edward, there’s someone behind the tree.”
“SHH you idiot!”
Canute’s heart hammered in his chest, he was certain that these were local men. Killing them would be fruitless and a mere child’s game for Thorfinn, but if they let them go they could give Thorkell’s band crucial information on their whereabouts.
Thorfinn’s hand had already slid down between their bodies to grab hold of his dagger, Canute in a panic grabbed his hand to stop him and he felt Thorfinn jerk and stare at him.
“What the fuck?” he snarled.
The sounds got nearer and nearer, Canute had no time to think.
“Look at me.” Canute’s usual soft voice came out commanding and stern and Thorfinn’s eyes stared back at his own in surprise. His grip still on his dagger under his cloak between them.
In a flash, Canute wrapped his arms around his bodyguard’s waist. He felt Thorfinn do a slight jump in shock but he had no room to react nor push him away before Canute’s lips met his.
The strange sensation of Thorfinn’s plump lips caused a sweltering heat to erupt in the pit of Canute’s stomach and it continued to rise throughout his body to the point of dissolving any rational thought in his brain. As he leaned into Thorfinn, he felt his bodyguards tensed body attempting to shove him off, but somehow within seconds, the struggling from Thorfinn melded away.
This was to his advantage because just as Thorfinn’s body stopped resisting two men appeared from the right side of the tree from which they had been hiding.
He would have to make this more convincing, swiftly and delicately Canute hooked his leg around Thorfinn’s as he had seen a couple do at court. He felt the warmth prick at his skin when a slight shudder of breath emitted from Thorfinn’s mouth as Canute’s lips broke away, only to trail down his jaw softly to hide his face from the strangers.
Thorfinn’s body twitched at the ministrations of Canute’s lips as they provoked a low grunt from the depth of Thorfinn’s throat; the grunt roused a sensation so shameful in Canute that he had no choice but to pray that his chainmail and tunic would conceal his bodily misdemeanor.
He heard their hushed whispers while his hands desperately gripped the fabric of Thorfinn’s sides to bring his body closer to him.
Violent laughter erupted next to the boys. “Ah youth, would you look at that!”
Canute’s eyes flew open as he moved his face into the small of Thorfinn's neck as fast as he could, clearly to ‘appear’ shy.
The strong musky and salty scent from Thorfinn’s neck came in so strong that it overwhelmed his senses, just for how many Saturdays had he skipped out on bathing?
“You better watch out kids,” one of the men said, Canute could almost hear the smile on his lips. “There are reports of Danes in the area and rumor has it they aren’t the sort to be merciful to your girl here, if I were you I’d take her home to whatever lord she belongs to, eloping during winter, let alone in times of war is a dangerous business.”
“Why do you think they’re eloping?”
“Look at their clothing Edward, you think those two youngsters are of the same rank? They must be far away from their home. Would you two like us to arrange an escort for you, my lady?”
Canute still hiding his face in Thorfinn’s neck shook his head shyly, the scent was dizzying.
Canute could only assume Thorfinn’s expression as he spat “piss off” to the men, his voice full of venom.
Canute half wondered if the words were aimed at him as well, but Thorfinn’s grip on his dagger was gone and had been replaced with a protective grip on the fur trimming on Canute’s scarlet cloak, he was obscuring Canute’s chain mail.
No doubt surprised by Thorfinn’s rude demeanor he heard the two Englishmen take a step in the crisp snow.
“Forget them, Edward, the lad is no doubt moody from us interfering in their little moment. Let’s just get back to Severin and tell him we saw no soul, I don’t want to waste more time here with Danes about.”
“....little arsehole.”
“... the lass was bonny though”
Canute raised his face softly, looking in the direction of the voices and spotted the two men walking down the hill to the east.
It had worked.
This was when Thorfinn’s eyes met his and before Canute could even utter a word Thorfinn’s body jerked as he shoved him into the snow with a snarl and stomped off to the vista from which they came.
His fur cape promptly stopped the chill from the snow, but he landed hard with the added weight of his chainmail. It was then the gravity of his actions entered his mind while a flurry of thoughts burst through his skull.
What had he been thinking? Blood rushed to his face and the warm feeling spread violently from the tips of his ears down his neck and chest, the throbbing of his heart roaring in his ears as the burning grew to unbearable levels.
It only flared up even more when he watched Thorfinn in front of him kick a pile of snow.
This was a sin.
The sensation that overcame him was so foreign and so overwhelming that Canute could not help but grab a pile of snow and scrub his flushed face with it furiously in a vain attempt to alleviate the burning.
Would he go to hell for this? For taking pleasure in that?
His mind lingered on the question for a small moment as the melted snow dripped down his pink cheeks.
That's when a pair of boots obstructed his view as he came to his senses.
Canute peered up at Thorfinn whose eyes, in turn, scanned over his steaming face.
“Get up.”