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It was mid-winter, and Rumcofa’s river had long since frozen over. The Danish children had already woven deep lines into the ice with their skates, and showed no sign of slowing down. They’d had Athelstan for two years now, and Uhtred had caught him watching from the riverbank several times.
The boy had not asked to learn because, no matter what they'd tried, he had not learned to ask for what he wanted with how heavily the monks had instilled a “children should be seen and not heard” mentality in him. But Uhtred had seen him watch the other children with longing in his eyes, and it did not take a genius to connect the dots.
So here they were, with Uhtred threading rope through a small pair of deer-bone skates. Athelstan sat quietly on a log in front of him, swinging his feet in excitement.
"What if he falls?" Osferth asked worriedly, for he always seemed to think Athelstan was made of glass.
"Then he will fall," Uhtred shrugged. "He is ten. He is not going to break."
“Are ye going to fall, wee man?” Finan asked as he ruffled Athelstan’s hair.
“No!” Athelstan protested, grabbing at Finan’s wrist. Finan held his arm just out of the boy’s reach, and laughed at Athelstan’s pout.
Uhtred looped the rope over Athelstan’s foot, through the skate, and then back over his ankles. “Is that tight enough?”
“How do I know if it is tight enough?” Athelstan asked.
“Put it on the ground and move your foot around,” Uhtred instructed. “If it budges, it is too loose.”
Athelstan did as Uhtred asked. “It’s tight enough.”
Uhtred started on his next foot as Finan sat next to the boy and started to lace his own skates. Uhtred had taught Finan to skate in Coccham years ago, and that had been a disaster. He could only hope that Athelstan was a better learner.
“How long does it take to tie a boy’s skates?” Sihtric asked. He’d already laced his skates and was leaning on his pole on the ice. Sihtric was the best skater out of all of them, though Uhtred would never admit it.
“His feet are small,” Uhtred snarked. “I am not used to it.”
“My feet aren’t small!” Athelstan protested.
“They’re smaller than his!” Finan laughed.
Uhtred tied the last knot and stood up. “There we go. Rise to your feet, boy.”
Athelstan stood, and promptly started to wobble. He grabbed onto Uhtred’s arms for support, and Uhtred helped him balance. Osferth, unable to help himself, checked Athelstan’s skates just to make sure they weren’t going to slide off the boy’s feet.
Uhtred threaded his hands under Athelstan’s armpits and hoisted the boy into the air before placing him gently on the ice in front of Sihtric. Athelstan slipped immediately, but Uhtred’s grip on him was solid, and the boy stayed standing.
Osferth passed Uhtred a wooden pole, small enough to fit Athelstan’s stature, tipped with an iron spike. Uhtred stuck it into the ice with one hand while keeping Athelstan upright with the other. “First lesson; always keep the pointy end down. Got it?”
Athelstan nodded, and Uhtred ruffled his hair. “Good. Grab a hold of it.”
Athelstan gripped the pole, and Uhtred slowly released him. Thankfully, the boy remained on his feet, though he wobbled.
Sihtric propelled himself forward with his own pole before stopping a few paces in front of the boy. “Try to stop your ankles from leaning in. You should be standing like normal. And bend your knees.”
Athelstan did as he was told, and the wobbling stopped. Uhtred left him to Sihtric as he started to put on his own skates.
“Good!” Sihtric praised. “Now put the pole between your legs and use it to push yourself towards me.”
Athelstan pulled the pole out of the ice, and immediately fell over with a loud crash . Osferth gasped.
Finan had finished putting his skates on and kneeled next to the boy. “Are ye okay?”
Athelstan rose to his knees and nodded. Finan ruffled his hair again, and when Athelstan moved to swat at him, they all noticed that he’d cut his palm.
“He’s bleeding!” Osferth protested.
“Ah, he’s tough,” Finan said. “Aren’t ya wee man?”
“Yeah,” Athelstan said as he took Sihtric’s hand. Sihtric pulled him to his feet and made sure to stay close to the boy as he taught him how to stand again. This time, Finan stood close to him as Athelstan tried to push himself forward, and when the boy glided for a few paces before starting to falter, Finan was there to right him.
The two men kept close to the boy as they slowly moved across the ice. It was an awkward way to move, as it was counterintuitive to keep one’s legs straight as they used their arms to move their body, but the feeling of gliding was almost magical. Athelstan was a quick learner, and Sihtric and Finan were soon giving him more space. By the time Uhtred joined them on the ice, Athelstan was sporting a face-splitting grin, and Sihtric wasn’t hovering over him anymore.
Uhtred would never tire of seeing the boy’s grin. He’d been sullen-faced when he’d first arrived in Uhtred’s care, and Uhtred counted every smile as a victory against the fun-hating monks who’d raised the boy before him.
“We’ve got a natural on our hands lord!” Finan called out as Uhtred joined them. Athelstan glowed at the praise, though he bashfully tried to hide it by turning his head.
“He certainly does not take after you then!” Uhtred joked, which earned him a glare from the Irishman.
Uhtred could practically hear Osferth biting his nails from the riverbank as Athelstan picked up his pace, letting boyish joy take over his apprehension. Osferth was unsteady in all things, and everyone had agreed he was better suited to keeping his feet on dry land, as God intended.
“Wave at Osferth!” Uhtred instructed, and he quickly grabbed the boy as he wobbled from removing a hand from his pole, as Uhtred knew he would. Osferth paled, which made Athelstan giggle.
“How about we have a race!” Finan declared. “Winner doesn’t have to muck out the stables for a week!”
“If we have a race, I’ll win,” Sihtric said.
“Pride is not an attractive trait, Sihtric,” Finan tsked.
“It is not pride when it is a fact.”
“Do not be ridiculous,” Uhtred shrugged. “I would win.”
Athelstan took off, making all three men laugh as they sped off after him. They made sure to roughly match his pace, and the four skated as a pack. The wind sent Athelstan’s hair flying, and he laughed as he soared along the ice, looking carefree in a way Uhtred had never seen before. He swore, not for the first time, that Athelstan was sent to them from the gods, a second chance after all he’d done wrong with Young Uhtred and Stiorra. Uhtred was not going to squander it. He was going to teach the boy everything under the sun and more.
Athelstan’s joy was victory enough, though Sihtric did win, the bastard. Athelstan only fell over two more times, and when he joined Cynleaf and the other children on the ice the next day, he was already faster than half of them. Uhtred joined Osferth on the riverbank to watch, though everytime Athelstan crashed into the ice, Uhtred only felt a chest-warming pride at how quickly he got back up. Watching Osferth practically rip his hair out from worry for his nephew was just an added bonus.