Sihtric misses his eldest son & needs to fill that void
Thank you @solinarimoon for this big brain prompt
1,300 words of fluff, k.enjoyyyy
gif by @lauwrite1225 because she's an angel
Something inside Sihtric had been missing since leaving Coccham.
It was his eldest son, Young Sihtric.
The boy, no… the young warrior now much too old for his parents decided to stay behind in Coccham. The town was his home, where he had found a wife and started his own family. It made sense why he did not join his parents, but they were still broken.
Mainly his father, who missed the bond they once shared when the Younger will still... well, young.
He found himself thinking the most about his eldest after a long night of ale, which for Sihtric was most nights. Every night he would come home a little sadder than the last. It got to the point where his dear wife Ealhswith felt the need to ask him to stop going to the alehouse with the others so frequently. Her heart broke for her husband, but not as much as his own did.
One night was especially bad.
Uhtred had spent the night boasting about Aethelstan's growth as a warrior and a man. He was proud of the boy he was raising, and it reminded Sihtric so much of his eldest. Yes, he had other children, and even one on the way, but it would be a long time before he would be teaching any of them the ways of a warrior. He missed the days when he and Sihtric would practice the boys' sword skill from sunrise to sunset, sometimes even being out till dark. It was some of his proudest moments.
He longed so desperately for those moments again.
When Sihtric could not take anymore boasting, he knew it was time to excuse himself for the night and head home. Wobbling his way back to his home in the pouring rain with his head down and his thoughts in Coccham.
Which means he did not see the face of the boy who successfully pickpocketed him.
He still felt the bag being stolen, turning around just in time to see the young boy running with Sihtric's coin.
"Get back here!" Sihtric snarled in his drunken state as he chased the boy down.
Seeing that he was indeed drunk, it was a bit more of a struggle to catch up to the little thief than it would have been sober. Tripping over multiple objects, and slipping once in the mud before finally catching the boy in an alleyway, grabbing him by the shoulder.
"Give me back my coin, you little turd!" Sihtric growls as he turns the boy around.
Now that he can see the boy's face, Sihtric has a better look at the fear in his eyes. Pushing the pouch back towards Sihtric as he trembles, "I'm sorry, I was just hungry!"
Sihtric snatches the purse from the boy's hand and then sighs with frustration, the father of plenty's heart rather soft when it comes to children, "Where are your parents?"
"I..." The boy mutters his words, his eyes avoiding Sihtric's, "I have none."
With a sigh, Sihtric pinches the space between his brow. When his eyes open again he takes another look at the boy, noticing just how soaked to the bone he is and then Sihtric catches sight of the hammer hanging from the boy's neck.
He's a Dane.
With his arms crossed and his head tilted, Sihtric takes a deep breath and asks the boy, "Are you hungry?"
The child nods, "Starving."
Sihtric hums okay and then nods his head for the boy to follow him. He hesitates for a moment, but then the child follows, Sihtric glancing down at him as they walk side by side, "What is your name, boy?"
"I am called Cynlaef."
"Cynlaef...?" Sihtric questions, waiting for the boy to tell him his surname.
"I have no father, and my mother is dead," Cynlaef explains in a low voice, "I am a bastard."
Of course, he is.
Sihtric huffs, nodding his head as he leads Cynlaef back to his home in silence.
It is late enough by the time he arrives home that his children are all sleeping safely under their furs, but his wife is still wide awake. Cleaning up their home after a long day of their little ones making a mess of it.
Sihtric is grateful that his wife still has a fire burning as they open the door to the home, his bones chilled from walking in the rain.
At the sight of the two soaked boys, Ealhswith gasps, "Where have you been, it's pouring from the heavens out there- " She notices Cynlaef and her words stop short, and as she points to the boy, Ealhswith gives her husband a confused look, "Who is this?"
"His name is Cynlaef," Sihtric explains, ruffling the boys' soaked hair, "He will be staying with us now."
"What?"
"I am?"
"You are," Sihtric tells the boy, his expression hiding whether or not he was pleased about the situation, "He's one of us now."
Ealhswith doesn't argue, at least not yet, walking over to the boy and rubbing her fingers against his dirty cheeks, "Let us get you dried off then, you're soaked to the bone."
"And food, Eal, the boy is starved."
"Of course," she smiles sweetly at Cynlaef, stepping out of the room for only a moment and returning with a quilt for him to dry himself off with and change of clothes. Probably left behind from his eldest when he was this size.
After giving the boy everything he needs, Ealhswith pulls Sihtric to the side, keeping her voice low as she speaks to him, "Sihtric-"
"He has no one, Ealhswith-"
"We have plenty of children to feed, and more on the way," She sighs, crossing her arms over her protruding belly, and sighs, "We cannot take in another."
"He needs this, Eal," Sihtric mutters to his wife, the ale catching up to him as well as his emotions as he frowns, "I need this."
Ealhswith looks at her husband for a moment, seeing the heartbreak in his eyes, and then looks back to Cynlaef, whos enjoying leftover broth and some bread by the fire. The boy looks like he's the king of a very humble castle. It's heartwarming, to say the least, and thankfully the reason she gives in.
"Fine," Ealhswith tells Sihtric as she turns back to her husband, rolling her eyes with only a touch of frustration, "You may keep him, but he is your responsibility-"
She's cut off by Sihtric grabbing her by the cheeks and pulling her in for a big kiss, making her chuckle as it breaks, "Thank you, my darling wife, you will not regret it," Sihtric then goes over to Cynlaef, ruffling his hair as he heads to his room to change into dry clothes and stopping to talk to him, "You are now Cynlaef Sihtricsson, boy, understood?"
Cynlaef looks up back at Ealhswith and then up at Sihtric with a large smile on his face as he nods happily, "Yes, Father. I understood."
Sihtric smiles with a nod, winking at the boy before he turns to leave, "Good."
Part of him is sure his wife isn't as pleased as he is, but Sihtric does not seem to care as he crawls happily into his bed. His heart feeling lighter than it has in the months since moving to Rumcofa. Part of him is worried when he wakes in the morning, his wife would have gone back on her word and kicked the boy out.
But when Sihtric wakes up in the morning and heads to the main room for breakfast, he finds Cynlaef at the table with the rest of his children as Ealhswith serves them all something to eat.
Placing a kiss on the top of Cynlaef's head as the boy so kindly thanked her for breakfast.
Commissioned @chickaburra to draw my dnd character, Ealhswith ( halfling monk, Way of the Hand). They did such an incredible job - I am seriously obsessed with how adorable and perfect this is <3
Our DnD group (that we have not come up with a name for) is going to a ball this week for a heist - that means new outfit design and a fun polaroid picture!
