{"id":4104,"date":"2022-05-11T06:13:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T06:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/?p=4104"},"modified":"2025-08-31T06:20:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T06:20:23","slug":"oaths-in-the-flickering-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Oaths in the Flickering Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>A TLK fanfiction written by Rowan Hallow<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>The council\u2019s voices had faded, leaving only the low hiss of the wind through the seams of the tent. Aethelflaed sat alone at the war table, her fingers resting against the rim of a half-drained cup. The candle before her sputtered, its light dancing against maps scrawled with lines of ink and blood. Outside, the camp settled into uneasy slumber\u2014horses shifting, men murmuring prayers they barely believed in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The flap stirred. Uhtred of Bebbanburg stepped in, boots caked with the marsh mud of Mercia, hair damp from mist, eyes ringed with the exhaustion of a man who fought not just battles, but kingdoms. His hand lingered near his sword out of habit, but there was no threat here\u2014only the familiar scent of woodsmoke and mead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to report, Uhtred,\u201d Aethelflaed said without looking up, her voice steady but stripped of command. \u201cI asked you here as a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. \u201cSometimes I forget what that means,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s always a title between us\u2014lady, lord, duty\u2026 and the weight of other men\u2019s wars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At that, she did look up. \u201cNot tonight,\u201d she said. \u201cTonight I want no titles. I want to know how you are. Not the warrior Mercia praises. You.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uhtred stared at the maps for a long moment, then dragged a hand across his beard. \u201cIt wears me down,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThis endless marching, these oaths that tie me to men who would gladly see me hang. Sometimes it makes me forget why I fight at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aethelflaed rose and came closer, the candlelight tracing the edge of her braid. Her hand found his arm\u2014not as a lady to a lord, nor a commander to her sword, but as a woman to the one man she trusted not to betray her heart. \u201cThen let us remember together,\u201d she said. \u201cI do not need your protection, Uhtred. I need your honesty. That is worth more to me than any oath.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a heartbeat, neither moved. Outside, a horn called in the distance\u2014no alarm, only the change of the night watch. The world would demand their duty again come dawn: Mercia would need its Lady, Wessex its wary sword. But here, in the flickering dark, there was only this\u2014two souls carrying too much, daring to share the weight for one quiet night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uhtred nodded once, almost a bow. \u201cThen I will give you that,\u201d he said. \u201cHonesty. Though it is the one weapon that cuts both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She smiled, faint but real, and the candle guttered lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"662\" height=\"394\" src=\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png 662w, https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-300x179.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 662px) 100vw, 662px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A TLK fanfiction written by Rowan Hallow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Oaths in the Flickering Dark &#187; Martine Mussies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oaths in the Flickering Dark &#187; Martine Mussies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A TLK fanfiction written by Rowan Hallow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Martine Mussies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-11T06:13:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-31T06:20:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"662\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Martine Mussies\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@martinemussies\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@martinemussies\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Martine Mussies\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Martine Mussies\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/ac86780605b5a78031961160b6069cc6\"},\"headline\":\"Oaths in the Flickering Dark\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-11T06:13:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-31T06:20:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/ac86780605b5a78031961160b6069cc6\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/\",\"name\":\"Oaths in the Flickering Dark &#187; Martine Mussies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-11T06:13:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-31T06:20:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png\",\"width\":662,\"height\":394},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Oaths in the Flickering Dark\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/\",\"name\":\"Martine Mussies\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/ac86780605b5a78031961160b6069cc6\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/ac86780605b5a78031961160b6069cc6\",\"name\":\"Martine Mussies\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/400090546f65fa74697b4a155d829f4fbc4490aec08bef45fcb8559ffa3c0ff4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/400090546f65fa74697b4a155d829f4fbc4490aec08bef45fcb8559ffa3c0ff4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Martine Mussies\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"My name is Martine and I am writing my PhD about the Cyborg Mermaid. On this website, you\u2019ll find blogs about autism, cyborgs, fan fiction, King Alfred of Wessex, mermaids, music &amp; musicology, martial arts, (neuro)psychology, video games, and random nerdiness.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.martinemussies.nl\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/martinemussies\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/martinemussies\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Oaths in the Flickering Dark &#187; Martine Mussies","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Oaths in the Flickering Dark &#187; Martine Mussies","og_description":"A TLK fanfiction written by Rowan Hallow","og_url":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/","og_site_name":"Martine Mussies","article_published_time":"2022-05-11T06:13:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-31T06:20:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":662,"height":394,"url":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Martine Mussies","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@martinemussies","twitter_site":"@martinemussies","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Martine Mussies","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/"},"author":{"name":"Martine Mussies","@id":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/ac86780605b5a78031961160b6069cc6"},"headline":"Oaths in the Flickering Dark","datePublished":"2022-05-11T06:13:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-31T06:20:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/"},"wordCount":451,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/ac86780605b5a78031961160b6069cc6"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/","url":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/","name":"Oaths in the Flickering Dark &#187; Martine Mussies","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png","datePublished":"2022-05-11T06:13:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-31T06:20:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image.png","width":662,"height":394},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/oaths-in-the-flickering-dark\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Oaths in the Flickering Dark"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#website","url":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/","name":"Martine Mussies","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/ac86780605b5a78031961160b6069cc6"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/ac86780605b5a78031961160b6069cc6","name":"Martine Mussies","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/400090546f65fa74697b4a155d829f4fbc4490aec08bef45fcb8559ffa3c0ff4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/400090546f65fa74697b4a155d829f4fbc4490aec08bef45fcb8559ffa3c0ff4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Martine Mussies"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"My name is Martine and I am writing my PhD about the Cyborg Mermaid. On this website, you\u2019ll find blogs about autism, cyborgs, fan fiction, King Alfred of Wessex, mermaids, music &amp; musicology, martial arts, (neuro)psychology, video games, and random nerdiness.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.martinemussies.nl","https:\/\/x.com\/martinemussies","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/martinemussies"]}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4104"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4106,"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4104\/revisions\/4106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinemussies.nl\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}