the thatch. ‘Some folk say the fire was the devil’s revenge,’ he paused to cross himself, ‘because the Lady Ælswith was such a pious soul and she’d escaped him.’
‘My father always told me she was a vengeful bitch,’ I ventured.
Father Fraomar frowned, then relented to offer a wry smile. ‘God rest her soul. I hear she was not an easy woman.’
‘Which one is?’ Sihtric asked.
‘The Lady Æthelflaed won’t wish it,’ Fraomar said softly.
I hesitated because the conversation was now touching on dangerous things. ‘Won’t wish what?’ I finally asked.
‘To go to a nunnery.’
‘Is that what will happen?’
‘What else?’ Fraomar asked bleakly. ‘Her husband dies, she’s a widow, and a widow with property and power. Men won’t want her marrying again. Her new husband might become too powerful. Besides …’ his voice died away.
‘Besides?’ Sihtric asked quietly.
‘The Lord Æthelred has made a will, God preserve him.’
‘And the will,’ I said slowly, ‘says his wife is to go to a nunnery?’
‘What else can she do?’ Fraomar asked. ‘It’s the custom.’
‘I can’t see her as a nun,’ I said.
‘Oh, she’s a saintly woman. A good woman,’ Fraomar spoke eagerly, then remembered she was an adulterer. ‘Not perfect, of course,’ he went on, ‘but we all fall short, do we not? We have all sinned.’
‘And her daughter?’ I asked. ‘Ælfwynn?’
‘Oh, a silly girl,’ Fraomar said without hesitation.
‘But if someone marries her …’ I suggested, but was interrupted.
‘She’s a woman! She can’t inherit her father’s power!’ Father Fraomar laughed at the very idea. ‘No, the best thing for Ælfwynn would be to marry abroad. To marry far away! Maybe a Frankish lord? Either that or join her mother in the nunnery.’
The conversation was dangerous because no one was certain what might happen when Æthelred died, and that death must surely be soon. Mercia had no king, but Æthelred, the Lord of Mercia, had almost the same powers. He would dearly have loved to be king, but he depended on the West Saxons to help him defend Mercia’s frontiers, and the West Saxons wanted no king in Mercia, or rather they wanted their own king to rule there. Yet, though Mercia and Wessex were allies, there was little love between them. Mercians had a proud past, now they were a client state, and if Edward of Wessex were to proclaim his kingship there could be unrest. No one knew what would happen, just as no one knew who they should support. Should they give allegiance to Wessex? Or to one of the Mercian ealdormen?
‘It’s just a pity that Lord Æthelred has no heir,’ Father Fraomar said.
‘No legitimate heir,’ I said, and to my surprise the priest laughed.
‘No legitimate heir,’ he agreed, then crossed himself. ‘But the Lord will provide,’ he added piously.
Next day the sky darkened with thick clouds that spread from the Welsh hills. By mid-morning it was raining and it went on raining as we made our slow way south. The roads we followed had been made by the Romans and we spent every subsequent night in the ruins of Roman forts. We saw no marauding Welsh, and the battle of Teotanheale had ensured that no Danes would harass us this far south.
The rain and the prisoners made it a slow journey, but at last we came to Gleawecestre, the capital city of Mercia. We arrived two days before the feast of Saint Cuthbert, though it was not till we were inside the city that I discovered why Æthelflaed had thought that date so important. Father Fraomar had spurred ahead to announce our arrival, and the bells of the city’s churches were ringing to greet us, and a small crowd was waiting at the gate’s arch. I unfurled our banners: my own wolf’s head, the flag of Saint Oswald, Æthelred’s white horse, and Æthelflaed’s goose. Haki’s banner was carried by Godric, my servant, who dragged it on the wet road. Our small procession was led by one cart of plunder, then came the child prisoners, then Haki who was tied by rope to the tail of Godric’s horse. The second cart brought up the rear, while my warriors rode on either side of the column. It was a petty display. After Teotanheale we had dragged over twenty wagons of plunder through the city, along with prisoners, captured horses, and a dozen enemy banners, but even my small procession gave the citizens of Gleawecestre something to celebrate and we were cheered all the way from the north gate to the entrance of Æthelred’s palace. A pair of priests hurled horse dung at Haki and the crowds took up the sport as small boys ran alongside jeering at the man.
And there, waiting for us at Æthelred’s gate, was Eardwulf, the commander of Lord Æthelred’s household troops and brother to Eadith, the woman who slept with Lord Æthelred. Eardwulf was clever, handsome, ambitious and effective. He had led Æthelred’s troops against the Welsh and done much damage, and men said he had fought well at Teotanheale. ‘His power,’ my father had told me, ‘comes from between his sister’s thighs, but don’t underestimate him. He’s dangerous.’
The dangerous Eardwulf was in a coat of mail, polished to a bright shine, and wearing a dark blue cloak edged with otter fur. He was bare-headed and his dark hair was oiled sleekly back to be tied by a brown ribbon. His sword, a heavy blade, was scabbarded in soft leather trimmed with gold. He was flanked by a pair of priests and by a half-dozen of his men, all wearing Æthelred’s symbol of the white horse. He smiled when he saw us. I saw his eyes flick towards Æthelflaed’s standard as he sauntered towards us. ‘Going to market, Lord Uhtred?’ he asked.
‘Slaves, armour, swords, spears, axes,’ I said, ‘do you want to buy?’
‘And him?’ He jerked a thumb towards Haki.
I twisted in my saddle. ‘Haki, a Norse chieftain who thought to make himself rich from Mercia.’
‘Are you selling him too?’
‘Hanging him,’ I said, ‘slowly. My lady wanted us to hang him right here.’
‘Your lady?’
‘Yours too,’ I said, knowing that would annoy him, ‘the Lady Æthelflaed.’
If he was annoyed he did not show it, instead he smiled again. ‘She has been busy,’ he said lightly, ‘and is she planning to be here as well?’
I shook my head. ‘She has work in the north.’
‘And I thought she would be here for the Witan in two days,’ he said sarcastically.
‘Witan?’ I asked.
‘It’s none of your business,’ he said tartly. ‘You are not invited.’
But the Witan, I noted, was to be held on Saint Cuthbert’s feast day and that was surely why Æthelflaed had wanted us to arrive before the great men of Mercia met in council. She was reminding them that she fought their enemies.
Eardwulf walked to Haki, looked him up and down, then turned back to me. ‘I see you fly the Lord
