The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia: Alfgifu the Orphan (4 page)

She stepped inside, very quietly, and closed
the door behind her.

Canute was on the other side of the lodge,
pacing back and forth along the floorboards, which creaked as if
they might soon break apart and drop him into the sunken earth
below. He wore no shirt, and his pale skin was splotched with dried
blood and bruises. Surely enough, he was talking, though whether to
himself or the hanging crucifix on the wall to which he
occasionally cast his glance, she wasn’t sure at first.

“You’re not weak. You’re not idle,” he
snarled. “You’re stronger than all of them. You did this on
purpose. You let them believe victory was in their grasp. When they
see your true strength they will cower. God chose
you.
”

So, she realized, he was indeed talking to
himself … about himself.

“You’ll show them,” he went on. “You’re a
man. A real man. You’ll even have a son soon ...”

Feeling more and more uncomfortable, Alfgifu
at last announced herself by clearing her throat.

He turned to her with wild eyes. Then with no
hesitation, in one flowing motion, he drew a knife from his belt
and made to fling it.

“You won today,” she said quickly, as if her
heart wasn’t racing in her chest.

He paused.

“You held your ground. That’s what matters.
Now you must make it seem as if Ethelred made a mistake by
attacking you at all.”

He lowered the knife. His eyes cleared, as if
realizing for the first time who she was. “Alfgifu. Did God send
you?”

She wanted to gawk at him. He sounded crazy.
But she did not think it would be in her best interest to express
as much. Instead, she walked closer to him, feigning confidence.
“God does everything, doesn’t He?” She could see that this is what
he wanted to hear. “And He does it for you, because He wants you to
be King of Engla-lond. And Scandinavia.”

He dropped the knife, which thudded onto the
floor.

She glared up at him, feeling his own gaze
traverse her face, and remembering the way he had held her and
chopped off her hair. “You said my emotions made me weak,” she
hissed. “You were wrong about that, you know. You’re even more
governed by your emotions than I am. It’s not what makes us weak.
It’s what makes us strong.”

He flinched as she reached up and put her
fingers against his cheek. His eyes were wider than she had ever
seen them before, staring at her, desperate, searching. She had him
now.

“Make Ethelred regret attacking you,” she
whispered. “Show him that he has asked for his own demise. Make it
seem as if this attack is what spurred you to raid the countryside.
His people will hate him for it.”

“Hm,” said Canute. His gaze wandered off as
he considered this.

“And there is another thing you can do.” She
clutched his face tighter, pulling his eyes back to hers. Her voice
grew even softer, smothered by her emotions, but he listened all
the more closely as a result. “The hostages that were given to your
father,” she breathed. There were many hostages, as she recalled;
but the majority of them had been given by Eadric. They were
valuable to him; maybe he even loved some of them. “You must kill
them. And make them die slowly. You must take out their eyes, or
chop off their limbs.”

Canute turned his head and kissed her
trembling fingertips. “Good idea,” he said.

**

RELEASE DATES

One Lost Tale of Mercia will release every
other Tuesday until October 5, the release of the full story of
Eadric Streona and his greatest opponent, the Golden Cross. For
more news and updates, visit
www.jaydenwoods.com
.

The First Lost Tale:
Golde the Mother
(released May 18)

The Second Lost Tale:
Ethelred the
King
(released June 1)

The Third Lost Tale:
Aydith the
Aetheling
(released June 15)

The Fourth Lost Tale:
Athelward the
Historian
(released June 29)

The Fifth Lost Tale:
Alfgifu the
Orphan
(released July 13)

The Sixth Lost Tale:
Hastings the Hearth
Companion
(July 27)

The Seventh Lost Tale:
Hildred the
Maid
(August 10)

The Eighth Lost Tale:
Canute the
Viking
(August 24)

The Ninth Lost Tale:
Runa the Wife
(September 7)

The Tenth Lost Tale:
Edmund the
Aetheling
(September 21)

OCTOBER 5th: The novel,
Eadric the Grasper
, releases on Amazon

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, as compiled by
various monks until the year 1140, were my primary sources of
information. So, too, were the Chronicles of Florence of Worcester
and the Chronicles of the Kings of England as written by William of
Malmesbury. Without the devotion of these men to chronicle the
chaotic events of their time, so little of the Dark Ages would be
known. For a full list of sources, or to tell me what you think of
my work, visit my blog at
http://talesofmercia.wordpress.com
.