Viking Love Beyond Time (Time Travel Romance) (46 page)

             
Wulfric looked up at the Norseman, apart from anything else he seemed to be, underneath his iron hard exterior, a kind young man.  He was a paradox, an enigma, how could someone who had carried out
‘at rista bloorn’
on anyone care so deeply about another human being.  “Herger, I must ask you, for the love of both my God and yours, not ever to cut the
‘blood eagle’
on anyone else ever again, it is a terrible way for a man to die”

             
Herger took a long swallow of mulled ale and laughed hollowly.  “I did it but once, old man, to one of my own followers” he was silent for a few moments, the sound of the logs crackling on the fire seeming to fill the room - taking another drink he continued.  “We had raided a village in
Anglesey
, I had given my usual orders, take the loot, no unnecessary bloodshed and always leave the people enough to see them through the winter.

             
There was a man on my ship, evil visaged, Sigvard Liefssen he was called, I detested him, I only took him onto my ship as he was a friend of my brother’s and because he seemed so keen to come.  I discovered later he had been a spy, sent by my family’s greatest enemy Olaf Trigvessen, called Olaf the Black, a dreadful man.”  Herger took another swallow.  “He was missing when we got back to the ship, and had last been seen going into a shepherd’s cottage.  I and my right hand man, Bjarnie, went back to get him.  It was a poor place, a man, his pregnant wife and two pretty little girls, aged about eight and four.  I had given instructions to leave them in peace.”  He grimaced and his hand tightened around his ale mug.  “The sight which met my gaze will follow me to my grave.  The woman had been cut open and the unborn babe thrown onto the fire.  The man had had his manhood cut from his body and was bleeding to death.  Leifssen had raped the eldest child then cut her throat, the youngest - the youngest child had not been big enough for him so he had slit her to make his entrance easier”

             
“.....for the love of God no more!” cried Wulfric climbing to his feet and putting his hand to his mouth.

             
“Bjarnie put the man out of his misery quickly, kindly, we took the surviving little girl to the hut next door, and left them some gold, she was terribly injured, whether she lived I know not and then I took Leifssen outside and cut
‘at rista bloorn’
on the bastard, in full view of the ship.  I did not regret it then, I do not regret it now”

             
The bishop turned quickly to Herger “Do not kill Edric of Lamporth, he is a good man”

             
The Viking took another swallow of ale  “Not unless I have to, not unless he tries to stop me reaching Alodie”

             
“You know, I suppose, about her children”

             
Herger nodded.  “I have seen them, the boy has deep green eyes and the girl dark curly hair, I believe they got these from their father and I, in turn,  got them from my mother”

             
The bishop smiled.  “I trust God will forgive me for what I am about to say but I am glad they were not the children of Luke Edmundson, even though he was her legal husband”

             
Herger picked up his tankard and drained the contents.  “We could argue about that until the sun comes up and be no nearer to agreement - I was her husband before he”

             
Replacing the tankard on the table and getting to his feet Herger headed for the door.  “Viking” called out the bishop as he reached for the handle, the Norseman turned, Wulfric walked over to him.  “You do not need me to tell you where they are heading, I am sure your men will be able to track them, but for the love of God - or in your case Odin - spare Alfred.”

             
“You are right, Wulfric, we will be able to track them but at least now I know not to head for
Devon
in my search.  If I was Alfred I would head for the marshes -  but tell me, why did you not flee with the rest?”

             
Wulfric smiled.  “I am a man of God but I am made of flesh and blood - Meg!” There was a scuffling noise at the back of the room and from behind the curtain emerged a plump handsome woman in her mid thirties leading by the hand a small child, whether a girl or a boy Herger could not make out in the firelight.  The bishop put an arm round them.  “You of all men should understand why I could not leave them, Viking”

             
The Viking laughed again “May Odin and the Aesir protect you Wulfric, you and your family will not be harmed, you have my word on it”

             
“And may God and the Lord Jesus go with you Herger, look after Alodie and the babes”

             
The huge warrior smiled one last time and ducking, slipped out of the door into the dark windy night.

             
Alodie woke just before dawn on 9th January, damp and frozen to the marrow.  The journey had been a nightmare of bitter cold and rain, not helped by the incessant sound of children crying and women sobbing and complaining.  They had finally arrived at the island
village
of
Athelney
late the night before but had been unable to obtain transport across the swift running river to the little steading due to the lateness of the hour.

             
Alodie climbed stiffly to her feet longing, not for the first time, for a mug of strong black coffee but making do with a sip of water from the skin hanging over her head.  After she had drunk she poured a handful into her palm and splashed it onto her face, the cold wetness reviving her a little.  Pulling her cloak around her for warmth she wandered to the bank of the river and looked around.

             
A wintry dawn was just beginning to tint the bare trees and reeds a beautiful shade of pink and the birds, not as many in January as there would be later in the year, were beginning to wake and fill the air with song.

             
A deep booming from almost under her feet made her jump and, holding onto the willow tree next to her for support, she leaned over to take a look at what manner of creature had made such a singular noise.  In a nest deep in the reeds lay a clumsy looking brown bird which, when it caught sight of her staring at it, seemed to freeze with its head peering upward.  She could not help but smile at the bird’s comical appearance and after a couple of seconds it flapped awkwardly away, still making its unusual booming call.

             
Alodie felt two hands slip round her waist and her smile broadened as she was pulled backwards onto a broad chest.  “Good morning Edric” she said and turning pecked him on the cheek.

             
“How did you know it was me?” he quipped.

             
“Well, I was actually hoping it was Cerdic of Saltop but I can see that I am going to have to live with my disappointment”

             
Edric laughed and thwacked her on the bottom.  “Minx! And here’s another!” he smacked her other buttock.

             
“Ow! What was the second one for?” she yelped.

             
“For the measly little peck I got just now - you showed more interest in that bittern than your own betrothed.”

             
“A bittern, is that what it was - I wondered”

             
“You have never seen one?  They make a pleasant filling for a pie” he continued.

             
Alodie leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.  “There, my lord, is that better?”

             
“Not much” he replied then, pulling her away from the river’s edge, he leaned her against the broad trunk of an alder tree and kissed her long and deeply, his tongue plundering her mouth and his hands wandering up and down her body, his right hand coming to rest on her left buttock and his left hand cupping the fullness of her right breast.  “Now
that’s
better” he sighed when he eventually released her.

             
Alodie shook her head and threw her mane of hair back over her shoulders.  “Remind me to be more demonstrative of a morning, Edric, when we’re
wed”

             
He snorted and turned “Aye, when - there’s the rub Alodie, we should have been married three days since but for those thrice damned Norsemen - if they had to attack I wish they had left it a little longer”

             
“Not very good timing I agree, Edric”

             
“The only good Viking is a dead Viking as far as I am concerned, my love, and I have every intention of slaughtering as many as I can lay my hands on”

             
Alodie attempted to brush the dampness from her almost soaked cloak.   “What’s the plan of campaign for today?” she asked.

             
Edric pulled a dead leaf, brown and sere, from the alder and threw it into the river, it drifted into the current and was quickly lost.  “The moment it gets fully light the king will hail the other side, they will send boats out for us.  We will see the ladies and children safely stowed in a warm hut, have a meal then I have no doubt the able bodied men will be sent out to spread the word and raise the musters.  We cannot stay hidden from the Norsemen for long but we are practically impregnable in Athelney” he continued, idly kicking pebbles into the water, “this river is too deep to cross on foot and the current is too treacherous for any crossing other than by boat and if the heathen try to attack us in boats we will slaughter them
en masse
from the island”

             
Suddenly their attention was taken by a shout.  The king had awoken and, together with two or three of the men, had waded through the reeds and was standing in the shallow waters on the river bank. “Ahoy Athelney!” Alfred shouted.

             
“Awake for your king!” added Cerdic of Saltop.

             
Edric grinned and ran to join them “Out of bed you sluggards, your king wishes to break his fast!” he bellowed.

             
Whether it was their shouting or the fact that the birds were now thoroughly frightened and had taken to flight with a terrible clapping din which awoke the sleepy villagers of Athelney Alodie had no idea but within five minutes several small boats had been launched and within twenty Alodie was huddled with Aehlswith round a roaring fire whilst an overawed peasant woman heated some broth.  Alodie sighed “I would give anything for a bath” she murmured.

             
“Do not mention that word in my hearing again wench, if there is one thing we cannot have now it is a bath” answered the queen, attempting to clean some of the mud from her dress.

             
Alodie sniffed “I swear I am beginning to smell”

             
Aehlswith looked up, puzzled.  “What you do mean, ‘smell’?  Everyone has their own particular odour, you smell different to me, I smell different to - Gwen”

             
Alodie’s head shot up.  “Jesu Aehlswith, I should hope so, Gwen of Saltop is the only woman I know who smells permanently of male sweat!”

             
Aehlswith began to giggle.  “At least you know Edric is not interested in her”

             
Alodie yawned and rubbed her eyes, she had not slept properly since they had fled from Chippenham. “I know, Edric admitted to me that he had taken her once, years ago, when he was in his cups.  She seemed to lose interest in him after that but he now tells me she has been throwing herself at him again ever since we arrived in Chippenham”

             
Aehlswith placed her hand on her friend’s arm “Take it as a compliment my dear, she feels she has to have Edric to prove that she can take your man from you, she considers that getting the man of the loveliest woman in the kingdom to sleep with her is a feather in her cap.  It worked with Luke but the silly trull did not realise that he was only using her, she actually believed that he preferred her to you. I swear that if you loved Beohtric the hunchback stable lad she would want to sleep with him”

             
She also managed to seduce the only man I ever really loved
thought Alodie but out loud she said “drat, my secret’s out!”

             
Aehlswith’s head snapped up. “What secret?”

             
The peasant woman appeared and Alodie and Aehlswith gratefully accepted a bowl of broth, the woman bobbed timidly and left the hut.  “I have been having a mad passionate affair with Beohtric since I came to court!” declared Alodie, theatrically.  The queen almost choked on her broth, then began to laugh, which quickly turned to hiccups “Oh Alodie” she gasped after Alodie had pounded her on the back.

             
“What love?”

             
“Thank you for being the best friend I ever had!”

             
Alodie looked up at her.  She had never had a friend and now she had found one, it just happened to be a historical figure, a queen who had died fifteen hundred years before she was born.   “That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me ‘Swith - Lord I’m hungry.  Do you think we dare risk this broth?”

*********************

             
Athelney was a small village of approximately twenty five houses, or more properly, huts, on an island in the middle of the
Somerset
marshes.  Alfred had chosen well, it was self sufficient in most things and was surrounded by water.

             
The court were naturally spread between the houses and Aehlswith and Alodie were staying in one of the better quality dwellings, the one which belonged to the reeve, one of the headmen of the village.  Even so it was extremely primitive, being nothing more than a glorified pit dug into the earth, surrounded by a framework of wood and thatch, there were no internal walls as such but the sleeping area was separated from the living and cooking area by a wickerwork screen, roughly four feet in height.  The fire pit was in the middle of the floor and the smoke drifted upward to find its way out through a hole in the roof which, when it began to rain, was covered by a wooden bowl.  All the meals were cooked over this fire and the hut smelled constantly of smoke and burned meat.

Still, they were in better surroundings than Gwen and her friend Elfwin, they had to share their hut with the domestic animals and sleep on the floor on hides, and at least the goodwife of this dwelling was house proud and there were fresh clean rushes on the floor and a truckle bed covered with clean pelts.

             
Alodie had at first remonstrated with Aehlswith about the villagers who seemed to have been turned out of their homes to make room for the court but the queen pointed out that Alfred had given each person who had had to vacate their homes enough gold to build two huts after the emergency was over.

             
After three or four days the reeve, bowling nervously to the queen, had produced some knucklebones and Alodie and Aehlswith, by now bored almost to screaming pitch, had resorted to playing the game mankind had played since prehistoric times.  The knucklebones consisted of two metacarpal bones of a large animal, usually a cow, one painted with a crude design and the other plain.  One person took both bones and moved them from hand to hand behind their back then held their hands, fists clenched, in front of them.  The second player had to tap the hand holding the plain bone, if they guessed correctly they got a mark, if they guessed incorrectly the other player got a mark, the first person to three or five marks won.  The Saxons could play this and variations of the game for hours but to two intelligent people like Alodie and Aehlswith it palled after the first two or three rounds.  Aehlswith found herself thinking fondly of her books and embroidery and Alodie of her technical manuals of which she had an extensive library in her plexi back home.

             
They had introduced a slight amount of variety by trying to distract  one another.  “Guess” said Aehlswith, thrusting her hands out in front of her.  They had played four games and the score was two each, this was the decider.  Alodie glanced at her friend’s small freckled fists, was it her imagination or was the left one pulled slightly closer to Aehlswith’s body, she lifted her hand to tap the left one.   “The wind’s getting up again” announced Aehlswith suddenly.  Alodie lifted her head, the wind had indeed begun to howl and the sound, as it blew through the leafless branches of the trees, sounded cold and eerie.

             
Alodie glanced at her friend and saw a small smile flit across her features.  “Hah!  ‘Swith! Trying to distract me again were you?”

             
The queen grinned.  “Well, you did it to me on the last game when you asked me if I thought Gwen pushed Cerdic’s hose down her bodice to pad out her bosom - hush, I think I hear someone”

             
Alodie listened intently.  Alfred had convened a council of war which had been going most of the day, all the men were obviously in attendance and Alodie would have given a year’s pay to have been there instead of in this hut playing this mind numbingly boring game, however, she heard nothing except the wind howling through the bare branches.

             
“Good try Aehlswith, now let me see, I think its the................”

             
The door burst open and Edric stumbled breathlessly in.  Alodie and Aehlswith both jumped to their feet, the knucklebones falling forgotten to the floor.

             
He shut the door behind him, leaned on it and coughed.  “Well, it’s decided” he said after he had caught his breath.

             
“What is?” asked Aehlswith.

             
“Alodie, for the love of God, get me a little water, I’m parched” Alodie nodded and ran across to the pot which she kept full of cool boiled water and poured him a cupful.  He took it gratefully and downed a large draught, then looked up. “My lady Aehlswith, I am to escort you to the king immediately”