Egelric did not know how long he had been walking. The sky was obscured by clouds; he had not the stars to give him the hour, or even a bit of light. And he was cold. His walking had kept him from shivering, but his cheeks were numb with cold, and his nose ran into his mustache.
It was as dark as night could be, as cold as October could be, and he had seen nothing—it had all been for nothing.
“Where are you going, Squire?” Alred asked softly from behind him.
Egelric stopped and laid a hand briefly on the hilt of his knife. It was not that he would have dreamed of attacking his lord, but that was the way he lived these days—everything and everyone was a potential enemy. And tonight he was particularly on edge.
Matilda looked up from the fire with dreamy eyes. “What took you so long?”
“Oh, let’s see,” Alred sighed as he sat beside her. “First Margaret heard me and woke up and demanded Papa’s song. Then the young patriarch heard me through the door and wanted one too. Then I found Yware with his blankets on the floor, and when I tried to put them back on him, he woke up and demanded a story. Then I found Dunstan still up and reading, and we sat and talked of war in the time of Julius Caesar. I only wish I could interest him more in war circa now.”
Cenwulf added a log to the fire and then sat on the edge of the chest so that he could remove his boots.
He was still not accustomed to the empty space where Ardith’s cradle had been. Edris had not wanted to see her go at all, but Ardith had turned a year old two days before, and a year was as long as he was willing to share his bedroom with the child.
“Gunnie, I got this worm for Beddy!” Margaret said, proudly holding up her fat, pink prize.
“That’s a real squirmy worm!” Gunnilda admired. “But what does Beddy want with worms?”
Alred only stared at him, but after a moment of silence, Margaret chirped, “Good morning, Egelric!”
“Good morning, my little lady,” Egelric smiled hesitantly.
Egelric poked at the ashes of his fire with the toe of his boot. It hadn’t burned well or long, and it hadn’t done much to dry his clothing. His cloak was now damp and reeking of smoke instead of merely wet, and the rain was beginning to fall again. At least it had stopped long enough to allow him a fire.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” Alred said.
Sigefrith and Cenwulf looked up from a piece of parchment on Sigefrith’s table.
“Good day, Gunnilda,” Egelric said, ducking into the house and out of the rain.
“Good day, Egelric,” she said softly. She hadn’t seen him since… when? She couldn’t say. It was before Angnes had even come.
“Father!” Eadgith cried, and ran across the hall to embrace him.
Sigefrith stood aside and smiled, invisible for the moment.
“All you want to do tonight is to kiss babies and get roaring drunk.”
Chapters
Latest Comment