As we entered the hall the King’s mother said:
‘There’s no need for that. Fetch a chair and let her sit. She is a royal niece.’ The King’s mother was alone in the high seat. To one side of the dais Ansgar perched on a stool. He stared.
‘May the Lord have mercy! Sigrid, what have they done to you?’ His words made me aware that not all my aches and pains were the result of sleeping on damp straw. I realised that my gown was torn, there was dried blood on one of the sleeves and behind my swollen lips I was missing a tooth. But my body’s suffering was slight compared to the agony in my mind.
‘Unn,’ I managed to croak. ‘Olvir.’ Ansgar came up and put his threadbare old cloak over my shoulders. He turned to face the King’s mother.
‘For shame! She may have been your enemy in the past but she is no longer an adversary. She brought gifts and you treat her worse than an animal.’
‘One dead warrior, eight injured and the King thrown to the floor.’
‘But not by Sigrid, by a poor child beset by demons. This is disgraceful. It casts the shadow of dishonour and villainy on the name of the House of Wessex.’ The King’s mother’s face turned a dangerous shade of purple and her bosom heaved with angry breaths.
‘Ansgar,’ she said, ‘I have known you a long time. You always had a way of speaking your mind regardless of the offence it might give. But this time you go too far. You, and that treacherous Archbishop you serve, have need of a measure of discretion in your dealings with royalty.’
‘I mean no offence, you know that. And as for whom I serve, I give my loyalty to Our Lord God and to him alone. It is my duty as a servant of God to speak as I find and, here and now, I find Sigrid Kveldulfsdaughter more sinned against than sinning. The Archbishop, for reasons best known to himself, claimed the horse from Sigrid. She came because this horse will not be steered by anyone else. But it was all decided by the Archbishop.’
The King’s mother seemed to calm down. She leaned forward and said in a lower voice:
‘So, tell me then, what is Wulfstan plotting? I assume he came here to get Aedred to accept the Norse intruder as king of Jorvik. But then what?’ Ansgar spread his arms and sighed.
‘Oh dear me, I am not privy to His Grace’s long term plans. It is almost two years since I spent time with him. I have been able to join religious houses, serving the Lord and bringing poor heathens to his mercy.’ She made an impatient wave with a bejewelled hand.
‘But you’ll know if he still thinks Jorvik has a future apart from England. Why does he keep fighting? Every few years he turns up with some pretender or other. Eventually we defeat them. We always shall. He knows the House of Wessex will prevail. In the long run we shall simply wear down any resistance to a united England. Time and the Good Lord are on our side.’ Her words made me shiver but Ansgar was unmoved.
‘Be that as it may. I don’t meddle in these matters, I never did. For the present I would like your permission to see to Sigrid’s injuries. This is a disgrace.’ I felt the King’s mother’s eyes on me and managed to straighten up in my seat.
‘Yes,’ she said and waved to one of her attendants. ‘Find a bed and some clean clothes for Sigrid Kveldulfsdaughter and give Brother Ansgar what assistance he requires.’
A bucket of clean water to wash and a simple woollen dress. A soft mattress, a clean sheet under my aching body and warm blankets and furs on top. I drank the concoction Ansgar brought me and fell into blissfully dreamless sleep.
I was bruised and scratched but, apart from my missing tooth, nothing was broken. That is to say nothing in my body. My mind was a different matter.
‘I want to go home,’ I said to Ansgar.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘so do I. We shall have to find a way.’
‘Where is Olvir?’
‘I don’t know. Not here, I would have found out if he were. I didn’t see him leave. One moment he was there, the next he was gone. He must have slipped away while everyone watched poor Unn.’ I knew there was no point asking but couldn’t stop myself.
‘Is she buried?’ Ansgar looked at the floor, made the sign of the cross and sighed.
I didn’t need him to tell me that on a stake by the entrance to the fort Unn’s head was pecked by carrion while her body had most probably been thrown to the dogs. I put my head in my hands and cried.
The next day the King’s mother sent for me.
‘So you are a royal niece.’
‘I am the granddaughter of Harald Finehair. Eirik Haraldson is my uncle.’
‘So he would be willing to pay a generous ransom for you?’ I almost laughed.
‘I doubt that. Does that mean that I have to remain here until some terms have been agreed with my uncle or is money from any source acceptable?’
‘You are as blunt as dear Ansgar. A negotiated deal with your uncle would be preferable.’
‘I am not on good terms with my uncle. He will not see me as a hostage worth concessions or gold.’ She nodded. She probably had already been informed of that. I must prepare myself for a lengthy stay. Sooner or later I would try to escape but for now I would rest and let my body recover.
After a week I was strong enough to walk about. I was allowed into the horse enclosure. It held only two horses. I whistled softly and North Wind cantered up followed by Lord of the Fells. They had both been fed but not groomed and they bore the marks of fighting but whether with each other or the stable hands I couldn’t tell. The charcoal and whitewash Olvir and I had applied to their hides had worn off. No matter, I thought, it had been done to deceive Wulfstan and I had no idea where he was now. I removed saddles and bits, called to one of the stable hands for a bunch of teasels and set to grooming my horses.
A couple of warriors leered at me and pointed to the gate. I tried to ignore them. I knew only too well what they wanted me to imagine; Unn’s head on a stake just outside the fortifications. It was all down to me. I had brought her to her violent end as certain as if I had killed her myself. And all for what? Why had I not simply allowed Wulfstan to give North Wind to Aedred? I looked at him and he put his head across my shoulder the way I had trained him but which had become his way to show affection. I threw my arms round his neck and cried into his mane. I cried for Ragnar, for Unn and for my children that I wasn’t sure I’d ever see again.
That’s how Ansgar found me.
‘Oh dear, but, oh…’ I wiped my eyes and blew my nose.
‘All’s well, Brother, I’m just a bit weak.’
‘We must get you home. And then you must promise me to stay there.’ That made me cry again.
‘And how…how will you, we…?’ I sobbed.
‘We must think. Maybe, you know, how we did it once before.’
‘Brother I will not swap clothes with you. In Jorvik you had Wulfstan to protect you. Here you’re on your own.’ He shook his head and smiled.
‘Sigrid, I’m never on my own. The Good Lord is always with me. But maybe not like that then. And I shall leave with you. I don’t intend to return to the service of Wulfstan. My work is no longer with him.’
‘Shall you return to Ripon then?’
‘No, my place is with Father Cuthred and the brothers.’
We stood for a while each with our own thoughts. Then Ansgar asked:
‘What happened to the other two horses, Unn’s and mine. They too were fine beasts.’
‘I don’t know. The King has probably taken them for his own. At least his people would be able to deal with them.’
‘Yes, maybe we should find out. I think I’d rather not ride one of your stallions when we leave.’
I had to admire Ansgar. He was one of nature’s born optimists.
Ansgar asked around and found out that his gelding was safe in the meadow with the rest of Aedred’s horses. But nobody seemed to know anything about Meadowsweet. I had to accept that she was lost. I was sad about it. She was speedy and sure-footed and would have made a good brood mare. At least I had my two stallions. I even allowed
myself to think that maybe I would be able to return home with them.
I did my best not to be seen or heard. I spent my time grooming my horses or talking to Ansgar in the small sunken-floor hut he occupied. Mealtimes I took a seat far down the table, further down than my status as a royal niece entitled me to but it suited me. On a particularly cold, wet day my injured shoulder ached and I needed to warm myself by a fire. Ansgar was tending a sick child and I had nowhere else to go but the hall. I sat down and held out my hands towards the fire. The King and his mother sat in the high seat talking in hushed voices. I hoped they weren’t discussing me. Warriors and servants milled about, dogs scratched around for food under the tables. As was the custom, the door was left wide open to allow supplicants and local nobles to pay their respects. Among them I noticed a tall figure.
‘Olvir!’ I breathed his name. He saw me and winked. I recognised that look; Olvir, pleased with himself. He’d looked like that as a child when he thought he’d been clever. I smiled, feeling a wave of relief as I watched him take his place in the line of people approaching the royal couple. He bent his knee in greeting. They interrupted their talk and looked at him. He put a leather sack on the floor in front of them. He made a show of pulling at the cords to open it. They bent forward to look inside it and their eyes widened. Was this my ransom? Had Olvir really managed to get gold from Eirik, my uncle, notorious for being tight-fisted? But how?
My head spun from questions that would have to wait. I was waived forward to the King and his mother. King Aedred was suffering with his stomach again and was curt and bad tempered but his mother smiled graciously. I was free to leave against a promise not to take up weapons against Aedred again. Was it really that simple? I kneeled, promised and then I didn’t know what to do next.
Olvir put an end to my confusion.
‘Best saddle up at once and we can make a start.’ I curtsied again to the King and his mother. Dragonclaw, I thought. But there was nothing for it. If I tried to ask for concessions they might change their minds. So my sword had to be left behind. With my spear-wound still not healed I couldn’t use it anyway. Olvir got saddles and bridles for the stallions. In his usual way he managed to look like he was entitled to and none of the grooms even asked. Ansgar came running, carrying his bedroll. He had one of the grooms saddle his gelding. I mounted North Wind and, followed by Ansgar and Olvir, leading Meadowsweet, I rode out through the gatehouse and across the bridge. I was free.
As soon as we felt we were no longer watched we put on a fair speed. The stallions had been standing around for far too long and we had to rein them in to allow Ansgar’s gelding to keep up. I didn’t mind the rain or the wind. I was riding North Wind and we were heading home. When we stopped to water the horses Ansgar began unpacking his bedroll.
‘Ansgar,’ I said, ‘we can’t make camp here. We have to go on.’
‘Oh yes,’ he said, ‘I know. But this is so awkward.’ He handed me Dragonclaw. ‘You know I don’t approve but it is your property after all and they shouldn’t just keep it.’ I laughed with delight. It was only when I strapped her to my belt that I recognised how naked I had felt without her.
That night we paid a farmer for bed and board. They had plenty of meat from the autumn slaughter and we ate well. Then we finally had time to talk.
‘It couldn’t have been easier,’ said Olvir. ‘Everybody was watching poor Unn so I walked away. Meadowsweet was just inside the gates. I got on her and rode off.’
‘And here you are!’ Ansgar clapped his hands.
‘We have worried about you,’ I said. ‘Where have you been?’
‘To get a ransom for you, of course.’
‘It must have been a king’s ransom to persuade them to let me go so easily.’
‘More like a bishop’s really, an Archbishop’s even.’
‘What do you mean? Wulfstan? Did he pay? Why?’
‘He probably felt guilty. Or, if he didn’t already, I made sure he did.’
‘Ah,’ said Ansgar, ‘so he has a conscience after all.’ Olvir laughed.
‘He is very fond of Sigrid. Yes, I know. It may not seem like that but he did once tell me that he thinks of you as a daughter. A wayward daughter, I think was how he put it, in need of a father’s guiding hand.’
‘Well, he’s not far wrong there,’ muttered Ansgar.
‘Where is he? What will happen to him?’
‘He’s on his way under escort to Jedburgh. He’ll be a prisoner of the Earl of Bamburgh until the King decides otherwise.’
‘It’s an outrage,’ said Ansgar, ‘first he burns a Minster then he imprisons one of God’s anointed. Aedred will suffer in purgatory for his misdeeds. And so will his mother for not stopping him.’
‘Meanwhile,’ I said, ‘I suppose my uncle is King of Jorvik again.’
‘So it would seem,’ said Olvir.
‘But that,’ said Ansgar, ‘is no concern of ours. We are going home.’
‘Please Olvir,’ I said, ‘come with me home to Becklund.’ He smiled and nodded. Feeling happy, I wrapped one of the pelts from the sleeping platform around me thinking it was time to retire. But Ansgar hadn’t quite finished.
‘Would the two of you join me in prayers for poor little Unn?’ I stared at him in disbelief. ‘Come, come Sigrid. It won’t hurt you.’
‘This is blackmail, Ansgar.’ I trembled and swallowed hard.
‘We might feel better for it,’ said Olvir. So I got on my knees, between them on the rush-covered floor. I cried as Ansgar prayed and I silently asked Unn’s forgiveness for not listening to her, for not having understood how much her promise to Harald had meant and for not being able to save her.
We left Ansgar with the brothers at Crosthwaite. Cinedred was there, even paler and thinner than before. But when I told her Kveldulf and Nanna were married, she smiled and became quite tearful.
‘I know you have done right, Sigrid. It will be easier for me here to know they are together.’
‘You don’t look well, Cinedred.’
‘I feel the weight of my past life. It will help to have Brother Ansgar back. He,’ she lowered her voice and looked around, ‘he doesn’t judge as harshly as the others. And he can joke and laugh. The people here like him and I do too.’
Then it was just me and Olvir. Our powerful stallions treated the way home as a race and at times I wasn’t quite sure who was in control, North Wind or I. The closer to home we came the more sure he was of the way. We found that Meadowsweet followed quite happily and ran better without a tether. Late one evening we rode up to the gates at Buttermere Farm. Three large dogs came up to the gates barking, leaping up with bared teeth. The door to the hall opened and a tall figure came out holding shield and sword. Another armed man and a boy followed.
‘Who disturbs the evening?’ said Kveldulf.
‘Only your mother,’ said Olvir.
‘Mor! You’re safe!’ My son lifted me out of the saddle as if I weighed less than a baby. His smile was lopsided because of the scar but his eyes shone with joy. ‘We’ve worried. None of us trusted that Archbishop of yours.’
Olvir and my nephew Swein, took the horses and I entered the familiar hall to be welcomed and embraced. Lothar the Frankian greeted me with a warriors’ handshake.
‘Sigrid, this is a heavy loss to have to bear, for you and for me. Ragnar was my blood-brother. We faced many perils and fought many battles together. It seems impossible that we shall share no more mead and tell no more tales of our adventures. I feel it badly that I was not at his side.’
‘You carry scars of valour, Lothar, old friend. The Norns have woven both your and my remaining years apart from Ragnar.’
While they were all there I had to be brave and speak about Ragnar’s part in the victory over the English but later, I sat alone with Ragnar’s sister Thora. Between us there was no need for pretence and, through the night, we shed tears and mourned until only the last, faint embers remained on the hearth.
We were implore
d to stay longer but I could not wait to see my younger children. Before we left I spoke with my son and his wife.
‘Harald brought Gudrun and Thorstein to see us,’ said Kveldulf. ‘We thought you’d be back sooner. I wouldn’t mind hearing about your adventures. I don’t suppose that tooth fell out of its own accord.’ That reminded me to cover my mouth with my hand when I smiled back at him.
‘It will soon be midsummer, come and stay with us at Becklund and we shall tell each other so many lies the gods will blush at the cheek of it.’ They both laughed. Nanna took my hand and kissed it.
‘Mor, you were right. Thora Sweinsdaughter has been very kind. I’m learning to milk the cows and this summer I shall go with her to the shieling and learn to make cheese and butter.’
‘You sound like you’re enjoying it.’ I was astounded. Next she’d tell me she was skilful at weaving and embroidering as well.
Chapter 8
True Value
I could hardly believe it, I was home in plenty of time for midsummer. We rode in through the gates and the yard filled with cheering and cries of welcome. Olvir leapt out of his saddle and lifted me down from North Wind. Harald held me in a long embrace.
‘I’ve missed you, Mor. Kveldulf told me about the battle. I can see there’s more to tell. But you can rest now. Time enough to talk later.’
We emptied the horn of welcome-ale and went inside. A fire burned on the hearth, a cauldron steamed above it, bunches of herbs hung next to hams and strings of sausages from the roof-timbers. I breathed in the mixture of aromas; smoke, food, dogs and people. Harald led me to sit in the high seat. Gudrun snuggled up next to me.
‘Mor, I thought you wouldn’t come back,’ she said and burst into tears. ‘I thought you too were dead. Like Far died and I have cried and cried.’
Honour is All Page 23