WARRIORS OF THE NORTH: Kings of Northumbria Book 2

by H A CULLEY

  There were a few more huts to the south of the settlement but what drew Oswald’s attention was the old thegn’s hall at the north east corner of the axe head. It was a simple building made of wattle and daub with a thatched roof. There was no palisade but thorn bushes had been planted around it, presumably to keep animals out rather than for any defensive purpose. There was a sizeable area of pastureland around it on which a few sheep and two cows grazed. Oswald turned to Sherwyn.

  ‘Do you know the extent of the thegn’s holding?’

  ‘I believe it is the area between the fishermen’s settlement and the area of arable land over there, which is owned by the churl who lives in that hut,’ he replied pointing to a small dwelling a few hundred yards away outside of which two children were playing.

  Oswald had been surprised that the inhabitants didn’t seem in the least perturbed by the arrival of a score of men, armed and mounted, in their midst. When he asked Selwyn the man explained that he had warned them that he would be visiting the island and bringing some other men with him. He hadn’t mentioned that one of them was the king though.

  Oswald and his two brothers were comparing the area available for the new monastery with that on Iona.

  ‘I think the whole island may be about half the size of Iona,’ Oslac said uncertainly.

  ‘Yes, that’s about right, but the whole of Iona is devoted to the monastery whereas here you have the fishing settlement and a few churl’s smallholding as well,’ Oswiu agreed.

  Oswald was pursing his lips in thought. Eventually he spoke.

  ‘A lot of Iona is unused except for a few grazing sheep. The church and the other buildings don’t take up much room, it’s the cultivated land that provides the monks with their food that occupies the most space. Then there are the beehives.’

  He was referring to the small conical huts built of stone in which those monks, termed anchorites, who wished to retire from the world could live in.

  ‘Well, they could build a few on the islands over there.’ Oswiu said with a straight face, indicating the plethora of small islets called the Farne Islands to the south of Lindisfarne, little knowing that that was exactly what would happen in the future.

  ‘But is there enough space for the new monastery here?’ Oslac brought the king back to the matter at hand.

  ‘I think so. What do you think Oswiu?’

  ‘I think it’s the closest you are going to get to a setting like Iona on the Northumbrian coast.’

  ‘Very well. Now all we need is for Eochaid to find Aidan and Ròidh so we can start work to make this a Christian country.’

  CHAPTER SIX – THREE WEDDINGS

  Rheged and Wessex – 635 to 636 AD

  Aidan had spent the night on his knees in prayer and was feeling exhausted. It wasn’t surprising that, after the privations they had endured in hiding over the past six months, not sleeping for twenty four hours should have drained him of all energy. When Eochaid’s servant arrived with a tisane for Ròidh he found the other monk in a near delirious stupor.

  ‘Lord, come quickly. There’s something wrong with Brother Aidan.’

  Eochaid had been washing in the stream and immediately followed the youth over to the two monks without bothering to dress.

  ‘Brother Aidan, are you alright.’

  He grasped the monk’s shoulder in a panic. He hadn’t come all this way and risked the lives of his men only to find that the man he sought had lost his mind.

  ‘What’s wrong with him?’

  The other voice startled him until he realised that Ròidh was awake and lucid. He put his hand on the wounded monk’s forehead and sighed with relief. All signs of the fever had gone; it must have broken sometime during the night. At least that meant he could now be moved with care. It would take him some time before the wound healed but the infection had gone.

  Hearing his friend’s voice seemed to bring Aidan out of his trance and he gave thanks to God for Ròidh’s deliverance before allowing himself to be taken on board and made comfortable beside Ròidh so that they could both sleep during the voyage downriver.

  ~~~

  Oswiu took a deep breath and entered the hut he shared with Fianna and his son, who was now four. Telling the slave who looked after them to take the boy outside, he sat down and took Fianna’s hands in his. She had just turned twenty and was, if anything, even prettier than when he’d first met her and fallen in love when she was thirteen.

  He tried to speak but his mouth was so dry he could only croak. He swallowed and tried again.

  ‘My love I have something to tell you.’

  She looked at him expectantly and wondered what could possibly have made Oswiu, who was always so confident, nervous. He cleared his throat and tried again.

  ‘My brother the king wishes me to do something for the good of all Northumbria and I have agreed,’ he said in a rush. ‘He wants to bring Rheged under his leadership and to do that he seeks an alliance between their house and ours. King Royth’s daughter is his only child and there are no other members of his family left alive, so whoever marries the Princess Rhieinmelth will become the next King of Rheged.’

  ‘Yes, I understand. So Oswald will marry this Rhieinmelth? Does Keeva know? She will be devastated.’

  ‘No, my love. It’s not the king who will marry her; he wants me to do so.’

  For a moment Fianna sat there in stunned silence. Then she quietly began to weep. He tried to put his arms around her but she pushed him away.

  ‘What happens to me and our son? Are we to be sent away?’

  ‘If you stayed here as my lover it could be awkward,’ he began.

  ‘Do you love this Rhieinmelth?’

  ‘I think I could come to do so, in time.’

  It was not in Oswiu’s nature to lie but he was not being entirely truthful. He still loved Fianna but the thought of taking the extremely pretty Princess of Rheged to bed excited him more than he cared to admit. He’d fallen in love with her the first time he’d seen her.

  ‘Well, I asked what will happen to us. To me, your ex-concubine, and your bastard?’

  Oswiu felt wretched. He hadn’t thought further than actually breaking the news to her and had made no plans for her future; nor had he thought about what would happen to his son.

  ‘Do you want to go back to your father?’ he asked hesitantly.

  ‘What? Go back to Bute and my family and admit that my father was right about you all along? No, I’d rather die.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I knew that this would be difficult for you; I just didn’t appreciate how difficult.’

  Fianna got to her feet.

  ‘I think you’d better spend the night in the warrior’s hall. I don’t want you around us any more, not now you’ve disowned us. When do you leave to marry your new lover?’

  ‘It’s not like -’ he started to say, and then realised that it was just like that. ‘In two days’ time. In the meantime I’ll give some thought to your situation.’

  ‘You do that,’ she said coldly. ‘Now I’d like to be alone please.’

  It wasn’t until he’d reached the warrior’s hall and sent his body slave to fetch his belongings that he realised that Fianna was bound to tell Keeva. She was a bright young woman and she would realise that Oswald, now he was king, would need to make a political marriage as well. He’d better warn his brother.

  ~~~

  Jarlath had long admired Fianna from a distance. He was secretly in love with his sister’s best friend but he knew that he had to keep his love secret. If Oswiu found out he’d be in deep trouble. It gnawed away at him but he did his best to ignore it. It was better after they left Arran and he didn’t see her every day, but then she’d arrived at Bebbanburg and his longing for her was rekindled.

  When Keeva told him that Oswiu had cast Fianna aside he didn’t know whether to feel sorrow at her humiliation or joy that she was now free. Thankfully he had the common sense to realise that if he went to see her now and confessed his love for her h
e would ruin any chance he might have had with her.

  However, he was desperate not to let her slip through his fingers. So he confessed his passion for Fianna to his sister. Keeva immediately saw that bringing the two of them together would be an excellent solution but it would have to be engineered carefully. The first thing to do was to ensure that Oswiu didn’t pack Fianna and her child off somewhere or, even worse, arrange for her to marry. So she went to see him. Of course she didn’t tell him that Jarlath was in love; that would have been stupid.

  ‘Lord, thank you for seeing me. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that my closest friend, Fianna, has confided in me. Not unnaturally, she is worried about her future and that of her child.’

  Oswiu sighed. ‘Thank you for coming to see me Keeva. I’m glad you did. Frankly I don’t know what to do. I am happy to acknowledge my son as mine and to treat him as such as he grows up; I’m sure that my wife will understand. However, I can’t expect her to tolerate having my mistress around. ‘

  ‘I suppose that one solution might be for Fianna to marry. That way she wouldn’t feel threatened or slighted by Fianna’s presence. Of course, her husband would have to be prepared to bring up another man’s son.’

  ‘Yes, you may have something there.’

  Oswiu saw that this was the obvious solution and immediately accepted the idea enthusiastically.

  ‘I don’t suppose you have anyone in mind?’

  ‘Well, my brother is still unmarried. I could have a tactful word with him and sound him out.’

  ‘Ummm, very well. But be discrete. We’ll need to think how to get Fianna to accept the idea if Jarlath is willing.’

  ‘Leave it to me, lord. I’ll keep you informed, of course.’

  Oswiu left for Caer Luel the next morning with a clear conscience. He had every confidence that Keeva would arrange the marriage of Fianna and Jarlath before he returned.

  ~~~

  Oswald was surprised to receive an invitation from Cynegils, the King of Wessex, to visit him at his capital, Wintan-ceastre. It seemed that a bishop named Birinus had arrived in his kingdom from Rome and had converted many of the West Saxons to Christianity. Cynegils invited Oswald to be his godfather for the baptism ceremony and to discuss matters of mutual interest. Oswald could only think of one: both their kingdoms bordered Mercia and there was an ongoing border dispute between Mercia and Wessex. Furthermore, both Penda of Mercia and Cynegils were trying to wrest control of Lundenwic from the East Saxons.

  Oswald decided to accompany his brother to Caer Luel to attend his wedding and then to travel from there down to Hamwic on the south coast of England by sea. Wintan-ceastre was less than half a day’s ride from there. His only concerns were who to leave in charge at Bebbanburg and being intercepted by Welsh or Irish pirates during the voyage from the Solway Firth to Wessex.

  He considered making his mother regent in his place but he didn’t trust her not to make decisions he wouldn’t agree with. In the end he sent for her, his son and Dudda, Eorl of Norhamshire, his senior noble.

  ‘Thank you all for coming. I’ll be brief because there is a lot to do before I leave with Oswiu.’

  At this both Acha and Œthelwald look surprised. No-one had mentioned anyone from the family accompanying Oswiu to his wedding.

  ‘If anyone should go with my son, it should be his mother,’ Acha butted in.

  Oswald gave her an impatient look.

  ‘Don’t interrupt, mother. Do me the courtesy of listening to all I have to say before you speak,’ he told her somewhat brusquely. ‘From there I’ll be travelling down to Wessex to act as godfather to King Cynegils and, hopefully, making him our ally against the Mercians and the Welsh. I’m likely to be away for some time and will probably have to stay at Wintan-ceastre for the winter. That means that I will need to appoint regents whilst I am gone.’

  He paused whilst those present looked at each other, each suspecting that the king would appoint one of them to act as regent.

  ‘It is a heavy burden and so I have decided that it needs to be shared. Mother, I would be grateful if you would look after the routine administration of the kingdom; Œthelwald, you will be in charge of its defence. However, I am conscious that you are, as yet, young and lack experience so I intend to appoint a hereræswa to command the army and to advise you. Dudda, I would like you to oversee justice and to issue judgements in my name. This means that the three of you will form a council of regency.’

  ‘Wouldn’t it be simpler just to make me sole regent,’ Acha asked.

  Her tone left no one in any doubt that she felt slighted.

  ‘No,’ Œthelwald interrupted. ‘I’m the king’s son and I will occupy the throne after him. This is my chance to gain experience. I should be regent.’

  Dudda cleared his throat before mildly pointing out that the succession was not a matter of primogeniture under Anglo-Saxon law. The king’s eldest son was merely one ætheling amongst all those who would be considered by the Witan. Œthelwald looked furious but Oswald held up his hand for silence before his son could remonstrate with Dudda.

  ‘This is not a matter for debate. I have made my decision. Dudda, would you stay behind please so that we can discuss who should be considered for the post of hereræswa. Thank you mother, Œthelwald. You may leave.’

  Both left, equally unhappy with Oswald’s decision.

  ‘Now, who should I appoint, Dudda?’

  ‘Well, Cyning’ the old eorl reflected for a moment. ‘There’s Dunstan, your horse marshal, but it might be politic to appoint Hrothga as the senior eorl in Deira - though I have no idea how good a military commander he is – or Leodgar, the captain of your gesith.’

  ‘Hmmm, I want someone on the spot to keep my son from making stupid decisions, so not Hrothga. I was going to take Dunstan with me, so perhaps the obvious choice is Leodgar. I’ll let him and Œthelwald know.

  ‘Will it be a permanent appointment, Cyning?’

  ‘No, I agree I should appoint a hereræswa; the Lord knows I’ve enough to occupy my time without commanding the army as well. However, that post will be Oswiu’s in due course. I’m not telling you a secret if I say that he would have been my choice as sole regent, had he been here. Even after he is wed, he won’t be returning here immediately. He needs to get to know the kingdom he’ll inherit one day, and winter is no time to traverse the wild uplands between Caer Luel and here. He’ll come back with me when I return.’

  ‘Do you want your mother to move the court from here to Yeavering in the spring?’

  ‘Yes, that’s an excellent idea. I’ll let her know.’

  At dawn the next morning the two brothers set out with their respective gesith and a sizeable baggage train for Rheged. Oslac remained behind to minister to the people of Bebbanburg and to conduct Aidan to Lindisfarne when, or perhaps if, he arrived. Oswald hoped to borrow a birlinn from Rhieinmelth’s father to take him south but, as it turned out, that didn’t prove necessary.

  ~~~

  It took three days for Eochaid to return to where their two birlinns were waiting. When they came to shallows or weirs where the boats had to be manhandled through or over them, they transferred Ròidh around the obstacle on a stretcher. The infection had cleared up and after two days Aidan removed the maggots as the putrefying flesh had been eaten away, then he stitched the two bits of sound flesh together. Some of the ship’s boys used the discarded maggots as bait and caught several fish to supplement the boring diet of dried meat, cheese and oatmeal biscuits.

  They passed the settlement with the blackened ruins of its fortress and beached the two boats next to the birlinns and the other ponto. That evening the crews dined on several sheep that those left behind had rounded up, supplemented by herbs and wild plants that they had found. Ròidh was still in considerable discomfort from his wound but he joined Aidan for the feast. The next day they set sail for Caer Luel, using the ship’s boys and the extra warriors from the two birlinns to crew the three pontos.

 
; At midday they sighted the Rheged capital ahead of them and this time, instead of stopping short of the old Roman town as they had done before, they went on and moored alongside the jetty under the old Roman stone walls, patched where they had collapsed with timber palisade, which surrounded the town. At first the inhabitants had been confused and a little wary. The two larger ships displayed the red and yellow striped sail of Northumbria but the three pontos carried the plain red mainsail of Strathclyde. Both were evident, although the sails were furled as it had been necessary to row upriver.

  When Eochaid disembarked he was surprised to be received by, not just the king and his daughter, but by Oswald and Oswiu as well.

  ‘Welcome Eochaid, you’re just in time for my wedding,’ Oswiu told him with a broad grin.

  ‘How did it go?’ Oswald asked after the usual pleasantries.

  Eochaid didn’t answer but turned and gestured towards the second birlinn where Aidan was helping Ròidh to descend the gangplank.

  ‘I’ll tell you all about it later but God and His Son must have been watching over us. It was a close run thing, in more ways than one.’

  Oswald congratulated him and went to greet the two monks. If Aidan was surprised to be enveloped in Oswald’s arms, he didn’t say so, but he did warn him not to do the same to his companion, explaining about his wound.

  ‘You’ve no idea how pleased I am to see you both safe and well.’

  ‘Well? Ròidh should be dead and would have been if an old woman hadn’t appeared as if by magic in our campsite. Ròidh’s chest wound was festering and his flesh was rotting. She cured his fever and gave us maggots to eat away the putrefying flesh. I tell you, Cyning, she was sent by Christ himself.’