Aetheling Twelve

[ismenin]

Good morning! the sun is trying hard to shine through the clouds - I give it 8 out of 10 for effort. Otherwise - Richie has the heating on, as it's far from warm.

I am on a diet, and have just consumed my breakfast - one Slimfast Banana Drink. Oh, joy! I wanted, two slices of toast with butter spread so thickly on it you could see the teeth marks. But, no - an effort - and great sacrifices - have/has to be made. Tomorrow, as my weekly treat, I shall have the toast. (23 hours to go) :D

Anyway, enough of this vain hyperbole. Here is this week's instalment of our AngloSaxon story. Hope you like. Next week, THERE IS LOVE! This week, there are mushrooms.





Thanks to ladysunrope for beta.


Aetheling 12


It was crowded in the hut that night, but no-one cared. Aethelred and his wife certainly did not mind; next to his friend Dom, the Aetheling was lying two feet away from them - and he had promised to help them.

Lando lay, with the little boy at his back, and Emm, given the honour of sharing the bed with the two daughters, in the next hut, there was room for the husband and wife to lie close together against the wall.

No-one slept much, but when it grew dark, people without candles or tallow wicks to light the nights, went to bed; there was nothing else available to them.

They all broke their fast on fish stew, as Aethelred insisted it would be a long journey else without nourishment, and his wife gave them a basket filled with cooked fish, so they could at least eat something on the way.

"May the gods protect and save you, my prince," the woman said, kissing Lighe's hand and hugging him to her ample bosom. Lighe did not mind the odour of fish that, of necessity, hung about the woman. Her husband was helping them - that was all that mattered.

Then she handed him back his cloak. "You will need it, my lord," she said, softly, patting his arm as he threw it around him.

The group boarded the fisherman’s boat and nodded to his brother who was the other crew member. No one knew what might happen but at least they had means of escape.

*****

Dom sighed and watched Lighe stare at the receding shoreline with sorrow in his blue eyes. Dom was not sure of Lighe's feelings upon leaving, but Lighe surprised him by taking his hand and squeezing it.

"Do not worry yourself for me. If I never return, I shall not miss it, my friend. I will miss the good people - my...my family...Swidwulf, Dan, Rufe, Ermyngarde - but glad I am to be free of Leofric and his unholy father."

Something had changed between the two men, it was certain, but Lando, whispering in Emm's ear, said he did not understand what it may be. He was sure they had never so much as kissed, yet there was a light in both men's eyes when they looked upon each other, that could not be misunderstood.

Emm remarked quietly that Dom and Lighe were not the only two who had never kissed, so Lando took her tenderly in his arms and gave to her the first kiss of her womanhood.

Emm blushed furiously, and quickly added that Lando must not think she was asking to be kissed by him, she was merely stating a point. Lando, understanding women so much better than did his cousin, winked at Dom over her shoulder, and kissed her again.

"It seems my Emm has found herself an admirer," Lighe remarked "I do not think she will be sorry to go with Lando wherever he may take her, if he has such a mind."

Dom agreed, in an absent manner. He was thinking that he had been a fool to tell Lighe that he would not kiss him again until Lighe asked it of him. At this moment he was sorry in his heart, for he longed to taste again those lips, that mouth...

...but now, he owned to himself, was not the time for it. They had things to plan, and there was no time to spare between them for kissing.

It was fortunate the sea was calm. Even so, both Emm and Lighe were sick before the boat landed on an isolated beach, somewhere along the mainland. It had not taken as long as Lighe had supposed, he confided in Dom as they clambered ashore, holding their footgear in their hands, and glad of the fact that the shoreline appeared to be deserted.

Aethelred the fisherman grasped his prince's hand and told him that he would pray daily to the gods for his safety. "Being on the sea with the mighty winds a-blowing, concentrates a man's heart to seek the gods' aid," he said, with a rare smile, as he and his brother pushed the boat off the strand into the ebbing tide.

The group sat on the beach and ate the rest of the baked fish. At least they were fed for a few hours, Dom remarked, and Lando said that a nice sucking-pig sounded well. "I just hope, my friends, our next meal is not fish!" he grinned, brushing the tiny flakes of white flesh off his garments.

None of them commented that it might be some time before their next meal. They had no money, and nothing to barter - only their knives, which could not be spared.

They climbed the dunes and were soon off the beach, glad there were no high cliffs barring their way such as Dom had seen on his voyage to this country. "We would have walked along the strand to no purpose, eating crabs and boiled sea-weed along our way, as Aethelred said they did in hard times."

Emm wrinkled her nose at the thought of eating a crab, which she had no liking for - or, even worse, sea-weed, as they stood on the rise surveying the green grass laid out before them. There was no road that any could see, and Emm wondered aloud how far they would have to walk before they met anyone who could direct them to Witanceaster.

However, the group set off with glad hearts, feeling lighter that the immediate threat of Leofric and his band of renegades was fading into the background.

They talked, as they went, of those they had left behind. Of Swidwulf and Dan and Rufe, now in Leofric's cruel hands.

Emm remarked that surely he would not harm those of such standing. "None of them are of ungentle blood - we may hope that he will treat them with respect."

Lando gripped her arm, tightly, and everyone forbore pointing out to her that Lighe was of the highest blood in the land, and Lando a prince twice over, yet that had not stopped Seaned's son pursuing his chosen path.

They stopped to rest when Emm gave the secret signal, for she knew Lando would deny that he needed to rest. Therefore they had devised a hand movement that showed the others how Lando fared, and, when she gave it, either she, or Lighe or Dom would declare their weariness and the company would stop, preferably near a stream where they could get water.

The group knew in their hearts that Lando well understood what was happening, but this made it easier for him to take rest.

Towards evening, Lando laughed and said that even he would like to have a nice baked fish for his meal. There was nothing they could see to eat, so they went hungry to sleep, Dom thinking that it was easier in warmer lands, to find food growing on trees by the wayside. Fruit, or berries at least - here there was grass and nothing else.

They lay side by side, those with the thickest garments on the outside. They slept in a hollow, and although there was wind, there was thick green, big-leafed plants, which Lighe cut to cover them, so that it was not as cold as it might have been.

They woke in the morning, slightly damp from dew, to discover they had been fasting near an area of plenty, for there were mushrooms spread as far as the eye could see, which they had missed, stopping as they did, at dusk.

"I wish we had a pan in which we could cook them," Dom said, wistfully biting into a musty stalk.

"And some butter," Lighe agreed. "They are best cooked with butter."

None of them spoke of the journey before them. Lighe was the only one of the four who had ever been to Witanceaster, but coming to the mainland from a totally unknown place, he had no idea which direction to take. He had looked at the sun when it rose, and decided to travel north until they met some town, or even a vill, where someone might know which way to go.

Dom covertly examined his cousin. He was as cheerful as always, but there was a drawn look about his face, and Emm was pale with worry. Lando needed to rest, for the wound had been deep.

Emm had torn strips from her shift to make fresh bandages, as the wound was still weeping pus, but had confided to Dom that it were better if they could procure freshly washed linen with which to bind him.
It could not be good for him, either, she whispered, lying in damp conditions, with no food worth calling by the name.

It was early afternoon on the third day, when they came across the road. Everyone immediately became more cheerful. "The Roman army did some good in our benighted land," Lighe observed, as they climbed up the low bank onto the stone. "A road was not built unless it led somewhere, after all - and who knows that we might not meet some traveller upon it who can aid us?"

Everyone was, by now, extremely hungry, and Dom had said in a low voice to Lighe that he did not know how long Lando could walk without proper nourishment.

The mushrooms staved off starvation, but it was a poor diet, and eating them for every meal had caused their bellies to become disordered. But even the supply of mushrooms had run out. There were none along the road, and nothing they could see that would be edible except trees, bushes and grass, and they had eaten all those mushrooms they had contrived to carry with them from the fields.

The countryside was uneven, thereabouts, with the road running flat in the midst of it. They stopped and tried to eat leaves and grasses to assuage their hunger, but some of them were too bitter to eat. They had found a small outcrop of wild cabbages, a little larger than apples, and ate them raw, for there was no way of cooking them without a fire and a pot. However they proved bitter, too, and none of them could eat more than would take the edge of their hunger.

Towards dusk, on the third day, when they were about to stop for the night, they passed through a thick wooded area to discover there was a large wood and stone building ahead of them.

"Thank God!" Lando murmured, for he was, indeed, very weak, although he had tried not to show it. They decided to press on, the thought of food and a bed working mightily on them, giving them strength.
They passed several fields of cultivated plants; what they were, none could guess, for it was almost dark, but Dom knew it meant food for Lando, and for all of them.

The building was enclosed by a high stone wall, and seemed to have been once, from what Dom could see, a Roman house of some size, such as he had seen in his own lands. Now, however, the building had been augmented by stone and wood until it stood, dark and forbidding, in the fading light.

There was a massive wooden door, and on this Lighe knocked. No-one answered it, so he hammered again, with his fist, even louder. "Odin's balls! Will you answer us? We need shelter and food for a sick man, if not for ourselves!" he cried out in a voice as loud as he could muster.

His voice echoed off the walls.

Something in Dom snapped. He joined with Lighe in hammering on the door. "Open in the name of Christ Jesus!" he yelled, "or I'll raze your miserable house with my bare hands, so I swear!"

There was a grating sound from behind the door, and a head peeked out from a small opening. "Who is it that disturbs our rest, and who takes the name of the blesséd Lord in vain?"

They were prepared for this question. "Four travellers going to seek counsel of the Witan," Lighe answered. "We have a wounded man, here, who needs succour..."

"...If this is indeed a house of God," Dom interrupted without ceremony, "then, of your mercy, grant us aid, and let us in!"

There was a sound of muttering voices from behind the door, but eventually it swung open to reveal one elderly man, and another, somewhat younger, dressed in long, brown woollen robes, who examined the newcomers carefully, before beckoning them in.

Lando's strength had forsaken him now help was at hand. As soon as they had cleared the doorway, he slid down the stone wall, and sat on the ground, his head bent, his nerveless hands resting on his knees.

Emm stamped her foot. "Are you going to stand there gawping at us all night like boobies, or will you help him?" she said, her voice strained with anger and fear.

The old man muttered something to the younger, and he dashed off, returning in a few moments with four men who lifted Lando gently and carried him indoors, followed by Emm who insisted she went in with her ‘husband’.

"They will tend to him, and to his wife, and see them settled. I beg you, come with me," a voice said from the shadow of the doorway, and Dom recognised at once, the accents of his homeland - although the man spoke in the language of the land they now inhabited. What was more, he knew the man who spoke it. His heart rose, and he laughed, and taking Lighe's arm, followed the voice into the light.

Lighe stared at the man by the light of the candles resting in silver candlesticks on the table in the sparsely furnished room.

He was a tall man, dark haired, blue eyed and handsome. He was dressed in black. Black trousers, and over a white shirt, a black sleeveless tunic, belted at the waist, and emblazoned with a silver cross upon his chest. He was not wearing or carrying a weapon, but Lighe understood in some way that it was unusual for this man to be seen unarmed.


The man was smiling at them both, and, to Lighe's amazement he grasped Dom in his arms and, pulling him into his chest in a comprehensive embrace, kissed him on both cheeks. He bowed politely to Lighe, and waved them to two chairs by the table. He drew up another for himself, and sat, beaming at them.

"Will you eat? It is late, I know, but you look as if you have not had a good meal in days!"

"We will eat, for it is indeed many days since we have tasted anything but cabbages and a few mushrooms," Lighe said, warming to this man, in spite of the free way he had taken with Dom.

The man put his head on one side, and regarded Lighe carefully. "Small, like you, Amiens, but full of pluck, I see. I am Jean de Mornay, messire. Knight of the Order of Saint Iago - and who may you be?"

Dom cleared his throat, and said quietly, "this is the Aetheling, Jean. Escaping from foul persecution. We head for the Witan to plead his case..."

Jean de Mornay put up his hand, and rising, called out through the door, "Caspar, mon compere, are you still abed midst all this uproar? Come to me, I beg - I have need of you!"

There was a grumbling sound from nearby, and a tall young man, dark of hair, and dressed in a nightshift and cotte came in, rubbing a hand over his face.

"In the name of God and all his Holy Angels, Jean, what now? I was nearly..."

He stopped dead in the doorway and a wide grin split his handsome face. "Dom!" he cried, and rushed forward, kissing Dom as had the other man.

Jean smiled at the newcomer, and Lighe could see immediately that a close bond existed between the two men. He also felt slightly relieved at the embrace. It must be a custom in France for the men to kiss. He had judged Dom's free ways too harshly.

The newcomer bowed to Lighe, who rose from his seat and returned the courtesy.

"This is the Aetheling, Caspar. Abate your protestations of surprise until our guests have eaten. Monseigneur, this is Caspar d'Arminac, my oldest and dearest friend."

He turned from Lighe and remarked, quickly, "Caspar, if Pierre is still nearby, ask him to bring food and drink for Dom and his friend, if you please. They have both been fasting these many days. Meat, bread and cheese, and ale, and quickly, before our Dom falls in a swoon as he did in Britonia, if you recall. "

Jean grinned at Dom as Caspar rushed to fetch food and drink.

"You traitor!" Dom said, happily, but not totally without heat. "You are giving Lighe a false image of me. Do you tell him, also, I was near death from a fevered wound and had walked for miles that day, in scorching heat. For shame that you should traduce me so!"

Then food came, and both men ate, but sparingly, both having seen starved men die of a surfeit of food after fasting.

After they had eaten, Jean - and Caspar, who had dressed - rejoined them, and asked to hear their story.

Dom saw Lighe trying to gather courage to relate what had happened to them, and broke in to tell the tale, leaving out such pieces of the story that he thought might embarrass the Aetheling, but including everything else.

Lighe was glad that Dom had left out the nakedness, and the bruises he had suffered to certain areas of his body by a frustrated Leofric. Not to mention the message Leofric had written on his belly in Lando's blood, which information Dan had whispered to him when they were alone. He wished to come out of this tangle with his dignity intact, if that were possible.

He breathed out and put his hand briefly on Dom's, resting, as it was, on the arm of his chair.

Jean pursed his lips, and glanced at Caspar. "I...we... have heard tales from the people concerning this Leofric, and I was minded to discount half of them, thinking them the angry mutterings of the poor and dispossessed. Now I think we were mistaken. He sounds an evil man who must be stopped."

Lighe closed his eyes, and wearily ran his hand over his face. "Yes, he must be stopped."

Dom saw the movement, and raised his eyebrow quickly at Caspar. He knew that Lighe must be exhausted, for it was not that many days since Leofric's attack upon him. Also, he could not help but be troubled by this talk of the man who had treated him so cruelly.

Caspar shifted in his chair. "No more questions tonight. We will tell our story on the morrow, for I see Dom is most anxious to discover why we are here. I think it is time for them to sleep now, Jean. These men need their rest."

"You are right, as always, my dear love," Jean replied, stunning Lighe to silence with his words. "Have you seen to..."

"A room is ready for them." Caspar rose from his chair and prepared to show the two tired men to their quarters.

"I trust you do not mind sharing a bed? We are very short of space, here," he said, hiding a grin as he led them down a short corridor, the candle he held flickering slightly.

He pushed open a door and the two men saw a comfortable looking palliasse on the floor, covered with clean blankets. The room contained two stools and a table, and there was a pot in the corner, but nothing else.

"The two brothers whose room this is are glad, they said, to sleep in what we loosely term the infirmary, with Lando. It certainly is warmer there. Yes, before you ask, I have seen him, and yes, he is comfortable, and rests, and his wife sleeps at his side. I must ask about her on the morrow" he said, grinning widely at them. "You may see him in the morning.”

The man smiled at the two weary travellers. "I will bring you some wine. A last cup before you rest will not harm you, even if it leaves Jean short of a bottle. He will not mind if it is for you, and we can fetch more very soon."

As soon as he left them, Dom and Lighe looked at the bed, then at each other. "Is this acceptable? For if it is not, I can always sleep elsewhere..." Dom began, blushing to the tips of his very red ears, but Lighe shook his head. "I am so weary, my friend, I would be glad to share a bed with a demon this night, an he left me to sleep."

They were undressing when Caspar returned with wine and two cups. They sat and drank a cup, then, tired beyond measure, Lighe stripped and disappeared beneath the blankets.

Dom followed suit, and, if their bodies did not touch before they slept, when Jean put his head through the doorway a while later to see if they had settled, he saw that they lay comfortably, side by side, Lighe on his back, and Dom's head resting on his shoulder, as if it were his accustomed place.

Caspar chuckled behind him. "Did you see the way Dom's eyes lit on him when he spoke?" he asked, as they walked to their own room, next door.

"I did. I also saw the look on the Aetheling's face, my inquisitive man. Very interesting," Jean remarked, as he closed the door behind him.

"But," he continued, waving an admonitory finger at his life's love, "I am not sure it was wise to lie to them concerning the lack of space. There was no need, either, for you to oust those two poor brethren out of their bed to find another room at this hour. Dom and Lighe will wonder at it when they see for themselves, in the morning, that we could comfortably house an army here, my lad."

Caspar laughed, and held his arms out to Jean, who went to him, gladly.

"Is that not what we have here, Jean? An army?"

Jean kissed Caspar tenderly on the lips, in reply.

"Tomorrow is time enough for talk of armies. I want you, now - I am hard for you; come to me."

And, if Dom and Lighe had been awake in the next room, they would have heard the sound of tender love-making echoing through the wall.

But they heard nothing. Sleep had claimed them, and nothing would happen that night to disturb their longed-for peace


Jean de Mornay - John Barrowman
Caspar d'Arminac - Scott Gill (John's real-life spouse).