The Betrothed Sister

by Carol McGrath

  ‘One day, my father will make me Prince of Pereiaslavl, his fortress city to the south,’ he whispered into her ear as they lay entwined in each other’s arms. ‘It guards the Steppe lands at the southern edge of our territory. In summer we can spend months in the country where poppies wave amongst tall green grasses, wheat grows in the dark rich soil, where woodland lends shade from the hot summer sun and where a river that runs through the estate has water so pure it looks like crystal. Your ladies will want to picnic by its banks and bathe in its waters.’

  ‘Can we go there soon?’ She longed for the country away from the court already.

  ‘Yes, in a few months, I think.’

  ‘No Lady Olga.’

  ‘Absolutely no Olga.’ He stroked her hair, drew her closer and kissed the top of her head. He said thoughtfully, ‘I shall speak with my father. What she did was unacceptable. She must be punished.’

  ‘At least she must be confronted,’ Thea said. ‘But Steward Michael is important at court. How can she be punished?’

  ‘She is part of Anya’s terem. It will be for my father to banish her.’

  ‘What if Anya does not want her to go?’

  ‘Nonetheless, Lady Olga has insulted my wife.’

  ‘Will they believe me?’

  ‘Perhaps not, but I saw her evil with my own eyes and in God’s house too. She must go.’

  ‘Yes,’ Thea said. Even if Olga remained in Anya’s terem, she would never be welcome in Thea’s palace again.

  Thea had made the right decision. Anya was furious when she discovered the evil Olga had done. She had no great love for Olga but Olga organised everything and Anya had never expected her to stoop to such depths of cunning. Arrangements would be made to send her back to Germany for a time. She had lands there. Any return to the Russian court would be dependent on her future humility and her sincere apologies. According to Vladimir, Michael was furious with his wife, and while Princess Anya was disillusioned he was broken-hearted, disappointed and sad.

  Several days after Olga was dismissed, the steward came to Thea and begged for an audience with her. Thea granted it.

  ‘I beg your pardon, Princess,’ he said, falling to his knees on her tiled floor. ‘I beg you to allow my wife to return. She is deeply sorry. Lady Olga says she had no idea how the needle got there but she takes responsibility for not removing it. My wife begs your forgiveness. Princess Anya says she will take her back but only if you grant her mercy.’

  ‘Get up off your knees, Steward Michael. Let us be clear, my quarrel is not with you but with Lady Olga who ill-wished my wedding by neglect.’

  The steward scrambled to his feet. She said, ‘Your wife must beg my forgiveness before Prince Vsevolod, Princess Anya and my husband and all of my ladies.’

  ‘Yes, Princess, she must.’

  ‘And you must be henceforth responsible for her.’

  ‘Yes, Princess, you are bountiful.’

  ‘No, I am not. I cannot forget how she treated my maid, Gudrun. I hope that she sees the error of her ways. What I shall never understand is why she behaves as she does.’ Thea waved her hand. ‘Go, now. I have my own household to see to. My cook awaits my instructions. Go. After she apologises I do not want your wife near my palace.’

  Steward Michael backed off bowing. Thea shuddered as he exited. It had not been a pleasant interview.

  The apology was arranged for a week later. Vladimir was pleased that Thea could find it in her heart to show mercy to a lady of the court who had wronged her so cruelly. Olga would indeed make a journey to her German estates but in a year she would return to Anya’s terem.

  Vladimir sat up in bed that evening and looked at his wife with puzzlement. ‘What was the answer to the riddle you told me last year in the Church of St Nicholias?’

  ‘Well, after the grief that day caused me, I think you must work the answer out for yourself,’ she said pulling him back into the bedcovers. ‘A bird with a sleek coat and a strong song. There is a clue.’

  ‘Nightingale?’

  ‘No’

  ‘Kingfisher?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Raven, I think he is the raven.’

  She kissed his mouth. ‘Yes, it is. His coat as dark and sleek as your hair and his eyes shine like your own.’

  ‘But I cannot sing.’

  ‘No, matter, you are the jay.’

  As she drifted into sleep, Thea thought, this is the miracle that God has intended for me, that I should love my husband; that he should love me too. Thank you, St Theodosia. Of a sudden, she sat up in bed as if she was pinched by a cross elf, But I want more than children from this marriage. I want to rule our estates and cities alongside Vladimir, as his equal. I am beginning to accept what I shall not accept. I shall not lose myself in this court’s spells with its terems and its traps and its nonsense about how its noblewomen must so constantly be protected that they cannot ride out into the orchards and fields without an army of men. My mother would never have endured it, nor my grandmother, nor shall I. Gudrun and Padar, please return to me soon.

  She looked down on his sleeping face and traced the line of his noble nose. ‘And I shall,’ she whispered. ‘One day, I shall prove my worth to you, my lord, as my father’s daughter and as a great princess,’ she whispered.

  27

  When Olga entered Thea’s great hall, her head was bowed and she was dressed in black from head to toe. She looked thinner and stooped. She had clearly suffered. Prince Vsevolod and Princess Anya sat on throne-like chairs. Thea and Prince Vladimir were seated on chairs with lower backs and carvings not quite so elaborate. Thea felt relieved because she knew that she had been believed.

  Anya and Vsevolod remained stony faced as Olga fell on her knees. Vsevolod raised his hand in an impatient gesture and said, ‘Lady Olga, you are fortunate that Princess Gita has a forgiving nature. You will direct your apology to her. You are fortunate too that my wife will take you back into her household as mistress of her bath-house after your visit to your estates. You will beg forgiveness for your betrayal of her trust.’

  Olga turned to Thea and prostrated herself. Rising to her knees, she made her apology. She said that she simply could not understand what had possessed her to allow a needle to protrude from the rushnyk. Thea replied that she would forgive the crime but added, ‘It is fortunate for you that Princess Anya is willing to have you return to her household, even as mistress of her bath-house rather than mistress of the terem.’

  Anya stood, her face immobile. ‘You, Lady Olga, will be accepted back for your family’s sake. You will only return to me after you have been cleansed of your sin. To that end, before you set out for your estates, you will spend a month in prayer at the Monastery of the Caves where you will make whatever penance the monks prescribe for you.’

  Later, Thea said to Vladimir, ‘She begged our forgiveness with tears. But, I wonder why she is so bitter. Such bitterness must be a hard burden to bear.’

  Vladimir buried his head in Thea’s loosened hair, inhaling her scent. Exhaling, he said, ‘Lady Olga’s elder daughters are dwelling in my uncle’s wife’s terem in Chernigov. Perhaps on her return to us, Olga might be happier there.’

  Thea twisted round to look into the dark eyes she loved so passionately and saw his wisdom shining out of them. ‘I care not where that woman goes as long as I have no further dealings with her.’

  ‘Since my uncle will be the next Grand Prince, it would please Olga to be part of his wife’s household.’

  ‘Sounds like a reward, not a punishment,’ Thea said with petulance in her tone. ‘I hope that she will not try to scheme again.’

  ‘If she does it will not be a comfortable visit to Germany for her next time. She will forfeit her life,’ Vladimir said firmly, his arms folded behind his head.

  Thea whispered into Vladimir’s ear, ‘I can think of better things for us to do than worry about Lady Olga’s future.’

  ‘You are bold, my beautiful wife, and I like it. Come clos
er.’

  Some days later Edmund came to Thea’s receiving chamber. He was living in a grand house with a tiled roof close to her palace and announced that it was so comfortable a living after years of exile, that he planned to remain in Kiev for the winter season if not for ever. He would travel south to Constantinople to trade for oil and spice.

  ‘And,’ he announced after Thea called for wine and pastries to be served. ‘I have a surprise for you.’

  ‘Oh.’ Thea raised her eyebrows. ‘I hope it is a good surprise.’

  ‘The best of surprises, Sister. Padar and Gudrun have returned.’

  She could not believe it. They had not returned in time for her wedding and she had missed them, but they were here now, several weeks too late. ‘When will Padar and Gudrun come to me?’ Thea asked, hardly able to contain her excitement.

  ‘They are exhausted and are resting. Connor, as you know, owns my dwelling and so they came to it. They have a child, a little girl they call Edith for our mother. They will call on you on the morrow after Terce.’

  ‘I hope they bring little Edith.’

  ‘They will.’

  ‘Edmund,’ Thea said in a thoughtful way as she handed him a cup of sweet honey wine and offered him a pastry. ‘What did you want to ask me, you remember in the letter that Katya’s father brought me, you said that I could lend you help in an enterprise?’ Thea bit into her pastry and, setting it back half-eaten on the silver platter, folded her hands in her lap and waited for Edmund to speak.

  ‘Yes, I have been waiting for the opportunity.’ He took a breath and plunged in. ‘You are a great princess and Kiev is one of the richest cities in Europe. There is no doubt that Prince Vsevolod wants to make trading easy for us. He will grant us privileges. This request actually comes from Godwin.’

  ‘Oh?’ She was beginning to wish she had not asked. Godwin was intent on recovering England. She was not sure it could be possible without Sweyn’s whole-hearted support. England was not united. William was building castles in every county and setting armies to guard them.

  ‘Yes, our brother is in fine health in body, but broken in spirit. The north of England is suffering great hardship because Cousin Sweyn has made peace with the English bastard king. He levied a Dane gild on William the Bastard and in return for it our cousin of Denmark will stay away from England’s shores.’

  ‘But what has Duke William done in the north?’

  ‘He has burned villages and fields, destroyed crops, killed the menfolk and left women and children to starve. The north is barren now. There will be no harvest. Those remaining will starve.’

  Thea’s stomach churned as she remembered how she had once sworn revenge on William of Normandy and how the wise woman had promised her that he would suffer in God’s chosen time. All very well, but now the English people were suffering. Her desire for revenge was rekindled. ‘What can I do?’ she found herself saying, leaning closer to Edmund so no one else could hear.

  ‘Ask your prince to send soldiers and ships to England, to the north.’ She heard the pleading in his voice and her heart softened.

  ‘I can ask but I cannot promise that they will listen. They are fighting many battles of their own to keep enemies out of Russian lands. I think they could soon be fighting amongst themselves.’ She lowered her voice further. ‘The noblemen and the council that they call the Veche do not like Prince Iziaslav. They want a strong ruler who can keep the Steppe tribes out of Russia.’

  ‘Who would that be, sister?’ Edmund sounded extremely interested in the internal conflicts of the Russian court.

  She stood and poured two cups of kvass and handed one to Edmund. She sipped her own and after she had placed the gold drinking cup on her side bench she said, ‘They want Prince Sviatoslav and Prince Vsevolod to rule together. Vladimir tells me that we are moving to an estate south of Kiev. He does not want me to remain in Kiev if there is to be a civil war.’

  ‘Nice cup, gold, wealth, riches,’ Edmund remarked as he turned his cup in his hand and for a moment studied the patterns of vines engraved on it. ‘Stinking rich as once England was too, a country of beautiful things and now one of lost hopes. Ask him for help, Thea, for Godwin’s sake. I promised him.’

  ‘You have no right to promise Godwin my husband’s help. Where is Godwin now?’ Thea said sharply.

  ‘He lives in the house our mother was granted in Dublinia by King Dairmaid. He is finished with Cousin Sweyn.’

  ‘I see. I shall make your request on your behalf.’ Thea sank back into her cushions. ‘So Padar and Gudrun are well?’ she asked, turning the subject back to her friends.

  ‘They suffered an attack between Poland and your lands. Gudrun will tell you all about it. Padar has salt to trade, and alum which is used to dye cloth. He must get it sold. And more news, Earl Connor is setting up his own trading house here in Kiev. We are a triumvirate.’

  ‘You, Padar and the earl?’

  ‘I can think of none better. We are the Meath Trading Company, a first!’ He laughed. ‘Now I must get back. We shall speak further about Godwin.’

  After Edmund had gone, Thea frowned and bit her lip. It was unlikely that the Rus princes would want involvement in England’s woes but she must try.

  The next day Gudrun and Padar visited bearing gifts and profuse apologies for missing the wedding. She embraced Gudrun and made a fuss of tiny Edith.

  ‘You will soon have one of your own, my lady.’

  ‘Sit, both of you. Later you must seek out Katya. Padar, Edmund told me how you were attacked.’

  ‘We are safe now. It was dangerous and not an experience I ever wish to repeat,’ Gudrun said and shuddered.

  Padar sat close to Gudrun on a divan with the baby between them. They were clearly so in love. She could see Gudrun’s happiness on her countenance and was glad.

  Padar said, ‘My lady, I have brought you Flanders wool.’

  ‘No, no, you brought me a greater gift.’ Thea reached out to Gudrun and took her hand. They both wept tears of relief and joy. They chattered on about the ladies of St Omer, about the countess, about Thea’s time at Holy Trinity and about little Edith. Thea begged Gudrun to join her terem when Padar was away on his travels.

  ‘I shall. And baby Edith will come too.’ Gudrun frowned. ‘But will I be welcome?’

  ‘If you are thinking of Lady Olga, she is spending the autumn in Germany and then she will be moving into Prince Sviatoslav’s household in Chernigov.’

  ‘How have you managed that, my lady?’ Gudrun said.

  A silk curtain blew against the isinglass window as a door opened and Katya came in. She bowed to Thea but as soon as she saw Gudrun and Padar, she was all eyes for the baby who slept on the divan by their sides. She lifted Edith. ‘May I?’

  Gudrun nodded. For a moment Katya buried her face in little Edith’s shawls.

  ‘Katya will tell you all about Lady Olga,’ Thea said to Gudrun and turned to Katya. ‘Katya, show Gudrun and Edith the garden. I wish to talk with Padar for a moment. I need his advice concerning my brothers Godwin and Edmund.’

  After Gudrun and Katya hurried out into the garden, Padar listened intently to what Thea had to confide.

  ‘I knew it was so but I fear that it is too late. Rebellion in England will never be consolidated. There are Norman castles and stronger defences everywhere and there are parts of the land where people are adjusting to Norman rule. I think Edmund agrees, but Godwin is broken. He feels that he has betrayed his father if he does not recover his kingdom.’

  ‘And you feel it is an impossible venture.’

  ‘There is little desire for war. There has been so much suffering.’

  ‘But that is a defeatist attitude,’ she said fiercely.

  ‘It is a realistic one. The English thanes left to England must now work from within to improve the peoples’ lives.’

  ‘Oh, Padar. How sad all this is.’

  ‘My lady, it is change, some good and some bad. That is how one day the future will
judge it all. For now we must live as well as we can. Peace is precious.’

  Some days passed and Thea thought she would never find the best opportunity to discuss Edmund’s request with her husband. At last an opportunity did arrive. It was a fasting day, which meant eating lightly and not meat. They had shared a goblet of watered wine. He reclined against feathered cushions that had come from Denmark with Thea.

  ‘Play for me this afternoon, my sweet.’

  ‘With pleasure, my lord.’ Thea lifted her harp onto her knee. Plucking the strings she began to sing a song she had been taught by her Danish music master. Vladimir told her that her voice was as beautiful as that of the nightingale.

  ‘Thank you, my lord. One day I shall sing songs for our children.’

  ‘They will be enchanted children if you sing to them as you sing for me. They must learn to play instruments. You must teach them.’ His eyes were filled with genuine admiration.

  On an impulse she laid aside her harp and crossed the chamber to a great oak coffer. She lifted the lid, and dug deep below the tapestries she stored there. She withdrew her mother’s bone-plated casket. From the casket, she lifted out one of her most precious possessions and held aloft the Godwin christening garment, so fragile that sunlight shone right through it. ‘My grandmother asked if our first son could be called Harold for my father.’

  Vladimir watched the sunlight shine on the precious garment. ‘All this way, and all that time ago and it survives.’ He smiled at her adoringly. ‘Yes, we shall call him Harold amongst the family but I think his name for formal occasions must be Mstislav. This way we keep the boyars happy and my father content.’

  ‘If that is your wish. In the terem he will always be Harold.’

  ‘Of course, that is as will be.’ He kissed her on her lips and pulled her onto his lap. ‘One day we shall have many children.’

  ‘My mother had four, though one, our beautiful Magnus, is dead and another is a prisoner in Normandy. I wish you could help him. I wish you could spare an army to invade England and take my country back for my brothers.’ There it was said and she could not take back her words, though she knew they were futile.