‘The rider said the ground between here and Sherborne is hard and firm, Highness, and he reported that no bridges had been washed away. He made good time on his horse, but a wagon carrying the body of a King, it might take three or four days, providing the weather stays fine. January can be an unpredictable month sometimes.’
Judith nodded at his words. She would need to go and see Ӕthelberht, ask him about the funeral and the interment. Missives would need to be sent out to the nobles, informing them of Ӕthelbald’s demise, Ӕthelberht’s inheritance and the details of the succession. Judith would offer to help in any way the new King wished, even if it was only to provide food and accommodation for the visiting nobility. They would have only just arrived back at their estates after the Witan, she mused, and now they would return.
‘Ralf, give me an hour to get dressed, and then have Adal attend me in the solar, if you please. We are going to be inundated with the Ealdormen and Shire Reeves again, and we might have but four days to make the arrangements.’
‘Highness,’ bowed Ralf, hurrying to the door as Elin brought Judith her dark blue gown and grey kirtle. Judith blinked a little; this was the gown she had worn for Ӕthelwulf’s funeral, when Ӕthelbald had insisted on marrying her over his father’s corpse. She hadn’t seen it since that day, and had hoped never to see it again. Now she must don it and affect a grief she did not feel.
No matter. She was still a Princess of Frankia, even if she was no longer Queen of Wessex. And she would always be a swan.
***
Chapter 83
Judith sat in her solar, gazing without enthusiasm at the huge piece of linen spread before her. She had decided that they would make a wall hanging for the great hall, a depiction of a hunting scene, complete with stags, dogs and horses. Those of her ladies who felt they could draw had worked on the linen, sketching outlines of the animals in charcoal filched from the fire. Those whose artistic skills were without a great deal of merit had approximated trees and birds and clouds. Now all that remained was to begin stitching, but Judith’s mind was clouded with the events of the previous week.
Ealstan had been true to his word, and had brought her husband’s corpse, resting on a fur bier and clad in his leather and steel armour, to Winchester for burial. The Ealdormen and Reeves had returned quickly to witness the interment and to proclaim their loyalty for Ӕthelberht as King.
The events all seemed rather surreal to Judith, a repetition of her life two years previously, except with different oaths of allegiance. She served the same meals, wore the same gowns, uttered the same meaningless pleasantries to those offering condolences, all the while trying not to shriek Baldwin’s name, make him hurry, effect her rescue.
She regretted that Ӕlswith was unwell in her latest pregnancy and unable to keep her company, distract her with her humour and allow her to play with her children. Judith didn’t dare think beyond the next day, the next hour, her ears straining for the sound of Baldwin’s footsteps on the gallery outside her rooms.
Surely, when he received the tidings, he would come.
Boots shuffling along the corridor outside her rooms made her glance expectantly towards the door, and it was thrust open by a guard as Ӕthelberht strode towards her, clutching a roll of parchment.
‘Lady, I have news.’ He bowed respectfully and Judith got to her feet and sank in a curtsey; he was now the King, after all. Then she resumed her seat and regarded him calmly, although she could hardly get her words out for the lump of trepidation in her chest.
‘News that you now want to make me your wife, Lord?’ Her mouth twisted ruefully as she awaited his response. To her surprise, Ӕthelberht flushed red and levelled her a direct look.
‘Lady, I am not my brother, driven by envy and spite. I have no wish to marry you. There is someone….’ He stopped abruptly and briefly closed his eyes before he took the seat opposite, hastily vacated by Alys. ‘No, Lady. Your father is sending an escort to take you back to Frankia.’ He brandished the scroll, and Judith had to fight the urge to snatch it from his grasp and read her father’s words. She tried to concentrate on what Ӕthelberht was saying.
‘And I am prepared to buy your holdings and estates in Wessex. Those my father gave you, so they not only return to the crown, but so you will have some financial independence at your father’s court.’ He snorted a chuckle and raised an eyebrow. ‘It might enable you to choose your next husband for yourself, Lady.’
Ӕthelberht got to his feet, and Judith dipped him another curtsey, when to her surprise, he held out the parchment with a slight smile.
‘You might want to begin packing your chests, Lady. I will have the Reeves report back to me on the value of your land, and arrange funds before you depart.’
Judith beamed back at him, tightly clutching the scroll to her bosom, ‘Thank you, L… Majesty.’ He nodded and then gave her a sudden surprised grin, as if her use of the honorific had made his elevation to Kingship more real, somehow. With a shrug and a low chuckle, he left the room, and Judith scanned the Latin script quickly. That it was written by a scribe made it no less her father’s words, and the more she read, the further her heart sank.
Daughter
It is with great sadness that we hear news of the death of your husband. That he was a young man, in the early years of his reign, makes his demise doubly sad. However, so the scandal of your last marriage does not repeat itself, I am sending an escort forthwith to bring you back to Frankia. I feel you would benefit from a period of seclusion at Senlis, to pray for the guidance of God with regard to the rest of your life. In so doing, you might find that a life of tranquillity and prayer is what God has planned for you.
I offer a father’s blessing to comfort you in your sorrow, daughter, and thank God daily that you are being returned to us.
Charles, King of the Franks
Her father wasn’t welcoming her home. He was banishing her to Senlis!
***
Chapter 84
Chère Baldwin, mon amour. Libère-moi, je t’en supplie!
Dearest Baldwin. My love, liberate me, I beg you. My father is having me taken to Senlis, but I know nothing other than that. King Ӕthelberht is buying my estates from me, so I will not be without coin, but I entreat you, Baldwin, seek me at Senlis. I am making plans of my own but should I have already left before you receive this and are able to come to me, my love, I will have Adal leave word where we might be found.
Know I love you beyond all things, and that I am, completely, your Judith.
***
Dearest Ӕlswith, my friend and confidante
Doubtless you know that my father has summoned me home. Or rather, he has summoned me to return to Frankia, to the convent of Senlis. He instructs me to consider the rest of my life.
Dearest sister of my heart, you know with whom I want to spend my days. I have written to Baldwin and asked him to liberate me. I pray that he receives my message.
It saddens me that I will not be able to bid you farewell in person, my dear, and embrace your children once more. I wish you well in your confinement, and if I may, I will write to you and tell you how I fare. Please write back and give me news of your child.
I send warm thoughts to you, and ask you to remind Frytha that her Aunt Joodith will keep her in her heart and her prayers.
Affectionately, your friend Judith, once more simply Princess of Frankia
***
While Elin, Alys, Ghislaine and the rest of her ladies began the preparations for her departure, both Ralf and Adal asked for a private meeting, yet came to see her together. Judith met them in her bedchamber, leaving the door ajar into her dressing room from where the thuds and squeals of packing emanated.
; ‘Please sit, the pair of you. I cannot look upwards to speak to you, Lords.’ Judith smiled, seeing that both men were visibly quite nervous, despite the length of their previous service.
They each took a stool, Ralf moving his sword to the side so it ran parallel to the floor. Awkwardly they gazed at her, neither wishing to be the first to speak.
‘How many more chests do we have, Adal?’ Judith was determined that if neither of them would start the conversation, she would ask questions to which she wanted answers; there was much to do and many arrangements to make before she could depart.
‘As many as you need, Highness. If Lady Elin wants to come and find me when the ones you have are filled, I will have more brought.’ Adal nodded to confirm his words, then fell silent. In the room beyond, the hive of activity generated by packing Judith’s life into chests continued, and Ghislaine’s stridently bossy tones could be heard ordering the servants to take care with their task.
Judith suppressed a sigh of frustration. ‘Lords, you wanted to speak to me. I assume it was to wish me God speed in private, perhaps so that I could settle your tithe with you before I depart and you both go on to other employment?’ She spread her hands, fingers wide, ‘Except King Ӕthelberht hasn’t yet given me my dower, so I am afraid I have no coin or silver with which to pay you quite yet.’
She glanced quickly at Ralf, who had sucked a swift breath through his teeth and was now vehemently shaking his head.
‘Highness, is that what you thought? That we had come to collect our fees before we leave you? No, Highness! That is not why we want to see you. We want your permission to accompany you.’
Judith stared at him in astonishment and then turned her regard to Adal, nodding vigorously.
‘Highness, what awaits us here, without you?’ He lifted his foreshortened arm. ‘I don’t wish to go back to the brewery, Highness, and I certainly don’t wish to return to the monastery.’ Adal chuckled, ‘Not that they’d have me, truth be told.’
‘And I am your oath-man, Highness. Sworn to your service for the whole of my life. If you depart for Frankia, then I accompany you.’ Ralf’s hand unconsciously went to the hilt of his sword as he spoke, and Judith beamed her pleasure.
‘I thank both of you. Departing for Frankia will not be so difficult if I know I am taking friends with me.’ She turned her gaze on Ralf, ‘And you will allow Ghislaine to remain with us, won’t you, Ralf. We would be quite dull without her.’
Ralf twisted his mouth ruefully. ‘It is because of Ghislaine we have come, Highness. She has told me that you thought you were being banished with only Elin and Alys for company, and I wanted you to know that is not the case.’
Judith nodded, feeling her spirits lift and her mind become calmer now she knew she had someone to rely upon before Baldwin came to her side.
‘I am grateful for it.’
***
Chapter 85
Ӕthelberht summoned Emer into his presence chamber and regarded her levelly. He watched as she briefly dipped her knee and then gazed at him, waiting for him to speak.
‘Lady Emer.’
‘Majesty.’
He pushed down the trepidation that addressing this woman was causing in his stomach. If he struggled to speak to a woman he had known all his life, and whom he disliked intensely, how would he deal with the Earldormen and Reeves throughout his kingdom? He cleared his throat and hardened his eyes.
‘Now my brother has been buried, Lady, and the mourning period is over, I would strongly suggest you return to your husband’s estate.’
‘Away from court, Majesty? Why, I couldn’t possibly….’ He observed as she summoned a condescending smile and tilted her head.
‘You will have to, Lady. It is more than a suggestion. It is an instruction.’
‘You are banishing me, Majesty? Me?’ Ӕthelbald clenched his jaw as Emer’s voice rose. ‘When I have done none other than serve your family ever since I arrived at Court; your father, your brother. Your sainted mother was my best friend, Lord!’ Emer’s voice was strident as she voiced her protest.
‘And you betrayed her friendship, first with my father, and then with my brother. I will not have my father’s harlot at court any longer.’ Ӕthelberht strode the room, his rolling stomach calming as he spoke his thoughts aloud. He was the King, and he could make any decision he chose.
‘Who will organise the court for you then, Majesty? The dowager Queen will be returning to Frankia. Unless, of course you and she….’
Ӕthelberht heard a note of derision enter Emer’s voice at what she didn’t quite have the nerve to suggest, and he watched her mouth twitch as she subdued a sneer. His voice hardened.
‘Queen Judith will return to her father with all the ceremony due to her rank and position. You, Lady, will return to your husband as soon as you can pack your chests.’
‘But the court, Majesty. The servants. Who will….?’ The King watched dispassionately as Emer visibly trembled with indignation at the thought of her banishment. He sipped his wine, but pointedly didn’t offer her either a drink or a seat; he wanted her gone.
‘My wife, Lady. I shall marry and my wife will order the court, as the King’s wife should.’
‘Marry? But whom shall you marry, Majesty? There have been no negotiations for a marriage, as far as I am aware.’
Ӕthelberht lost patience with Emer’s persistent questioning of his authority, and he uncharacteristically slammed his goblet on the table and jumped to his feet.
‘Madam, I am the King, no longer the youth you knew, and I can conduct my own negotiations for marriage, although in this case that has not been necessary.’ He began to pace, turning his back so he didn’t have to look at the face of this woman who irritated him beyond belief. ‘I have found someone who is chaste, who will make a perfect wife for a King, who is familiar with the court and how things are run. And I will make her my wife without you here to undermine her with your spite and your schemes.’ He whirled round suddenly and levelled his finger at Emer. ‘I won’t have you make her as miserable as you tried to make Queen Judith.’
Emer gave a snort, twisting her mouth in disapproval. ‘Queen Judith was a child. Someone had to take charge, and that someone happened to be me. Your father……’
‘My father is no longer King, so the court no longer needs your services,’ he shot her a disparaging look, ‘in any capacity. You will be gone.’
He watched Emer’s face suffuse with angry colour beneath her wimple, and saw her clench her fists against the wool of her gown.
In a scornful tone she voiced a question. ‘And who, might I ask, is this paragon you have found for your wife?’
Ӕthelberht smiled for the first time as he thought of his beloved.
‘Sibyl.’
Aghast, Emer’s jaw dropped. ‘Sibyl?’ Her voice rose again, and Ӕthelberht clenched his teeth. ‘Sibyl?’ Emer scoffed, ‘She wants to enter a convent.’
Ӕthelberht released his breath in a sigh, wondering why he was bothering to argue with this woman. That he was banishing her should have been enough, yet still he felt an obligation to the memory of his mother and her friendship with Emer to try and explain. Not that he cared whether she understood, or approved, and yet….
‘She has agreed to become my wife. She is kind and modest and we like each other very much. I have no wish to enter into wedlock with a foreign princess.’ He shrugged and spread his fingers, ‘I have written to your husband to confirm my decision, and he has agreed to allow you to reside at his country estate. He is prepared to overlook your moral turpitude and accept your return as his wife.’
Ӕthelberht watched as Emer’s face became even more flushed, and he w
ondered abstractly if ever anyone had died from a surfeit of anger. If not, Emer Cuikishe might be the first. Eventually, she found the voice to speak, spittle flying from her lips as she struggled to form the words.
‘My moral turpitude? When all I have ever done is serve his…..’
Ӕthelberht had heard enough. He was King, and he could banish as he chose. He needed to neither apologise nor explain. He levelled a steely look at Emer, and lowered his voice.
‘Lady, be grateful he isn’t having you punished for adultery. He would be within his rights to have your nose slit, or even put you to the flame. That he is willing to accept you, and provide you with a home, you should be on your knees in gratitude.’ He swallowed the last of his wine and then flicked his head towards the door. ‘Now go and pack your things. I will have a cart supplied for your transportation.’
Ӕthelberht dropped into his seat and picked up a scroll of parchment, scrutinising it carefully and studiously ignoring Emer. After a moment more, wherein she stood quivering with indignation, she abruptly turned on her heel and wordlessly snatched open the door.
The guard closed it quietly behind her, and Ӕthelberht dropped the scroll to the desk with a relieved sigh.
***
Chapter 86
Baldwin raced up the tower stair, parchment clutched in his fist tight enough to have cramped his fingers. His mouth was dry and his stomach roiled. He had left Gozfrid passing the messenger a coin for his trouble, and a tankard of ale to slake the dust from his throat. The lad had been exhausted and covered with mud from his frantic journey from Wessex. Now Baldwin took the steep stairs two at a time in his haste.
He didn’t bother to knock on his father’s door, simply slammed it open, the door bouncing on leather hinges. He would be heard, regardless of who was in attendance.
‘Did you know?’ Baldwin lifted the hand grasping the letter as he strode towards Count Audacer, seated at his desk and gazing with surprise at the interruption to his day. Baldwin scoffed, ‘What am I saying, of course you damned well knew. How could you not know? You probably wrote the accursed letter yourself.’
Judith, Twice Queen of Wessex Page 27
