personally been making enquiries to find a healer in time for the birth.
“What then, father?”
“I have had a letter,” Ælfgard said quickly and excitedly. “It bore the royal seal, and so of course I opened it immediately. It is a royal summons to the court… I think we have finally gathered enough favour!”
Catheryn looked into her father’s eyes, and saw the excitement almost burst forth from him. His face was lit up with the joy that almost a lifetime’s worth of work – her lifetime – was about to pay off, finally. After almost two decades of Ælfgard ignoring his family to serve the king, it seemed the king was finally ready to offer a service to Ælfgard.
Hilda came running towards them from the house, skirts flying in her haste.
“Is Catheryn sick?” She cried. “I was told to come straight here and I don’t know if – Selwyn, is Catheryn hurt?”
“No, my lady,” Selwyn said calmingly, “no one has taken to illness. My lord has received a letter from the king.”
“The king?”
She turned to her husband, and a smile slowly drew itself across her face.
“The king!”
Ælfgard embraced his wife, steward and daughter forgotten. Catheryn smiled at them, but Selwyn noticed it was a weary smile. It was the smile that was typically seen on a parent that allowed a favourite child to indulge in unbecoming behaviour.
After a few minutes watching their excited conversation, Catheryn left her parents and walked back towards the house, unnoticed by the chatterers. Selwyn looked at his lord, saw that he would no longer be required, and went after her.
“Are you not excited?” Selwyn said, rather nervously. “I had expected you to be just as triumphant as your parents. A royal summons…it is a great honour.”
“The honour is not mine,” Catheryn said dully. “The honour is that of my parents. For me it is nothing but a long journey to meet people I do not know, and be paraded as their heir.”
Understanding dawned on Selwyn, and the hesitant smile on his face vanished. “You are to go with them?”
“I can hardly remain here,” she said with a sigh. “I am their daughter; where they go, I go. Who they fawn over, I fawn over.”
The bitterness in her voice could not be mistaken, even by someone as convinced as Selwyn that she enjoyed the attentions of others.
“You speak of it like a prison sentence,” he joked, and by instinct rather than design, reached for her hand. Anything to be close to her.
Catheryn stopped in her tracks and looked angrily at Selwyn, snatching her arm out of reach. “You may think you know me,” she said quietly. “But you don’t. Have you not noticed that I find no joy in auctioning myself out to whoever happens to be king at the moment? It is not my greatest desire to be part of the royal court and all of the intrigue and fear that dwells there.” Catheryn stopped, and tried to calm herself. “But I am my parent’s daughter, and so I go.”
And go she did.
Chapter Eight
The day that Ælfgard, Hilda, Catheryn, and their retinue left for the royal court was one in which the first heavy rain that summer decided to fall. Selwyn had watched them leave, and although he had wanted to say a personal goodbye to Catheryn, he was aware that their growing intimacy had started to be noticed by the rest of the household. His workload was increasing every day that harvest came nearer, and yet he had put more and more aside in order to spend more time with her.
The temptation to ask his lord Ælfgard if he could accompany him and his family to the royal court was very strong, but Selwyn knew that he would never be allowed. Only two of the thanes were going, and a mere steward would not have the required prestige to impress the king.
That very evening, without the gaze of Ælfgard to keep them in order, the three thanes that Ælfgard had left behind grew progressively more and more in their cups, until Deorwine stumbled across the room and pushed
“What then, father?”
“I have had a letter,” Ælfgard said quickly and excitedly. “It bore the royal seal, and so of course I opened it immediately. It is a royal summons to the court… I think we have finally gathered enough favour!”
Catheryn looked into her father’s eyes, and saw the excitement almost burst forth from him. His face was lit up with the joy that almost a lifetime’s worth of work – her lifetime – was about to pay off, finally. After almost two decades of Ælfgard ignoring his family to serve the king, it seemed the king was finally ready to offer a service to Ælfgard.
Hilda came running towards them from the house, skirts flying in her haste.
“Is Catheryn sick?” She cried. “I was told to come straight here and I don’t know if – Selwyn, is Catheryn hurt?”
“No, my lady,” Selwyn said calmingly, “no one has taken to illness. My lord has received a letter from the king.”
“The king?”
She turned to her husband, and a smile slowly drew itself across her face.
“The king!”
Ælfgard embraced his wife, steward and daughter forgotten. Catheryn smiled at them, but Selwyn noticed it was a weary smile. It was the smile that was typically seen on a parent that allowed a favourite child to indulge in unbecoming behaviour.
After a few minutes watching their excited conversation, Catheryn left her parents and walked back towards the house, unnoticed by the chatterers. Selwyn looked at his lord, saw that he would no longer be required, and went after her.
“Are you not excited?” Selwyn said, rather nervously. “I had expected you to be just as triumphant as your parents. A royal summons…it is a great honour.”
“The honour is not mine,” Catheryn said dully. “The honour is that of my parents. For me it is nothing but a long journey to meet people I do not know, and be paraded as their heir.”
Understanding dawned on Selwyn, and the hesitant smile on his face vanished. “You are to go with them?”
“I can hardly remain here,” she said with a sigh. “I am their daughter; where they go, I go. Who they fawn over, I fawn over.”
The bitterness in her voice could not be mistaken, even by someone as convinced as Selwyn that she enjoyed the attentions of others.
“You speak of it like a prison sentence,” he joked, and by instinct rather than design, reached for her hand. Anything to be close to her.
Catheryn stopped in her tracks and looked angrily at Selwyn, snatching her arm out of reach. “You may think you know me,” she said quietly. “But you don’t. Have you not noticed that I find no joy in auctioning myself out to whoever happens to be king at the moment? It is not my greatest desire to be part of the royal court and all of the intrigue and fear that dwells there.” Catheryn stopped, and tried to calm herself. “But I am my parent’s daughter, and so I go.”
And go she did.
Chapter Eight
The day that Ælfgard, Hilda, Catheryn, and their retinue left for the royal court was one in which the first heavy rain that summer decided to fall. Selwyn had watched them leave, and although he had wanted to say a personal goodbye to Catheryn, he was aware that their growing intimacy had started to be noticed by the rest of the household. His workload was increasing every day that harvest came nearer, and yet he had put more and more aside in order to spend more time with her.
The temptation to ask his lord Ælfgard if he could accompany him and his family to the royal court was very strong, but Selwyn knew that he would never be allowed. Only two of the thanes were going, and a mere steward would not have the required prestige to impress the king.
That very evening, without the gaze of Ælfgard to keep them in order, the three thanes that Ælfgard had left behind grew progressively more and more in their cups, until Deorwine stumbled across the room and pushed
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