The Gift -- The Last Kingdom

Chapter 7

Aethelred arrived at the estate on a damp, grey afternoon. Aethelflaed was ready, with food and drink laid out to welcome him. When he entered the hall, she greeted him with a smile.

"I had a premonition that you would visit soon, husband. Please, sit and eat. You must be hungry after your journey."

Aethelred cast a suspicious glance at the food and did not touch it. Instead, he circled the large table to where Aethelflaed sat. He leaned over her so she was forced to crane her neck to look up at him. It was a posture he assumed often when they were alone; he liked to intimidate her, remind her of his relative strength and power over her. But today she seemed unaffected.

"Is there something I can offer you, lord? To make you feel at home?"

Aethelflaed's steady tone infuriated him.

"Do you think me a fool, lady? Do you think I am so stupid as to sit and dine with my whore of a wife?"

Aethelflaed looked away then, casting a glance at her own servants scattered around the hall. Aethelred grabbed her by the chin, redirecting her gaze to him.

"Do not look away when I am speaking to you. I am here to ask what your business is with the traitor Uhtred Ragnarson and his band of heathens."

"They are my friends. They have served my father. They are men of Wessex."

"They are heathens and traitors, and you dishonour Mercia by allowing them to stay here." He was holding her chin too tightly now and she attempted to pull back. Halig, her guard, started forward, concerned over the small struggle. Aethelred reeled on him.

"Do not approach us. I am speaking to my wife. This matter does not concern you."

But Halig remained tense, his hand resting on his weapon, and for the first time Aethelred looked nervous. His own guard was outside, still watering their horses. He had entered alone, assuming he could subdue his wife directly as he had in the past.

He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her roughly to her feet. She steadied herself for a moment against the table, but soon he was dragging her across the room, headed towards the hallway that led to her chamber. He wished to get her alone.

But just as they reached the exit, someone stepped through it. Erik, wearing his thick leather vest and heavily armed. His long axe was resting across his shoulders and he assumed a posture that was both casual and menacing. He blocked the doorway, ensuring that Aethelred could not drag Aethelflaed from the room.

Aethelred turned away from the doorway, pulling Aethelflaed behind him, but Uhtred and his men were filing in and positioning themselves in front of the other exits. There was no clear way out of the hall.

"Leave us," Aethelflaed called to her own servants and guard, and they left the hall, slipping past Uhtred's men. Aethelred still held his wife in a firm grip, but they were stuck in the centre of the small hall, Erik, Uhtred, and the other men spread evenly around them.

"Welcome, cousin. It is nice of you to join us." Uhtred's tone was mocking and Aethelflaed felt the grip on her arm tighten as Aethelred tensed.

"You have no business being here, Uhtred," spat Aethelred.

"This estate belongs to Lady Aethelflaed and she has welcomed me as her guest."

"I am her husband. I have authority over what occurs in her estate."

Uhtred shrugged and smiled at the angry man.

"Uhtred is right, lord. I am mistress here. You will not dictate what occurs in my home." There was a slight waver in Aethelflaed's voice. She could not quell her fear of Aethelred, not even with all of these trusted warriors so near.

Aethelred tugged his wife to face him and glared down at her. "And what occurs here, Aethelflaed? What could you possibly be doing with all these men, hmm? Plotting against me? Scheming against Wessex? Or perhaps you are not so ambitious. I think you simply hump these vile, brutish Danes, welcoming all these heathens into your bed and between your legs."

"That is not true, my lord," she countered calmly, "Finan is not a heathen."

Finan let out a bark of laughter and she saw slight smiles on the faces of Sihtric and Uhtred. But the joke enraged Aethelred further and he reached out to slap her. She dodged his hand and dove forward, biting down on the arm that held her. Her teeth dug into his forearm and she tried not to gag at the feel of linen cloth on her tongue. Aethelred cried out in pain and released his grip on her arm. Finally free, she stumbled away from him and towards Erik, until she was safe beside the Northman. Aethelred began to follow her, but Erik stepped forward, placing his body between Aethelflaed and her angry husband. He gazed at Aethelred with his hands firmly gripping his axe. Aethelred staggered back into the centre of the hall.

Aethelred began cursing. She could tell he was simply filling time, creating a distraction while he got his bearings and found a way out of his situation. But he spouted vile words about Aethelflaed and she could feel Erik growing more and more tense. Eventually, Erik spoke some words in Danish or Norse, his voice a low growl. Uhtred spoke over him in Danish, raising a hand to quiet Erik, as if disagreeing with him.

Aethelred reeled on Erik. "What did you say?"

Erik grinned at the nervous Saxon. "I said I want to kill you slowly. Send you to your hell where you belong." Erik eased the axe down from his shoulders and held it lightly in his hand. "I want to make you suffer for the things you have done to Lady Aethelflaed. I think I could make you beg for mercy from–what did you call me?–a vile, brutish Dane. I would enjoy that."

Aethelred was struggling to maintain his posture. He looked as though he may wet himself in fear. He turned to the other men in the room, as if hoping for support, but the men stared back at him coldly.

Erik sighed audibly and slid his axe back into place on his belt. "But I will not get that pleasure. At least not today, Lord Aethelred. My lady does not want you to die."

"And what, pray tell, does the lady want?" Aethelred asked, "Why has she surrounded me with enemy warriors if not to kill me?"

"I want you to divorce me," Aethelflaed responded, "Accuse me of infidelity. We will travel to Winchester to petition the Bishop. Once the divorce is granted, all the Mercian lands in my name will return to you, and we will part ways."

Aethelred considered her words, then sneered. "I have been insisting on your infidelity for years and I have not been believed. Why do you think I would be believed now?"

"I will provide witnesses," Aethelflaed said, "as many as you like. My own servants will testify that I brought another man to my bed, more than once. Members of my guard will attest to my guilt. Even Uhtred's men will confirm my promiscuity."

"It is true, lord," Finan interjected, "she is a lady of ceaseless appetites. I have resisted her, good Christian man that I am, but oh the nights that she has begged me to visit her bed."

Aethelflaed couldn't help but smile at his dramatic tone. "No need to embellish, Finan. The truth will be proof enough."

Aethelred ignored Finan's interruption, addressing his wife again. "And if I refuse?"

"Why would you refuse? You do not care for me. You could be free of me and have my lands all for yourself. It would not even besmirch your reputation, as I will be the one at fault."

A moment of silence followed, and then Uhtred spoke, "If you refuse, lord, then we will kill you."

Aethelred scoffed. "I am the Lord of Mercia, Uhtred. Even you could not kill me and get away with it."

Uhtred shrugged and began to pace towards Aethelred. "Maybe not today, lord. If I killed you today, it would surely look like a murder. But perhaps you are riding home and you are overtaken by brigands on the road. Perhaps one night you drink too much and wander into a blade. Or perhaps you go to sleep in your bed and never wake up. These things happen, even to Lords of Mercia, and it is not always clear who is to blame." Uhtred was face to face with Aethelred and he stared the Saxon lord down. "If I were in your place, lord, I would seek a divorce. Lady Aethelflaed is showing mercy. More than you deserve. But you are a smart man, even if you are a turd, and you will make the right choice."

Uhtred gestured to his men and they filed out of the hall. Uhtred and Erik exited last, careful to keep space between Aethelflaed and her husband.