CHAPTER 2: THE NORTHMEN
"And lastly, it would seem that the previous King of England, has gone to Scotland. We have found out the name of the Thane he is living-"
"Enough. Harold of Godwin isn't our king anymore. Leave him be in Scotland. Let him make his fortune there. Thank you, Bishop Eastmund." He bowed down and sat down in his seat again. I looked around at my council. None of the had anything to say.
"My Lord we have information about the Normans." My Marshal Hygelac and Chancellor Bishop Eastmund stood up.
"What of them? They've lost already. The Norwegian king now has the full disposal of Norway and England."
Hygelac smiled. "Yes, he might. But he only landed in England with a force of almost 12 thousand. The Normans have landed in Essex with almost 15 thousand men. And more men are on their way."
"Let them fight their wars. The Norwegian king will prevail in the end. William The Bastard might have more men in England at the moment but King Harald will have all of his men here before the end of the year. And what does it matter? Let the Northmen fight." Hygelac and Bishop Eastmund sat down. The Council waited for me to give them their orders. "The meeting is over."
I had begun to order meetings with my council to get a better understand of what was going on in the realm. England was in turmoil. Two men had come to our land to claim it as their own. And the King in the North had been successful. Forcing his culture to us. Renaming lands. I was no longer Eorl Eadmund of Wessex. No, I was Duke Eadmund of Sommerset.
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"My Lord! Word from Berkshire! The Northmen have met in battle! William the Bastard fled north from the battle, but was met once again by King Harald! He was captured, and forced to sign a truce with the king. The war is over." Bishop Eastmund had returned to me.
William's Last Battle
I thanked God for this. "Well then. Send word to my vassals that the wars are officially over. They will want to celebrate. Now I would like some time by myself. I am rather tired. These wars have been exhausting. Many changes have come our way." I said with a smile. The Bishop understood and left immediately. Truthfully I just wanted him to leave me so I could plan my next move. This was madness. Neither of the two invaders was my rightful King. I only served one king, and his name is of Godwin. Let it be Harold or let it be his brother Gyrth, I do not care. The one to prove themselves worthy of the title of king. And that's why I had to write to the other Eorls or Dukes or whatever they were called by now. We had to get a Godwin back on the throne. And with Harold away in Scotland, I only saw one suitable man I would name my King.
I heard knocking once again at my door. "Wait a minute! I will be right there" I shouted back. I packed all my letters and map of England away. "You may enter." My wife and Bishop Eastmund came in. "What is it now Bishop?"
"Your wife she insists that you visit your peasants tonight. She has explained to me that the peasants have started a tradition where the peasantry from several villages meet up and dance, feast, and pair up for future marriage. I believe that by promoting this tradition you will earn yourself more prestige in our little realm, and more peasants will be attracted to you lands." I looked at my wife, and I could see how much she wanted to go a take part in this tradition. After all, it had been a long time since we had spent some time together, outside of the council meetings. I no longer had a lot of time to spent with her or my daughters.
" We will join in on this tradition. I grant you permission to take enough gold out of the treasury to promote this tradition as you see fit. Now I would appreciate some time alone with my wife Bishop." He left the room barely beeing able to hide his excitement of me giving him access the to the treasury. My wife gave me a quick kiss and looked me in the eyes. "Eadmund, why don't we ever spend more time together? I miss you and I'm sure the girls do too." I felt the pain in her voice. "This pains me too Beornflæd. But things will change from now on. I've canceled a meeting with a Thane down in the south. He had invited me to dine and drink with him. I sent that letter some days ago now, I'm still awaiting his response. But I canceled it for us. Tonight we will go to the peasants, and we will live our lives as they were before. As peasants."
"I'm so happy that you choose to do this. It's good to be with you again." She smiled and I took her hand. "But remember Beornflæd, we're not of nobility. We're Beornflæd and Eadmund, just two peasants who happened to meet each other here." She gave me a wink, and I knew she understood what I meant.
We separated after a quick dance with many of the peasants. I tried to find her again but was interrupted when a man with a thick norse accent shouted my name. I turned around to who it was when I recognized a familiar coat of arms. This was Thane Sämund, the man who I canceled a meeting with. "You think that clothes hide who you really are?" I just laughed at him and took him by his arm. I didn't want my night ruined, tonight I was just Eadmund. Not a Thane. Not a Duke. Not a nobleman. "What's the fuss about Duke?" I had taken him into an alley where it was just us. "How did you recognize me?!" I tried to be as intimidating as possible, but all I got out of Sämund was a little smile. "Relax. It was rather easy my friend. I know you only recognize me because I'm noble now, but I could recognize you any day. You're bloody Eadmund! I met you on the battlefield back before you were a nobleman. One of the greatest commanders I've ever seen. Why do you think I invited you over to my land? I wanted to meet the legend himself. This time under my peaceful circumstances." I realized where he knew me from. Back when I still made a name for myself I had been a sellsword. I had offered my sword for some money so I could get myself some food at a local inn and then continue traveling. I must have met this man in battle somewhere.
I felt guilty for making such a scene, so I offered him a drink. We talked and talked and realized that we had many things in common. I had never bonded that much with anybody before.
After a long time with Sämund I met up with Beornflæd again and it was clear that she had also been drinking. She insisted that we had the last dance before traveling back home. I gladly agreed. I had never felt so close to her before. She whispered into me ear that she would like another kind of dance once we were back home. That a beautiful peasant had told her about another kind of dance. A dance she had named: The Dance of Love.
Ever since Beornflæd and I met with the peasants we had been much happy and much closer to each other. Our marriage had gotten a new joy, and it only continued growing ever more joyful when she one day came into my chamber with tears of joy. "You're going to be a father again."
