The Bold Prince
Gainsborough, England - January 1126
The three brothers of Wessex sat silently before a roaring fire within the great hall. Tables had been cleared away and the guests had long since left. It was empty save three grieving men with little idea of what to say. They each looked ahead to the flames before them. All of them, powerful men...a King...a Chancellor...a Marshal. Yet not a one could have prevented the tragedy that had occurred. And not a one of them could understand it.
As it was late, an attendant had looked in to see if the fire needed a stirring and the King was the first to hear it as his words echoed from the walls of the empty hall, “Leave us!!”
“You should not be so harsh, brother,” Eadward leaned over with a whisper.
Uhtræd did not turn and kept his gaze to the fire without a word.
Eadward looked to Beorhtmaer with some hesitation, “Is she...well cared for?”
Beorhtmaer too did not turn but gave answer with melancholy in his voice, “The road to Wilton is not yet passable, I am told.”
Uhtræd turned to him, “Your Æthelgifu will be returned to her home.”
“I may wish it mine own if I may be beside her,” Beorhtmaer answered him quickly.
Eadward tried to console, “You cannot say such a thing, Beo. There is naught that may have been done and your boys...”
Uhtræd reached out a hand to touch his brother’s shoulder, “...Your boys need their father. Now more than ever.”
“Where are they now?” Eadward asked.
The youngest man of Wessex looked to them both with some confusion, “I do not...they be with their...”
“They are cared for,” Uhtræd was quick to reply, “The Lady Judith has seen to it. Worry should not be placed upon them any more than it has. We three would keep them safe and secure...but they need their father more than anyone.”
“I...” Beorhtmaer began again with confusion, “...I do not know what to tell them.”
“You may tell them that their mother now rests in her sleep and has gone to meet her God,” Eadward suggested.
Uhtræd placed a hand to Eadward’s knee to silence him and kept quiet himself for a time as he looked to the flames. He finally turned to Beorhtmaer with a kindly face, “You would tell them that which they need to hear. You would say that their mother loves them and misses them greatly. You would say that they may never see her again in this life, but rather in another. And when they do see her once more, she will have made their heaven a great place in which to live. All for them.”
“It all sounds so meaningless to me, brother,” Beorhtmaer answered as he tried to smile at Uhtræd but returned his eyes to the flames, “I’ve seen men destroyed in the flesh from battle, and yet this? I cannot explain this.”
“There are none that can, Beo,” Eadward offered.
“Our brother is correct,” Uhtræd reached out to hold at Beorhtmaer’s neck, “A worthy journey to God comes in many forms, however. We look at what happens on the field of battle as sacrifice, and it is, and yet...there are other fine ways to meet our maker.”
“He speaks true, Beo,” Eadward followed quickly, “She must now be in heavenly peace with God. It is something she wished...”
“Not now!” Beorhtmaer turned to them both, “She was happy here! With me and our sons! Our meeting at Bath was like no other.”
Uhtræd turned in his chair to grasp at his brother’s hands, “And it shall be again, brother! I may promise you this! Like the worst storm of terror that you have ever seen in battle, this too will pass and you will find the light of the day to follow. You will find it once more with her when the sun does shine again.”
Beorhtmaer looked at him with wide eyes, “I do not know what that means. And if I do not...how then may I explain it to my boys?!”
“You may explain it as we have always learned...” Uhtræd sat tall with his brother’s hands still within his own, “...duty...honor...sacrifice...hardship. These are the things that may make men bold. It is a terrible thing, but we must overcome.”
Eadward reached out a hand, but Beorhtmaer was quick to answer, “I do not wish to speak of it brother, and yet I know of your life. A terrible hardship it was to lose your young wife when you did...and your daughter? No man should go through that. An awful state. I may like to think that I shall overcome as you. Yet now I must raise these boys to be men without that feminine virtue so needed. They will now be without their mother and I am a very poor substitute. You may tell me all that you may wish of hardship...but you have found your other.”
“Beo...” Eadward tried once more to calm them both but Uhtræd stood with some irritation.
“I dearly loved your wife, sir,” Uhtræd stood over his youngest brother, “As I did mine own...as I have tried to do with the Queen. You would not make judgment upon me for pushing forward as in battle!”
“I do not think that this is what is meant,” Eadward stood as well to bring himself between the two.
Beorhtmaer simply looked to the fire before them as he answered with calm, “It is not meant to say that you do not know. I begrudge you nothing, brother. A better one, I could not find. And yet...where were you when father died? Gone to flee in the face of your struggle. I have not that choice...nor would I wish it. I mean nothing against a paramour...I mean to answer to my sons for their mother.”
Uhtræd suddenly turned to the fire himself, not having the words to respond. Eadward stepped to his younger brother and put a hand to his shoulder, “You will know what to say to them when the time is right, Beo. Until then, travel back to Wilton to see to Æthelgifu’s rest and then move on to Bath. Resume your work. Time may heal many wounds and your efforts may take your mind from the horror of what has happened.”
“And you will let the boys stay here with me,” Uhtræd turned back to him with a kinder face, “Thurfrith has already a fine room here at the keep. I will be sure to provide for Wihtræd as well. Eadward speaks it true. There is naught to be done to change what has occurred. We all mourn her. For us, but especially for you for we do know how much you love her. Go and be amongst the men. That is where you feel most comfortable. I know it well. When the time is right, I shall bring the boys to you and we may speak on this with more clarity.”
“Perhaps you are right,” Beorhtmaer stood slowly and looked to his brothers with a sigh, “Yet I should seek them out at the now. If I am to leave them here, I would wish to spend as much time as possible before we part.”
“I believe that is a good idea,” Eadward patted Beorhtmaer on the back as he began to shuffle from the hall with his head hung low.
When he was gone, Uhtræd slumped back into his chair and shook his head with great sadness, “So much death.”
“It is terrible,” Eadward agreed as he once more sat next to him.
Uhtræd turned to him with a redness in his eyes, “It is all around us like a plague. I cannot save them. Not for my brother...not for my sons.”
“As you said,” Eadward tried to console, “There is naught that may be done. God may choose the timing of it and no one else.”
“But so many...” Uhtræd kept a pained look, “...all at once!”
Eadward rested a gentle hand on Uhtræd’s knee, “It is tragedy, but there be only two, brother. That be not a plague.”
“My son’s wife, and now Beo’s? Before that Oscytel should lose his and I myself before that...” Uhtræd reached inside his sleeve and produced a letter, “...and now I hear of even more terrible news?”
Eadward took the letter and read the words before looking to Uhtræd with shock, “This cannot be so!”
“And yet it is,” Uhtræd replied with sorrow, “Now all of my sons have found their loss and this one...most heinous. I’ve never met the boy and Eadberht no longer writes, but he did when Sæbert was born and he was elated. To be murdered on the orders of a priest? Is this truly God’s vengeance upon me and mine?”
“Vengeance for what?” Eadward found a sternness, “You have done nothing to deserve such. And your wife...how may she allow such things to happen to your children?!”
Uhtræd tried to be kind, “I do not think it Adela’s fault...”
“And yet, such tragedy occurs under her watchful eye and not yours,” Eadward began to grow angry, “Had she come here sixteen years ago with your children, I dare say that none of this may have happened. Your boys would have grown strong in the Saxon tradition of our land and found fine brides on these shores. Your daughters would have been wed to great men of England. Instead...she stays behind and leaves them as poor as before if not worse.”
“She fights,” Uhtræd sighed in his response, “She has always been thus and always will remain. For nigh on all of this time that I have been here, she has been at war in one way or another and she now brings all of my sons into the conflicts of her mind.”
“Mayhap she is bitter and knows that she has done wrong,” Eadward suggested, “She cannot have you as she wishes and so she will burn every other in response.”
Uhtræd stood to warm his hands at the fire and was silent for a time. He looked to the flames and then finally answered, “I should not have found harshness with Beo just now. It is frustration. His words to me speak true. I have thought on it often. Had I never left...what might have been?”
“You would not have born these children that you so dearly love, brother,” Eadward replied as he moved to stand next to Uhtræd, “You cannot take away their pain and trouble, but think that if you had never had them at all?”
“I might have spared them such misery,” Uhtræd suggested.
Eadward put am arm around his brother, “What misery? Oscytel has been remarried. So too will Eadgar. It is a travesty that Eadberht should now be childless but he will have another. It is no replacement, I know...but as you have said...there will always be a sunnier day ahead. We must not wallow in the now when the future does always beckon.”
“I take your words well, brother,” Uhtræd looked to him with earnestness, “And yet it does me little good at the now, I am sad to say. I have grown to the age of fifty-four and what have I seen in my life? I have lost two daughters, both from complications of birth. I have seen two sons follow my instruction and lose a wife. In truth, I have lost two. Though I may be King and have a fine companion at the now...what does that bring to me? A loneliness and the sorrow that I have even lost a family.”
“You find too much pity for yourself, brother,” Eadward stood tall, “As you once said to me...it is unbecoming of you.”
Uhtræd found a slight smile, “Our father was only five years older than I when he passed. And what did he do with his nearly sixty years? He fought hard and braved every storm so that he may resurrect this dynasty. They call me ‘the Bold’ and yet I fear to be the weakest man that I know. Whether from sickness or disease of the mind...I think to lose everything that he built.”
Eadward offered his own smile, “You sound more and more like father every passing day. That is no bad thing, but there are limits to what a man may control. Brother, you have found stability for this realm in a way that it has never been before. You have conquered your illness...for the most part. You are respected and loved by Lord and peasant alike. There is no thing for which to find blame in yourself.”
“You are a good brother,” Uhtræd smiled and looked back to the fire.
“And a wise Chancellor,” Eadward replied with a grin, “I think that mayhap you should speak with Brother Nylan again. He has done you well in the past. His words have always assisted and seem to have a healing effect upon you. I should think that you need that at the now. We all do. For the realm...for Beo.”
“Perhaps...” Uhtræd answered as he kept watch of the dancing flames, “If nothing else, he may help find a proper explanation for our brother’s boys.”
Eadward gave nod, “Yes. They need that most of all.”
