chamber, mostly to avoid my damnable wife as much as to avoid the stink of murder in my
bedchamber, but partly as a precaution should Tostig have decided to try again. I have not seen
her this morning, nor shall I seek her out.‖
―Be wary of her.‖
―You do not need to warn me of that! Gods, Caela, she stood there and laughed as Tostig tried to murder me.‖
―She can do far worse, Harold. Please—‖
―I will be wary of her, my love. Now, to the reason I came to you this morning, apart
from my desire to lay my eyes on your beautiful face yet again, and to thank you for saving my
life. Caela, I need your aid further to what you have already done for me.‖
―You have it.‖
―You may not be so willing to offer it when you hear what I need from you.‖
―You will always have my aid, Harold. Whatever you plan.‖
―I have put it about that in four days‘ time I intend to return to my home estates in
Wessex. My stewards have some problems that require my attendance. Besides, I need the peace
to recover from Tostig‘s brutal attack.‖
I inclined my head. Nothing thus far seemed very difficult.
He held my eyes steady. ―But Wessex is not my true destination, sister.‖
I raised an eyebrow.
―I go to see William of Normandy.‖
―Harold!‖
―Shush! Keep your voice down! No one must know of this, Caela! I need you to help
maintain the ruse that I am in Wessex.‖
―Why? Why? ‖ My heart was pounding in my breast, and my emotions were so tangled I
could not sort them out. Oh, gods, William was his murderer in his previous life…why go to see
him now? ―Why, Harold?‖
―I need to know William‘s intentions. I need to know his ambitions. Caela, the crows are
gathering for Edward‘s death. I need to know who my rivals for the throne shall be. After last
night, I can now be certain that Tostig will be against me, and will probably ally with
Hardrada—only the gods know what Hardrada has promised Tostig in return. But William is an
unknown. He could be either my rival or my ally. What does he plan?‖
Ah, mercies, I knew exactly what he planned, but how could I tell Harold this without
shaking him to the very core of his being with the tale of his previous life? Harold needed
strength and equanimity to survive what faced him. Saeweald and Ecub were surely right when
they argued that he did not need to be distracted or tipped into uncertainty by what had happened
to Coel. I believed that Harold had a better chance against William without the burdens of both
their previous lives.
―I need him to know, if he does not know it already,‖ Harold said, ―that England will
stand united behind me. Perhaps if he knows that, then he will ally with me, continue the
partnership he had with Edward. He may not be such an eager rival if he knows that England
stands behind me.‖
Ha! I thought, but again felt it would be better that Harold discover now where William‘s
ambitions lay than delude himself with the hope he might be an ally. ―The witan will elect you
king?‖ I said.
―Aye. They have given me their word.‖
―And you hope that, in informing William of this, he might retract his ambitions?
Reconsider his likelihood of success? Consider instead an alliance before a challenge?‖
―He already has Normandy safe in hand. Why lust for England as well when it might well
kill him?‖
Oh, what could I say? That William-once-Brutus would have no compunction in
slaughtering the entire witan, in razing the entire land, if he thought it would clear his way to
London, to Swanne, and to his Trojan kingship bands?
And yet what harm could Harold‘s trip do?
Particularly if I armed Harold as best I could for his venture.
Besides, this he did need to know.
―Harold,‖ I said, laying a hand on his knee, ―I have some deeply private information for
you that has only just come to my ears.‖
Had just come to my own understanding, more like, but there was no means by which I
could explain this to Harold.
―Yes?‖ he said.
―It will be useful for you at William‘s court,‖ I continued. ―A weapon.‖
―Yes?‖
―William has an agent, a spy, within Edward‘s court.‖
He gave a harsh bark of laughter. ―I am not startled to hear of it. There are agents
everywhere, I think.‖
―It is Swanne.‖
Nothing I could have said would have shocked Harold more. Well, perhaps one or two
revelations may have shocked him more, but this one certainly had no small effect.
He stared, white-faced. ― Swanne? ‖
I nodded.
―Why? Why?‖
What could I say but the truth? ―She lusts for him, and she lusts to sit as queen beside
him.‖
Harold cursed. ―Then no wonder she stood by and laughed as Tostig tried to murder me.
Ah, I have misjudged both her and Tostig. I knew she disliked me, but to betray me to William? I
had not thought she would go that far.‖
How could I tell him that Swanne wanted William, not for the title as queen, but because
he was her Kingman, and with him she could achieve a greater immortality than ever she could
as wife to Harold?
Harold was a hindrance to the Mistress of the Labyrinth. William was a much-loved
necessity.
―There can be no doubt that I will set her aside after her behaviour last night, as well as
knowing her betrayal of me to William,‖ Harold added, his face now rigid with anger. ―By Christ
himself, Caela, does Swanne not know that William is already wed, and securely so by all
accounts?‖
A wife has never stood in her path before, I thought, and she will not allow one to do so
now.
―Be careful,‖ I said, meaning so much with those two simple words.
―Aye,‖ Harold said, smiling in what, I suppose, he hoped would be a reassuring manner.
He rose. ―You will put it about that I am in Wessex, and perhaps send communications to me
there, so that all may think I truly am within my estates?‖
―Aye, of course. Harold…‖ I took his hand as he was about to step away. ―Will you do
something for me?‖
―Anything.‖
―Will you talk to Matilda, William‘s wife, and discover what kind of woman she is? I
have heard so many rumours of her, and I would hear a report from eyes I can trust.‖
I was curious. Feverishly so. Matilda might make all the difference if she was indeed as
strong as rumour had it. William had been married to her for some fifteen years. They had many
children together.
―Harold,‖ I continued, ―will you tell me if…if she is someone William respects?‖
I could see he was agog with curiosity as to my motives, but he merely nodded. ―Of
course.‖
And will you tell me of William? I wanted to ask, but did not.
Oh, merciful heavens, how I wanted to be there when Coel-reborn and Brutus-reborn met
again for the first time in two thousand years.
I hoped that William had learned enough that he would not instantly slide a sword
through Harold‘s throat.
ELEVEN
When Harold had been gone three days, ostensibly to visit his estates in Wessex, and the
court quietened in its traditional lull between harvest celebrations and Christmastide festivities,
Caela lay asleep beside her husband the king in the quiet darkness.
The night was still and, now that autumn had taken firm grip on the land, very cold,
readying itself for a heavy frost at dawn. Nothing moved, not so much as a night owl, not even a
breath of air.
King Edward and Queen Caela‘s bedchamber lay as still and cold as the rest of Edward‘s
kingdom, as heavy and unyielding as the wall that Edward had built between himself and the
woman who lay at his side. It was a large chamber, its floorboards covered in part by thick rugs,
its timber-planked walls hung with woollen tapestries and drapes. An enormous bed occupied the
central portion of the chamber, its embroidered drapes pulled partway around the mattress where
lay the king and queen, their motionless forms huddled far apart.
The king‘s bowerthegn occupied a trestle bed closer to the door. Beside the bed,
unscabbarded on the floorboards, lay a sword that the bowerthegn could set his hand to the
instant danger threatened.
Unusually, the bowerthegn appeared to have forgotten to shutter the windows before he
retired and now faint moonlight, occasionally shadowed by thin clouds that scudded across the
night sky, spilled through the chamber.
The sleepers did not move, save in the gentle breath of sleep.
The moonlight intensified, almost as though the moon had suddenly waxed to its full