“Everyone is taught to read and write?” the king asked in amazement.
“Yes, of course.”
Ruby could see this was more than all three of them could comprehend.
“I will tell you one thing about the future that would interest you, since you seem to love books so much. A product will be invented called paper. It’s like parchment but much thinner and very cheap to make. Everyone has books in their homes in my land, not just the wealthy.”
“I think I would love to visit your land someday,” the king said on a sigh, then asked if she would tell him some of the stories for which she’d gained much fame, as well as sing her celebrated songs.
Ruby related her entire repertoire of children’s stories, and the king bemoaned the fact that his best scribe was ill and wouldn’t be able to transcribe them for him. He suggested she visit his scriptorium the next day.
Then she sang “Ruby” and “Lucille” for him and added the title song from the Broadway show Camelot, which she thought would especially appeal to King Athelstan since his court seemed to embody many of the same ideals. He was overjoyed with them all, even though the Welsh King Arthur was noted for his valor in fighting against the Saxons many years earlier. He asked if she would entertain his guests that night.
“I must decline for Ruby,” Thork interrupted. “We leave first thing in the morn for Normandy.”
“Normandy! Why?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.
Ruby suspected that the king did not like her powerful Viking ancestor Hrolf. Certainly, she suddenly realized, it wouldn’t bode well for Saxon England if a coalition were formed between Northumbria and Normandy.
“Ruby claims kinship with Hrolf,” Thork said. “King Sigtrygg has directed me to take her to him.”
God bless Thork for not revealing any more details to the king, Ruby prayed silently. She looked thankfully to him, but he ignored her, giving his full attention to Athelstan, who still scrutinized them suspiciously.
“How interesting,” the king said, looking at Ruby with new eyes. Then he turned back to Thork. “Since you do not depart until the morn, why not go now to your ships to make final preparations and come back for the evening’s festivities?” Athelstan suggested. “Leave Ruby here to talk with me.”
Thork didn’t seem to like that idea at all, but said nothing, drawing his lips together in a thin line. Selik was clearly amused by Thork’s jealousy and irritation.
The moment they left, Athelstan pulled his chair closer to Ruby and told the nobles and retainers who stood behind him to leave. “When I was a child, my grandfather Alfred placed a scarlet robe around my shoulders and fastened a wondrous sword sheathed in gold at my side,” he confided to her as soon as they were alone. “Some people think that means he intended me to be king, that I was ‘born to the purple,’ but ’tis not so. My mother was a beautiful woman, but only a shepherdess, and my father Edward never wed her.”
“I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this?”
The king held up his hand as if he was getting to that. “My father married twice and acknowledged both women as queens. I am a mere caretaker king. ‘Tis important to me to preserve the Alfredian succession for the young atheling princes, my half-brothers. To do that, I must remain—”
“—clibate,” Ruby finished for him, finally realizing the point of Athelstan’s discussion.
“I have heard that you—”
“—opened my big mouth in Jorvik and told the women about birth control.”
The charismatic young king smiled, pleased that she understood him so well. “This celibacy is not an easy virtue,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Ruby leaned forward and told him all she knew, which wasn’t all that much, but he was extremely interested in all of it.
That evening Ruby was already in the great hall, wearing the green silk tunic Astrid had given her with Thork’s dragon brooches and belt, when Thork and Selik finally returned. She sat at the high table at King Athelstan’s invitation, while Thork and Selik were placed several tables down below the salt.