*Who are you?' Edward asked.

*Father Edmund, lord.'

He had come from Wimburnan where he was the priest and he told how aethelwold had raised his banner in the town and declared himself King of Wessex.

*He did what?' Edward asked.

*He made me read a proclamation, lord, outside Saint Cuthberga's.'

*He's calling himself king?'

*He says he's King of Wessex, lord. He's demanding that men come and swear allegiance to him.'

*How many men were there when you left?' I asked.

*I don't know, lord,' Father Edmund said.

*Did you see a woman?' Edward asked. *My sister?'

*The Lady aethelflaed? Yes, lord, she was with him.'

*Does he have twenty men?' I asked. *Or two hundred?'

*I don't know, lord. A lot.'

*He sent messengers to other lords?' I asked.

*To his thegns, lord. He sent me. I'm supposed to bring him men.'

*And you found me instead,' Edward said warmly.

*He's raising an army,' I said.

*The fyrd,' Steapa said scornfully.

aethelwold was doing what he thought wise, but he had no wisdom. He had inherited wide estates from his father, and Alfred had been foolish enough to leave those estates untouched, and now aethelwold was demanding that his tenants come with weapons to make an army that he presumably believed would march on Wintanceaster. But the army would be the fyrd, the citizen army, the labourers and carpenters and thatchers and ploughmen, while Edward had his royal bodyguard, who were all trained warriors. The fyrd was good for defending a burh, or for impressing an enemy with numbers, but to fight, to face a sword-Dane or a raving Northman, a warrior was needed. What aethelwold should have done was stay in Wintanceaster, murder all Alfred's children, and then raise his standard, but like a fool he had gone to his own home and now we rode there with warriors.

The day was dying as we neared Wimburnan, the sun was low in the west and the shadows long on the rich slopes where aethelwold's sheep and cattle had their grazing. We came from the east and no one tried to prevent us reaching the small town that lay cradled between two rivers that joined close to where a stone church loomed above the shadowed thatch of the roofs. King aethelred, Alfred's brother and aethelwold's father, lay buried in that church, and beyond it, and surrounded by a tall palisade, was aethelwold's hall where a great flag flew. It showed a prancing white stag with fierce eyes and two Christian crosses for antlers, and the low sun was catching the linen that was spread by a small wind and the banner's dark red field seemed to smoulder like boiling blood in the late daylight.

We rode north around the town, crossing the smaller river and then climbing a shallow slope that led to one of those forts that the ancient people had built all across Britain. This fort had been hacked out of a chalk hilltop, and Father Edmund told me it was called Baddan Byrig and that the local people believed the devil danced there on winter nights. It had three walls of heaped chalk, all overgrown with grass, and two intricate entrances where sheep grazed, and it overlooked the road that aethelwold must take if he wanted to go north to his Danish friends. Edward's first instinct had been to block the road to Wintanceaster, but that town was protected by its walls and garrison and I persuaded him that the greater danger was that aethelwold would escape Wessex altogether.

Our army spread along the skyline beneath its royal banners. Wimburnan lay just a couple of miles south and east of us and we must have looked formidable to anyone watching from the town. We were sunlit by the low rays that reflected the glint of our mail and weapons and that made the bare chalk patches of Baddan Byrig's walls glow white. That low sun made it difficult to see what was happening in the small town, but I glimpsed men and horses by aethelwold's hall and could see people gathered in the streets, yet there was no shield wall defending the road that led to that great hall. *How many men does he have?' Edward asked. He had asked that question a dozen times since we had met Father Edmund, and a dozen times he had been told we did not know, that no one knew, and that it might be forty men or it might be four hundred.

*Not enough men, lord,' I said now.

*What...' he began, then abruptly checked. He had been about to ask what we should do, then had remembered that he was the king, and was supposed to supply the answer himself.

*Do you want him dead or alive?' I asked.

He looked at me. He knew he must make decisions, but did not know what decision to make. Father Coenwulf, who had been his tutor, began to offer advice, but Edward cut him short with a wave of his hand. *I want him to stand trial,' he said.

*Remember what I told you,' I said. *Your father could have saved us a lot of trouble by just killing aethelwold, so why don't you let me go and slaughter the bastard?'

*Or let me, lord,' Steapa volunteered.

*He must stand trial before the Witan,' Edward decided. *I do not wish to begin my reign with slaughter.'

*Amen and God be praised,' Father Coenwulf said.

I gazed into the valley. If aethelwold had raised any kind of army, it was not in evidence. All I could see was a handful of horses and an undisciplined rabble. *Just let me kill him, lord,' I said, *and the problem will be solved by sundown.'

*Let me talk to him,' Father Coenwulf urged.

*Reason with him,' Edward said to the priest.

*Do you reason with a cornered rat?' I demanded.

Edward ignored that. *Tell him he must surrender to our mercy,' he told Father Coenwulf.

*And suppose he decides to kill Father Coenwulf instead, lord King?' I asked.

*I am in God's hands,' Coenwulf said.

*You'd be better in Lord Uhtred's hands,' Steapa growled.

The sun was just above the horizon now, a dazzling red globe suspended in the autumn sky. Edward looked confused, but still wanted to appear decisive. *The three of you will go,' he announced firmly, *and Father Coenwulf will do the talking.'

Father Coenwulf lectured me as we rode downhill. I was not to threaten anyone, I was not to speak unless spoken to, I was not to touch my sword, and the Lady aethelflaed, he insisted, was to be escorted back to her husband's protection. Father Coenwulf was pale-skinned and stern, one of those rigid men that Alfred had loved to appoint as tutors or counsellors. He was clever, of course, all Alfred's favoured priests were sharp-witted, but all too ready to condemn sin or, indeed, to define it, which meant he disapproved of me and of aethelflaed. *Do you understand me?' he demanded as we reached the road, which was little more than a rutted track between untrimmed hedges. Wagtails flocked in the fields and far off, beyond the town, a great cloud of starlings wheeled and faded in the sky.

*I'm not to threaten anyone,' I said cheerfully, *not to speak to anyone and not to touch my sword. Wouldn't it be easier if I just stopped breathing?'

*And we shall restore the Lady aethelflaed to her proper place,' Coenwulf said firmly.

*What is her proper place?' I asked.

*Her husband will decide that.'

*But he wants her in a nunnery,' I pointed out.

*If that is her husband's decision, Lord Uhtred,' Coenwulf said, *then that is her fate.'

*I think you'll learn,' I said mildly, *that the lady has a mind of her own. She might not do what any man wants.'

*She will obey her husband,' Coenwulf insisted and I just laughed at him, which annoyed him. Poor Steapa looked confused.

There were half a dozen armed men at the outskirts of the town, but they made no attempt to stop us. There was no wall, this was no burh, and we plunged straight into a street that smelt of dung and woodsmoke. The folk in the town were worried, and silent. They watched us, and some made the sign of the cross as we passed. The sun had gone now, it was twilight. We skirted a comfortable-looking tavern, and a man sitting with a horn of ale raised it to us as we rode past. I noted that few men had weapons. If aethelwold could not raise the fyrd in his own home town, then how could he hope to raise the county against Edward? The gate to Saint Cuthberga's nunnery opened a crack as we came near and I saw a woman peer out, and then the gate slammed shut. There were more guards at the door to the church, but again they made no effort to stop us. They just watched us pass, their faces sullen. *He's already lost,' I said.

*He has,' Steapa agreed.

*Lost?' Father Coenwulf asked.

*This is his stronghold,' I said, *and no one wants to defy us.'

At least no one wanted to defy us until we reached the entrance to aethelwold's hall. The gate was decorated with his flag and guarded by seven spearmen and blocked by a pathetic barricade of barrels on which two logs had been placed. One of the spearmen strode towards us and levelled his weapon. *No further,' he announced.

*Just take away the barrels,' I said, *and open the gate.'

*State your names,' he said. He was a middle-aged man, solidly built, grey-bearded and dutiful.

*That's Matthew,' I said, pointing at Father Coenwulf, *I'm Mark, he's Luke and the other fellow got drunk and stayed behind. You know damn well who we are, so open the gate.'

*Let us in,' Father Coenwulf said sternly, after giving me a foul look.

*No weapons,' the man said.

I looked at Steapa. He had his long-sword at his left side, his short-sword on the right, and a war axe looped across his back. *Steapa,' I asked him, *just how many men have you killed in battle?'

He was puzzled by the question, but thought about his answer. In the end he had to shake his head. *I lost count,' he said.

*Me too,' I said, and looked back to the man who faced us. *You can take the weapons from us,' I told him, *or you can live and let us through the gate.'

He decided he wanted to live and so ordered his men to remove the barrels and logs, then pull the gates wide, and we rode into the courtyard where torches had just been lit and their wild flames cast fluttering shadows from saddled horses that waited for riders. I counted about thirty men, some in mail and all armed, waiting with the horses, but not one challenged us. Instead they looked nervous. *He's getting ready to flee,' I said.

*You are not to talk here,' Father Coenwulf said testily.

*Be quiet, you dull priest,' I told him.

Servants came to take our horses and, as I expected, a steward demanded that Steapa and I give up our swords before we went into the great hall. *No,' I said.

*My sword stays,' Steapa said menacingly.

The steward looked flustered, but Father Coenwulf just pushed past the man and we followed him into the great hall that was lit by a blazing fire and by candles arrayed on two tables between which was a throne. There was no other word to do justice to that great chair, which reared high above the massed candles and in which aethelwold sat, though the moment we appeared he jumped to his feet and strode to the edge of the dais on which the throne had pride of place. There was a second chair on the dais, much smaller and pushed to one side, and aethelflaed sat there, flanked by two men carrying spears. She saw me, smiled wryly and raised a hand to indicate that she was unharmed. Over fifty men were in the hall. Most were armed, despite the steward's efforts, but again no one threatened us. Our appearance seemed to have caused a sudden silence. These men, like those in the courtyard, were nervous. I knew a few of them and sensed that the hall was in two minds. The youngest men closest to the dais were aethelwold's supporters, while the older men were his thegns, and they were the ones who were plainly unhappy at what was unfolding. Even the dogs in the hall looked whipped. One whined as we entered, then slunk to the hall's edge, where he then lay shivering. aethelwold was standing at the dais's edge with folded arms, trying to look regal, but to me he seemed as nervous as the dogs, though a fair-haired young man beside him was full of energy. *Take them prisoner, lord,' the young man urged aethelwold.

There is no cause so hopeless, no creed so mad, no idea so ludicrous that it will not attract some believers, and the fair-haired youngster had plainly adopted aethelwold's cause as his own. He was a handsome brute, bright-eyed, strong-jawed and strongly built. He wore his hair long and tied behind his neck with a leather ribbon. A second ribbon was around his neck like a thin scarf and it looked oddly feminine because it was pink and made of the precious and delicate silk that is brought to Britain by traders from some far-off land. The tails of the silk ribbon hung over his mail, which was finely wrought, probably made by the expensive smiths in Frankia. His belt was panelled with gold squares and the hilt of his sword was decorated by a crystal pommel. He was rich, he was confident and he faced us belligerently. *Who are you?' Father Coenwulf demanded of the youngster.

*My name is Sigebriht,' the young man said proudly, *Lord Sigebriht to you, priest.' So that was the young man who had carried messages between aethelwold and the Danes, Sigebriht of Cent, who had loved the Lady Ecgwynn and lost her to Edward. *Don't let them talk,' Sigebriht urged his patron, *kill them!'

aethelwold did not know what to do. *Lord Uhtred,' he greeted me, for want of anything else to say. He should have ordered his men to chop us to pieces, then led his forces out to attack Edward, but he was not man enough, and he probably knew that only a handful of the men in the hall would follow him.

*Lord aethelwold,' Father Coenwulf spoke sternly, *we are here to summon you to the court of King Edward.'

*There is no such king,' Sigebriht yapped.

*You will be accorded the dignity of your rank,' Father Coenwulf ignored Sigebriht and spoke directly to aethelwold, *but you have disturbed the king's peace and for that you must answer to the king and his Witan.'

*I am king here,' aethelwold said. He drew himself up in an attempt to look regal. *I am king,' he said, *and I shall live or die here in my kingdom!'

For a moment I almost felt sorry for him. He had indeed been cheated of the throne of Wessex, thrust aside by his uncle Alfred and forced to watch as Alfred made Wessex into the most powerful kingdom of Britain. aethelwold had found consolation in ale, mead and wine, and in his cups he could be good company, yet always there had been that ambition to right what he saw was the great wrong done to him in childhood. Now he tried so hard to be kingly, yet even his own followers were not prepared to follow him, all but for a handful of young fools like Sigebriht.

*You are not king, lord,' Father Coenwulf said simply.

*He is king!' Sigebriht insisted and stepped towards Father Coenwulf as if he would beat the priest down, and Steapa took one pace forward.

I have seen many formidable men in my life, and Steapa was the most frightening. In truth he was a gentle soul, kind and endlessly considerate, but he was a head taller than most men and blessed with a bony face over which the skin seemed to be stretched into a permanently bleak expression that suggested ferocity without pity. At one time men had called him Steapa Snotor, which meant Steapa the Stupid, but it was years since I had heard that jibe. Steapa had been born a slave, but had risen to become the head of the royal bodyguard, and though he was not swift of thought, he was loyal, painstaking and thorough. He was also the most feared warrior of all Wessex and now, as he put one hand on the hilt of his enormous sword, Sigebriht just stopped and I saw the sudden fear on that arrogant young face.

I also saw aethelflaed smile.

aethelwold knew he had lost, but he still tried to hold on to his dignity. *Father Coenwulf, isn't it?' he asked. *Yes, lord.'

*Your counsel will be wise, I am sure. Perhaps you would give it to me?'

*That is why I am here,' Coenwulf said.

*And say a prayer in my chapel?' aethelwold gestured to a door behind him.

*It would be a privilege,' Coenwulf said.

*You too, my dear,' aethelwold said to aethelflaed. He sounded resigned. He beckoned a half-dozen others, his closest companions, who included the abashed Sigebriht, and they all went through the small door at the back of the dais. aethelflaed looked quizzically at me and I nodded because I had every intention of going to the chapel with her and so she followed Sigebriht, but as soon as we started towards the dais aethelwold raised a hand. *Just Father Coenwulf,' he said.

*Where he goes, we go,' I said.

*You want to pray?' Father Coenwulf asked me sarcastically.

*I want you safe,' I said, *though only your god knows why.'

Coenwulf looked at aethelwold. *I have your word that I am safe in your chapel, lord?'

*You are my safety, father,' aethelwold said with surprising humility, *and I want your counsel, I want your prayers, and yes, you have my word that you are safe.'

*Then wait here,' Coenwulf snapped at me, *both of you.'

*You trust the bastard?' I asked, loud enough for aethelwold to hear.

*I trust in Almighty God,' Coenwulf said grandly, and climbed nimbly onto the dais and followed aethelwold out of the hall.

Steapa put his hand on my arm. *Let him go,' he said, and so he and I waited. Two of the older men came to us and said this had not been their idea and that they had believed aethelwold when he had assured them that the Witan of Wessex had agreed to his assumption of the throne, and I told them they had nothing to fear so long as they had not raised a weapon against their rightful king. That king, so far as I knew, was still waiting on the old chalk-walled fort to the north of the town, waiting as the long night fell and the stars appeared. And we waited too. *How long does a prayer take?' I asked.

*I've known them to last two hours,' Steapa said gloomily, *and the sermons can take even longer.'

I turned to the steward who had tried to take our swords. *Where is the chapel?' I asked him.

The man looked terrified, then stammered, *There is no chapel, lord.'

I swore, hurried to the door at the rear of the hall and pushed it open to see a sleeping chamber. There were fur rugs, woollen blankets, a wooden bucket and a tall unlit candle in a silver holder, beyond which was a second door that led to a smaller courtyard. It was an empty courtyard with an open gate guarded by a lone spearman. *Which way did they go?' I shouted at the guard who answered by pointing west down the street outside.

We ran back to the larger courtyard where our horses were waiting. *Go to Edward,' I suggested to Steapa, *tell him the bastard's running.'

*And you?' he asked, hauling himself into the saddle.