In Ermengard lay the citadel of Willoughby to the west, dwelling in the outskirts of a great forest that had once surrounded the city on all sides, but which had now been hewn away on the western side to allow not only the men on the high towers, but all the dwellers of the city alike to look out over the shore upon the deep blue-green sea.
There it was that the King Aldous had his high seat, and there it was that Aldyth lived and served as first maid and private servant to the king and queen. She was staring out the window in the hallway above the great hall where she awaited her king’s orders. On the grounds below lay the soldiers’ practice yard where the majesty’s wife Cwenhild, the Battle Queen, sat her horse, while the king himself was in court receiving the commoners who had come to seek his audience. The Battle Queen, as her title suggested, was in charge of the royal army of Ermengard and each day she made her rounds keeping everyone in check, inspecting how the training of the soldiers was coming along and how the forging of new weapons progressed in the various smithies. And what a dreadfully dull business for a woman of her station, thought Aldyth, but she has always been barbaric in her ways.
That particular day was a cold and rainy one, everything seemed grey and despairing in the early morning hours. A shiver went through Aldyth’s old bones just by the thought of it. She was certainly not going anywhere in such weather. The clouds overhead were dangerously dark and ominous to behold promising nothing but the worst sort of weather all that day, which was also the reason that very few soldiers got themselves outside to the daily practise. The Battle Queen though had not earned her name for nothing. She bravely defied any sort of weather not stopping to even think about it. Foolish woman.
She sat still on her horse, letting the rain soak her and the cold take hold of her. The soldiers were not quite made of the same sturdiness, so when the first of them were done and went back to the barracks all clammy wet with mud all over them and completely dispirited to booth no one else went out after that and thus the whole thing was soon over. Pah! Useless pack o’ idiots them soldiers. At least my lady has some discipline, if not a clue in her head as to where she belongs. She ought to have been in the audience hall by her husband’s side. But oh no, the queen did not find that at all to her royal liking.
Aldyth turned away from the window and went instead to yell at some of the lesser servants. It was a vexing day indeed. Her masters had no need of her apparently and all her weekly duties had been carried out. Oh, so that is it. Some hot tea in the kitchen would not be amiss.
‘Tea, Aldyth?’ asked the kitchen maid. She was a good acquaintance: always ready with tea and gossip, but she never pressed herself upon Aldyth.
‘A big cup, my dear.’
‘Work is that low today?’
‘Yes. The king is in audience and the woman fools around on the grounds.’
‘Truly? In this horrible weather?’
‘You know how she is. The only mystery is why Aldous married her of all the women in this contry.’
‘He must have done for love. There can be no other reason.’
‘Yes. But what is there to love? She is lowborn, plain to look upon, barbaric in her ways.’ Aldyth shook her head. ‘She does not know the first thing about courtesy. Not to speak of her failure to produce an heir...’
The kitchen maid looked more worried than sad at that. ‘I have heard rumours.’
Aldyth nodded for her to continue.
‘The meeting tonight. Between the king and his councillors. It is said that the queen is on the list of issues to be discussed.’
‘Is it indeed? Now that’s interesting...’
A servant came running into the room. ‘The queen is coming in, Aldyth, she requests your presence in her chambers.’
‘Then I must go. Thanks for the chat, my dear.’
She found the queen already in her chambers. She was drenched to the bone and shaking from the cold. Her heavy longsword was still in her hand, dripping from its tip unto the floor. She did not look up when Aldyth entered but stared at the sword in her hand, the only part of her that was not shaking.
‘Some certain people in the kingdom says that a longsword is too big a weapon for a woman.’ She shook her head. ‘Some people would also say that a woman has no place in a war. And here I am, the Lady Commander of the royal army of Ermengard.’ She smiled at the sword and swung it the air making the water bubbles catch the light. It looked almost beautiful. ‘The longsword is an ungraceful weapon best used for hacking and chopping.’ She looked at Aldyth. ‘I like that about it. Does that really make me barbaric as they say?’
‘My queen? Since when did you start caring people thought of you?’
‘I care... Of course I do. How could I not? I just don’t like to compromise my own person.’
‘You are the queen of Ermengard! You have a responsibility to the people!’
‘A responsibility to sit confined in hall all day, doing nothing but sitting there and looking pretty while listening to the boring tales of the lowly, yet never be allowed to speak myself?’
‘Yes. You should consider yourself lucky that that is all you have to do. As much as you hate those things you have to make an appearance. Otherwise people will talk. You are the queen and a woman after all, and the people should better see you as such and not just some barbarian woman-being who cares nothing for anything but war.’
‘Even if that is the truth of it?’
‘Even so.’
‘Maybe it would be better if you were the queen...’
Maybe it would. ‘Don’t be foolish, now. I am old and weary of the world. My youthful dreams has fled me long since. I live only to serve now.’
‘Then please understand. These are my youthful dreams. If I abandon them now I will become weary as you. Besides, Aldous does not need me, he loves to deal with the petitioners and he is good at it.’
‘Yes. He is kind and just, greatly beloved by his people. You, my queen, is not.’
The queen put her sword away and said no more. Aldyth got the bathwather ready for her and when she had gotten her into it she took away the wet clothes.
She received word that the king’s meeting had begun, but that he would be please if she would escort his lovely wife to the great hall when he was done, so she could uplift his mood with her presence while he dealt with the last few petitioners he had not had time for earlier. You simply cannot allow anyone to be forgotten or neglected, can you? She thought as she made her way back to the queen.
As asked, when the meeting was done, Aldyth went to escort the queen to the audience chamber. She was pleased to see that she had changed her garb into something remotely more feminine and fitting for her husband’s tastes. A respectful silence arose while she ascended to the raised dais upon which stood the ancient throne of The Great Kingdom of the North. The king loved it. Aldyth could not abide the thing. The whole hall rather resembled a chapel to her and she found it most depressing.
Oh, why is it that we humans feel such a pressing desire to blind ourselves? The world is not beautiful, it is stuffed full of human beings who continually dirties themselves and wages war upon eachother. Why cannot we rather just face that fact and drop the pretenses? A chair is a chair, why should it need to be so carefully carved and set with jewels? Thus thought she to herself, the old servant.
She kept her eyes on her queen. She was doing a rather better job than Aldyth had expected. She kept her back straight, her chin lifted and her face as serene as to betray nothing of what was going on in her head. She was the striking image of power and authority, and as she sat there she rather outshone the king in spite of his fine dress and the magnificent throne that he sat in. Even wearing a long dark dress that rightfully brought out all the femininity of her curves, she still seemed the duplicate of the ancient goddess of war. But that is so much more becoming for a queen. Aldyth nodded in satisfaction. Maybe there is hope for her yet.
The king’s dealings with the commoners went on and Aldyth became prone to agree with the queen’s earlier statement. It was not a dreadfully interesting affair. She sat studying the lines of the elaborate carvings that ran along the thick pillars of the arches that held the foundation of the chamber all the while listening to the faint sound of heavy raindrops beating on the high mosaic windows.
Eventually the hours got themselves dragged to a point where evening began lurking and the last of the king’s petitioners went away and the hall became quite still. Aldous turned in his chair to look at Cwenhild. He took her hand and kissed it gently before standing up. Cwenhild imitated him and they went out together. Aldyth hurried after them, but felt quite unsteady on her feet after sitting still for so long.
Aldous was talking about the day’s petitioners, yet the queen did not appear to be hearing a word of it. He did not stop, however, until they reached the dining hall, where dinner stood ready on the table. Aldyth stood behind their chair ready to serve if anything was needed.
‘How did the meeting go?’ She heard the queen asking.
‘Oh, you know how it goes... Nothing was decided upon, my councillors are looking into our options.’
‘Right. Did you talk about anything other than refugees?’
‘Well, mostly just boring things you wouldn’t care about.’
‘Mostly?’ She pricked up her ears at that. She had an unusual ear for the unsaid, Aldyth had to give her that. If only she embrace that talent and use it for the greater good of the realm.
‘Well, it is nothing dear. Just boring old men talking.’
‘Tell me,’ she demanded her voice suddenly cold.
‘If you insist, my love. It is really nothing of consequence, you should know...’
‘Stop stalling. Out with it.’
There was a pause as the two of them looked at each other. Neither had touched their food. Aldyth held her breath waiting for the inevitable.
‘We were talking of the refugees becoming a rather big issue. Eadread is worried about it, about how many of them there are. He is afraid they could become a threat if not handled carefully. He kindly reminded me... of how weak my house stands. There is no heir...’
Cwenhild tensed visibly at that. Aldyth knew very well how sore sensitive a subject it was to her. Many people did suspect that their childlessness was simply due to the fact that they never slept together. They seem such an unharmonious couple, hardly ever seen in each other’s company safe even conversing with each other. Yet that could hardly be farther from the truth, Aldyth knew their love was great. They shared a bedroom and had tried producing an heir for a great many years, never completely giving up hope, without any luck. As their personal maid Aldyth had seen their frustration grow over the years until at last it turned to sadness.
‘What... What else did he say?’ The queen’s voice was a mere whisper.
Aldous looked at her apologetically, only answering reluctantly. ‘He said... That is, he thought... it is merely his opinion that... that I should take another wife.’
Aldyth could sense Cwenhild’s heart skipping a beat just as clearly as she saw the ears well up in her eyes. The queen could not find any words to reply, she just sat there trying to keep on breathing. It was widely know that the fault lay not on Aldous, he was known to have gotten one particular lady with child when he was still but a young prince. Yet that child was a daughter and unfit to be an heir.
Aldous seemed to feel uncomfortable with the thought as well. ‘You know how it is,’ he said slowly, ‘a king must needs have an heir... But I will not take another woman against your will, wife.’ He said the last thing in a solemn tone and Aldyth knew that he would be true to that word. By all the proud traditions of the kingdom he ought to have taken a new wife. The words only seemed to make it harder for Cwenhild to bear, though, as she began trembling visibly. So much pressure... The poor child. If she had only kept to her life as commoner.
There it was that the King Aldous had his high seat, and there it was that Aldyth lived and served as first maid and private servant to the king and queen. She was staring out the window in the hallway above the great hall where she awaited her king’s orders. On the grounds below lay the soldiers’ practice yard where the majesty’s wife Cwenhild, the Battle Queen, sat her horse, while the king himself was in court receiving the commoners who had come to seek his audience. The Battle Queen, as her title suggested, was in charge of the royal army of Ermengard and each day she made her rounds keeping everyone in check, inspecting how the training of the soldiers was coming along and how the forging of new weapons progressed in the various smithies. And what a dreadfully dull business for a woman of her station, thought Aldyth, but she has always been barbaric in her ways.
That particular day was a cold and rainy one, everything seemed grey and despairing in the early morning hours. A shiver went through Aldyth’s old bones just by the thought of it. She was certainly not going anywhere in such weather. The clouds overhead were dangerously dark and ominous to behold promising nothing but the worst sort of weather all that day, which was also the reason that very few soldiers got themselves outside to the daily practise. The Battle Queen though had not earned her name for nothing. She bravely defied any sort of weather not stopping to even think about it. Foolish woman.
She sat still on her horse, letting the rain soak her and the cold take hold of her. The soldiers were not quite made of the same sturdiness, so when the first of them were done and went back to the barracks all clammy wet with mud all over them and completely dispirited to booth no one else went out after that and thus the whole thing was soon over. Pah! Useless pack o’ idiots them soldiers. At least my lady has some discipline, if not a clue in her head as to where she belongs. She ought to have been in the audience hall by her husband’s side. But oh no, the queen did not find that at all to her royal liking.
Aldyth turned away from the window and went instead to yell at some of the lesser servants. It was a vexing day indeed. Her masters had no need of her apparently and all her weekly duties had been carried out. Oh, so that is it. Some hot tea in the kitchen would not be amiss.
‘Tea, Aldyth?’ asked the kitchen maid. She was a good acquaintance: always ready with tea and gossip, but she never pressed herself upon Aldyth.
‘A big cup, my dear.’
‘Work is that low today?’
‘Yes. The king is in audience and the woman fools around on the grounds.’
‘Truly? In this horrible weather?’
‘You know how she is. The only mystery is why Aldous married her of all the women in this contry.’
‘He must have done for love. There can be no other reason.’
‘Yes. But what is there to love? She is lowborn, plain to look upon, barbaric in her ways.’ Aldyth shook her head. ‘She does not know the first thing about courtesy. Not to speak of her failure to produce an heir...’
The kitchen maid looked more worried than sad at that. ‘I have heard rumours.’
Aldyth nodded for her to continue.
‘The meeting tonight. Between the king and his councillors. It is said that the queen is on the list of issues to be discussed.’
‘Is it indeed? Now that’s interesting...’
A servant came running into the room. ‘The queen is coming in, Aldyth, she requests your presence in her chambers.’
‘Then I must go. Thanks for the chat, my dear.’
She found the queen already in her chambers. She was drenched to the bone and shaking from the cold. Her heavy longsword was still in her hand, dripping from its tip unto the floor. She did not look up when Aldyth entered but stared at the sword in her hand, the only part of her that was not shaking.
‘Some certain people in the kingdom says that a longsword is too big a weapon for a woman.’ She shook her head. ‘Some people would also say that a woman has no place in a war. And here I am, the Lady Commander of the royal army of Ermengard.’ She smiled at the sword and swung it the air making the water bubbles catch the light. It looked almost beautiful. ‘The longsword is an ungraceful weapon best used for hacking and chopping.’ She looked at Aldyth. ‘I like that about it. Does that really make me barbaric as they say?’
‘My queen? Since when did you start caring people thought of you?’
‘I care... Of course I do. How could I not? I just don’t like to compromise my own person.’
‘You are the queen of Ermengard! You have a responsibility to the people!’
‘A responsibility to sit confined in hall all day, doing nothing but sitting there and looking pretty while listening to the boring tales of the lowly, yet never be allowed to speak myself?’
‘Yes. You should consider yourself lucky that that is all you have to do. As much as you hate those things you have to make an appearance. Otherwise people will talk. You are the queen and a woman after all, and the people should better see you as such and not just some barbarian woman-being who cares nothing for anything but war.’
‘Even if that is the truth of it?’
‘Even so.’
‘Maybe it would be better if you were the queen...’
Maybe it would. ‘Don’t be foolish, now. I am old and weary of the world. My youthful dreams has fled me long since. I live only to serve now.’
‘Then please understand. These are my youthful dreams. If I abandon them now I will become weary as you. Besides, Aldous does not need me, he loves to deal with the petitioners and he is good at it.’
‘Yes. He is kind and just, greatly beloved by his people. You, my queen, is not.’
The queen put her sword away and said no more. Aldyth got the bathwather ready for her and when she had gotten her into it she took away the wet clothes.
She received word that the king’s meeting had begun, but that he would be please if she would escort his lovely wife to the great hall when he was done, so she could uplift his mood with her presence while he dealt with the last few petitioners he had not had time for earlier. You simply cannot allow anyone to be forgotten or neglected, can you? She thought as she made her way back to the queen.
As asked, when the meeting was done, Aldyth went to escort the queen to the audience chamber. She was pleased to see that she had changed her garb into something remotely more feminine and fitting for her husband’s tastes. A respectful silence arose while she ascended to the raised dais upon which stood the ancient throne of The Great Kingdom of the North. The king loved it. Aldyth could not abide the thing. The whole hall rather resembled a chapel to her and she found it most depressing.
Oh, why is it that we humans feel such a pressing desire to blind ourselves? The world is not beautiful, it is stuffed full of human beings who continually dirties themselves and wages war upon eachother. Why cannot we rather just face that fact and drop the pretenses? A chair is a chair, why should it need to be so carefully carved and set with jewels? Thus thought she to herself, the old servant.
She kept her eyes on her queen. She was doing a rather better job than Aldyth had expected. She kept her back straight, her chin lifted and her face as serene as to betray nothing of what was going on in her head. She was the striking image of power and authority, and as she sat there she rather outshone the king in spite of his fine dress and the magnificent throne that he sat in. Even wearing a long dark dress that rightfully brought out all the femininity of her curves, she still seemed the duplicate of the ancient goddess of war. But that is so much more becoming for a queen. Aldyth nodded in satisfaction. Maybe there is hope for her yet.
The king’s dealings with the commoners went on and Aldyth became prone to agree with the queen’s earlier statement. It was not a dreadfully interesting affair. She sat studying the lines of the elaborate carvings that ran along the thick pillars of the arches that held the foundation of the chamber all the while listening to the faint sound of heavy raindrops beating on the high mosaic windows.
Eventually the hours got themselves dragged to a point where evening began lurking and the last of the king’s petitioners went away and the hall became quite still. Aldous turned in his chair to look at Cwenhild. He took her hand and kissed it gently before standing up. Cwenhild imitated him and they went out together. Aldyth hurried after them, but felt quite unsteady on her feet after sitting still for so long.
Aldous was talking about the day’s petitioners, yet the queen did not appear to be hearing a word of it. He did not stop, however, until they reached the dining hall, where dinner stood ready on the table. Aldyth stood behind their chair ready to serve if anything was needed.
‘How did the meeting go?’ She heard the queen asking.
‘Oh, you know how it goes... Nothing was decided upon, my councillors are looking into our options.’
‘Right. Did you talk about anything other than refugees?’
‘Well, mostly just boring things you wouldn’t care about.’
‘Mostly?’ She pricked up her ears at that. She had an unusual ear for the unsaid, Aldyth had to give her that. If only she embrace that talent and use it for the greater good of the realm.
‘Well, it is nothing dear. Just boring old men talking.’
‘Tell me,’ she demanded her voice suddenly cold.
‘If you insist, my love. It is really nothing of consequence, you should know...’
‘Stop stalling. Out with it.’
There was a pause as the two of them looked at each other. Neither had touched their food. Aldyth held her breath waiting for the inevitable.
‘We were talking of the refugees becoming a rather big issue. Eadread is worried about it, about how many of them there are. He is afraid they could become a threat if not handled carefully. He kindly reminded me... of how weak my house stands. There is no heir...’
Cwenhild tensed visibly at that. Aldyth knew very well how sore sensitive a subject it was to her. Many people did suspect that their childlessness was simply due to the fact that they never slept together. They seem such an unharmonious couple, hardly ever seen in each other’s company safe even conversing with each other. Yet that could hardly be farther from the truth, Aldyth knew their love was great. They shared a bedroom and had tried producing an heir for a great many years, never completely giving up hope, without any luck. As their personal maid Aldyth had seen their frustration grow over the years until at last it turned to sadness.
‘What... What else did he say?’ The queen’s voice was a mere whisper.
Aldous looked at her apologetically, only answering reluctantly. ‘He said... That is, he thought... it is merely his opinion that... that I should take another wife.’
Aldyth could sense Cwenhild’s heart skipping a beat just as clearly as she saw the ears well up in her eyes. The queen could not find any words to reply, she just sat there trying to keep on breathing. It was widely know that the fault lay not on Aldous, he was known to have gotten one particular lady with child when he was still but a young prince. Yet that child was a daughter and unfit to be an heir.
Aldous seemed to feel uncomfortable with the thought as well. ‘You know how it is,’ he said slowly, ‘a king must needs have an heir... But I will not take another woman against your will, wife.’ He said the last thing in a solemn tone and Aldyth knew that he would be true to that word. By all the proud traditions of the kingdom he ought to have taken a new wife. The words only seemed to make it harder for Cwenhild to bear, though, as she began trembling visibly. So much pressure... The poor child. If she had only kept to her life as commoner.
