Chapter Two
There was a hint of spring in the March air. It even smelled like it. Birds flitted across the clear blue sky, almost as if they knew the warmth had returned.
Ariel smiled as she walked to where Osbern held practice lessons. It seemed to take her longer to go anywhere. With her belly quite large now, it made her very clumsy.
Almost as if the baby knew she thought about it, it gave her a few kicks. She reassuring patted her belly and mentally told it to be patient. It would not be long now. The village healer had told her to expect the baby’s arrival any day.
At the field, Ariel stopped to watch two men from the village sparing with battle axes. Though farmers, the men were trained to use the axe at a very early age. As part of the fryd, they needed to know how to wage war, as well as work a field.
Her lessons had ended a few weeks before. Her father had said enough was enough. Osbern had also refused to teach her anything more until after the birth of her baby. They might have been able to stop her from handling a sword, but they could do nothing about her watching others. Ariel had come every day since her lessons had ended. She needed to learn more. She had formed a plan shortly after the messenger had arrived with his news.
Osbern left the two men and approached her. “Must you come all the time, my lady? I thought you would have other things on your mind, what with the babe soon on its way.”
“Nay. I cannot wait until I can take up arms again.”
Osbern shook his head and turned his attention back to the two villagers.
Ariel smiled. Osbern was gruff around most people, but with her, he was always polite. He was a big man, which was not surprising. It was hard not to be when you were the master of arms. For a man in his middle years, his arms were still thick with muscle. His whole body was covered with muscle. As if that was not intimidating enough, he stood well over six foot. She wondered how many men would actually want to face him in battle.
“Osbern, I have a request.”
“What would you like, my lady?”
“After the babe is born and my lessons begin again, I would like to be fitted for armor.”
“What do you mean fitted for armor?”
“You know perfectly well what I mean. I want a full-sized shield, not the smaller one I have been using, chain mail and helmet, all of it.”
“Why? I thought this just gave you something to do, my lady.”
“Nay, it is more than that. I intend to use what you taught me, and I must be able to do it properly outfitted.”
Ariel turned and left Osbern to ponder exactly what she had meant by her request.
* * * *
At barely dawn the next day, Ariel found herself unable to sleep any longer. She lay in her bed and wondered what had brought her out of a deep sleep. The sensation of her stomach tightening, followed by a sharp cramp, it soon became obvious what was happening. The baby had decided it was time to make itself known.
After the pain subsided, Ariel reached for her shift and then slowly donned it. About to cross the floor to her door, another pain hit her. This one was stronger than the first.
Not waiting for it to end, Ariel reached the door and opened it. “Father, I need you!” Even before the words had left her mouth, another pain hit her, followed by a gush of water.
Swein came to her chamber door, raking his fingers through his hair. He looked at the puddle of water at her feet and then back up at her face. She was sure it showed the pain she felt.
“I’ll get the healer. You go back to bed.”
“Nay, don’t leave me.”
Swein put a reassuring arm about her shoulders as she looked at him. Gaining the attention of one of the serfs in the hall, he said, “Go to the village and get the healer. Tell her my daughter has need of her.”
The woman turned and ran out of the hall. After she left, Swein gently led Ariel back to her chamber. By the time the village healer arrived, Ariel was well into the birthing process. Her father seemed surprised by how fast things were progressing. He had told her he had sat by her mother’s side while she had given birth to her. According to him, it had taken most of a day for Ariel to finally arrive.
At the sight of the thane sitting beside his daughter’s bed, holding her hand, the healer shook her head. “It’s time for you to leave, my lord.”
“Nay. I watched her come into this world and I will watch my grandchild enter it as well.”
“It is not proper.” Ariel tightly clutched her father’s hand. Shrugging, the healer went to stand at the foot of the bed. After lifting Ariel’s shift to her knees, the woman reached between Ariel’s legs. “She seems to be further along than I expected.”
“That is what I thought. She woke up a few minutes before I sent for you.”
“My lady must have slept through the early stages and woke up when the pains became intense. It happens sometimes.” Ariel let out a moan. “From the look of things, it will not be long now.”
The wait turned out to not be long at all. A few minutes later, Ariel bore down. Swein talked calmly to her, encouraging her as she struggled to push her child into the world. Once the baby finally slid out of her body, she let out a grunt of satisfaction. She lay back and closed her eyes.
At the sound of the infant’s first cries, Ariel opened her eyes. “What is it?”
“You have a fine big son, my lady.” The healer wiped the baby clean and then wrapped him in a blanket. She placed the small bundle into Ariel’s arms.
Looking at her son, tears came to her eyes. He was beautiful. He had tawny-blond hair, and his small face was the very image of the knight’s. The baby opened his eyes, and Ariel stifled the gasp that rose within her. Gold eyes stared up at her, so much like his father’s.
“Well, Ariel, what are you going to call my fine-looking grandson?”
“Colwyn. He is quite handsome, is he not?”
“That he is. Rest now, my sweet. I am sure there is a crowd outside the hall just waiting to hear about Colwyn.”
As her father left, Ariel let the healer take Colwyn from her arms and then slipped into a well-deserved sleep.
* * * *
Ariel spent the next four weeks getting to know her son and letting her body heal. To her greatest surprise, she found nursing Colwyn one of the most rewarding things she had ever done. Her son became the center of her life. The love she felt for him grew stronger each day.
At the sound of the baby’s gurgle, Ariel watched her father talk to Colwyn. Swein had the baby cradled in his arms while he showed the infant the hall.
“You pay attention, little man. One day this will be yours.”
“Father, Colwyn is too young to understand what you are saying.”
“He might be now, but he will not always be. I want him to know what his birthright is. He must never forget.”
The sting of being a bastard was what her father wanted to prevent. Swein wanted to shield Colwyn from it. Ariel had been debating with herself whether or not to tell her father about the knight. One of the reasons she had kept silent was from embarrassment. What would her think? She had given herself to an unknown man without giving it a second thought. He had every right to disown her. Even though she had been dressed as a peasant, she should have made her real status known to the knight.
As Swein had sat on one of the benches, Ariel went and took a seat beside him. “I guess it’s time we talked about Colwyn’s father.”
“Only if you are ready to do so. I would never force you to tell me if you were not.”
“I know you would not.” Ariel shifted until she faced her father. “You need to know. It is something I am not proud of. The only good to come out of it is Colwyn. I met him in the meadow. I had just finished helping in the fields. A knight came out of the forest, a Norman knight. He was unlike any other man I had ever seen. I think it was his eyes that first drew me.” She could no longer look her father in the face. “I knew what the knight wanted. I just did not stop him. He gave me this before he left.”
Ariel reached into the bodice of her gown and pulled out the ring, the one she always wore around her neck. She did not know why she kept it, but once she found herself with child she could not give it up. It was all she had that was a clue to the knight’s identity.
Swein released Ariel’s hand and reached for the ring. The ruby eye of the unicorn flashed as he moved it closer. “He did not tell you his name?”
“Nay. The ring is all he left as to who he is. I did not give him my name either.”
Swein dropped the ring so it hung from Ariel’s neck once more. “You want to find him again, do you not?”
“Aye. At some point I do, but there is something I want to do first.” Ariel slipped off the bench and kneeled before her father. She placed her hands on his knees and beseechingly looked at him. “I want to go with the fryd when it is called to assemble.”
He had to have been expecting that. He had to have known why she had requested armor. It was almost finished, waiting only for Ariel to return to her lessons.
“If you must, you must. I will not stop you. Osbern says you have a talent for it, but I need to know one thing. What will become of Colwyn when you leave?”
“I will only be gone two months. He can stay here with you. We can find him a wet nurse. I will nurse him until I have to leave.”
“You will not be able to continue to after you come back. Your milk will have dried up.”
“I know. That is one drawback. The other will be leaving you and Colwyn behind.”
“Can I assume you will be leading our men?”
“If you do not mind.”
Swein shook his head and chuckled. “Nay, but there is one condition. Osbern will go with you and fight by your side. I will not lose you now that we are close again. With your mother gone, you and Colwyn are all I have.”
Ariel stood and wrapped her arms around her father’s neck. “I love you, Father. I will do as you wish.” She looked at Colwyn, who was still cradled in Swein’s arms, to find him asleep. “I see someone decided it was his bedtime. Maybe I should retire for the night as well. I start training again tomorrow. Osbern wants me to start very early.”
Swein stood and gently placed Colwyn into her arms. “You will need your rest. I have told Osbern to train you as if you were a boy. It will be a lot harder than what you did in the past. I have arranged for one of the villager’s daughters to help you with Colwyn. So I will bid you goodnight, Daughter.”
* * * *
Broc watched the carpenters work at the River Dives where Duke William had ordered his fleet to be built. It had taken much argument for even this to be brought about. To say the barons had not been agreeable was an understatement. The first meeting William had with them had taken place in February, and had been an utter failure. A second meeting was suggested. It had gone a little better than the first, but not by much.
The duke had presented his many complaints against Harold, mainly his right to his kingship. He stressed that Harold had usurped his throne. He had taken a kingdom that rightly belonged to William, but all the barons had cared about was the profit to be made in the venture. Most did not think it was worth the risk.
The main complaint of the barons—their feudal duty did not include fighting overseas. Most thought the crossing would be too dangerous, because it had never been done before. They thought England would be too strong to defeat, and the attempt to do so would ruin them all.
Broc chuckled to himself as he recalled what William FitzOsbern had told him how he had gotten the barons to support the duke. FitzOsbern had tricked them into making him their spokesman. Instead of supporting their complaints, he had addressed William in terms of servile loyalty. He had said he would provide the duke with sixty ships full of fighting men, and the barons would not only cross the sea, but bring twice the number of men duty demanded. The barons, of course, had shouted their disagreement so uproariously the meeting had had to be ended.
William had then summoned the barons one by one to him, speaking to each alone. Without the support of the others, each could not win the battle of wills with the duke. In the end, they each promised him a certain number of knights and foot soldiers. Most declined the offer to go with the duke, but they send a son or some other relation to lead their men. One of the other promises he had wrung out of them had been to build enough ships for the crossing, which was now being built.
William had sent Broc to see how they were progressing. From the look of things, the fleet would be ready for the summer crossing. The ships were based on the Normans’ ancestors, the Vikings, designs, double ended with high curved sterns and sternposts. Most were decorated with dragons’ heads and tails. Each had a mast and sail since none were to be rowed. To sail them across the Channel to England, a south wind needed to blow or the fleet would not move.