A Moment in Time

The slaver chuckled. 'Eadwine Aethelhard used up a few wives before he got his two boys. Caddaric is like his da. Slow to start, but he'll be quick to finish with a hot-blooded, wild Welsh girl like you in his bed!'

Wynne shook her head in despair. This was all she needed. To be introduced into a household of jealous women, most of whom were barren, and one of whom expected her only son to inherit a rich estate, providing her brother-in-law had no sons. Madoc! She reached out to him with her mind as she had done ever since Brys's perfidy. Madoc! I am not dead! Help me! Find me! There was nothing. Could she ever reach him? She had to reach him! She didn't know what else to do.

Ruari Ban decided not to go to Worcester first, for he did not want to put Wynne up for public sale. If she was indeed who she said she was, word could easily filter back to Madoc of Powys. Ruari Ban would find himself with two powerful enemies to contend with. Madoc, because he had in effect kidnapped his wife; and Brys of Cai, for having failed the bishop. Instead he sent his people and his merchandise ahead to the market town of Hereford, where he would eventually catch up with them. Wynne he took directly to Aelfdene, the estate belonging to Eadwine Aethelhard.

They arrived close to nightfall, just as the gates were closing on the estate's courtyard. Ruari Ban and Wynne were shown into the hall, where the fire pits were blazing merrily, taking the chill off the autumn evening. The slaver had been wise enough to exchange Wynne's filthy and worn under tunic for a clean one of soft lavender silk which was belted simply with a twisted rope belt of darker violet. He had given her time to wash her hair in a nearby stream and rebraid it neatly. Indeed, Wynne had taken the opportunity to bathe her entire body, ignoring Ruari Ban, who had watched her most licentiously. Her gold chain and her wedding band were securely hidden in the pocket of her clean gown.

Wynne looked curiously up at the high board as they approached it. A huge Saxon with the obvious look of a warrior sat in the place of honor. He had a large leonine head. His hair was a fine ash brown, his beard of the same hue, well-barbered. His blue eyes were frankly curious. On either side of him sat a young man, obviously his sons from the look of them. Which was which? she wondered. Then Wynne noted that next to the sullen young man who had dark blond hair was a pinch-faced young woman with one shoulder slightly higher than the other. This then would be Caddaric and his wife, Eadgyth Crookback. To Eadwine's left was a darker-haired son with his wife, a pouty-mouthed girl with thick flaxen braids and a prideful look. Baldhere and Aeldra Swanneck, Wynne thought.

'Welcome to Aelfdene, Ruari Ban!' came the deep booming voice of Eadwine Aethelhard. 'We have not seen you here in many months. I am told you travel only with this young girl.'

'I have brought her for your son, Caddaric, my lord,' replied Ruari Ban. 'This beauteous Welsh wench is the answer to all his problems.'

'Each time that my son has introduced another woman into my house, he has claimed her the answer to his difficulty, Ruari Ban. Why do you think this girl can succeed where the others have failed?' Eadwine Aethelhard looked curiously at Wynne.

'I have proof of this girl's fertility, my lord. She is with child by her former master. An odd sort who decided he wanted neither the woman nor the child she carried.' Ruari Ban lowered his voice and spoke in a confidential tone. 'He is a churchman of some prominence, my lord. You see the difficulty.'

The thegn nodded and said, 'Well, let's see her, my friend. I can tell little about her while she is clothed.' He stood up and came down from the dais.

Ruari Ban quickly unlaced the neckline of Wynne's tunic. Pulling it off her, he allowed the gown to slip to the floor about her ankles. Wynne wasn't certain that she was even breathing. This was horrendous! To be exposed before a single stranger would have been bad enough, but to be presented naked before this Saxon's entire hall was almost more than she could bear. She had never before seriously considered the plight of a slave, for her family had always treated their slaves with kindness. Still, kindness was not enough if one could be manipulated against one's will. When I am back at Raven's Rock, she thought, I must tell Madoc of this. We will keep no more slaves!

Eadwine Aethelhard walked slowly about the naked girl, his eyes taking in every nuance of her. He lifted up one of her arms, running his hand along it, examining the palm. Kneeling, he ran his hands over the backs of her legs. Standing, he looked into her face. It was a beautiful face, but her eyes were deliberately unfocused, as if she had detached herself from the entire proceeding.

'Open your mouth,' he commanded her. The eyes widened, startled, but she obeyed him. Her breath was sweet, her teeth sound, he noted. The thegn was no fool. This girl was obviously a captive and not slaveborn. Captives could be difficult. He cupped one of the girl's breasts in his palm, and her startled gaze immediately made contact with his. She blushed, the color staining her milk-white skin, but she said nothing and her green eyes again grew blank. He stood back from her now and saw the faint rounding of her belly, but was not surprised. Ruari Ban was an honest man and would not have lied about the girl's condition.

'I want her!' His son, Caddaric, was leaning across the high board, his eyes filled with lust. Next to Caddaric his daughter-in-law was looking dejected as usual. Eadwine Aethelhard wasn't surprised that Caddaric could not get a child on poor Eadgyth. She was a frail creature, but she had come to them with a dowry consisting of two and a half hides of land, and whether she lived or died, the land now belonged to them. Caddaric, however, had four strapping other women he used with vigorous regularity. So much so that the thegn had recently overheard them complaining of their lord's constant attentions. If his son were capable of fathering a child, something Eadwine had only recently begun to doubt, surely one of these other lasses could have given Caddaric a son or daughter.

'I want her, Father!' Caddaric's hoarse voice repeated. 'Buy her for me!'

'You have too many women and can seem to do nothing with any of them,' Baldhere teased his brother. 'Now I have but two lesser women. I think father should buy this one for me.'

'I do not intend buying her for either of you,' Eadwine Aethelhard answered his sons. 'I am going to buy her for me!'

'What?' Caddaric and Baldhere chorused in unison, and both of his daughters- in-law came to life, staring at him as if he had gone mad.

'Father,' ventured Aeldra Swanneck nervously, 'do you not think you are too old for a woman?'

'I am forty-three, Aeldra,' Eadwine told her, amused. 'I use the slave women and the female serfs belonging to this estate with great regularity.'

'You do?' Aeldra Swanneck looked quite surprised. 'I did not know.'

'Well, daughter, now you do. I have had no woman in my life since my good Mildraed died three years ago. I want one, and this wench will suit me quite nicely,' he concluded. He now turned his attention to Ruari Ban. 'How much?'

'Five silver pennies, my lord. She's a rare beauty, and she will take good care of you in your old age,' came the reply.

'Two silver pennies,' countered Eadwine Aethelhard. 'I am not so old yet, you Irish robber, that I could not get another son on this wench!'

'My lord Eadwine, you will beggar me, and after I have gone to all the trouble to bring this girl to you.'

'You brought her to me, Ruari Ban, because you were afraid to sell her on the open market. This is no slaveborn girl, and I am no fool. She has the hands and feet of a well-born woman. I will ask you no questions, for I want her, but do not trifle with me. Two silver pennies!' the thegn said.

'Three, my lord, I beg you! Three! You are getting two slaves for the price of one,' Ruari Ban wheedled pleadingly.

'The girl could die in childbed and I would lose them both. Three silver pennies make it a bad investment. Two and no more, or you can take her to Hereford.'

'I will pay you three!' Caddaric shouted from the high board.

His father sent him a withering look. 'You have nought but what I give you, Caddaric. Do not be a bigger fool than you already are, my son.' He looked at Ruari Ban. 'Well, slaver? What is your decision?'

Ruari Ban sighed dramatically. 'You drive a hard bargain, my lord,' he complained, 'but I will accept. I can see