Oda sighed. ‘The king was convinced you would accept his offer to be the Ealdorman of Wiltunscir! That was generous!’
‘Bebbanburg is mine,’ I said firmly.
‘Read the book, lord,’ Oda said, pushing the volume towards me. ‘Boethius was a Christian, but his book does not try to persuade you to convert. It is a book of truths, that money and power are not the right ambitions of a virtuous man, but that justice, charity and humility will bring you contentment.’
‘And the Monarchus Totius Brittaniae,’ I stumbled over the unfamiliar Latin words, ‘sends me that?’
‘His fate is to be king. A man cannot escape his fate.’
‘Wyrd bið ful ãræd,’ I answered harshly, which meant that I, like Æthelstan, could not escape my fate, ‘and my wyrd is to be Lord of Bebbanburg.’
Oda shook his head sadly. ‘I was sent with a message, lord. The king requires Bebbanburg, he needs it to be a shield against the Scots.’
‘It is already,’ I said firmly, ‘and you said Constantine had submitted to him. Why fear the Scots if they have submitted?’
‘Because they lie,’ Oda said. ‘Constantine sends messages of peace to Æthelstan and he sends men and money into Cumbria. If it comes to war he wants the Norse of Cumbria on his side.’
I had heard the same, that Constantine was seducing the Norse in Cumbria with promises of land and wealth. ‘If it comes to war,’ I said sourly, ‘Æthelstan will want me on his side.’
‘He wants Bebbanburg,’ Oda retorted.
‘Or is it Ingilmundr and Ealdred who want Bebbanburg?’
Oda hesitated, then shrugged. ‘I have told the king to trust you, and I have persuaded him to curb Ealdred.’
‘I’m supposed to be grateful to you?’
‘And the king has agreed,’ Oda ignored the question, ‘and he repeats his offer to you. Let the king garrison Bebbanburg and take Wiltunscir as your home.’
‘And if I refuse?’
‘Thus far, lord, the king has been merciful. He has declined to send his full power against this fortress. But if you defy him he will lead his army and his fleet here, and he will prove to you that he is indeed the Monarchus Totius Brittaniae.’
‘But Uhtred is his friend!’ Benedetta protested.
‘A king does not have friends, dear lady, he has subjects. Lord Uhtred must offer submission.’ He looked at me. ‘And you must offer it by the Feast of Saint Oswald, lord.’
I stared at him for a heartbeat. I wanted to say a score of things, how I had raised Æthelstan, how I had protected him from vicious enemies and steered him towards the throne. Or to ask if Æthelstan was now so captive to the whisperings of Ingilmundr and Ealdred that he would kill me. Instead, almost in disbelief, I simply asked Oda if he was telling the truth. ‘You say he’ll declare war on me?’
‘He will merely take what he believes is rightfully his, and so secure the northern frontier of his kingdom against the treachery of the Scots. And you, lord, if you submit before the Feast of Saint Oswald, can be Ealdorman of Wiltunscir. You have all summer, lord, all summer to think on it.’ He paused, then sipped his wine and smiled. ‘The wine is good! May we lodge here tonight?’
He and his men lodged that night and before Oda slept he walked with me on Bebbanburg’s ramparts, just the two of us, looking out at the moon-shivered sea. ‘Æthelstan is influenced by Ingilmundr and by Ealdred,’ Oda confessed to me, ‘and I regret that. Yet I dare say he listens to me too, which is perhaps why he’s reluctant to force your obedience.’
‘Then why—’ I began.
‘Because he is king,’ Oda interrupted firmly, ‘and as a great Christian king he cannot be seen to be indebted to a pagan lord.’
‘Alfred was,’ I said bitterly.
‘Alfred never lacked confidence,’ Oda said. ‘Æthelstan claims that he was appointed king by Almighty God, but he constantly seeks confirmation of that. There are still men who whisper that his birth was illegitimate, that he is a bastard son of a common whore, and the king looks to prove that he is indeed God’s anointed. Receiving the oaths at Burgham was one such proof, but men whisper that he tolerates paganism.’ He looked at me. ‘And how can he depend on a pagan? So he needs to show all Britain that he can command you, diminish you. And he believes, as I do, that you will accept his offer. It is a generous one!’ He paused and touched my arm. ‘What can I tell him?’
‘Just that.’
‘Just what?’
‘That his offer is a generous one.’
‘No more, lord?’
‘That I will think about it,’ I said grudgingly, and it was an honest answer even though I knew I would not accept it.
I would say nothing more and next morning, after saying prayers in Bebbanburg’s chapel, Oda left. And on the following day Finan took forty-three warriors, all of them Christians, out of the Skull Gate and into the hills.
They were riding south. To the Devil’s Valley.
‘So Æthelstan comes in August?’ Benedetta asked me.
I shook my head. ‘It’s too close to harvest time. He’ll want his army to live off our land, so he’ll wait till our granaries are full, then he’ll come. But it won’t happen.’
‘No?’
‘Æthelstan wants a war? I’ll give him one.’
Ealdred’s raids had ended, so an uneasy peace now existed between Eoferwic and Bebbanburg. I made sure that Guthfrith and Ealdred heard news of me. I went to Dunholm to talk with Sihtric and sailed Spearhafoc down the coast. The Devil’s Valley was in the western part of my land and so I stayed in the east until, three weeks after Finan had left, I gave Gerbruht, the big Frisian, my mail coat, my wolf-crested helmet and a distinctive white cloak. Gerbruht even agreed to take off his cross and wear a hammer, though only after
