Read Online Nightfall till Daybreak (The Kingdom of the East Angles Book 2) by Jayne Castel - Free Book Online
Authors: Jayne Castel
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surface. His eyes burned with fury and for a moment Freya worried he
would leap across the table and strike his mother. Instead, he took a deep
breath and struggled to rein in his temper.
“There is only one God,” he ground out, “and we are all his
servants. You ignore his existence at your own peril. We are not prisoners of
fate, bound by pagan beliefs and outdated fears. You speak with the vehemence
of ignorance!”
“Ignorance?” Two red spots appeared on Seaxwyn’s cheeks. “It’s
not I who is ignorant Sigeberht. Only a lost soul clings to his religion like a
drowning man. I did not travel here for a sermon. There’s no sign of the son I
remember before me.”
It was as if Seaxwyn had slapped him. Sigeberht bolted to his
feet, upending his bowl of gruel on the floor as he did so.
“You never knew me,” he snarled. “I was a reminder of a life,
and a man, you hated. I saw the relief on your face the day Raedwald sent me
away. ‘Tis too late to act the loving mother now. I know you for the cold, hard
bitch that you are!”
With that, Sigeberht kicked his stool aside and stormed from
the hall. He left a chill silence in his wake.
Chapter Seven
Aidan slowed his horse to a trot and caught sight of the
straw-thatched roof of the Great Hall glinting in the distance. From his
vantage point on the brow of a hill, Aidan could see Rendlaesham’s walls rising
from the trees in the shallow valley below. It was late afternoon and smoke
wreathed into the pale sky as townsfolk lit their fires for the evening. Around
Rendlasham spread a patchwork of fields and orchards, nestled in soft folds of
land.
A moon’s cycle had passed since Sigeberht had taken the
throne; spring deepened towards the fullness of summer and life in his new home
had settled into a routine. Aidan liked Britannia. He appreciated the gentle
beauty of this land. Rendlaesham had welcomed him and his men, despite that
many of them, Aidan included, were foreign.
Aidan glanced across at Lothar. His friend rode at his side,
leading a pony with a boar slung over its back. The Frank had settled into
Rendlaesham so quickly that it had felt like a homecoming rather than an
arrival. He already had learned a few words of the local tongue, a language
Aidan had learned from Sigeberht as a boy, and had wasted no time in finding a
pretty wench to woo. Aedilhild was the winsome daughter of the town’s baker.
She had many men interested in her, yet Aedilhild appeared taken with Lothar.
Aidan wondered how long it would be before the Frank wedded her and set up his
own household in Rendlaesham.
For himself, Aidan had no such plans.
I rallied a force of loyal warriors for Sigeberht.
I brought his army across the water and led them to victory against Ricberht , Aidan thought
with a stab of impatience. He promised to reward me – so why hasn’t he?
He wanted Sigeberht to give him the title of ealdorman; an
elevated position indeed if he remembered his beginnings as Sigeberht’s theow .
Becoming an ealdorman would mean leaving Rendlaesham, and setting up his own
hall elsewhere in the kingdom. It would mean leaving Sigeberht’s side. Yet, it
appeared that the king was not yet ready to relinquish him.
“It will be a pleasant eve for a feast.” Aidan pushed thoughts
of his future aside, and gestured to the boar they had skewered with the help
of the group of men and dogs that trailed behind them. Their hunting
expedition, which had kept them away from Rendlaesham for the past three days,
had not been as successful as Aidan had hoped; they only had a boar and two
deer for their efforts.
“Hopefully our lord is in the mood for one,” Lothar replied,
raising a fair eyebrow. “His humor has been dark of late.”
Aidan nodded and the two men shared a look. Ever since Seaxwyn
and his step-cousins’ return to their hall in Snape, the king had brooded.
Rather than enjoying his newfound kingdom, Sigeberht behaved as if he had just
bitten into a
would leap across the table and strike his mother. Instead, he took a deep
breath and struggled to rein in his temper.
“There is only one God,” he ground out, “and we are all his
servants. You ignore his existence at your own peril. We are not prisoners of
fate, bound by pagan beliefs and outdated fears. You speak with the vehemence
of ignorance!”
“Ignorance?” Two red spots appeared on Seaxwyn’s cheeks. “It’s
not I who is ignorant Sigeberht. Only a lost soul clings to his religion like a
drowning man. I did not travel here for a sermon. There’s no sign of the son I
remember before me.”
It was as if Seaxwyn had slapped him. Sigeberht bolted to his
feet, upending his bowl of gruel on the floor as he did so.
“You never knew me,” he snarled. “I was a reminder of a life,
and a man, you hated. I saw the relief on your face the day Raedwald sent me
away. ‘Tis too late to act the loving mother now. I know you for the cold, hard
bitch that you are!”
With that, Sigeberht kicked his stool aside and stormed from
the hall. He left a chill silence in his wake.
Chapter Seven
Aidan slowed his horse to a trot and caught sight of the
straw-thatched roof of the Great Hall glinting in the distance. From his
vantage point on the brow of a hill, Aidan could see Rendlaesham’s walls rising
from the trees in the shallow valley below. It was late afternoon and smoke
wreathed into the pale sky as townsfolk lit their fires for the evening. Around
Rendlasham spread a patchwork of fields and orchards, nestled in soft folds of
land.
A moon’s cycle had passed since Sigeberht had taken the
throne; spring deepened towards the fullness of summer and life in his new home
had settled into a routine. Aidan liked Britannia. He appreciated the gentle
beauty of this land. Rendlaesham had welcomed him and his men, despite that
many of them, Aidan included, were foreign.
Aidan glanced across at Lothar. His friend rode at his side,
leading a pony with a boar slung over its back. The Frank had settled into
Rendlaesham so quickly that it had felt like a homecoming rather than an
arrival. He already had learned a few words of the local tongue, a language
Aidan had learned from Sigeberht as a boy, and had wasted no time in finding a
pretty wench to woo. Aedilhild was the winsome daughter of the town’s baker.
She had many men interested in her, yet Aedilhild appeared taken with Lothar.
Aidan wondered how long it would be before the Frank wedded her and set up his
own household in Rendlaesham.
For himself, Aidan had no such plans.
I rallied a force of loyal warriors for Sigeberht.
I brought his army across the water and led them to victory against Ricberht , Aidan thought
with a stab of impatience. He promised to reward me – so why hasn’t he?
He wanted Sigeberht to give him the title of ealdorman; an
elevated position indeed if he remembered his beginnings as Sigeberht’s theow .
Becoming an ealdorman would mean leaving Rendlaesham, and setting up his own
hall elsewhere in the kingdom. It would mean leaving Sigeberht’s side. Yet, it
appeared that the king was not yet ready to relinquish him.
“It will be a pleasant eve for a feast.” Aidan pushed thoughts
of his future aside, and gestured to the boar they had skewered with the help
of the group of men and dogs that trailed behind them. Their hunting
expedition, which had kept them away from Rendlaesham for the past three days,
had not been as successful as Aidan had hoped; they only had a boar and two
deer for their efforts.
“Hopefully our lord is in the mood for one,” Lothar replied,
raising a fair eyebrow. “His humor has been dark of late.”
Aidan nodded and the two men shared a look. Ever since Seaxwyn
and his step-cousins’ return to their hall in Snape, the king had brooded.
Rather than enjoying his newfound kingdom, Sigeberht behaved as if he had just
bitten into a
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