Hope for the Hopeless :: Finan the Agile

Chapter 12

The guards had not allowed Síofra into the great hall when she had first gone to see Ælfwynn. Luckily though, Eadith had seen her at the doors as she had come back from informing Uhtred, and told them that Síofra was a healer there to help the girl. Apparently King Edward had sent for every healer in the town, so the guards did not want to go against his orders.

Síofra had tried to keep Ælfwynn comfortable until the Lady Æthelflead had arrived that night. She had given the girl a tonic of honey, rosemary, and ginger root. When they all awoke in the morning, the girl was thankfully feeling better and looked to be on the mend.

Síofra had decided to take a walk, to rid herself of some of the stress that had plagued her ever since she had heard Ælfwynn had been brought to Ægelesburg. She had just reached the landing of the great hall when she heard voices from below.

She was a curious woman by nature, so she could not help herself as she inched toward the balcony. There, King Edward was standing with Lady Ælswith, a child at her side. It took Síofra only a moment to realise that the child was Æthelstan.

Síofra's heart skipped a beat. No, they could not take the boy. She could not lose another child. Ever since he had asked her to be his mother, Síofra had begun thinking of herself as such. She knew she was not blessed enough for a good thing to stay!

"Who is this?" King Edward asked, staring beseechingly at Æthelstan.

"This is Æthelstan." Lady Ælswith's voice shook along with Síofra's hands.

King Edward's eyes raged, but the rest of his disposition remained calm and collected. Síofra prayed that he would have mercy on the boy, for he was an innocent in the travesty of his situation. King Edward was not so harsh though. "He cannot be here."

"I know it is difficult for you to acknowledge him," Lady Ælswith tried to reason with her son, "but I wondered, now that certain threats are absent, perhaps the moment has come for you to be reconciled."

No. Síofra wanted to scream, fight. Take Æthelstan far away and live in peace from the politics of his birth. She knew she could not though. She was robbed of growing up without the mother who gave birth to her; if Æthelstan had a chance to have that in some capacity, she could not rip him away from his father.

Lady Ælswith continued despite her son's protests and Síofra's aching heart, "he has lived a life of lies, and that must be righted. I was wrong to wrench you apart, and it is something I deeply regret. I thought my past actions were protecting you and Wessex, that I acted in the name of God."

Síofra had heard the previous Lady of Wessex was a most pious woman, but wrenching a child away from his parents was despicable, no matter if the child was a bastard or not. A child was a gift, no matter their legitimacy. She now wondered if Ælswith had a hand in banishing Osferth to a monastery as well. Síofra did not like the woman, not one bit.

"God put love in your heart for your first wife, and this child."

He does not want them! Síofra was crying now, despite her best efforts not to. Her chest constricted, and she realised she wasn't even breathing.

If Edward had wanted to reconcile with the boy, he had the power to seek Æthelstan out long before now. The Lady was just torturing the boy by bringing him before his father at this time. The forgiveness that she was asking for made Síofra angry, for it was only to soothe her conscience; if she knew her son, then she would know he could not do as she asked. As the chosen mother of Æthelstan, she knew in her heart she could not grant forgiveness on his behalf.

But she was not a participant in the conversation. She was a nobody to King Edward and Lady Ælswith. That did not diminish the sentiment of her love for the boy though.