Reine des Anglais

Goodnight.

ᛁᛊᚨᛒᛖᚢ
          It had been eight months since Sweyn had died and Canute had picked the crown up from his father's blood, from Askeladd's blood. Eight months since Thorfinn had been sentenced to servitude.
In that time- Isabeau had given birth to a precious, perfect baby girl.
They had named her Wulfwynn.
Her birth had been simple- it had been her greatest joy, and at the same time it had been a complete and utter heartbreak. It made her miss her son, Frederick all the more. It made her feel guilty for her joy at the birth of her daughter because she didn't have her son with her, by her side.
She had tried to send for him, but Emma had sent back a curse to her half sister for the death of her husband. Swearing that she would keep Frederick from England as long as she could.
The former Prince Edmund had apparently been stirring up trouble in Normandy and the surrounding countries as well, attempting to buy his way back to England with his father's army.
Isabeau found it laughable. She had met Edmund once before- he had even proposed to her when they were young. It had been when Isabeau had gone for a visit with her siblings, when Emma had given birth to young former Prince Edward. She had run away and told Richard about it out of nervousness and a desire to keep behind her brother's protection- and then her betrothal to Henry, Count of Luxembourg had been arranged before she even got back to Normandy.
They were directly preventing me from becoming Queen of England back then, probably because their mother commanded it... as such I can only imagine how furious they must be now. Isabeau smiled slightly thinking of Emma screaming in fury about how their fortunes had flipped. It made her happy in an almost wicked way. Emma and Richard had always been the faces of their mother's hatred of her. Her other siblings, even her step-mother's other children, had never hated her as much as Emma and Richard had. They were the oldest son and oldest daughter so they were treated as 'leaders' of the sibling set, Richard of the sons and Emma of the daughters.
It wasn't a fond era of memories for Isabeau, but it was over now.
Now she was happy.
Canute was sitting at his desk sorting through a few announcements and letters, making notes for himself in runic. Isabeau couldn't read it fluently, but she could enough to recognize Wulfwynn's name in his notes.
"What're you saying about our daughter?" Isabeau asked as she set forward.
"Various lords asking for her betrothal to their sons." Canute answered as he set the pen aside.
"I suppose we should have expected that." Isabeau sighed as she walked over to stand behind him, sliding her arms around her shoulders and leaning against him to see what was written. "I'd prefer if we don't betroth her too quickly. I'd like to find the best offer we can for her."
"I agree." Canute kissed her temple softly. "There's a letter from Wales for you. It's in Welsh, so no one else can read it."
Isabeau flipped the letter over in her hands as she took a seat, breaking the wax seal and reading it over. It was Gratianus congratulating both her and her husband on their ascension to the throne of England, and on the safe and healthy birth of their precious daughter- and then promptly reminding them not to forget Wales. In a short note at the bottom of the letter, he mentioned how many young princes Wales had that they should consider.
Of course, Isabea smiled slightly as she folded the letter and set it aside.
          "Your highnesses!" A woman's voice was ringing through the halls of the small palace in Kent that Canute had built in honour of his father.
Isabeau looked over at her husband tiredly. "What is it now?"
"I don't actually know," Canute admitted as he took her hand, looking at the door as it was thrown open.
"News from the southern coast!" The maid exclaimed, thrusting the paper in her hands to Canute as Thorkell rushed in excitedly. "Prince Edmund- former Prince Edmund has landed! He's styling himself King of England and he has his father's army!"
Isabeau's eyes widened and she looked up at her husband as he read over the message, which said just what the maid had told them.
"We're insulated enough here by loyal men that the Princess will be safe," Canute assured her before she could even ask.
Isabeau nodded and took the message when he held it out to her. "It's a simple enough announcement. What's the next move for us, my love?"
"We should attack before Edmund has a chance to." Thorkell said loudly before Canute could speak up. "It would be a show of your power as King of England."
Canute thought for a moment. "Isabeau. You've been on campaign both with me and in Luxembourg- what would you do?"
"I agree with Thorkell." Isabeau said honesty. "There will be a war, as long as Edmund is alive and well it's unavoidable- but if you can start with and maintain the upper hand it will all but guarantee a victory for you. For us. I would also advise that you don't be afraid to utilise the fact that we have Wulfwynn, the fact that Emma is keeping my son from me. Edmund is unmarried, he has no illegitimate children either. A rumour that he cannot father children will go far for our cause when up against another young king with a daughter already. If things stay calm enough for us, a ceremony to officially make Wulfwynn a princess would also do wonders for our cause. Consider-"
"This is all how a woman wages war." Thorkell rolled his eyes. "Let Floki and I lose on the battlefield and you'll get your results."
"Warcraft is more than brute strength, although I won't deny or downplay its importance." Isabeau said as she stood up. "I'll have clothing prepared for campaign right away."
"You're coming?" Thorkell looked down at her.
"Of course I am. I'm a trained field medic and seeing their Queen will only serve to boost the morale of the troops." She kissed Canute's cheek softly. "We should leave in the next few days."
Canute met her eyes for a moment and nodded. "I'll speak to Floki tomorrow morning. Thorkell, prepare your men for war."
Thorkell grinned and left the room, rubbing his hands together.
The maid curtsied and left the room as well, lifting her skirts as she walked.
          "Are you entirely sure, Isabeau?" Canute asked his wife gently as he drew her close. "You're still only a few months removed from your labours- I don't have an expectation of you to follow me to this battlefield."
"It's my duty as a Viking Queen." Isabeau shook her head as she held onto his shoulders. "I want to spend the rest of the day with Wulfwynn, though. Every evening until we leave, I want to be with her."
Canute nodded in agreement. "We won't stay too far from her for too long, if we can help it." He lifted her chin and kissed her. "I'm glad I won't be apart from you long, Isabeau."
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Me too." She let him kiss her again, smiling as his hands began sliding around to her back, loosening the laces on her back. "Aren't we going to spend the day with Wulfwynn?" She murmured against his lips.
"Mm- soon." Canute said as he smiled, meeting her eyes for a moment. "As long as you're alright with that?"
"I am."
ᛁᛊᚨᛒᛖᚢ
          Isabea washed her hands off in the bucket of well water a soldier had raised up for her.
It had been a month since and and Canute had embarked on their war- apparently Emma had given her stepson money to hire more of an army, which meant that victory wasn't going to be quick or decisive for some time.
On top of all of that, Isabeau's heart now longed for both of her children. She held onto the edge of the well and bowed her head forward, taking a deep breath. Breaking down into tears wouldn't suit her now- it wouldn't suit her role here, it wouldn't suit morale, it wouldn't suit her husband.
"I saw you tending the infirm." A soldier said from the other side of the well.
Isabeau lifted her head and wiped her hands on her dress. She had decided to wear black when tending to the sick and wounded as it would show less stains and help her look less terrifying to men who were on the brink of death. "Yes. Is there someone new in need of care?" She stood up straight and took a breath to re-centre herself.
The man smirked, walking a quarter of the way around the well to get a better look at her. "Suppose I do?"
"You don't seem injured." Isabeau's eyebrows raised. "Are you sick?"
"I could show you what I need tended to- in my tent." The soldier approached her, touching a piece of hair hanging in front of her face.
"My husband wouldn't approve." Isabeau took a step back, her expression now one of stone. "Neither would I."
"You're a medic on a battlefield. Where's your husband- back in Denmark? He'll never even know." The man scoffed and grabbed her wrist to keep her from continuing to back away from him.
"My husband is King Canute." Isabeau growled at him. "Unhand me."
The soldier laughed. "I've heard his wife is a noble lady from Normandy- you're a wench at a well washing blood off her hands." The man grabbed hold of her to try and force her back to his tent.
"Unhand me!" Isabeau screamed now, scratching at the man's face with her free hand as she kicked at him to get away. Not that either way useful- the man was a Viking. "Get off! I am your Queen! Release me!"
The soldier laughed as he struggled with her. The fight she was putting up was actually making it harder to drag her with him- which was beginning to frustrate him.
"Arni!" Floki's voice came from a short distance away. "What are you doing?"
"She's a medic claiming she's our queen." Arni dropped her to the ground but kept her wrist clenched in his hand.
"She is." Floki informed him evenly. "This is Isabeau of Normandy. Queen of England."
The moment of surprise gabe Isabeau the opportunity to rip her hand from Arni's grasp and stand up, scrambling a few steps away. "Floki. Take this man into custody."
"Your highness, Arni is an extremely talented fighter." Floki turned towards her, still showing no real emotion about the situation. "Perhaps you could find it in yourself to-"
"She said to take him into custody, Floki." Canute appeared behind the group. "Do it." He walked over to them and took his wife's waist, tugging her close protectively.
"Your highness, I didn't know!" Arni said, turning towards his king.
"I already forbade my soldiers from forcing themselves on women while in my army." Canute reminded him sternly. "And from capturing them as slaves. Which I can assume was your intention once you had finished assaulting my wife."
Isabeau glanced up at Canute. She found it slightly ironic that he was forbidding selling people into slavery seeing as he had sentenced Thorfinn to servitude. Her guess was it had to do with his guilt at that decision, especially because he had been forced into it by Floki and the nobility around him who had witnessed the act.
"Perhaps that's the sentence we should pass on him," she said as she looked at the man with steely eyes. "Three years of servitude to the crown... in Denmark."
"Is that what you want?" Canute lifted her chin, meeting her eyes.
"It is. It'll teach him the lesson he needs to learn." Isabeau nodded, holding on to his shoulders.
"Your highness!" Arni shouted in disbelief as Floki reluctantly motioned to two nearby soldiers who grabbed his arms. "It was a mistake! King Canute!"
"Get him out of our sight." Canute ordered, still holding his wife protectively.
          They stood together in silence as they dragged the man away shouting and pleading with them not to do this.
"You need something that will mark you as my queen, Isabeau. I have other circlets- you'll wear one." Canute said as he took her hand. "I understand why you don't wear your wedding ring when you're amputating, and why you wear such plain clothes- but there has to be a better option than this."
"I can try a circlet, and maybe a short chain for my wedding ring so I can wear it around my neck- but if I wear anything nicer than plain cotton it'll be too difficult to get blood stains or sick stink out of." She shook her head and sighed. "We'll just need to make sure the men know my face. Perhaps a guard with me around the camps would be the best move." She rubbed her forehead. That would have been Thorfinn, had he still been here. The soldiers she knew and trusted were Thorkell's men- and they were with Thorkell in the thick of the fighting. They'd need to be careful in choosing a guard for her.
"We'll meet with a few men tomorrow to see who seems trustworthy. I'd pick Geoffrey but I'd like to keep him with Wulfwynn for the time being." Canute said softly, releasing her hair from the tie she had it in. "For now- you should rest. More soldiers will be arriving here tomorrow and it won't do for you to collapse from exhaustion."
"I finally have longer hair than you." Isabeau smiled slightly as they stepped into their tent, sitting on the edge of the grand bed that had been brought along for them- it was made of a sturdier cot and adorned with furs. She found it ridiculous but couldn't complain about some comfort in the midst of a war- it would probably be the only comfort she would know until Ethelred and his sons had been vanquished for good.
She needed to be careful here, as well. She knew that Canute had brought this with them so that he could still bed her in a setting that was comfortable for them both- getting pregnant on this campaign would be borderline deadly, and she knew that.
Isabeau let out a tired sigh and dropped onto her back. The fur was warm from the firepit Canute had ordered to be like about an hour ago. It almost reminded her of their wedding night.
That had been an exhausting affair- Canute had worn his helmet through the entire ceremony and had been trembling when they had had to join hands and have them bound together. Even drinking from the same goblet had been something he had flinched from. When they had been put in their tent, he had hid behind the screen to change into his sleeping clothes. He had been terrified of her. That terror had subsided within a day or two- but it had been replaced by total indifference. She had been prepared to flee to the closest monastery to hide when the opportunity arose, but in the end she hadn't needed to. When they had found each other, when they had truly seen each other, it had been a moment of beauty for Isabeau. The actual act of it had been slightly awkward, although Canute readily listened when she asked him to make adjustments. They had sat together, wrapped in the fur blanket the Welsh had placed in their room and held each other. It had been the first time that Isabeau had felt a spark of love in her heart for Canute- his gentleness, his kindness, the concern he showed for her comfort and happiness. When they had finally had sex, it had been the first time she had genuinely enjoyed spending the night with her husband. Henry had only cared about conceiving their son, and hadn't cared if he hurt her in the process.
The fact that Canute had cared almost exclusively about her had been a shock to her. His continued care and concern for her had been a shock as well- although it was something she had gotten used to. There was a part of her that was almost waiting for the other shoe to drop and for him to realise it was a ruse to show how soldiers and nobles a happy and beautiful queen who provided them no cumbersome treaties while they were in a war- but by now she could recognise that his feeling for her were genuine.
"Your field medic work isn't going to be too much for you, right?" Canute lifted her chin as she sat on the edge of her bed. "You look tired."
"I am tired, but it's our duty to serve the soldiers the same as they serve us." Isabeau shook her head and took his hand, pressing a quick kiss to it. "A queen doesn't have much of a role on a battlefield. This is how I make sure I'm not a burden."
He smiled softly as he looked over her face. "You could never be a burden to me, my love." He kissed her forehead softly. "We should both get some sleep. I want to make sure you're getting enough rest throughout all of this."
Isabeau nodded and let out a long breath, removing her dress to leave herself just in her chemise to sleep. "As long as you sleep beside me."
"I will be." Canute removed his outer layers and chainmail before lying beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist from behind. "I love you."
"I love you too," Isabeau smiled softly as she closed her eyes. "Goodnight."