Aldfrith clenched his jaw. Anger smoldered in the pit of his belly. Cerdic was coming perilously close to receiving a black eye. “I’m happy to oblige. You can go now, Cerdic.”
Only, the warrior did not leave. He stood, legs apart, staring Aldfrith down with a look that only served to make the king’s mood darken further. “I didn’t mean that as an insult, sire. Only that I’m pleased to see you’ve flown down from your eyrie to join the rest of us.”
Aldfrith gaped at him, momentarily lost for words. But Cerdic had not yet finished. “Admit it, you’ve not been right since Osana left,” Cerdic continued, his tone softening.
Aldfrith flinched. He did not want to hear this. “I thought you once shared Wilfrid’s view of her?” he growled.
Cerdic’s expression tightened. “Aye … I once saw things more like the bishop—that a king needs to wed a woman of equal rank, a high born woman who will serve to weave peace or extend territories. But I see things differently now.”
Silence fell between them.
Aldfrith inhaled sharply. He did not want to hear this. “You’re not helping,” he said finally. “I need to forget Osana, not pine for her.”
Cerdic snorted. “In my experience, once a woman gets under your skin, you can’t forget her … and the harder you try, the worse it’ll get.”
Aldfrith cursed under his breath. “There must be a cure for this … something I can do.” Truthfully, he was so miserable these days he was ready to try almost anything. All his ideals, everything he had once believed, no longer mattered to him. The wall he had so painstakingly built around his heart could not be rebuilt.
Watching him, Cerdic favored Aldfrith with a rueful smile. “There’s only one cure sire … you know what you must do.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Why Are You Here?
AT THE SIGHT of the wooden perimeter around Jedworth, Aldfrith tensed. Sensing the change in its rider’s mood, his horse shifted under him. The stallion side-stepped, tossing its head.
Aldfrith inhaled deeply, breathing in the scents of warm earth, grass, and horse, before glancing right at Cerdic. “Remind me why this is wise?”
The warrior smiled. “No one said this was wise, sire.”
“Then why am I here?”
Cerdic’s smile widened in reply, yet he did not answer.
They both knew the answer to that. It was not wise—it was necessary.
Aldfrith loosed the breath he had been holding and urged his stallion forward, leading the way in through Jedworth’s south gate. He had brought a small group of men with him, just his most trusted warriors, and he traveled without banners or fanfare. To most onlookers, he appeared a well-dressed thegn traveling north. Aldfrith hoped to avoid the ealdorman of Jedworth on this trip.
Aldfrith did not want distractions. He needed to focus on the purpose that had driven him west from Bebbanburg.
His stomach knotted when he thought about what lay ahead. He recalled the last time he had seen Osana, the cold fury on her face that she would not voice.
“What if she doesn’t want to see me?” He voiced the question aloud, without meaning to.
They rode along a dirt street now, beside a river that sparkled in the noon sun.
“That’s a possibility,” Cerdic agreed.
Aldfrith frowned at him.
Ahead, the northern perimeter of the town loomed, and there—as Cerdic had described—was a long, squat building with a thatched roof, surrounded by a garden and huts. A woman was walking down the path, carrying a basket.
Aldfrith’s heart leaped at the sight of her, but as he drew closer his pulse slowed. It was not Osana. The woman before him had grey hair and a hard face. Yet there was a family resemblance in her stance, her wide hazel eyes.
The woman eyeballed him as he drew up outside her gate. Then her gaze flicked over to Cerdic beside him and recognition flared. Her mouth pursed, and when she spoke, her voice was as unwelcome as her expression. “What are you doing back here?”
“Niece … there’s someone here to see you!”
Hagona’s voice reached Osana as she knelt amongst the garlic patch, pulling weeds. This part of the garden lay behind her aunt’s hall, almost in the shadow of the wooden palisade that ringed the town.
