The Edge of Light by Joan Wolf

Author:Joan Wolf [Wolf, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction, General, Fiction, Historical, Romance, Great Britain, Kings and Rulers, Biographical Fiction, Alfred - Fiction, Great Britain - Kings and Rulers - Fiction, Middle Ages - Fiction, Anglo-Saxons - Kings and Rulers - Fiction, Anglo-Saxons, Middle Ages
ISBN: 9780453007382
Google: G1K3GyoEgl8C
Amazon: B0078IO382
Publisher: NAL Books
Published: 1990-07-31T23:00:00+00:00

Cyneburg broke down during the funeral Mass. Her audible, brokenhearted sobbing made it much harder for Alfred to bear. He would have to settle some manors on Cyneburg, he thought, trying to distract himself, horribly afraid that he would break down also. Ethelred had left all the royal property in his hands. Alfred did not look forward to talking privately with Ethelred’s wife. He feared she might be bitter that the kingship had been taken from her son. Surely she had expected that the boy would succeed his father.

So had Alfred,

He met with Cyneburg late in the afternoon, after Ethelred had been interred within the abbey grounds. The sky was still light when he requested an interview with his sister-by-marriage and they went together into the abbey garden to talk.

“You must tell me which of the manors you would like most to live at,” Alfred said, “and I will see them made over to you by charter.”

“Thank you,” she replied, her voice expressionless.

“Cyneburg …” He looked at her helplessly. They had ever been friendly, but never close, and he felt the distance between them now most sorely, “Ethelred’s children are as dear to me as my own,” he said at last. “You must never hesitate to ask me for aught that they might need.”

They were standing facing each other before a small clump of flowering apple trees. The scent of the blossoms was sweet on the air. “I understand that the kingship must go to you, Alfred,” Cyneburg said now tonelessly. “Ethelred explained it to me and I understand. Ethelhelm is too young to take command of the country at such a perilous time. I see that. But …”

She looked at him directly for the first time since they had left the guest hall. “I want you to promise me you will name Ethelhelm as your heir,” she said.

He looked at her, his face very grave. “He is still too young, Cyneburg. If I should die in battle, it will fall to the witan to name a king who is of full age to lead the country. I cannot name a child to succeed me. Even if I did, it would not be heeded by the witan.”

“I mean …” She bit her lip. “I mean for later, for when the children are grown up.” She set her jaw and said it. “I want you to promise me you will name Ethelhelm over your Edward.”

He was surprised by the anger he felt at her request. How could she think to bind him so at such a time as this? “When the time comes to name my heir, be sure I will name the one I think is best fit to serve the country, Cyneburg,” he said. His face had a look about it that caused her to take a step back, away from him. “That is something I learned from Ethelred. And from my father. A king must ever put the good of the country above his own personal ambition.”

She looked away from him.

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