Wulf and Cailin were alone, for the others had returned to their own villages after the Winterfest. Cailin missed Nuala. Nellwyn, though sweet and loyal, was not particularly interesting to chat with by the fire. Aurora, however, adored her, and without anything being said, Cailin’s former slave became the child’s nursemaid. It was just as well, for Cailin did not need a personal servant. Her mother had raised her to be a useful person who could do for herself. Now, as mistress of Cadda-wic, Cailin found herself responsible for the well-being of all those in her charge.
Finally the days began to grow discernibly longer. The air felt milder. Patches of earth became visible, and the snow cover shrank rapidly as the earth began to grow warmer with the coming spring. Snowdrops, narcissi, and violets began to make their appearance. Cailin was pleased to find several large clumps growing near the graves of her family. The marble marker had never been finished, and it was now unlikely that it ever would be. It simply read: The Family of Gaius Drusus Corinium. Looking down at it, Cailin sighed, her hand moving to her swollen belly in a protective gesture. How her family would have spoiled her children!
“This child I carry is a son,” she assured them aloud. “How I wish you could be here to see him when he is born. He is to be called Royse. Aurora is very excited about the new baby. Ohh!” Cailin looked up as an arm went about her shoulders. “Wulf, how you startled me!”
“You miss your family, don’t you?” he replied. “I cannot even remember my mother. I often wonder what she was like.”
“Until they were murdered,” Cailin answered him, “they were my whole life. I cannot help but wonder what it would have been like if they had not died. My parents, of course, would not be much changed, but my brothers would. They would truly be men now, with families. How my grandmother would have enjoyed those great-grandchildren. I think, perhaps, it is Brenna I miss the most. How strange that must sound to you.”
“I am sorry that I did not know them,” he told her. Then together they returned to the hall, where their daughter ran to greet them.
The spring was well under way and the plowing started when the gates were opened one morning to reveal a young girl crumpled upon the earth before them. Wulf and Cailin were summoned from the hall.
“The gods!” Cailin exclaimed. “The child has been beaten cruelly! Is she dead? How came she here to Cadda-wic?”
The girl moaned as if in answer, and rolled over just enough to reveal a form more mature than they had thought. She was small and slender, but obviously older than they had originally believed.
Cailin knelt and gently touched the maiden’s arm. “Can you hear me, lass?” she asked her. “What has happened to you?”
The girl opened her eyes slowly. They were a pale green in color, and the look in them was one of total confusion. “Where am I?” she whispered so low that Cailin had to bend closer to hear her.
“You are at Cadda-wic, the holding of Wulf Ironfist,” she replied. “Who are you? Where have you come from, and who has mistreated you so cruelly?” She shifted herself, uncomfortable in this position, as she was within a month of bearing her child.
The girl looked uncertain as to what to answer, and her eyes filled with tears that spilled down her very pretty face.
“What is your name?” Cailin gently pressed her.
The girl appeared to think a moment, and then she said, “Aelfa. Aelfa is my name! I remember! I am called Aelfa!”
“Where have you come from?” Cailin asked.
Again the girl appeared to consider, and then said, “I do not know, lady.” The tears slipped silently down her face again.
“Poor little thing,” Wulf said. “The beating she has received has obviously addled her wits. She will remember in time.”
“I will carry her into the hall,” said Corio, who had come but the day before from Braleah. Gently, he lifted the girl into his arms, and when her head fell against his shoulder, a strange look crossed the young man’s face. No woman had yet captured Corio’s heart.
The girl was brought to the hall, where Cailin carefully examined her. Other than her bruises, she seemed fine, but for her loss of memory. Cailin had the tub brought and bathed the girl herself. Aelfa’s hair was like cornsilk, a pale, almost silvery gold in color. A tunica and camisa were quickly found to fit her dainty stature. As she was brought to the high board, everyone in the hall could see that Aelfa was not simply a pretty girl. She was a beautiful one. Corio appeared besotted as he watched her eating, picking sparingly at the food.
“He is bewitched,” Cailin whispered to her husband.
“As I would be had I not found you, lambkin,” he answered.
Cailin was discomfited by his reply, to her great surprise. She had not thought herself capable of such silly jealousy. She gazed from beneath her lashes at the girl. I am just as lovely when I do not look like a sow ready to birth her piglets, she decided. Why are men such fools over a beautiful, helpless female? I should far rather be strong.
When Aelfa had finished eating, Wulf gently asked her, “Have you remembered anything else about yourself that might help us to find to whom you belong? Surely your family is worried.”
“Perhaps she is a slave, a runaway,” Cailin suggested.
“She wears no collar,” Wulf replied. “Did you see any mark of ownership upon her when you bathed her, lambkin?”
Cailin shook her head. “Nay, I did not.”
“I can remember nothing of myself,” Aelfa said in a sweet, almost musical voice. “Oh, I am afraid! Why can I not remember?”
“You will remember in time,” Cailin said briskly, seeing that Aelfa was preparing to weep once more. The men were being foolish enough without being subjected to that. “Have you not work in the fields?” Cailin asked her husband. “Do not worry about Aelfa. She will stay with me, and I will keep her safe. Corio, will your father not want you at home to help? We are so pleased you came to visit, but go, and do not come back until the Beltane fires, cousin!”
“Are all women so impatient when they are close to delivering their young?” Corio asked Wulf as they exited the hall. “I have never seen Cailin so short of temper.” Then, dismissing his cousin, he said, “Is not Aelfa the most exquisite creature you have ever seen? I think I am in love with her already. Is such a thing possible, Wulf Ironfist?”
Wulf laughed. “Aye, it is,” he admitted, “and I can see you are certainly taken with our waif-child. If we learn anything of import about her, like a husband languishing somewhere, I will send word to you.”
Aelfa, however, could not seem to remember anything of her life before they had found her, apart from her name. Wulf felt that all evidence pointed to a gentle birth, and had wanted to house her in the solar, not the hall. Cailin had, with strangely uncharitable feelings, refused.
“The solar is for the lord and his family,” she said sharply to her husband. “Aelfa is not family. She is safe in the hall, and to house her with us would say otherwise, causing unpleasant talk.”
Among whom? he had wanted to ask, but Cailin’s expression was so forbidding he dared not. He put her irritation down to the fact the child’s birth was near and that she was anxious for it to be born. “You are mistress of this hall,” he soothed her, and was surprised when she glared up at him. He had never seen her like this. Certainly she had not been so easily angered when she had carried Aurora.