BAD NEWS

Firstly I have to tell of a disastrous situation that has hammered me since Friday the 4th. At 8pm that night after taking my wife into A&E because of some cognitive disorders I learned that she has a large brain tumour. Today I might learn what the prognosis is.
Needless to say, my time on BC will be severely curtailed as I come to terms with this disaster. At present my beloved wife and I are completely at our wit's ends. We cannot plan anything until we get the results of tests that should be commencing some time this week.
This chapter 88 of Angry Mermaid might be the last for some time. I'm living in hope.

Chapter 88 deals with Drustina's continued involvement with the Saxons in Wessex, especially where her and their interests in defeating the Vikings coincide.

The Angry Mermaid 88
Or
Y Morforwyn Dicllon 88.

Early the next morning, Drustina and Carl went out riding with Althred the Saxon Naval commander.
The last of the snows had cleared but the lower land was still waterlogged and not really suitable for galloping until they climbed up onto a chalky down and found themselves looking over a vast area of open grassland pasture. The chalky soil provided rapid drainage and at last they found a ridge-way that led away to the east and north.

Once again, Drustina’s mare Seripatese proved to be faster than Carl’s fine stallion but everybody agreed that Jupus had a much heavier load when carrying his Saxon master. As they came to a copse of trees, Drustina dismounted and looked back at her pursuers. She grinned as she listened to the thunder of hooves as Carl and Althred raced to approach Drustina astride their powerful horses. Truly, had they been attacking cavalry they would have made a formidable site as the ground started to tremble with their close approach. Drustina stepped closer to her beloved mare and squealed with delight as Carl and Althred swept by on either side with but a couple of feet to spare. It was an exhilarating game and no sooner had they swept past than Drustina had leapt on her mare again and quickly rejoined them until they came to a dew pond and the horses took their fill. Having given their mounts plenty of exercise they trotted slowly back by way of the newly built cathedral church.

“The tower is a good landmark.” Althred observed.

“Bloody great waste of money I think,” Carl replied. “The damned building isn’t even inside the city walls so what good is the tower as a watch-tower?”

“It’s a monument devoted to God.” Althred explained.

Carl kept a diplomatic silence for he thought it a monument to King Ethelred’s conceit. He turned to Drustina who smiled her silent agreement. It would do no good trying to question the waste that the building represented. Both she and Carl thought the time, effort and money would have been far better spent fortifying the town or generally improving the streets and buildings. Drustina had seen drains and effluvia in numerous Roman, Greek and Byzantine cities where the benefits had been explained to her. Armed with this knowledge she felt she could have totally destroyed the arguments supporting the building of huge, pretentious edifices as offerings to this one god business; especially as the streets stank of shit and filth and rubbish.

The ride over the downs had cleared her nostrils but the return to the city only reminded her of the disgusting stink.
On returning, she handed Seripatese to the care of the royal groom and made her way to Sister Catherine’s apartment. The ex nun looked up and smiled as Drustina entered.

“Good morning Lioness. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”

“I have some news.”

“Oh; good news I hope.”

“I’m not sure. What are your long term plans for the future?”

Sister Catherine’s smile faded slightly as she replied.

“Future; what future? I don’t see any future and I certainly don’t know what my future holds. How can I make plans? The only future I can see at the moment is to continue as I am doing, serving as your secretary. There seem to be no othees
ring what agenda Drustina had.

“Is this a rhetorical question or is there some substance to it; have you got something to offer and if you have, will it cost me something?”

“It’s not a rhetorical question but I don’t know how much substance there is to any offer you might receive once you express your deepest wishes.”

“Who would make what offer?”

Drustina became exasperated but she realised Sister Catherine had been bitten once before.

The lioness concluded; ‘once bitten ... twice shy’ ... Sister’s Catherine’s circumspection was only to be expected.

“Just answer my question, literally. What is your deepest wish?”

“This is not a trap now is it? I know I can trust you but there isn’t some other aspect is there?”

“Just be honest Cathy. There is no trap; your words will not leave this room unless you choose to release them.”

Cathy shrugged and eventually expressed her wish.

“I’d like to be able to help others; not like you, not with a sword or an army at my back but simply by offering assistance, feeding the poor and homeless, caring for the sick. You know, like I was doing in Gdansk before the priests and that damned bishop ... well you know. “

Drustina’s heart almost melted. She had not been wrong; ‘Cathy had not changed despite the injustices she had suffered. The mistreatment at the hands of this one god business had not killed that essential spark of compassion that seemed to be Cathy’s driving essence. ‘ The news Drustina had to give would be the best news Cathy could ever receive and Drustina gave it joyously.

“Well my dearest friend, I have excellent news for you. The Cardinal yesterday received a letter from the pope allowing you to rejoin their church ... your church. Your ex-communication has been rescinded, I have seen the letter.”
Cathy gasped and released a wail of relieved joy.

“What did it say? Can I see it?”

In answer to your first question I can tell you what it said. It commanded you to rejoin their mother church and required you to attend a summons from cardinal Craklow.

“A summons. I have committed no crime.”

“Well actually Cathy, you did, you committed piracy and people died.”

“That’s not fair, I was threatened with death myself, and I had to obey that murderous bishop! That’s not fair!”
Drustina nodded slowly and deeply.

“That’s exactly what I said to Craklow, I told him he had no right to summons you. Besides, you have been tried and punished; you cannot be tried again for Gdansk. I told him I would ask if you were prepared to speak to him.”

“Oh Dammit Dru! You haven’t queered it for me have you? You didn’t annoy him did you?”

“Not really. I did however hammer home my own point.”

“Which was?”

“You are to be treated with respect and accorded the same respect as the other holy men in that church of yours. Well it is your church if you choose to rejoin it; ... will you?”

“Choose to rejoin it? Of course I want to rejoin it! Dammit Dru, if you’ve queered it for me I’ll never ...”

“Oh calm down girl. The Cardinal and I are like that ... ‘(Drustina crossed her fingers)’. He’s more than keen to have you back. He’s even got some sort of job lined up for you in the royal wedding; all arranged and what-have-you. Go and see him but don’t be servile and submissive. I’ve told him bluntly he has no right to summons you. You choose whether or not you wish to rejoin. It’s all in your hands now.”

A smile spread across Sister Catherine’s apple red cheeks.

“I’ll be able to open a convent helping the poor and needy.”

“There you go girl. Strike while the iron is hot. Ethelred’s finished his church; I suppose he’ll be looking for some other fancy monument to massage his evangelistic ego. You’ll be an abbess before you know it. I suggest you speak to the Cardinal first; he’ll be pleased to see the first convent in Essex. That’ll be a real feather in his hat, something concrete to take back to Rome.”
Sister Catherine wagged her head.

“He’d be a happier man if he could take back a lioness converted to the true faith.”

Drustina snorted derisively.

“Faith? Faith? Truly Cathy, I have no faith nor ever will have, leastways not in a god who’s supposed to be a spirit and is yet encumbered with all the conceits and failings of a male gender. It’ll not likely happen sister; I’ll go to my end as a pagan.”

“Why? Why do you refuse to accept his forgiveness?”

“What forgiveness? Who’s forgiveness?”

“God’s.”

“What for? There’s nothing to forgive. Every act of savagery I’ve committed has been an act of necessity, an act of revenge, or an act of defence ... at least in the first instance. After that it was just war.”

“But it is writ, thou shalt not kill!”

“Ha! And then they stone you; yeah! They stone you for adultery, they stone you for prostitution, and they stone you for just about everything else, unless they’re drowning you for witchcraft ... but only if you’re a woman it seems. I’m a woman; no thanks.”

“But you are both, man and yet woman; how can they judge you?”

“Believe me Cathy, had I not always had my sword with me, they’d have as surely judged me many times over, and killed me as a monster, or a witch or who knows what else. Ask Carl or Cardinal Craklow about Bishop Alviar of Malta and Carthage.

These holy men see me as a lesser mortal for my duality, not a greater one. They can see nobody as closer to their male god than themselves. I tire of such conceit, such arrogance, self-righteousness and hypocrisy.”
Cathy sighed inwardly then asked.

“Will you ever convert?”

Drustina shrugged.

“I doubt it but that’s their problem not mine ... or yours for that matter. Anyway, if you are interested in receiving that communion stuff you hold so important then you’d better go and speak to Craklow. I’ve softened him up for you; worked the guilt card and all that. At heart he’s a good man. You’d best speak to him before lunch; I know he’s with Ethelred all afternoon discussing the wedding with Solana.” to me. Besides that, I enjoy your protection and that is a great comfort.”

Drustina smiled provocatively.

“Oh, so what you are saying is that, if you could choose a different life style; you’d take it?”

Sister Catherine sensed what she thought to be some antagonism.

“Would you be upset if I did? Would that seem ungrateful?”

Drustina grinned reassurance.

“No-oo Cathy, I was only winding you up. Everybody is free to choose their own paths. You know that’s always been a cardinal tenet of mine.”

“So what is this news you come to tell me.”

Drustina paused as she had another idea. Sister Catherine frowned impatiently.

“Well? Are you going to tell me or not?”

Drustina furrowed her brow as she explored her new idea then she advanced it.

“Tell me Cathy, if a magic spirit came to you now and offered you anything you like, what would you choose?”

Faced with such an unexpected offer, Sister Catherine was briefly at a loss. A long silence ensued as she gathered her thoughts and tried to bring some order to the question. She wanted more information and made her need plain. She was also wondering if there was some other agenda behind Drustina's offer.

“Don’t you want to come with me to talk with Craklow?”

“What for? I’m not interested in his church. I’ll be interested to see how he and Ethelred are prepared to help you. If you need help then I’ll be willing; provided I’m still in Wessex. Otherwise, I’ll be travelling west and back to the Celtic Sea. If you want to look after sick people, you’ll need a clean building. The only thing I know is that dirty infirmaries kill. The Maltese knights taught me that. They treated many of our wounded during the battles for Carthage.”

Cathy nodded resignedly and Drustina took her leave. She had the afternoon to herself so she decided to go for a stroll around the city again.

The early, spring sun had warmed up the streets and already started to cause the city to stink. It wasn’t long before Drustina decided to retreat to the cleaner precincts of the king’s palace and the open courtyards. She was cleaning her boots when Ethelred appeared unexpectedly in the courtyard.

“Dirty business Lioness.” He remarked as she sloshed her boot in the cleaning trough that had been provided for exactly that purpose.

Drustina sniffed with disgust.

“There’s no need for such filth. The streets beyond the high street are nothing but muddy tracks; and the filth! The stink! What is it like in high summer? I dread to think!””

“The drains keep failing. The banks wash away whenever the rain is heavy.”

“Well line them with stone then. Pave the streets with stone as well. The Romans did it.”

“We have not the skills or the knowledge.”

Drustina snapped impatiently.

“Yes you have. You’ve just built a bloody great church. If you have stone cutters enough for that, you have stone cutters enough to line the streets.”

“But where is the money to come from?”

“Same bloody place the money for that church came from.” (She pointed her thumb dismissively towards the newly built church.)

Ethelred frowned as he replied.

“But that is a monument to godliness. A guide to finding one’s way to the faith, and thence to God.”

“What, pointing to the sky I suppose. Is that where you think heaven lies?”

“Well where do you think it lies?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care. All I know is that sickness and diseases usually follow dirt and filth. The hot climes of Carthage and Malta and Egypt told me that. The Knights of St John ... your lot, taught me that cleanliness helps people to get better and I’ve seen it myself. They built cloacae to carry away effluvia; they paved the roads and removed the waste to dumps far from the cities. Once outside, the farmers used it on the fields. Call me a fussy bitch, but frankly Eth; your city stinks! Literally that is.”

“You are unkind. Those stinks and the filth will always be with us, it is the way of things.”

“No. I challenge you on that. What other places have you seen what other wonders have you encountered?”

Ethelred fell silent. It was beyond dispute that the Lioness of Carthage had been to far-away lands and must therefore have seen many wonderful things. He had no arguments save to hold that things ‘had always been the way they were now’.

Once again, Drustina felled his arguments like a woodman with an axe.

“No Eth’ they haven’t. Even the road from Winchester to Sotona has portions of the original Roman road. You have seen the paving with your own eyes, where has all the other paving gone? The old Roman roads went the length and breadth of Britannia, even into parts of Scotia. Those slabs didn’t just up and away. They have either worn out or broken or they have been stolen. Why, I’ll warrant that even the floors to your palace contain some of those stones. Don’t tell me they aren’t, I’ve recognised them. They are not local stone. In Rome and Alexandria and Constantia all the streets are paved like your palace floor.”

“Not all;” Ethelred challenged.

Drustina twisted her lips and smiled wryly.

“Well of course not all; not literally ... but as many streets as mattered, all the main streets and those streets where the citizenry or the military deemed it advisable.”

“Oh the military roads, I’ll agree with you there.”

Ethelred had at last found some enthusiasm. Less than a year ago he and his generals had been lamenting the inability of his troops to keep pace with any Viking ships following the coast with an eye to landing invaders. Drustina slowly nodded her head with some relief as she took his observation further and explained patiently.

“A military road becomes a commercial road almost as soon as it is completed. Look at the main road in your kingdom, Winchester to Sotona. If you repaved that road, the traffic would multiply overnight.”

“But the cost.”

“Raise your taxes, or charge a toll, nothing extortionate. I promise you; in the long run it’ll pay.”

“Who is to build it though?”

“Your soldiers; just like the Romans.”

“But that would mean a standing army.”

“You are going to need a standing army, the Vikings haven’t gone away; they’ll be back. A standing army of hardened road builders who can practice combat every day and also learn the layout of the lands as they cross as they build the roads. They would be a formidable obstacle to any Viking invasion.”

“Will you be a part of this standing army?”

His question caught Drustina short. She hesitated uncertainly then explained.

“Uuuhm, no I won’t. I have my own war to fight with Butcher Forden, the Viking king of Eire, but my fighting him will also serve your interests. Forden is as much a threat to your and the Mercian kingdom’s northern borders as he is a thief of my homeland. Any obstacle I pose to his forces in the Celtic sea will benefit your interests. I know for a fact you only hold Deva the great Roman fortress on the Dee because the Vikings have chosen to concentrate their forces on the South and East of Britannia. If they attack from the North and West you will find yourself in the jaws of a vice. It’s just that Harald Coldblood has not yet formed a treaty with his cousin in Eire. He will, now that he has learned he cannot defeat you on his own. He will seek to split your forces by joining with the Scots and Viking oppressors in Eire.”

Drustina’s word rang a painful knell in Ethelred’s heart. Her words only echoed his long held thoughts and fears. Now he had secured his southern border, the main threat to Wessex and Mercia lay north of the Umbre and the Mersea. The main Viking stronghold was Yorvik and neither Ethelred nor Edrinor the Mercian had much intelligence about the Viking strength in that city. Another serious ‘unknown’ was the nature of Harald’s relationships with Constin the Scottish king and Forden the Irish Viking king who were both related to Harald and claimed Viking blood.

Ethelred could see the merit in Drustina’s ambition. If she could somehow break the Viking grip on her mountainous homeland in Lleyn it would expose Forden’s Flank if he chose to attack Deva,

Having recognised the advantages to his own ambitions of Drustina wanting to somehow negate Forden’s grip on the Celtic sea, Ethelred began to wonder about a time scale and what preparations would best serve his plans. He pressed Drustina for times and dates because her observations about military roads were now blindingly obvious; they would take time to repair and rebuild. If Ethelred was to somehow contain the two threats from north and possibly south, he must need to move his forces quickly. As the pair entered the great hall to eat, Ethelred pressed his questions. Drustina sucked her cheeks thoughtfully.

“Not here Eth’, who knows what spies are about. I’ll talk to you again, tomorrow, in private.”

Ethelred raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Are you saying you think there are spies, here in my own palace?”

“I don’t know but since the road to Sotona has reopened there is an awful lot of traffic on it. Anybody could arrive without being noticed.”

“That’ll be the rush to resume trading now that the snows are melted and goods can be moved.”

“But who is to know what spies are amongst the throngs. Tomorrow Eth, in the privacy of your chambers, it’ll be nobody else but you, me and Carl. Oh, Craklow’s welcome too, strangely, despite our religious disagreements,I trust him. He and I have parallel ambitions”

~o000o~

It was late the next morning before Drustina felt ready to meet with the others; stomach cramps had unusually gripped her as they presaged the onset of her cycle. She was not in a good mood and took Carl aside to explain before she entered Ethelred’s private chambers.

“You’d best explain it to them then,” Carl replied. ! ”If I explain, they’ll think you are somehow incapacitated mentally, you know how dumb these buggers can be when it comes to women’s stuff. Are the cramps still hurting?”

Drustina smiled.

‘Carl at least had some insight into womanhood despite his massive and magnificent male characteristics. A woman could always feel safe both militarily and emotionally when in his arms.’

Her female cycle always reinforced her sense of womanhood and made her feel vulnerable despite her superb martial skills with weapons.
Reassured by his concern she checked her hair, adjusted her leggings and sword belt then straightened her jerkin before entering. Ethelred and Craklow both stood respectfully and affectionately. They both knew they owed the lioness a lot. Ethelred greeted her.

“Morning dear Drustina. What delayed you my lady?”

“Woman troubles Eth. I need say no more. The cramps are passed.”

“Do you want water or wine?”

“Water will be fine, I have little to tell at this stage save to lay out my plans. I cannot give you a time scale.”

“Time scale for what?” Craklow wondered.

“My plans to recover Lleyn from the Butcher Forden and re-open the Celtic seas to safe and free trading.”

The cardinal fell silent. He was not greatly familiar with military matters, and in the presence of one of the most successful campaigners in all Europa, he kept his silence. Drustina smiled at him.

“Fear not for your Irish Christian flock Craklow, my fight is not with them. I know they were Christianised many years before I was born but they are oppressed by their Viking overlords, as are my people. Pagan or Christian, I am not particularly choosy of people’s beliefs but as to my homeland; I want it back!”

“So you intend to leave in the summer, then what?” Ethelred asked.

“I leave after your wedding. I would like to see Solana’s marriage to you completed. I will be more certain of your Saxon Mercian alliance, then I will be leaving shortly after, probably mid-summer’s day. That’s an auspicious pagan date and it should help ensure my good fortunes.”

“Is that not just superstition?” Craklow asked.

“No more than virgin births and such like. If ever a virgin birth was possible surely it would be some freak like me to produce it, what with having male and female parts, my seed might somehow cross over inside and cause a conception. It’s more plausible than some immaculate spirit thing. Though I keep an open mind. Pagan gods are believed to put mortals with child and goddesses are reputed to have slept with men to produce titans. Who am I to question any other’s beliefs, so why should they question mine?”
Ethelred frowned but for once, he was more concerned with addressing military matters.

“So my lady, what forces will you be taking with you?”

“Two ships at best, plus the normal complements of crews. Maybe some extra archers; I don’t intend to get involved in any stand-up, knock-down fights. If we are spotted we run like hell. It’ll be stealth and more stealth as we land ashore to gather intelligence. Then maybe a few ambushes of lone Norse ships to garnish intelligence or intercept any important letters.”

“Would you accept my Earl Althred as one of your battle companions?” Ethelred asked.

“If he’s agreeable, yes. I only want genuine volunteers, except for Bishop Celyn.”

“Are you prepared to risk taking him?” Cardinal Craklow asked.

“The further he is away from this kingdom, the less damage he can do.”

“But if you set him ashore in Scotia he might well get in league with the Vikings or the Scots.” Ethelred added.

“I expect him to do that. We already know him to be dangerous so he can do us no further harm.”

“He would be able to pass information about us, our strengths and weaknesses.”

“I’m hoping that’s exactly what he’ll do, but we’ll know that. We have to update our situations so the information he passes is out of date.”

“But how?” Ethelred persisted.

“Well firstly by improving the roads towards Deva and Mancunium. You’ll have to co-operate with the Mercian king Edrinor on that. There’s no knowing where or when Harald might attack.”

“It’s doubtful he’ll get far by crossing the Umbre and sailing up the Trent.” Ethelred added, ”Edrinor has most of his land forces concentrated there and Harald would have a major battle on his hands. He’d have to fight every inch of the way south and that includes having to find his way through the great forests of Sherwood around Nottingham. Which way d’you think he’ll attack Lioness?”

Drustina shrugged.

“I’ve no idea. That’s why I want to gather intelligence. I speak the languages of the Celtic seas so I’ll be able to speak to the native Irish, the Dumnonii, and my own peoples plus the Manx. The more information I can gather, the better our chances of anticipating their attacks. Meanwhile Eth, you’d better concentrate on Roads and ships. I’ll be gone for the remainder of this year and probably until the spring of the next. I’d like to think you’ll have made some progress when I get back.”

They continued talking at length until the evening meal and Drustina was satisfied that she had convinced Ethelred to make a decisive stand against the Vikings. The stronger she could forge an alliance between the Mercians, Saxons and her own Celtic peoples, the greater would be their resources if, or more probably when, they finally met the Vikings.

In truth, Drustina was desperate to get on and return to her home waters but she had to meet again with Edrinor, preferably at his sister’s wedding. Once Solana was married to Ethelred, Drustina could be more certain the Saxon-Mercian alliance was forged.
Drustina wanted to be certain the Viking forces were divided when she commenced her campaign to recover Lleyn and there would be some delicate negotiating to arrange such an alliance. She knew that this would be an immensely difficult task for her own Celtic nations held as much enmity for the Saxons as they did for the Vikings; Drustina knew she was walking on a political tight-rope.

The best time to discuss any such alliances would be during the wedding feast. This meant she had four months to kill until mid-summer. Having started to lay a firm foundation to a Saxon military strategy, Drustina decided she could kill two birds with one stone. By travelling north to Deva, she could sound out the West Mercians and the Powys Celts whilst also indulging her natural rights to motherhood.

To this end, she spent the spring travelling the Wessex and Mercian Kingdoms all the way north as far as Deva whilst accompanied by an entourage of friends and family and a small coterie of her most able and trusted battle companions. Frequently, as she travelled along the Gwent and Powys Marches, she met with Brithonic tribesmen who were amazed to learn that The Lioness of Carthage was actually one of them. For the people of Powys, the rumours were proven to be true and at times, Drustina was hard put to dissuade them that she was not some sort of Messiah come to rid them of the Saxon curse. At times Carl and Althred became impatient as they were forced to indulge Drustina’s wishes to linger and savour the pleasure of her own tongue and peoples before reluctantly resuming her journey.

During this journeying Drustina also indulged her natural rights as a mother. Still with milk, she savoured the nurturing of her un-named newborns whilst she also devoted much time to teaching both her older children about the responsibilities of leadership. Wherever she encountered shortcomings in the local situation or some failure in the local infrastructure like silted drains or failed flood protection, she would take the local earls in hand and censure them whilst explaining why to her children. Occasionally she even arbitrated in local border issues and her even-handedness endeared both her and Ethelred to his newly subjugated peoples. During these meetings Drustina would often explain to her older children whilst even tribal leaders eves-dropped.

“You see my children; kingship or nobility is not just about living in castles and having fine things like clothes or weapons. A king or queen must look out for her subjects and see that they get a fair deal whenever it matters to their wellbeing. Also watch how Carl and Althred check to see that the road repairs and road building programme is going forward.”

By concentrating ostensibly on the condition of the various important roads, Carl and Althred were essentially concentrating on any military shortcomings that might hamper any Saxon response to an attack from the north and west. Everybody now knew that when the Vikings attacked, Ethelred and Edrinor’s armies would have to travel quickly and far before any Viking landings could be firmly established.

When they reached Deva both Carl and Althred were astounded at the extent and condition of the original Roman fortress. Drustina took great delight in escorting the pair around the city. Long ago she had visited the great city several times as a child accompanying her uncle. She had wandered the city’s many streets and markets while her uncle traded copper and silver from Parys Mountain on Ynys Fon. She was however shocked to see that sea trade had virtually ceased because relations with the Vikings in Eire and Scotia had become frozen in enmity and tension.

When the visitors spoke with the local Mercian Earl of this he simply shrugged. The Vikings had virtually closed off the Celtic seas to any trade with Wessex or Mercia via the Dee and the Mersea. North of the Mersea, the land was under the Viking yoke and Deva had become little more than a huge border outpost. It was so large and powerful however, because of its immense and vast Roman fortifications, the Vikings had utterly failed to capture it. Furthermore, Deva still enjoyed the salt trades and the agricultural trades and some shipping still worked up and down the River Dee as salt and corn were exchanged for Welsh wool and timber. For Drustina however, to see the moribund wharves and quays where once there had been bustle and frenetic trading, it was a frightening realisation as to just how bad the Viking depredations had become.

She resolved to waste no time when she returned to Winchester.

For the present however, she had to travel on to Mancunium, over the Pennine hills and down to the Umbre in Mercia before paying her respects to Edrinor then accompanying him down to Winchester preparatory to Sonala’s wedding to Ethelred. By May, Drustina’s band had crossed the Pennines and entered the village of Dore (Sheffield) prior to entering flat lands of Lindisware (Saxon Lincoln).

~~oo000oo~~

Character list

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