Sigefrith hesitates

Sigefrith was chuckling at Colban’s chatter as he carried him up the stairs to the bedroom, but he and Colban both stopped short when they came through the curtains and saw Maud standing in the window, where the cradle had been.

“Mama,” Colban murmured with quiet longing, and then turned his head abruptly away from her and laid it on his Papa’s shoulder.

“Maud,” Sigefrith said.

She did not stir.

He could not imagine how she had come to be here. He had her sleeping in the chamber off his study, where he might keep an eye on her while he worked, and where she would not see the empty place where Harold’s cradle had stood.

He also had women there who were supposed to keep her in her bed, and a guard who was supposed to keep her in her room. He vowed that they should have an unpleasant interview with their king later in the morning.

But for now, she seemed calm.

“We only came up to get Papa’s other boots,” he said, slowly crossing the room. “Cubby wants a ride, despite the mud and the mist.”

She turned her head slightly.

“Why don’t you come downstairs with us?” he asked her. “It’s cold up here with the fire out.”

“Upon the wicked he shall rain fire and brimstone,” she murmured.

“Oh, Maud,” he sighed. He did not feel like parrying Bible verses this morning. That was a task for Alred, who was armed with entire chapters memorized.

Colban was trying to burrow into his neck to escape the sight of her, or perhaps to escape her sight.

“Downy downy?” he asked the boy, and he turned to set him on the floor. “We shall have our ride in just a moment,” he whispered. “Let’s get Mama back to her room first, shall we?”

“He is of his father the devil, and the lusts of his father he will do,” Maud said with a slow nod.

“Maud! Are you speaking of Cubby?”

“He is of his father the devil, and – ”

“Maud!”

“Prepare slaughter for his children for – ”

“Maud! Good God!”

“And he will kill all of my children with death, for I repented not!”

“No!” Colban shrieked.

Sigefrith paled. He never knew how much of Maud’s ravings Colban understood.

“You!” she shrieked in return, pushing past him to point at the boy. “He died for you!”

Sigefrith snatched at her, but not before she had grabbed Colban by the arms and flung him backwards. He would long remember the hollow crack of Colban’s head against the floorboards, and the scream that followed.

He hesitated between them for a moment with one hand in a crushing grip on her arm. Finally he pushed her away and bent to pick up the boy, whose scream had been followed by breathless, terrified silence.

“Depart from me, ye cursed,” she muttered, glaring at the boy, “into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

“Maud, please,” Sigefrith begged. “Hush.”

“He is of his father the devil,” she explained, looking back at him. “Because of him, I have fallen, and I shall be killed like Athelis.”

“What?”

“Even like Athelis, who fell and was killed by the people of that city, and the dogs ate her by the wall.”

“Maud, Maud – nobody killed Athelis,” he soothed. Praise God – she was only deeply confused! “She fell from the wall and was killed when she landed. Her neck was broken, Maud. Nobody killed her; the dogs never touched her, darling. They buried her in the church, and she is in heaven now. She is an angel now, like our Harold.”

Maud considered this. “She fell and went to heaven?”

“Yes, Maud. And we shall all see her again there, when we go. And Harold too.” He wondered whether it was wise to speak of Harold at all, but the first mention of the name had not seemed to perturb her. Indeed, she seemed to have been calmed.

But she suddenly turned and ran for the stairs.

Sigefrith instinctively took a step or two after her – but then thought that she could not go far, for the nurses were below with the children, and there were guards in the hall. He would just set Colban down first…

Then he realized that he was not hearing her feet descending the stone steps to the nursery and the hall, but ascending the wooden steps to the roof of the tower.

Terror gripped him – should he stop to put Colban down or should he run after her?

He only hesitated a moment before deciding to run after her with Colban in his arms, but the moment cost him dearly.