Leofric receives a command

Sigefrith and Leofric stared at one another for a long while. Alred and Cenwulf exchanged anxious glances, awaiting the explosion.

“What?” Leofric finally asked, his voice low but shaking with tension.

“I said you aren’t coming,” Sigefrith repeated.

“What?” Leofric roared.

“Put otherwise, you are staying.”

Leofric glared at him, trembling – and then he understood. “You think I’m too old!”

“Now – ”

“Damn you! Too old! Son of a serpent! Who taught you how to fight? Who held your puling head when you first realized you’d killed a man? You snot-​​faced, ungrateful, treacherous son of a – serpent!”

“Leofric,” Sigefrith sighed.

“That isn’t it at all, old man,” Alred said. “Oh – ” he winced. “I mean – Leofric.”

“Fine! Very fine time to call me an old man!”

“Leofric, someone has to stay here with the ladies – ” Sigefrith began.

“He!” Leofric howled and pointed at Cenwulf.

Cenwulf lifted an eyebrow but was otherwise unresponsive. It was maddening. They were all in league against him.

“Gog said nothing to me about this!” he said, thinking to try a different strategy.

“Gog is not your lord,” Sigefrith reminded him.

“And you are my son-​​in-​​law, you little rat in wolf’s clothing, and I whipped you as a boy! Don’t forget it!”

Sigefrith smiled. He was maddening! “That is as good a reason as any,” he said.

“What?”

“It is selfish of me, I know,” Sigefrith admitted. “I want you here for Eadgith, and incidentally the rest of the ladies. There is no one she would rather have, excluding myself.”

“You mean to leave me here with the ladies like some kind of – some kind of eunuch?”

They all laughed at him, which only infuriated him further, for he had not intended to make a joke.

“A eunuch, certainly not,” Alred said. “Don’t remind us of the risk we take by leaving our ladies with you!”

Leofric paled. That was true…

“You agree that someone needs to stay behind with the ladies and the children,” Sigefrith said.

“Yes, but I?”

“And you agree that it must be one of us four?”

“Yes, but why should it be I?”

“You agree that I must go,” Sigefrith said.

“Yes, of course, but why – ”

“And Cenwulf here hasn’t been farther than Leol in eleven years.”

“Yes, I know, but – ”

“And you agree that one doesn’t leave a man like Alred behind as long as he has strength enough to heft a sword.”

“But, Sigefrith!”

“And, finally, if I should not return, I should like to die knowing that Eadgith and my children are with you. Selfish, I know.”

Leofric glared at him.

“It’s only raiding, old man,” Alred said. “Not war. We aren’t marching on London. And you wouldn’t have had a chance to take the head of William – he’s on the continent fighting with his sons.”

“I suppose I shall have to move my household here now,” Leofric muttered. “Pity for the babies.”

“The babies will enjoy having their sister to fuss over them,” Sigefrith said, “as only she can.”

Leofric looked up at him. His voice was tight at the end with sorrow. So, nothing yet. Sigefrith already had four children of his own, of course, and didn’t care for himself, but it was melting Eadgith’s heart away over a slow fire. She would love having the twins around, but it would surely be bittersweet for her. And her mother–

“What will my wife say to this?” Leofric snarled, and his tone made it clear to the others which wife he meant. “She’ll bitch about not being able to get close to Eadie because of the stench of me.”

Alred and Sigefrith exchanged a glance.

“We’ve always managed to keep both the goat and the cabbage intact, so far,” Sigefrith said.

“When I’ve stayed here, the goat has been kept in her pen. But she won’t tolerate it long.”

Alred and Sigefrith looked at one another again.

“You aren’t staying here,” Sigefrith said. “You’re staying at Nothelm.”

“What?” Leofric gasped with an alarmed glance at Alred.

“I know what you’re thinking, old man,” Alred smiled. “But my wine comes from the same source as Sigefrith’s, and the only difference is that there is less of it. But with only you and Matilda sucking at it, I think my stores will last at least a fortnight or two.”

“Eadgith and Hilda are coming here with the babies,” Sigefrith said before Leofric had a chance to gasp again. “Along with Estrid and Synne. Maire and little Ete are going to stay with Edris, and you and Leila shall be at Nothelm with Matilda. All of the ladies and children will thereby be stored away in castles. But you realize that with most of our men gone, you won’t be able to hold them long. You must take them all to Thorhold if you have any warning at all of an attack.”

Leofric blinked at him. He had heard nothing about Thorhold. He was still stuck on the idea of going to live at Nothelm. With Matilda. And with Leila.

“I can’t stay at Nothelm,” he said. “I shall go to Bernwald.”

“What? Nonsense. It’s nearly a half an hour from here. Nothelm is at the center of everything.”

“Are you and Matilda feuding again?” Alred asked suspiciously.

“We never truly stopped,” Leofric grumbled. “Why don’t you have Eadgith and Hilda go to Nothelm?” he begged Sigefrith. “And Leila and I shall stay here.”

“By Christ’s bloody wounds!” Sigefrith cried, out of patience at last. “Shall I remake my plans because you and Matilda regularly turn into a couple of tetchy bitches when brought in close contact with one another? Cenwulf, help me, why am I arguing with this peevish old mule? I forget – am I a king or am I a horsefly? I can’t put him near Eadgith, I can’t put him near Matilda – God help me if he picks a fight with Edris!”

“Edris wouldn’t fight,” Cenwulf said.

“Thank God for women like Edris!”

“Listen, runt,” Leofric began.

“You listen! You go home with Alred this afternoon, and you and Matilda kiss and make up – that is my command! And then you go home to Leila and pack up your household and prepare to come to Nothelm – that is my command! And if you so much as look queerly at your first wife while I am away, you had better pray to all the gods whose names you know that I don’t return, and your son likewise!”

Leofric bowed his head.