Elfleda wakes

After Egelric had fed the baby a bit of warm milk, he saw that he would have to bathe her. Her face and hair and hands were filthy from the night she had spent in the forest, and he thought that perhaps a warm bath would put her to sleep. He was terrified at the possibility that he would put her in her cradle and she would just start to cry.

Egelric had never bathed a baby before, and this one didn’t seem to enjoy it very much.

He thought he must be doing it wrong – she was so slippery! But at least she didn’t cry. Her little face looked so indignant that it almost made him smile.

After he pulled her out he realized he didn’t have a towel, and so he found himself obliged to hold the wet baby against his shirt. The girl laid her head on his shoulder with a sigh and curled her little fingers over his collarbone. 

He thought of Gunnilda, and a shadow passed over his face, only to be replaced by a knowing smile. “Are you all born knowing how to do that little trick?” he whispered to the girl. “God knows it works on me.”

He took her into the other room, where he laid her on his cloak, dried her off and dressed her. Her little dress was dirty too, but Elfleda would have to take care of that.

Once he laid her in the cradle, she closed her eyes and snuggled into the blankets without making a sound. 

Egelric was grateful. He was also soaking wet and reeking of smoke and sweat. He decided he would take a bath as well.

Afterwards, as he stood by the fire drying himself, he wondered what was to become of the three of them now. The peasants were not likely to see the appearance of an elf foundling as a good omen, least of all in the house of the accursed Egelric Wodehead. Could he hide it from them? Once the girl’s hair was longer, they might be able to hide her ears. But it would only take a strong breeze to reveal their secret. Could he leave Lothere and take his wife and the child far from the rest of the world? And leave his farm, and his work with the Duke?

He sighed. If only – if only it could make Elfleda happy, perhaps it would be worth the rest.

He was startled out of his reflections by the sound of the bedroom door opening. He turned as Elfleda stepped into the room, livid, focusing on him a gaze of intense hatred.

“She would murder me,” he thought.

But as she took another step, she noticed the cradle next to her. Her arms dropped, her face cleared, and she stared at it for a moment as if trying to understand.

As she bent and peered inside, joy spread across her face like the dawn. “Baby!” she whispered, overcome.

Egelric slipped unnoticed past her and sat on the edge of the bed. Something about the scene was heart-​​rending. It was as if destiny had shuffled everything he most wanted and everything he most feared and chosen the top few cards to build this future for him.

After a while he realized Elfleda was standing in the door, staring at him with a curious mixture of dread and happiness on her pale face.

“You brought Baby back to me?” she asked him. Her screaming had worn her voice down to a hoarse whisper.

“Aye,” he answered.

“To keep?”

“Aye.”

Elfleda took a step toward him and then hesitated. If he had looked at her then–

But Egelric sat and stared at the wall.

Elfleda turned back into the other room and closed the door behind her.