"Princess, please let me continue. There is more to my story." Aelgifu looked at her half-sister pleadingly.

"What more is there to say about the princesses of sad, defeated Deira?" Elstred stared at Aelgifu challengingly. She did not want to think about subjugated kings or the fate of their daughters.

"When they knew their father and brothers were lost, they sought refuge before the high altar in the cathedral. Despite the fact that the King of Northumbria was Christian, he had the girls forcibly seized and removed from their sanctuary. He promised honorable dispositions for them and the Archbishop of Deira assented."

"Really? How odd. Well, I'm sure the bishop knew what would be best for the princesses and for Deira too. Their male kindred were all killed in battle. Marriage to the heirs of Northumbria was sensible. Their children stood to inherit Deira and Northumbria both! The marriages solidified Northumbria's claim to Deira and prevented a future war that surely would have happened had the princesses married elsewhere."

"Indeed. But there were problems."

"Well, naturally. They were of different nations. And I suppose the princesses could not help but resent their kin being murdered by their husbands' family."

"That is all true. But it's not what I mean by 'problems'. The King of Northumbria took no chances with the Deiran princesses. He wanted grandchildren of their bodies. He did not want his sons to be under their sway. Nor did he want his heirs to know of Deira as anything other than a name. Once the princesses were safely wed and bedded, the king had their tongues cut out lest they teach their children the speech of Deira. When their babes were born, the infants were taken from their mothers' breast and given to nurses. The sons of the king were happy enough with their lemans. They had no need of their wives other than as breeding stock. And so they kept their wives imprisoned and visited only when it was time to get another heir for Northumbria. Such was the honorable disposition of the captive princesses of Deira."

Elstred stirred uncomfortably. Her closed expression warned Aelgifu that the lady's tolerance was reaching its limit. "There is only a little more to the tale, princess."

"Then finish it."

"There were two royal heirs in Northumbria. But there were three princesses of Deira."

"Three?" Elstred turned to her companion. "I did not know that. What happened to the third girl?"

"At first she was kept with her sisters. The king wished to be certain that his sons would get boys from their wives. If not, one could be eliminated in favor of the third princess. Eventually, it became apparent this was unnecessary. But a royal princess of Deira could not simply be murdered. Nor could she be permitted to marry outside the royal family of Northumbria. So she was forced all unwilling into the abbey at Hexam."

"Her tongue had been cut out, of course. But she was well schooled and capable of writing. So, her left thumb and right hand were hacked off to prevent any possible appeal to her countrymen. Even this was not enough for the king. He commanded that she be immured as an anchoress in a cell beneath the abbey kitchens. She lived out her days in darkness and loneliness. She could not even beg for a merciful death." Aelgifu added softly, "Perhaps she found release in madness."

Elstred's white face betrayed her strong reaction to the story. "This cannot be true! The Deirans would not have tolerated such treatment for their princess."

"The Deirans were not told!"

"You could not possibly know of this, even if it were true, which it cannot be!" Elstred's face had reddened as anger replaced her fear. "I see what you are trying to tell me. You believe that our holy Archbishop Asser would force YOU into the convent!"

"Yes, lady. He would!" Aelgifu struggled to control her emotions. "It was from Asser himself that I had this story. How could I know otherwise? He told me that when he summoned me again, I must come willingly at his bidding b-because the convent is the only safe place for me. And he--he said that if I continued to resist God's will, the fate of the third princess of Deira should serve as an object lesson to me."

"I do not believe you. Asser is gentle and kind and good!"

Aelgifu flung herself onto her knees before her royal sister. "Princess, listen to me. I am not the only one in danger. Your father has a son, and soon your brother's wife will give birth. Your sister Elfleda already has been married to the only man with whom your father needs an alliance. You and Elgifu are unnecessary princesses. She is well disposed to the convent. She's no threat to your brother or to Asser's plans. But you? You cannot wed any of the king's thanes. Such a marriage would raise your husband too high. There is no man to whom you can safely be given."

"My father would never force me to take the veil!"

"No," Aelgifu replied somberly. "He would not--while he lives. But if he refuses to send you to make an alliance on the continent, then what comes to you when your brother rules? While Alfred is king, he will keep you in his court. In the morning you will continue to work copying holy writ in the scriptorium. And the rest of the day you will bide at your mother's side. But when your father is gone, what then?"

Elstred wrenched herself from Aelgifu's pleading grasp. The princess rose, pushing the girl off balance and knocking her onto the ground. "You're a trouble-making slut with no right to contaminate the queen's bower. And so I shall tell my mother!"

"Lady, please! Oh, please do not repeat my words."

Elstred heard the hot panic in Aelgifu's voice with satisfaction. The paroxysm of weeping that followed was somewhat surprising, however. She had never known Aelgifu to give way to her emotions so completely, not even as a young child. Elstred sighed. Alfred would expect his daughter to set aside her own worries and comfort this girl who was, after all, her sister. The thought stabbed her heart and she rejected it. But her duty was nonetheless clear. She must help Aelgifu accept God's will. Whatever that might prove to be.

The duty of a Christian princess was sometimes a heavy burden.