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Chapter One

Etton, near Peterborough, Mercia,

August 1067

Aediva shoved the full weight of her body against the heavy wooden gate, skidding in thebar

Then she turned and ran Back up the hill, back past the abandoned houses and scattered belongings dropped in the desperate rush to escape, back towards the Thane’s hall that stood, circular-shaped and slightly raised on a mound in the centre

At the entrance she stopped, ept hair tulancing fearfully over her shoulder as if expecting to find an arrow aimed at her throat

How long did they have? How long before the Conquest reached their door?

An hour if they were lucky

Not long enough

Then she blinked and the fear was gone, replaced by a steely deter, but she had another, ent crisis to deal with first

Breathless, she charged into the hall, skirting around the still-s into the birthing chamber

‘How is she?’ She dropped, panting, into the straw by the bed ‘Is the babe any further along?’

Eadgyth, the rey head sadly ‘Not yet She needs to push’

‘But she’s been pushing for hours!’

Aediva chewed her lip anxiously, still weighing their chances of escape How could it be taking so long? How much more could Cille’s sht the Normans closer towards them Every moment increased the risk of capture, or worse But Cille’s baby seemed in no hurry to be born

‘What can I do?’

‘Nothing All we can do is wait’

Wait! Aediva caught her breath, trying to stave off the rising tide of panic, the feeling that her whole world—the Saxon world that she kneas collapsing around her head First Leofric, then her father and now Cille Not to ht so , surely she couldn’t lose her sister as well?

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish thebody, the terrible slow spread of blood through the rushes News of the Norman soldiers’ approach had finally shocked her into labour, albeit not before tierously late, but Aediva had thought her older sister still asleep, not listening as she’d ordered their people to pack up and flee east, towards the Fens, one of the last strongholds of Saxon resistance If it hadn’t been for that shock, they ht all have escaped

‘They’ve gone, then?’ Eadgyth handed her a cup of mead

‘Aye’

She took a long draught, listening to the heavy ruht thing She’d made the decision on Cille’s behalf, just as she’d made every decision since their father’s death that last winter, taking over the day-to-day running of the village while her sister prepared for her confinehtest interest in her inheritance Since her unexpected arrival in the spring she’d see let alone taking charge

Which had left her to do it, acting as Thane in deed if not na her best to behave as their father would have wanted But then he’d never faced a Norman invasion! How could she knohat he would have done? Would he have run away or siht, defending Etton to the bitter and bloody end? Her heart suspected the latter, but her head had prevailed What chance did Saxon farainst Norman soldiers?