The Edge of Light Read Online Free PDF Page B

thinking about that,” he said, his small face very earnest. “My father has bestowed several manors upon you.” Alfred knew this because he had heard a number of West Saxon thanes complaining about the alienation of West Saxon royal property to the Franks. He leaned forward a little. “You can live on your own property here in Wessex, Judith, and I will come and live with you!”
    She turned to look at him. “I will have to spend some time with Ethelred, too,” he added conscientiously. “He would miss me if I did not.”
    Tears glinted in Judith’s great brown eyes. “Oh, Alfred, I wish we could do that.”
    “But why could we not do that, Judith? You are a grown-up. You can do as you wish.”
    Her eyes were luminous with unshed tears. “I am not just any grown-up, my dear. I am a princess of France, and my father will never allow me to remain a widow.” She looked down at her slender hands, then linked them together at her waist. “A daughter is a valuable pawn when you are a king.” She raised her eyes to Alfred once more. “Look at your own sister, Alfred. Ethelswith is twenty years younger than Burgred of Mercia. Do you think, left to herself, she would have chosen to marry him?”
    He stared at her and did not answer.
    “God knows whom my father will choose for me next,” Judith said bitterly.
    Alfred was upset. “I do not think it is fair that girls should have so little say in the matter of whom they are to marry.”
    Her reply was drowned out by the sudden burst of noise in the hall. The witenagemot apparently was over. Alfred began to gather up his books. He would seek out Ethelred to discover what had happened. Then a knock came at Judith’s door.
    “Alfred …” Judith’s face was very pale. “Will you open the door, please?”
    He cast her a puzzled look, but went obediently to do as she wished. Outside the door was his brother Ethelbald.
    “I have come to see the queen, youngster,” Ethelbald said to Alfred in his deep voice.
    Alfred turned to Judith. “It is the king, my lady.”
    “Come in, my lord,” Judith replied. Alfred stared at her. She sounded strange.
    Ethelbald walked in and the room suddenly shrank. Alfred stared with envy at his brother’s wide shoulders. He realized that Ethelbald and Judith were staring at each other, and said, a little uncertainly, “Shall I leave, Judith? Or do you want me to stay?” The glitter in his brother’s eyes as he looked at Judith was making Alfred feel apprehensive.
    Ethelbald raised an eyebrow at Judith, and she said, “You may go and find Ethelred, Alfred. I know that is what you want to do.” She smiled at him and looked a little more like her usual self. He smiled back, picked up his book, and went out the door, leaving Judith alone with Ethelbald.
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Chapter 4
    The January afternoon was cold and clear, and when Alfred finally found Ethelred, his elder brother suggested a ride along the Itchen. Alfred was agreeable, and, as he rode alongside Ethelred, his fat short-legged pony jogging to keep up with his brother’s bigger horse, he was content to hold back his questions, content simply to enjoy the thin winter sunshine and his brother’s companionship, and let Ethelred choose the time to say whatever it was he wanted Alfred to hear.
    Ethelred waited until the walls of Winchester were well behind them. Then he said, “Ethelbald is going to marry Judith.”
    The shock of his brother’s words rocked Alfred as forcefully as if the blow had been physical.
    “What?”
    “I said that Ethelbald is going to marry Judith,” Ethelred repeated. “That is what we were discussing at the witenagemot all the morning.”
    Alfred stared at his brother in stunned surprise. “Ethelbald can’t marry Judith,” he said. “Judith was married to Father.”
    “In the normal way of things, you are right,” Ethelred said. “The church will not allow a man to marry his stepmother. But the situation here is … unusual.”
    The surprise was