Princess Ellen sat alone in her chamber with red eyes, filled with furious disbelief that Lindensea had triumphed. That kingdom of milksops, led by a footless son of a dog! How had they claimed victory over Everwick, which had never been taken since the days of her ancestor Rollo Longstrider, may his name be honoured forever? And now this insolent request, which rubbed salt into her wounds ... it could not be borne.

Ellen's stepmother Orla quietly knocked on her chamber door, and entered before Ellen could either permit or deny admittance. Ellen's father had married Orla two summers ago, and she was only a few years older than Ellen.

"Ellen, I know you are upset, but may I say something to you?" said Orla, nervously pushing her long silky black hair behind her ears.

When Theodoric of Everwick had been widowed, he sent to Ireland for a wife, and accepted Princess Orla sight unseen, even though she had reached the great age of twenty-two without ever being betrothed. She was said to be very learned and spent all her time sewing and painting, but the king said she'd soon find she had little time for either. She had done her duty and produced a male heir for the kingdom named Roland – the half-brother who had disinherited Ellen.

Ellen didn't reply, but Orla kept her voice gentle.

"Ellen, you went to the battle and fought with all your heart, but you were defeated. What is the honourable thing for a warrior to do in this situation?"

"I know not, my lady," said Ellen in a muffled voice, "unless it be to take his own life for the shame of it."

"If all warriors did so, there would not be many warriors left," said Orla drily. "Is it not his duty to kneel before the king who defeated him, giving him honour and fealty?"

"I suppose so," said Ellen dolefully.

"Then would it not be honourable for you to do your duty to King Peter?" Orla suggested. "And has he not offered Everwick very easy terms?"

"But what he asks for, my lady!" Ellen said pitiably. "It is so ... so degrading."

"You think it degrading to marry a king? As I married your father?" asked Orla, one eyebrow raised.

"No, but ... the way he asked! Making me part of the peace deal, so that there is no honourable way for me to refuse," wailed Ellen. "I feel trapped."

"Yes, he has been very clever," said Orla with a smile. "But all that aside, would it be so dreadful to marry King Peter? He is young, and quite handsome."

Her voice betrayed no bitterness that she herself had been married off to a man much older, with little of his good looks left.

Ellen looked as if she might be wavering, although she wrung her hands as if in despair, and pushed her wrists against her forehead.

King Theodoric shoved his way into the room, banging the heavy wooden door in the process. Apparently Ellen's private chamber was not really private, or really hers. It belonged to her father, and he could barge in whenever he liked, without asking. Orla gave a little sigh.

"Now then, Ellen. I've just about had enough of your sulks," Theodoric said in a temper. "We've been offered a very attractive peace deal, almost completely in Everwick's favour, so you'd best ready yourself to marry Peter, and we'll have no more of your nonsense."

"What if I don't want to marry him?" Ellen said mutinously, turning red eyes towards her father.

"Now, listen lass. Don't be daft," Theodoric said, adjusting his heavy brown fur cloak. "What's wrong with Peter? He's handsome, he's a king, he's got a huge castle. Of course you want to marry him. You don't know your own mind."

"I do know my own mind, and I don't care about the size of his castle," Ellen snapped.

"You know what else he's got that's huge?" Theodoric said. "His treasury. He's willing to pay me a fortune in gold and silver and jewels for you. That's how highly he values you, my lass. Any man willing to put down that amount of coin for a wife is bound to treat her well. Stands to reason."

"I can't believe my own father would force me to marry against my will for money," Ellen said with a little sob, tears springing to her eyes unbidden.

"I thought I raised you to be a brave lass, and here you are, crying and carrying on like a baby," Theodoric said in disgust. "It's high time you were married anyway, so you can shut your noise and start getting used to the idea."

"I'll run away and live as an outlaw in the woods before I marry that man!" shouted Ellen, and in no time at all father and daughter were in the middle of a first class row.

Orla permitted herself an eye-roll, but she was genuinely annoyed. She had been gently persuading Ellen to accept Peter, and now that idiotic Theo had undone all her good work. It was too bad, it really was. At this rate, Ellen would be dragged to her wedding, kicking and screaming.

Notes

Rollo Longstrider, based on the Rollo who was a Viking and became the first ruler of Normandy, an ancestor of William the Conqueror (his surname is sometimes given as "Walker"). In this world, Rollo settled elsewhere. Defeated by Lindensea, where he is viewed as a bit of a bogeyman, he is naturally revered in Everwick, which is ruled by his descendants. Ellen's half-brother Roland is named in his honour.