Conquest

Hereward came to the point quickly. ‘My Lord, did you suggest yourself to the King as his successor?’

‘Now is not the time. Edward will talk of only one other candidate besides William: Edgar, the true Atheling, a Saxon of the ancient Cerdic bloodline of the West Saxons, and the grandson of Edward’s half-brother, Edmund Ironside, who was King of England fifty years ago.’

The Cerdician kings could trace their ancestry back many generations through Alfred the Great to Egbert, King of the West Saxons, and, beyond him, to the original Saxon settlers of England, a lineage spanning hundreds of years. Except for the recent rule of the Scandinavians, every King of England had been of Cerdician blood.

‘Unfortunately, Edgar is only a boy of fourteen, and the King doesn’t think he will be strong enough to keep the Scandinavians at bay. He remains convinced that only William can do that.’

Hereward saw an opportunity for a compromise position. ‘But what if you were to be the Atheling’s Regent? With your army behind him, England could repel Hardrada and anyone else, even William.’

‘Sadly, Edward remains preoccupied with moving England closer to Europe. Nominating Edgar to succeed him would, in his mind, move England further away from his ambition for its future.’

‘When we spoke in Normandy, you said that Edward believed that kings should be born, not chosen by the Witan or by popular acclaim. Surely he contradicts himself by avoiding a successor who is of true royal blood?’

‘There are many contradictions in the character of our King. As for the right to rule through blood, if he thought Edgar would support Norman ways and bring more Normans to his realm, he might agree. But Edgar is a Saxon, part of a hidebound tradition the King is determined to break. And remember, Edgar was born in the home of the Magyars, in the land of Hungary. His father sought protection from their king after he had been exiled to Sweden when Cnut the Dane became our king. He had never set foot in England until a few years ago, and there are even doubts about how loyal the Saxon earls would be to him.’

Harold continued his discourse, outlining a story in which he himself played a controversial role. ‘Edgar’s father, Edward, was announced as the Atheling, Edward’s chosen successor, in 1054. Two years later, I was charged with bringing the young Edward from Hungary and escorting him and his family to England. He arrived laden with treasure and to much excitement. Here was the son of Edmund Ironside, grandson of Athelred, great-grandson of the good King Edgar, the perfect Saxon solution to the dilemma of the childless King Edward. Not a warrior by any means, but an astute and honourable young prince. Most importantly for the King’s long-term plan for his realm, he had been raised in the heart of sophisticated Europe, amid the heritage of Charlemagne’s noble tradition, a legacy that the King much admired. Edward was thrilled: his prayers for an heir, whom he could nurture and mould, had been answered.

‘Then, within days of the Prince’s arrival, there was a catastrophe. He fell seriously ill at Rochester and, to this day, no one knows why. He wasn’t even well enough to travel to Winchester to see the King. He couldn’t eat, his bowels emptied like a torrent and he died in just four days. The physicians suspected an assassin had poisoned him.’

‘It could only have been at William the Bastard’s bidding!’ Hereward spat out his instantaneous condemnation, remembering the gleam in the Duke’s eye as he contemplated the prospect of the English throne.

Edith joined the conversation animatedly. ‘Many said it was Harold who had planned it, as he had most to gain, and that I, a wicked temptress, had given the boy a deadly potion.’

Harold remembered the events with evident irritation. ‘Of course, the King knew I wasn’t responsible. Why would I travel all the way to the banks of the Danube to rescue the lad and then have him poisoned in Rochester?’ Harold paused and looked at his companions with a forlorn expression, seemingly tired of the intrigues of emperors, kings and princes. ‘So there you have it. Edgar is now the true Atheling of the Saxon line.’

Torfida, like Hereward, could see the potential for Edgar to succeed in his minority, with Harold as Regent. ‘What is young Edgar like? Could he be King?’