THE FLIGHT
Feargus went forth from Penda’s hall in an angry mood and sought out
Edwy as he was being taken to the tower wherein they were to cast him
and spoke in his ear. The killing was fixed for the morrow. At midnight
Feargus arose, and, taking his sword, entered the king’s stable and led
therefrom seven beasts of best blood with all their trappings, riding
them into the forest hard by the town. He then went to the building
wherein lay Edwy with his thanes; he whistled thrice, till one appeared
at the window high up in the tower. Then Feargus drew forth a light cord
and threw it up that they caught it, and therewith drew up a stouter one.
Fastening this above, they slid down it to the ground, until the whole
seven of them stood beside him, the last to descend being the boy Edwy.
“Thou art great of heart for thy years, brother, and gentle withal,”
said Feargus; “thy stoutness will all be needed this night; but for thy
sister Torfrida have no fear, for I swear to thee that nought ill shall
befall her while I have life; and if I die, my kin and thine shall avenge
her; so be ye comforted. She should have ridden with thee this night,
but she is prisoned in the very halls of the king where none may enter.”
Then, having reached the wood, they mounted their beasts and Feargus
kissed the boy, and “May the God of the Christians speed ye,” said he,
and they departed.
Then Feargus returned to his lodging and threw himself down; but he was
uneasy for Torfrida’s safety so that he slept little, and in the morning
he arose betimes and donned his arms and went forth. He had gone but a
little way before he heard a great noise and saw many people running
hither and thither, so he asked one, Oscar, the king’s seneschal, what
might be amiss.
“Have you not heard, noble Feargus, that the youth Edwy Sigmundsson with
all his thanes have broken their prison, and have entered the king’s
stable and taken therefrom seven fleet horses and are away. And the king
is so wrath that all men are adread of him.”
“Seek no more, good Oscar, for here at your hand is the thief and the
prison-breaker.”
“What mean you?”
“That I, Feargus, let the birds free and broke the king’s stable.”
“If thou wilt be advised thou wilt tell none other that news.”
“Thanks to thee; but the king hath an evil counsellor who will see my
hand in this and will be ready to do my cause an injury therewith, so I
will hie me straight to Penda and be beforehand with him.”
“Then may the gods defend thee, for never saw I the king more wrath.”
So Feargus turned him towards the hall where the king sat; there he
found Penda, white with rage, fiercely pacing the floor. At his side was
Osbert, who, as he turned and saw Feargus, started violently, for his
name had been at that moment on his lips.
“Call in thy messengers, king Penda,” said Feargus, “for vainly they
seek Edwy Sigmundsson; he is away, and he who set him free and broke thy
stable for beasts to carry him and his thanes stands before thee.”
Then the king swore a great oath, and snatching up a heavy spear which
stood beside him, hurled it at the speaker; but Feargus moved quickly
aside and the weapon flew past him and, striking the wall, buried
itself therein. Feargus stood still again, calmly eyeing the king. Not
so, however, his captain Duncan, who was ever at his back, eagle-eyed
but jovial of countenance; as the king threw, his sword leapt over his
shoulder whereupon he carried it, and the king being without arms drew
back a pace.
“Put up thy sword, good Duncan,” said Feargus, “and pray the king to
pardon thee, for thou wert ever hasty; but no thought of unfaithfulness
to the king hadst thou, that will I be sworn.”
“Now I pray thee, king Penda, that though thou mayest not pardon me,
thou wilt pardon my faithful and much-loved Duncan, in whom thy friend
my father had great pride; for not among all thy men canst thou find his
equal.”
Now the king ever loved boldness, and in secret smiled at Duncan, though
fiercely he spake.
“Well thou sayest, else death should have both him and thee, for all that
I am not unmindful of thy services: it shall be long ere thou shalt
again stand in this hall. Take thou,” he said, turning to the seneschal
Oscar, “the chief Feargus, and put him in the great tower, and with water
and bread feed him, and there let him remain.”
So they took Feargus, who went readily, and they treated him fair, he
being much beloved by them, and left him his sword, for no need had they,
said Oscar, to put a slight upon him who stood so well in the sight of
all men. But great was the wrath of the Picts when they saw their chief
led away captive; for they cared not for Penda, or whether he were
Christian or whether heathen, but only for their leader, and him they
followed through the town to his prison, with Duncan at their head; and
they were mighty and tall men and thick of limb, and ever ready in a
desperate fight. Then Feargus minded them of the wishes of Nechtan their
king, telling them to obey Penda and stay quiet. So they obeyed, but of
their own will divided themselves into two bodies, the one half of them
lying down outside the prison of Feargus, and the other half beneath
the windows of Torfrida. So they kept Feargus in knowledge of all that
happened, and he was greatly comforted to know they lay and watched for
Torfrida. And daily they played outside his prison on the clarsach and
on the pipes the noble songs of the Albanich.
When Penda heard that they lay day and night outside the prison of their
chief and of Torfrida, he was not unpleased, for he loved ever the
faithful and the bold, and was secretly ashamed that he had been led into
cruelty, such as had never stained his name, by Osbert’s evil influence.
So at length, after a month had passed, he minded him of their services
and sent for Duncan, who pleaded hard for Torfrida that she might be
set free; for such was the wish of Feargus. The king’s heart smote him
for Torfrida, but Osbert and his brethren and Edgar his cousin told
him that Feargus loved Torfrida and was himself being converted to the
faith of the Christians and would yet be on the side of Sigmund and the
Northumbrians. And though Penda refused to believe that Feargus could
be unfaithful to him, yet he was swayed somewhat by their counsel oft
repeated. So Feargus still chafed in his prison and was much troubled
about many matters. There was little hope that he might ever again see
Torfrida, and he had much doubt in his mind, for that the king was so
deadly an enemy to the Christians, of whom he himself was one; yet the
idea of leaving Penda he could not brook. Two months passed and they
brought him word that Torfrida lay sick, and he ground his teeth and beat
his breast in despair; then Duncan, with Alastair, his captains, wished
him to let them break his prison and release Torfrida and depart with her
to Alban.
“What would then happen to all ye who stayed behind,” said he, “nothing
less than death, and how would Nechtan think of him who had broken oath
to Penda and left his men to die? Nay, good Duncan, it cannot be. Never
will I break troth with thee or with the king.”
Then Duncan went once more to Penda and said—
“Now, king, we come from our chief, the noble Feargus, than whom thou
hast no more faithful soldier, to pray thee to set free the lady
Torfrida, his true love, who now lieth sick; for she hath been bred in
the halls of kings and not in dungeons, and in the darkness fadeth. Ill
hast thou requited our chief for all he hath wrought for thee, and us his
clansmen, who have wielded war brands for thee. Thy manner of treating
thy warriors is little like to that of the noble chiefs of our land, king
Brude and king Nechtan.”
Half angry at Duncan and half merry at his boldness, Penda said, “Thy
master hath in thee a saucy servant; in sooth thou art fitter to deal
blows than to deliver messages.”
Then he turned to Osbert and Edgar and together they spoke, and the king
was for freeing Torfrida, but Osbert counselled the king, and he said,
“Go back to the chief and tell him that Torfrida shall go free to her
father’s land with many to keep her in safety, but only if he swears to
hold no tryst with her, nor seek, nor see, nor speak with her more for
ever.”
Then the merry face of Duncan darkened and his eyes flashed angrily. “Now
woe am I to take back so sad a message, and woe shall it be to him who
comes between where true love is.”
“Out, impudent dog, or such freedom as I offer her shall be denied.”
So Duncan, full of anger, betook himself back to the tower of Feargus and
told him the message. Then the strong man broke down, and he saw in this
not the hand of Penda only, but of his enemies.
The days passed and still they came with long faces stammering out that
she was worse, and nightly in his thoughts he beheld the sweet and
tender one in the dark cell, where the golden hair shone in vain for none
might see and admire. Many days he endured till at last they brought him
word that she lay dying, and his heart stood still. Then in his grief
he sent for Duncan and told him, “Go thou and seek king Penda, for I
cannot live thus longer; tell him that Feargus will promise anything, do
anything, if he will but release the lady Torfrida. And I swear to thee,
my captain, that an she dies, then will I strike the proud king dead
(though I know he liketh me well), and Osbert and Edgar my enemies atop
of him, and over all that death pile shall I lie sword stricken in the
hall of Penda.”
So Duncan went again to Penda, taking with him Alastair his cousin,
the others waiting about outside, and they two agreed that if the king
refused, then they would fall upon him and kill him while the others
should release Torfrida, seize the king’s sons, Peada and Wulfere, and
getting them all aboard ship, sail to their own land, they knowing well
that nothing would happen to Feargus while the king’s sons were in their
hands. Then Duncan told Penda that Torfrida lay a-dying and that his
master was nigh beside himself. This time the king was alone, save for
his sons, who were good men both, and the king said—
“So my little Torfrida dwineth—so shall all the enemies of the gods;
yet I am sorry that it should have come to thee, child. Thou wert ever
a favourite with me, Torfrida! Penda was not wont to war with children.
Set her free, good Duncan, set her free, and see to it that she lacketh
nothing; and thou sayest my brave Feargus is sad—young fool—let him walk
free too.”
“That will I gladly.”
“Nay, not so fast, thou saucy dog—he is strong, none stronger, a day or
two will not hurt him. Set her free at once, if we free them together
they will be for leave taking—no, let him stay where he now is till such
time as I tell thee; but say to him that he may be of good heart, for he
shall be speedily freed.”
“That were a mockery, king, for of good heart will he never be since thou
hast forbidden him the lady Torfrida.”
And so Torfrida was set free, but she lay for many days ere she could
gain strength to walk. And Osbert went to the king, knowing that Torfrida
was to be released, and offered to escort the lady; for so had he
plotted, thinking thus to get her into his own hands.
And Penda said that, as she was a king’s daughter, he could do no less
than send a king’s son with her, for escort, and fifty men, and so it was
settled.
When Feargus heard this he sent again to Penda, seeing Osbert’s hand, and
Duncan boldly told the king that Osbert wanted the lady Torfrida, and
that he was the enemy of Feargus, and they would not trust her with him.
“Darest thou to speak thus against a king’s son, and the wealthiest thane
of my court, and make these charges.”
“The Albanich care not for kings or thanes except their own, and them
only obey; as to us, we swore to king Nechtan to do to the utmost for his
son, and I tell thee, king Penda, that we will go with the lady too or
else thou shalt shoot us all down.”
“Surely thou advancest in boldness; the sooner thy chief cometh to lead
thee the better, for, were I thy master, I would lead thee with a halter,
and by the gods, wert thou the servant of any other man, thou shouldst
now be dangling from the town wall.”
“King, thou hast imprisoned the noble Feargus, who loved thee and who
hath fought for thee as none other hath, and fearful oath hast thou drawn
from him; if thou now givest his lady into the hands of the villain
Osbert, and destroyest his captain, his cup will be full.”
“Thou mayest take thy men with Torfrida, and thyself—but hark ye, never
again enter thou this hall; for surely nothing hath saved thee but the
fact that thy chief loveth thee.”