I am th'red, son of th'red.
My daughter, sliorra, and her husband, sl'gf/yggr, have an unwelcome guest,
s/gt/yggr's treacherous brother, rogn va/dr...
Why do you agree when he seeks to come between us?
Who secretly plots against them.
My be/o ved aethe/f/aed has visited us in rumoofa.
Some say I came to see you.
I wish that were true, but I think it is not.
And my liege man cyn/aef
has found favor with her daughter, ae/fi/r/ynn.
Go and help the lady aelfwynn off her horse.
Aethe/f/aed brought a holy man, father bened/ct.
Rumcofa does not need a priest.
- He's an exceptionally gifted scholar. - He's a gambler.
Make sure he gives that back.
Brida has returned with her daughter, I/ibeke,
belie ved to be a seer.
The seer has chosen.
Her hatred of me and my family still burns hire a poison.
- Who did this to you? - Bridal
And now she has invaded eoferwic,
spreading pain and terror through the city.
Find stiorra!
Destiny is all./
Find stiorra! Find uhtred's daughter!
Leave him. It is done.
Go and play.
She is nothing to fear!
She's here to rescue you, turn you back to the gods.
Do not fight them, brother.
She has the power. Yield!
Oh!
Jesus, save us.
Yield!
She will do it again.
Sigtryggr, for the sake of your people, yield.
King sigtryggr.
How you have thrived.
What is this madness?
It is not madness to honor the gods.
You do not speak for the gods.
Our gods do not need a priestess!
You follow her like Christian sheep?
Where is his wife?
Let me find her.
Rognvaldr, no.
Rognvaldr, no!
Leave her be!
You little dog, huh?
No longer the man he was.
Christians have a story for it.
Stiorra!
We're coming for you!
Stiorra!
Stiorra? Stiorra, come out!
Show brida you're sorry for letting your people stray.
She will forgive you.
- You! - [Gasps}
where is your mistress?
I have not seen her, lord. She has left.
This way.
- Harder. - Please, I cannot.
Where is she?
She says she has fled with her women.
Is this true?
Come on, you can trust me.
It would be foolish to lie, girl.
-[Gasps} -[Gasps}
Search every home. Bring me hostages.
I want anyone who could be stiorra lined up in the square!
Bring the water.
Brida!
Allow him to live and he will come to you as I did. Please.
Let me teach him how we worship the gods with purity.
All this to prove yourself to your brother?
- To get the chance to lead him? - I will not follow this perversion.
I lead these people and I will die their king.
As you wish. Kill him.
No!
You kill him.
He's my kin.
He has betrayed our gods.
He allowed the christians to take root here and poison our brothers.
Kill him, hmm?
You have shown me you're loyal. Good.
Now I've shown you all I act with justice, you will come and welcome me in time.
I set you free, Danes of jorvik.
Open the gates. Open them!
Find uhtred.
I will not leave my people to your mercy.
We will find your wife, you know we will.
So I offer you this bargain.
I will spare her life only if you bring me uhtred.
Sigtryggr!
- There you go. - Thank you.
Do not give up hope.
- Sit with him. Your voice might wake him. - And say what?
What words are there for this?
How can I tell him he is no longer a man?
Tell him he is still your son.
Uh, the scouts are returning from the hillside.
I will send for you should he wake.
Nothing to the east, nothing upriver, nothing downriver.
I don't think she's here, lord.
I have no wish to harm you, huh?
Only make you see how you have fallen from the path.
On your knees.
On your knees, all of you!
You will stay like that until your stiorra saves you from your agony.
Stiorra, show yourself! Do not let these women suffer!
Hey! Don't leave your guard!
You piss and shit where you stand.
I should return to my post.
I'm needed on the bankside.
If brida attacks, she will torture us all.
I am a woman of royal blood.
It's my duty to be tortured.
Lord, stand down.
- Let me take over the watch. - No. We must keep all the men ready.
Lord, rest.
We have men everywhere.
- We'll not be taken by surprise. - I am already outplayed, finan.
You couldn't have known.
I did.
I always knew she would return.
I just thought she would attack me, not you.
- Nor my son. - It is a grievous wound,
but your son can survive it.
Survive perhaps, but live?
Have no child, no legacy.
Uhtred!
I have grave news from across the country.
Stiorra? She has attacked eofennic?
- How did you know? - She's coming for my bloodline.
Stand down the men. We will be leaving.
- How long has it been like this? - Less than a year.
A year?
- Does this hurt... - Yes.
- Yes, it does. - Have you shown this to anyone else?
The healers in mercia are not to be trusted.
Any sign the queen sickens, and the ealdormen plot civil war.
I do wish, lady, that you had shown someone.
To excise this now might be...
May I?
Well, I-I thought perhaps it might heal itself.
I have had others that have done so.
I fear this will not heal itself.
I know that taking a knife to it might be dangerous, but I am prepared.
- I am not sure we can remove it. - Curtail it then, perhaps?
It seems to grow rather rapidly now.
It grows as the flesh falls from my belly.
May I just...
Is this beyond your skill?
Have I misjudged your reputation?
Lady, I fear it is too late to save you from this canker.
You have seen this before.
Only on...
Were you going to say "only on the dead"?
Yes, lady, I was.
My heart breaks. I have no words.
Well, then, I must attend to urgent matters.
The mercian succession.
How we maintain peace.
No, I would urge you instead to spend your time with those that you love.
You are clearly unfamiliar with the demands of ruling a kingdom.
Do not cry.
There is much to do. I am still myself.
Lady aethelflaed is sleeping and should not be disturbed.
She will want to hear this.
No. As father Benedict says, she should not be disturbed.
Aldhelm, my daughter is in danger.
She is attending to matters for mercians and mercians alone.
She asks you prepare her mother for mass. The lady invites you in.
What is the news that cannot wait?
Eofennic has fallen, and my daughter is in danger.
Then I share your pain, lord uhtred.
So we ride out with the men of rumcofa, retake the town for sigtryggr.
-Icannot -why?
- Mercia cannot be distracted. - Distracted?
The men of rumcofa will be needed here.
- We cannot take them to eofen/vic. - Why?
We need to turn our efforts inward, look to securing mercia.
But this is madness! Brida's on your border!
- And if she crosses into our lands... - Then we will be too late!
- Please do not question me. - Then do not behave with such foolishness.
I have spoken!
We shall return to aegelesburg.
You may take a dozen of the men of rumcofa.
But what of stiorra?
Aethelflaed...
What of my daughter?
Trust that I have good reason to refuse.
You're like the worst of your father.
- Uhtred... - And you a coward!
I will do this alone, even if you give me nothing!
How you've changed.
How you have not.
I'm assuming lady eadith did not have welcome news.
Should I have told him?
He would have been fighting brida with a broken heart.
As all our hearts are broken, lady.
This news is... unbearable.
And yet we shall bear it.
Both of us.
My father faced death with a soul that was prepared.
He knew his dream would outlive him and he did not grieve his loss.
And nor shall I.
Raise a dozen men loyal to us.
We will go to the Saxon boroughs bordering eofennic, get their assistance.
She's only given you a dozen?
- To retake a town? - You did mention brida, didn't you, lord?
The boroughs along the border have fought with us.
They have an interest in seeing brida dead.
Are you sure you're ready?
I'm certain.
Stiorra saved my life as a child. I owe her this.
- Find him a faster horse. - Lord.
If there is mortal danger, I ask that you ride away from it.
Do not think of us, just run.
Can you do that?
I'm just as good a fighter as any of your men.
You're also a greater prize.
- Aethelstan, if you're captured... - Then I'll say the truth, that I'm no one.
Not yet, no.
How would you like us to respond?
We should signal support. Sigtryggr has been a strong ally.
That said, eofen/vic is on my sister's border.
Indeed.
She may wish to lead a counterattack without our interference.
Send 300 north to support her army.
- Make it clear they're under her command. - Lord.
I have news from eofennic, lord.
Your spies are too slow, lord aethelhelm.
I already know and have acted.
Then you are readying your troops to make haste there?
No, I will not.
They will not reach eofennic before aethelflaed's men of rumcofa.
It is wiser we follow her lead.
Is it?
Whilst I am loathe to spill the blood of wessex,
does this not offer an opportunity?
How so?
Eofennic is the gateway to northumbria.
Take it and three quarters of england will be under your control.
There are other ways to regain eofen/vic from the heathens.
With respect, your missionaries, by now, are dead.
Still, I am a young enough man to think in years, not months.
If you think I've forsaken Alfred's dream, you are mistaken.
You are wasting a chance!
Use this moment.
Kill brida and kill sigtryggr.
I will not kill sigtryggr. He has behaved peacefully towards us.
Or appears to.
Are we really to believe that this is Dane infighting?
Is it not more likely that he invited brida to form an alliance?
Our information says different, and I am confident in it.
Not everyone intrigues as you do, my lord aethelhelm.
Very well.
I have done my duty. I have offered my advice.
The ealdormen will be disappointed.
I'm not certain you speak for the ealdormen.
He is unwise to keep questioning me.
He feels time slipping and his standing diminish.
- A war could bring him influence. - Mmm.
Still, go north. Assess the situation for yourself.
But what of the matters of state?
You may delegate them to the king.
There was nothing in what aethelhelm said, that sigtryggr planned this?
Lord aethelhelm is simply looking to start a battle so you come begging him for coin.
He wishes you beholden to him because you're not.
You are to inform the Saxon boroughs on sigtryggr's border
not to give troops to assist him.
He is to be offered no safe harbor, no support.
That is the word of the king, is it?
If asked, he would deny it.
Thought I was going after the young bastard.
Yes.
After you have finished playing messenger, you may return to rumcofa.
Say what you want, we're leaving.
I thought I should say my farewells.
Why? Because you have sent me to my death?
You risk me. You risk aethelstan.
You have men and you have fire in your heart.
You will achieve what you set out to do.
- But if I do not see you again... - You will see me again.
If I die, I will haunt you to the end of your days.
- No, no, no. Make your peace. - Oh, they'll find peace.
They've loved each other a long time.
No, as soon as this is done, make him return to find her.
He'll probably sulk until the summer.
Finan, wait!
I am forbidden from speaking what I will say next.
Swear you will keep it until he has rescued his daughter?
All right.
The lady will not be here next summer.
She is dying.
What?
That is why she could not offer help. There will be trouble in mercia.
- But she seemed herself. - That is taking all her strength.
No, no, no. You cannot tell him.
He must not be distracted from this fight.
I have never lied to him.
I know.
But sadly, it is not a burden you will have to bear for long.
- Are you ready for this? - Uh... uh, yes.
It has been a while since we went to fight.
Can't wait. I'm desperate to wield a sword again.
Go. You're getting in my way.
I love you.
And I know it is hard. But we will return to them.
I swear.
To eofennic!
Who is next?
No. No.
I-I cannot hear another quarrel between you.
Leave Winchester until you have resolved your dispute.
My king.
Yes, what is your case?
I am here to avenge my father's death.
That at least sounds interesting.
A man named goda killed him and claimed the lands he gave to me.
- I want them back. - Yes, I have read this one.
- Lady eadgifu? - Yes, lord king, of cent.
I have a great fondness for cent.
I spent many happy times there as a younger man.
Yes.
Yes, as a boy, I recall, you were brought to cantwaraburg.
My father, the ealdorman, held a feast for yours, the great king.
Yes. Yes, now I think you are familiar.
If I am correct, I was given your horse to ride and you were not happy.
Indeed.
Yes, as a girl, I cared far more for horses than for boys.
Well, may I be forgiven for not remembering? It was a long time ago.
We are all much changed.
You have grown into the true heir of a great kingdom...
Perhaps we could hear the other side of this dispute.
Where is this goda?
With respect, it is not in dispute.
The man has stolen property that is rightfully mine.
It is not in contention. He is in the wrong.
Yes.
Look, having read the details from father pyrlig,
I concur that you have been done an injustice.
Have this goda brought before the ealdorman of cent.
And this decrees your stolen land as folkland which I may now return to you.
Thank you.
I am most grateful, my king.
I shall trouble you no longer.
The business is done for this evening.
Lady eadgifu?
Eat with us.
I... wish to hear news from cent.
Lord king, I would be honored.
I simply do not understand what you are trying to tell me.
The delay has not favored me.
- So eadith's cure is to be harsher? - No.
It is too late to enact a cure.
Well, that I do not understand.
Explain to me, yourself, why your cure will fail.
It is simple.
I am dying.
- No, you are not. - Tell her.
No, do not. I will not listen.
I am not going to take the words of a prattler who has deceived us!
Mother, that is unfair.
What is unfair
is telling us it could be cured and then failing to cure it!
- Lady, I never told you that... - Do not speak to me!
Do not!
Will you console her? I do not have the strength.
Of course, lady.
May I ask how long, you think?
I believe you will not see the spring.
And I shall endeavor to relieve any pain.
I do not want to be here.
I want to return to aegelesburg.
Then we must travel before you grow too weak.
I know not why the lord wills this.
Yet, speak of it to no one.
I must tell my daughter. Aldhelm.
Mother!
What is your name?
Cynlaef, lady.
- And you are training as a warrior? - Uh...
Yes, lady.
Lord aldhelm, ensure cynlaef here is sent upriver to fight the raiders.
And accompany lady aelfwynn in an advance party home.
- No, please, that is not fair! - Lady, I mean no harm to anyone.
Then I would find some fire as the raiders can be merciless.
Why would you be so cruel to me?
Why? I try only to live as other girls do.
You are not any other girl.
You are heir to mercia and as such must be chaste.
- Why? - Because that is the way things are!
I have sacrificed everything, everything to secure our kingdom.
You cannot throw it away like a cheap ale yard whore!
- Better a whore than a frustrated witch. - Do not speak to your queen in that way.
Or you will come to regret it.
Now you will return to aegelesburg
and think about what it means to rule there.
I have thought about it. It is a punishment.
Nonetheless, it is what is planned for you.
I know you are young, but look beyond yourself.
To be a queen is an honor.
There is no greater destiny.
Destiny is for arselings.
I do not want it!
And that's what happens when a boy spends too long with his mother.
Do not turn immediately, but he has arrived with another woman.
She is still here.
Normally they do not last the night.
The women of cent are a law unto themselves,
but they tend to be sensible.
I'll deal with it.
How much?
- My lord? - Coin.
How much coin do you want?
- Coin, lord? For what? - To return to your estate.
Well, I have only just arrived and the road is long.
Then we will find you the strongest horses.
What is it that women like you appreciate? Gold? Silks?
Some spices, remedies?
Name your price.
Thirty pieces of silver.
That is the cost of betrayal, I believe.
- A woman who knows the scripture. - Mmm.
Alfred's learning is strong in cent.
Then you will do the clever thing and accept my offer.
And if I do not?
I don't know.
They always tend to comply.
You may sit.
Two days. Two days and still stiorra makes you suffer.
I am here as a mother, to see a better future for our children.
Daneland restored for Danes and Danes alone.
Now, the gods gave us fair winds and calm seas to carry us here.
For this, they deserve a sacrifice.
Bring her forth.
Vibeke, we're ready.
Show us who is honored.
This cannot be.
I am needed alive to serve the gods!
This cannot be!
Bnda?
The gods speak through the seer!
But five is enough.
They will be satisfied with this.
Let me go. She will show no mercy.
Come out! I can feel your eyes on me!
Come out and face me!
We have no fight.
Are you a Dane of eofennic?
No. I'm sigtryggr of jorvik and I am king there.
Forgive me. I mean no disrespect.
- I am... - Father pyrlig.
Adviser to king Edward.
- Where is uhtred? - We expect him with the men from rumcofa.
I am the vanguard, but the king is sending his sister reinforcements.
And yet I have heard nothing and seen less.
The saxons will fight for you. You're no longer alone.
Good.
We meet these armies, take my homestead, kill the bitch.
Right away, sir.
I do not want this.
W-What is it?
Lord aethelhelm offered me money to leave.
- I did not ask him to do that. - Then why would he do it?
Lord king, I am not foolish.
I know your favor to me was merely a passing desire. But I...
I did not expect to be treated as a common whore.
That decision was lord aethelhelm's alone. He seeks to thwart me on many things.
Then do not suffer him.
He has friends and he is kin.
I am sorry for this offense.
Well, I am sorry for your troubles as they seem to make you heartsore.
That is the first kindness I have been shown in quite a while.
Well, my father was an ealdorman and I knew the care of it was troublesome.
I can only imagine how much worse it is for you.
Perhaps you need not imagine it.
Perhaps you could stay and see it for a while.
For yourself, with me.
Yes, I should like that.
For all its strangeness, I did find our time together enjoyable.
Faster. You piss like an old man.
Die, priest.
Oh, you dribbled on yourself there, father.
No, it's holy water.
- Where are the men of rumcofa? - Uh, yes, not good news on that.
Sigtryggr!
What news of stiorra?
She was alive when I left, but brida hunts her. There's no time.
We will reach her.
We will save her.
She claims to act for Danes.
- It is you she wants. It is you. - You have found me.
You have done all you can.
Where is the army of rumcofa?
The lady would not offer them.
- I thought the king sent men. - He has.
- I do not understand... - It does not matter.
I have sent word to the Saxon boroughs on your border.
Why would the lady refuse? We have an alliance!
- For years we have had peace! - I know! It is a betrayal.
- Is this Edward's decision? - No, it is not.
- What news of the borough men? - The boroughs say they can offer nothing.
They claim they have no men stationed there.
Then they lie. There are more than a hundred there.
I know the Saxon defenses around my lands.
They also say king Edward has sent an order, lord.
- No one's to come to king sigtryggr's aid. - I know nothing of this.
It is a mistake!
- Then if I have to do this alone, I shall. - You will not be doing this alone.
Lords, we cannot take eofenivic with this number.
- But if we can get in and I kill brida... - She'|I have men within protecting her.
I have men within and they will be loyal to me.
You take this band outside the gates, we can bring townspeople out to you.
We still need to get into eofennic, lord.
My wife will not die trapped like a rat!
I did not conquer all I have conquered to let her suffer this!
What are you thinking?
I have a way in. Follow me.
Move.
Welcome.
Take some time to pray.
It is simple, but in time it will be home.
I like it. It's like we're in the manger.
Why have you come north so soon?
Running a quiet errand for himself.
I have 100...
And this.
I believe you owe him 300.
Yes. The rest will come.
The man has his own debts to pay.
I know this. I will find the money.
Lord aethelhelm is a good friend of mine
and I am sure he will look on me with compassion.
Do we speak of the same man?
I can't go back empty-handed. Give me something.
I have nothing to give.
Other than things I have seen...
Words I have heard.
And what have you heard?
Lady aethelflaed is dying and will not see the spring.
Thor strikes his hammer when he's displeased.
But he will be appeased if we make another offering.
No, please! Please, no!
No!
I cannot hide any longer. I'm sorry.
We cannot sit and wait to be saved.
Lord, what is he doing?
This is madness. We should wait until we find more men.
Raise a fyrd at least.
He says there is a Roman way.
The romans?
That's our plan?
Have the romans get us out of this?
Because the last time I checked, they all died 600 years ago.
Osferth, the flint!
It was built to carry turds from eofennic.
Will it take us there?
Perhaps.
Perhaps is enough.
We follow the way of turds.
Wait!
You die before I do and my daughter will not forgive it.
Uh, lord, this is a bad idea.
The romans protected their buildings with ghosts.
Follow the water and escape.
Brida!
I'm coming for you!
You will pay for this!
Bnda!
Then show yourself!