Rome, Italy, 856 AD
Rome, Italy, 856 ADThe arduous journey to Rome taught Faruin many things and changed his outlook on life. The most important aspect of the long pilgrimage was the founding of a lifelong friendship with Alfred. His esteem for the aetheling was limitless, based on the prince’s ability to astound him with the depth of his knowledge and his wisdom in one so young. When pressed on the subject of his learning, Alfred would reply that he still had so much to discover, and Faruin would feel inadequate. The aetheling spoke of his mother, Osburh, with such reverence that it was possible to imagine the beautiful queenly figure instructing the child at her knee and imparting her love of reading.
“Do you know, Faruin, my mother had a delightfully decorated book of English poetry,
