“Galan, …I mean Brother Prior, I wish to pray at the shrine if I may.”
My sibling smiled sweetly, rolled up the parchment and locked it away.
Strangely, Aella did not want to come to the shrine, preferring to talk with Eadwine. As we walked along, my brother begged me to bring the criminal to justice and vowed that if I did, he would come and visit little Reika, whom he had never seen. He left me to my devotions, which consisted of supplications to Saint Cuthbert, reminding him of his friendship with my forebear Aella and begging the saint to cast a benevolent eye on his descendent of the same name. I was more anxious about my young son than I was prepared to admit. Sooner or later, he would have to demonstrate his prowess to the world like any other noble warrior’s son. The problem was
