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    The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia: Alfgifu the Orphan
    The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia: Alfgifu the Orphan
    The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia: Alfgifu the Orphan
    Ebook31 pages29 minutes

    The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia: Alfgifu the Orphan

    By Jayden Woods

    ()

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    About this ebook

    “The Lost Tales of Mercia” are ten short stories set in England near the end of the Viking Age. These swashbuckling tales, based heavily on true events, educate and entertain simultaneously. The Fifth Tale is the wildest yet. Meet a spited orphan named Alfgifu and the young Viking King, Canute. Together, they may be strong enough to defeat the crafty Eadric Streona.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJayden Woods
    Release dateJul 12, 2010
    ISBN9781452315935
    The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia: Alfgifu the Orphan
    Author

    Jayden Woods

    Jayden Woods is the author's pen name. Jayden is a graduate of the University of Southern California's Writing for Screen and Television program. She lived and worked in Los Angeles for five years before leaving Hollywood to pursue her passion of writing prose and novels. Her published works include the various Tales of Mercia and the related "Sons of Mercia" trilogy, beginning with "Eadric the Grasper."

    Read more from Jayden Woods

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      Book preview

      The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia - Jayden Woods

      The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia:

      Alfgifu the Orphan

      Jayden Woods

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2010 Jayden Woods

      Edited by Malcolm Pierce

      *

      Read the Lost Tales in any order you’d like, before or after reading the novel Eadric the Grasper, or completely alone as quick glimpses into an ancient world. For more news and updates on the Sons of Mercia series, visit www.jaydenwoods.com.

      *

      "Then came King Ethelred home, in Lent, to his own people; and he was gladly received by them all. Meanwhile, after the death of Sweyne, sat Knute with his army in Gainsborough until Easter ..."

      —The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Entry for Year 1014

      GAINSBOROUGH

      Spring, 1014 A.D.

      Alfgifu of Northampton did not want to admit that she was nervous, but when she saw the Viking encampment looming ahead, her fear burned in her stomach until she could not ignore it. She forced herself to think the same thought over, and over, and over again: Canute lost his father, too. Canute lost his father, too.

      This single thought struggled to stay afloat as the approaching camp drowned her with physical sensations. The lines of brightly painted shields along the burg walls seared her eyes. Meat-scented smoke burned her nostrils. The clashing of playful weapons rang in her ears. These sensations pulled her too deeply into a reality that made her doubt the strength of her purpose.

      But Canute lost his father, too.

      A growl rumbled from her throat, and her thin legs clutched tightly around her horse, making it lunge forward. When she thought about it too much, she wondered if this single fact had truly been reason enough to travel almost one hundred miles and introduce herself to the new King of the Vikings. She had so many hopes for what to accomplish here, but as far as true justifications went—or reasons to believe she might actually succeed—they all boiled down to a mere gut instinct, and the one thought that seemed to accompany it.

      Yes, Canute had just lost his father. She had lost her father many years ago, and it had changed her life irrevocably. This would bind her to Canute, she thought, and form a permanent connection. She would be able to help him in a moment of weakness; she would be able to understand what he was going through better than most. She would be

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