Resentment smouldered in Mierce at Edward’s treatment of Aelfwyn but also at his reorganisation of the western part of the kingdom into new scirs. The redrawn borders, running rough-shod over the older divisions of territory, caused outrage. King Edward, however, had a vision, and to fulfil his dream, he shifted his attention to the River Trente. In his grandfather’s day, the Vikings had rowed downriver from a coastal anchorage and taken the populace by surprise. He was determined it should never happen again. What he had in mind for Snotingaham, he enacted elsewhere. Not even he could be everywhere at once, so he called upon his trusted men in Mierce: Athelstan and me.
“Athelstan, I want you to take charge of erecting the new fortress at Wilford. Oversee the construction of a bridge wher
