“I will love you forever, Arn. May God’s Holy Mother always hold her protective hand over you wherever you are in the Holy Land and whatever godless enemies you may encounter,” she whispered.
Then she prayed three Ave Marias, and in her own prayers she turned to the Mother of God and begged forgiveness for having let herself be overwhelmed by her worldly love, promising that her love for the Mother of God was greatest of all. Having regained a sense of calm, she then went back inside to the others, and seemed just as usual.
After prandiumand the prayers of thanksgiving the next day, when it was time for rest, a great commotion arose at Gudhem. Messengers came and knocked loudly at the gate, sisters ran back and forth, Mother Rikissa came from the church, wringing her hands in distress, and all the women were summoned to a procession. Soon they were walking slowly, in the order prescribed by the cloister rules, out of the great port underneath Adam and Eve. Singing, they then circled the walls three times before they stopped before the southeast side of Gudhem and lined up with Mother Rikissa in front, behind her the consecrated nuns, and behind them the lay-sisters. But it was strange that the maidens had to stand near the consecrated nuns in a little group by themselves.
In the tent city that had now been raised, men in ordinary brown work clothes made ready by cleaning up all that was untidy. They finished in a great hurry and then fetched poles with furled pennants. All the worldly men lined up, and soon only whispers were heard from them.
All the men and women now stood tensely, staring off to the southeast. It was a lovely day, at that time of autumn when all the colors were still bright and had not yet faded in advance of winter. There was a light breeze and only a few clouds in the sky.
The first thing that could be seen to the south was the flashing glint of lance-points in the sunshine. Soon a great host of horsemen came into view, and the colors became apparent, mostly blue. Everyone knew that the Folkungs or Eriks were approaching.
“It’s our men, our colors,” Cecilia Blanca whispered excitedly to Cecilia Rosa standing beside her. Mother Rikissa turned at once and shot her a stern look, raising her finger to her lips to shush her.
The mighty host came ever closer, and now they could see the shields. Those in the vanguard all bore three crowns on a blue field, or Folkung lions against the same background, and all their mantles were blue.
When the retinue came closer they could see that there were red mantles farther back, as well as green and black with gold and other colors that did not belong to any of the more powerful clans.
Now they could see that one of the horsemen in front wore flashing gold around his brow instead of a helmet. No, two of them in front were wearing crowns.
When the column was less than an arrow-shot away it was easy to make out the three riding in front. First came Archbishop Stéphan on a plodding chestnut mare with a large belly. Behind the archbishop to his right rode Knut Eriksson himself on a lively black stallion. His crown was that of a king. And next to him rode Birger Brosa, the jarl, wearing a smaller crown.
Mother Rikissa stood with her back straight, almost defiant. Now the procession was so close that those waiting outside the cloister could speak with the horsemen. Then Mother Rikissa sank to her knees, as she was compelled to do before both the secular and ecclesiastical power. Behind her knelt all the sisters, all the lay-sisters, and finally all the worldly maidens. When all the women were in this position with their eyes on the ground before them, all the men knelt down too. King Knut Eriksson had come to Gudhem on his royal tour of the realm.
The three riders in front stopped only a few paces from Mother Rikissa, who had not yet raised her glance from the ground. Archbishop Stéphan managed to dismount from his horse, muttering in a foreign language about the difficulty of doing so. He straightened his clothing, and stepped up to Mother Rikissa to offer her his right hand. She took it and kissed it humbly, and he gave her leave to rise. Then all were allowed to rise and stood silent.
King Knut now dismounted, though with the ease of a victorious young warrior, raised his right hand, and waited without looking around as a rider from the rear ranks quickly galloped up and handed him a blue mantle with three Erik crowns of gold and a lining of ermine. It was the mantle of a king or queen, like the one he wore himself.
He took the mantle over his left arm and walked slowly, as all the others at Gudhem stood motionless, over to the worldly maidens. He stood behind Cecilia Blanca without a word, raising the mantle high so that all could see it. Then he hung his queen’s mantle over her shoulders and took her by the hand to lead her to the royal tent, where four banners with the three Erik crowns waved. Cecilia Rosa realized that she hadn’t even noticed when these banners were raised.
The two Cecilias were still holding hands, which they had been doing ever since they recognized Knut Eriksson. But as the king began to lead his Cecilia away, their fingers released their grip. Cecilia Blanca, soon to be the new queen of the Swedes and Goths, quickly turned and gave her friend for life a kiss on both cheeks.
The king frowned at this, but his face instantly brightened as he led his betrothed Cecilia to the royal tent. All the others stood still or remained on their horses until the king and his betrothed had entered the tent.
Then a great rattling and din arose as the whole company dismounted and all began leading their horses toward the oat pastures and haycocks the workers had arranged. The archbishop turned to Mother Rikissa, blessed her, and gave her a dismissive sign as if shooing away a fly before he headed for the royal tent.
Mother Rikissa clapped her hands as a sign for all the women under her supervision to return inside the walls without delay. Inside the cloister there was now much talking and commotion, which not even the strictest rules in this world could have prevented. The holy sisters of the Virgin Mary were jabbering away at each other almost as loudly as the worldly maidens.
It was time for singing, and Mother Rikissa sternly tried to restore order and get them all into the church, forcing upon them the dignity and silence required for the singing hour and the prayers. During the hymns she noticed that Cecilia Rosa sang with a rare power. Tears flowed down the cheeks of this young and now dangerous woman. Everything had gone as badly as Mother Rikissa had feared.
Everything had gone as well as Cecilia Rosa had hoped, but also feared. Her dear friend would become queen, that was as clear as water. And for that reason she felt great joy. But now she would be alone, without her dear friend for many hard years to come. And for that reason she felt sorrow. She couldn’t tell which feeling was stronger.
Inside the walls of the cloister the rest of the day passed like any other day, even though it could not be the same. It was a novelty for all the maidens and lay-sisters at Gudhem that the king would come here on his tour of the country and take his rest near the cloister. Mother Rikissa had found it best not to say anything about what she had known for several weeks. She hadn’t even mentioned it to Cecilia Blanca, even though she’d been given a royal greeting to deliver, but it would have made Cecilia Blanca impossible to control and also would have unsettled all the other girls.
The king had made a detour from the anticipated route. After passing Jönköping he and his retinue had headed for Eriksberg, which was the king’s birthplace. It was also the place where his father, who was now more often called Holy Saint Erik, had been born and where the Erik clan had built their church with the most beautiful frescoes in Western Götaland. The king now entered the most pleasant part of the journey for him, the heartland of the Erik clan.