A Piece of Alternate History

I remembered that I had written this down but I misremembered which universe it was for.  This is for the Rodolfo and Starflower universe.  It is a world very much like ours, except human trangenics have been possible since the 1920s and Swiss mercenaries traditionally go home in winter to work as ski-instructors.

I thought people might enjoy it.  So, this is why English history and England/Great Britain are different there.

 

In the British Isles, Edward the Elder of Wessex and his sons all died of an illness in 915 and his sister Æthelflaed united Wessex with Mercia under her rule.  Her daughter Ælfwynn inherited the throne in 918 on her death.  Ælfwynn’s descendants and heirs united the land east of Wales and south of Scotland.

When her descendent Edmund II died in 1067, William the Bastard of Normandy claimed the Mercian throne on the basis that Edmund had promised him “all his possessions that would not pass to his daughters” when he had visited Normandy several years earlier.  William was apparently unaware that under the Mercian system Edmund’s eldest daughter, Edith, was heir to the throne.  After Edmund’s death her position was ratified by the Wessex Witenagemot who at that time still claimed the authority to appoint the Kings of Wessex.

Edith, properly Edith I, sent her sister Ælfgifu north to hold York in case of trouble from either the Norse or the Scots.  This was fortuitous because both the King of Scotland and Harald Hadrada probed over that summer to test the new ruler.  Edith, in the meantime, was preparing in the south for William to invade, which he did in autumn.

William’s troops came under harassment by the Mercians from the time they landed at Pevensey Bay.  The skirmishes may not have inflicted significant casualties but the invaders were never able to settle.  Most specifically, William was forced to move blind to local conditions because his scouts were being systematically eliminated.  On the 14^th of October Edith, reinforced by summer-experienced troops Ælfgifu had been able send south from York, engaged William at Santlache[1] on a ridge and astride the road to London.  Edith was able to hold the fyrd together and in place and William was narrowly defeated.

The remains of Williams forces, stripped of much of their equipment and livestock, sailed back across the Channel before the end of October.

Edith married Leofwine, the only Godwinson to survive Santlache, in 1068.

---

[1] Battle of Hastings

A Piece of Alternate History

I remembered that I had written this down but I misremembered which universe it was for.  This is for the Rodolfo and Starflower universe.  It is a world very much like ours, except human trangenics have been possible since the 1920s and Swiss mercenaries traditionally go home in winter to work as ski-instructors.

I thought people might enjoy it.  So, this is why English history and England/Great Britain are different there.

 

In the British Isles, Edward the Elder of Wessex and his sons all died of an illness in 915 and his sister Æthelflaed united Wessex with Mercia under her rule.  Her daughter Ælfwynn inherited the throne in 918 on her death.  Ælfwynn’s descendants and heirs united the land east of Wales and south of Scotland.

When her descendent Edmund II died in 1067, William the Bastard of Normandy claimed the Mercian throne on the basis that Edmund had promised him “all his possessions that would not pass to his daughters” when he had visited Normandy several years earlier.  William was apparently unaware that under the Mercian system Edmund’s eldest daughter, Edith, was heir to the throne.  After Edmund’s death her position was ratified by the Wessex Witenagemot who at that time still claimed the authority to appoint the Kings of Wessex.

Edith, properly Edith I, sent her sister Ælfgifu north to hold York in case of trouble from either the Norse or the Scots.  This was fortuitous because both the King of Scotland and Harald Hadrada probed over that summer to test the new ruler.  Edith, in the meantime, was preparing in the south for William to invade, which he did in autumn.

William’s troops came under harassment by the Mercians from the time they landed at Pevensey Bay.  The skirmishes may not have inflicted significant casualties but the invaders were never able to settle.  Most specifically, William was forced to move blind to local conditions because his scouts were being systematically eliminated.  On the 14^th of October Edith, reinforced by summer-experienced troops Ælfgifu had been able send south from York, engaged William at Santlache[1] on a ridge and astride the road to London.  Edith was able to hold the fyrd together and in place and William was narrowly defeated.

The remains of Williams forces, stripped of much of their equipment and livestock, sailed back across the Channel before the end of October.

Edith married Leofwine, the only Godwinson to survive Santlache, in 1068.

---

[1] Battle of Hastings

Synchronus response: older gay couple

This is part of a larger piece I was writing when I read the visual prompt title 'older gay couple' at the fourth Crowdfunding Creative Jam which has the theme "alternative sexualities/Quiltbag."  My response was "Hang on that's-".  I hope you enjoy this.

Caliburn entered at that point, obviously dressed for a polite, civilian evening party.  Algernon raised an eyebrow at him, as did Sebastian – but the opposite eyebrow.  Constantine just smiled.  Caliburn surveyed his brothers’ expressions and just grinned back at them.  “So, Rune,” he turned to her and she received a friendly smile, “Are you ready to leave?”

“Yes, thank you sir.”  She stood readily and pushed her chair back before anyone could do it for her.

“Come along then,” Caliburn nodded, “I’ll get you to work on time.  I warn you,” a wider grin, “Cook has packed a lunch box of leftovers for you.”

Caliburn’s private car was a sleek, low slung, dark green roadster.  The way it handled, she was sure it was probably over-engined, the powerful headlights burning through the darkness.  If Caliburn hadn’t been driving to the conditions Rune might have been frightened.  Instead she tried to make conversation.  “Thank you for dropping me at work.  I hope I’m not taking you out of your way.”

“Not at all,” he smiled at the windscreen, “I’m grateful.  It’d be even more nerve racking without your company.  I’ve been invited along to a Solstice dinner to meet someone’s parents.”

“Oh?”  Rune smiled encouragingly.

“I keep running through reasons they won’t like me in my head.  I think ‘cradle snatcher’ is the one most likely to stick.” Rune made an encouraging noise.  “Yes.”  Caliburn flashed a smile at her while he checked his blind spot.  “He’s only in his early forties, so that could be a valid complaint.”

That made Caliburn’s love interest about twenty years her senior and the Major General himself was about twenty years older than that...  “That should make him old enough to know his own mind then, sir.”

“I hope so,” Major General Caliburn Sjeldnjar sighed as he cornered the car, “but parental opinion can be a powerful force.”

“So I’ve been told, sir.”  Rune looked straight ahead through the windscreen.

“I’m sorry,” Caliburn apologised, “that may have been maladroit of me.”

“No, sir, I don’t think it was.”  It was Rune’s turn to smile him.  “I really don’t get the whole family relationships thing sometimes.”

“Then that’s something we’ll have to work on with you when the test results come back, won’t we?”  They stopped at the last traffic lights before Run’s drop-off and he turned to give her a warm, avuncular smile.

In the privacy of her own mind, as she smiled back, Rune thought, “I hope he really is my uncle.”

Synchronus response: older gay couple

This is part of a larger piece I was writing when I read the visual prompt title 'older gay couple' at the fourth Crowdfunding Creative Jam which has the theme "alternative sexualities/Quiltbag."  My response was "Hang on that's-".  I hope you enjoy this.

Caliburn entered at that point, obviously dressed for a polite, civilian evening party.  Algernon raised an eyebrow at him, as did Sebastian – but the opposite eyebrow.  Constantine just smiled.  Caliburn surveyed his brothers’ expressions and just grinned back at them.  “So, Rune,” he turned to her and she received a friendly smile, “Are you ready to leave?”

“Yes, thank you sir.”  She stood readily and pushed her chair back before anyone could do it for her.

“Come along then,” Caliburn nodded, “I’ll get you to work on time.  I warn you,” a wider grin, “Cook has packed a lunch box of leftovers for you.”

Caliburn’s private car was a sleek, low slung, dark green roadster.  The way it handled, she was sure it was probably over-engined, the powerful headlights burning through the darkness.  If Caliburn hadn’t been driving to the conditions Rune might have been frightened.  Instead she tried to make conversation.  “Thank you for dropping me at work.  I hope I’m not taking you out of your way.”

“Not at all,” he smiled at the windscreen, “I’m grateful.  It’d be even more nerve racking without your company.  I’ve been invited along to a Solstice dinner to meet someone’s parents.”

“Oh?”  Rune smiled encouragingly.

“I keep running through reasons they won’t like me in my head.  I think ‘cradle snatcher’ is the one most likely to stick.” Rune made an encouraging noise.  “Yes.”  Caliburn flashed a smile at her while he checked his blind spot.  “He’s only in his early forties, so that could be a valid complaint.”

That made Caliburn’s love interest about twenty years her senior and the Major General himself was about twenty years older than that...  “That should make him old enough to know his own mind then, sir.”

“I hope so,” Major General Caliburn Sjeldnjar sighed as he cornered the car, “but parental opinion can be a powerful force.”

“So I’ve been told, sir.”  Rune looked straight ahead through the windscreen.

“I’m sorry,” Caliburn apologised, “that may have been maladroit of me.”

“No, sir, I don’t think it was.”  It was Rune’s turn to smile him.  “I really don’t get the whole family relationships thing sometimes.”

“Then that’s something we’ll have to work on with you when the test results come back, won’t we?”  They stopped at the last traffic lights before Run’s drop-off and he turned to give her a warm, avuncular smile.

In the privacy of her own mind, as she smiled back, Rune thought, “I hope he really is my uncle.”