Easlswith knew Sihtric was in town. She knew he had come into the city but then left with his Lord again shortly after but was now back for the royal wedding. She knew she shouldn't get her hopes up that he would come to see her but, she truly hoped that he would, even if it was just to say goodbye.
Suddenly, a knock sounded on her door in a familiar pattern that she associated with her lover so she quickly checked her appearance in her looking glass before rushing to open the door.
"Sihtric!" she exclaimed opon seeing him even as he opened his arms for her to step into.
"I've missed you!" Sihtric replied in greeting. "I'm sorry that I have not come sooner but I had to follow my Lord's instructions."
"I understand. You're here now. That's all that's important."
Sihtric then pulled her shoulders a bit away from him so he could look her in the eyes. "Are you sure that's all that's important? Not, lets say, laying beneath me in my bed back in Coccham?"
Ealswith frowned, a bit bewildered and uncertain she'd heard him correctly. However, she did then pull him into her room and towards her bed.
As the pair sat on the edge of the bed, Sihtric took her face between his hands and kissed her gently. "Ealswith, Lord Uhtred gave us his blessing. If you are still willing, you will be my bride and I will take you home with me when we leave for Coccham. You will no longer be used as I will provide for you."
Still uncertain that he spoke truth, Ealhswith asked quietly, "I'll belong to you then? Yours and yours alone?"
Sihtric kissed her softly, "Yes, if you wish to be."
"Oh Sihtric! That is my greatest desire. To be yours and have your children. To leave this wretched place once and for all. Truly, it would be a dream."
"Then if it is a dream, let us never wake as it is my dream as well. You and I with a home and children of our own," he replied smiling. "If you wish, I will tell your Master that I'm taking you away while you pack. Then we can go wed."
"Now?!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, I would love to have you as my bride before nightfall and then tonight to take you for the first time as my wife."
"Yes!" Ealhswith cried with relief and joy, "please Sihtric, take me from here and make me your woman. I would love to become your wife today."
He then kissed her gently with a large smile on his face.
"Then pack, my heart while I make you free to be mine. After we leave here, we will find Father Beocca who knows that Lord Uhtred has given us his blessing, and he will bind us. Soon, when we leave for Coccham, I will take you home where we will build a home. In it we will start our family and live the life of our dreams."
With that, he kissed her once again before leaving the room so that he could set her free. Though she still wasn't completely convinced that she wasn't dreaming, she set about packing her belongings.
Shortly thereafter, Sihtric returned to her room to inform her that she was a free woman and to help her with her possessions.
Father Beocca would then marry them and, a couple days later, they would head to Coccham where, a year later, their first son would be born.
With time, they would have ten children who lived, losing only two before Sihtric took up the title of Earl of Dunham, several years after Lord Uhtred retook Bebbanburg. They would both live to old age and die at Dunham.