The morning after Christmas, Hildegarde, complaining of a headache, had sent Fastrada to summon Kosru the leech to her bedside. The Magian had at once pronounced her sickness to be of a nature which, while not dangerous, would require the utmost of rest and quiet. So the chattering workers were sent from the chamber, and Kosru took up his quarters in the anteroom, to overlook the queen's service and administer her sleeping-draught with his own hand.
Full of yearning for his beautiful queen, Karl would have chosen to watch at her bedside; but the Magian's assurance of her safety, and his plea for absolute quiet, sent the king out into the meadows to share in the games. With the same plea and assurance, the leech also turned Rothada away, and the girl, no longer dressed as a novice, went gaily out across the snow-fields to meet her lover.
Behind, in the silent bower, Hildegarde lay in a feverish sleep, waking only to sip her broth and to drink the sweetish potion which was to lull her again to sleep. But without, in the merry crowds, was one who took good care that the king did not lack company.
From morning till evening the daughter of Count Rudulf found occasion to be always within reach of the king's eye. When Karl won in the axe-throwing, neither the loud applause of the Franks and the vikings, nor even Olvir's gift of the great sword Ironbiter as prize, was so gratifying to him as the silent and half-awed admiration of the Thuringian maiden. The readiness with which she joined in the praise of Olvir's archery showed him how utterly her gentle nature had been misjudged; and when, skimming beside him over the ice, she shyly confided her love for Rothada, and her longing to see Olvir accept baptism so that the little princess might wed her bright hero, the heart of the great Frank went out to the girl in tender sympathy.
At every turn she was ready to please and amuse him. Now it was a gentle jest; now a murmured phrase whose flattery was too subtle to startle his honest Teuton heart; and always accompanying the words would be a look whose faint suggestion of allurement ever gave way to shy confusion. Soon Karl began to give heed as never before to the many charms of the lovely Thuringian. Often as he had remarked her beauty, he now wondered at the perfection of her supple, rounded form and the rich bloom of her cheeks. Others might own greater regularity of features, but none could surpass her in grace of movement or charm of expression.
But most of all the king was pleased and his heart touched by the girl's words of endearment for Rothada and Hildegarde. Her inquiries about the queen's health often ended in a sigh, and a naive exclamation of how happy must be the lot of one wedded to a world-hero.
So the days of Yuletide slipped by, each bringing with it new games on the Moselle bank, and merry play for the onlookers. Even young Karl and Pepin Hunchback took part, and in many ways proved by their boyish skill the efficiency of Floki's training. Both were afield from dawn to sunset, and when not testing their skill at the butts with bow or spear, or watching some hotly contested race or wrestling match, they were to be found skimming over the Moselle, in vain efforts to follow Olvir and their sister.
Dawn of the last day of Yule brought with it a threat of a weather change. But Franks and vikings gathered as usual on the river-bank, and the fact that this day was to see an end of the festivities gave added zest to the games.
None hurried afield with greater eagerness than Pepin Hunchback and the boy Karl, whom Olvir had promised to take with Rothada down the Moselle. Gerold and Liutrad were also to be of the party, and the failure of the latter to appear at the set time kept the others waiting on the bank for an hour or more.
When at last the young giant did arrive, with the excuse that Abbot Fulrad had needed him, Olvir, who had been studying the sky, urged that the trip be given over. But at this the king's sons cried out in bitter disappointment. Liutrad and Gerold good-naturedly yielded to their appeals to plead for them, and Olvir finally consented to go part way on the intended course. Yet before he would give the word to start, he first sought out Floki in the midst of the wrestlers, and while the lofty viking was stripping to enter the ring spoke a brief command in his ear.