But Boleslav had not assembled a sufficiently large force and was defeated at once by Knut Eriksson and his Swedes, along with Birger Brosa and the Folkungs of Eastern Götaland. All was now well, but it had taken time, and the summer was more than half gone.

   Magnus Folkesson at Arnäs, however, was bullheadedly determined to have a king at table when the wedding ale was drunk, so he wanted to wait until Knut managed to conclude his landsting in Western Götaland, where he no doubt would be elected with great unanimity.

   As a consequence Arn and Cecilia might well have been man and wife before God as they now rode toward Gudhem, but they were merely betrothed. Yet it would soon be evident that Cecilia was carrying Arn's child under her heart.

   With great concern Arn had inquired about this from Eskil, who was well acquainted with the worldly laws of the land. But Eskil had only laughed and said that what the law prescribed in this situation, if Cecilia's father really wanted to make a case out of it and drag their shame all the way to the ting, was that Arn would be obligated to pay six marks in silver for damages. Eskil thus waved this matter aside by saying that Algot Pålsson was hardly in a position to begin arguing over such paltry sums. Nothing worse than that would come of it.

   Out of sisterly affection Cecilia wanted to meet with Katarina in order to offer her some solace if possible. For Cecilia it was not hard to imagine what torments Katarina must be suffering within the walls of Gudhem, since she believed she knew her sister well.

   But she did not, as it turned out. If she had, she would never have set foot in Gudhem to try and console Katarina.

   When the two sisters met in the cloister garden at Gudhem, Cecilia did her best to keep from bubbling over the whole time about her own happiness. She made an effort to console Katarina by saying that as soon as the wedding was over she would have a talk with their father, who would probably take her words more seriously after she had been accepted into the Folkung clan. They would find a way to make Algot listen to reason; perhaps something as simple as the fact that he was miserly and it cost much silver as well as oak forests to keep daughters locked up in a convent. Even more silver would be squandered, if it was a daughter who did not appreciate in the least this special form of fatherly love. At this truth they had a good giggle together.

   Once again Cecilia was enticed to talk about her own happiness, about how they would first live at Arnäs as long as there were times of strife, how they then would move to Forsvik by Lake Vättern, how they would travel with Eskil to meet the Norwegian kinsmen, and anything else she could think of to talk about concerning all that Katarina regarded as the free, happy life outside the cloister walls. Cecilia was much too full of her own happiness to see how Katarina's eyes narrowed with hatred and envy. When Katarina almost furtively asked whether it was too much visiting recently that had made Cecilia's waist thicker than before, Cecilia could no longer hold back her joy. And she revealed the secret that was certainly no more than a small sin to be absolved for the price of six marks in silver and some Pater Nosters and Ave Marias, perhaps a hair shirt and a week on bread and water and whatever other penance there might be. But it was true that she was already with child. And since she had come to that topic of conversation she couldn't check herself for long, since she felt both so much dread and such great happiness at the prospect of bearing a child.

   Katarina was no longer listening to her younger sister's childish prattle. For she was already thinking of how this matter could turn out to be her own salvation.

   When it was finally time to part, she embraced Cecilia tenderly and told her to take good care of her unborn child and to give her warmest congratulations to Arn.

   But as soon as the cloister gate closed behind Cecilia, who angered Katarina further by heaving a sigh of relief as she stepped outside, Katarina hurried to her prioress full of cold resolve. She sought to bring about a dramatic change, the sooner the better.

   Gudhem was a young convent that had recently been established with donations from King Karl Sverkersson, just as he had donated the land for Vreta convent in Eastern Götaland. It was impossible to know for sure what the Erik clan thought of cloisters that had originated with Karl Sverkersson and his clan. But the prioress of Gudhem, Mother Rikissa, who was of the Sverker clan and close kin with the now murdered King Karl, had expressed her strong concern that Gudhem might either have to move or close. If Knut Eriksson became king, as everyone believed, it wouldn't be worth much to belong to the Sverker clan in Western Götaland, nor would it be wise to stay in a convent with Sverker origins. It was generally known how Erik Jedvardsson in his day had extended his greedy hands toward Varnhem.

   Mother Rikissa was a grasping woman; some called her downright vicious, and it was sometimes difficult for young novices to deal with her. But as a close relation to the king, she also had a firm understanding of worldly power.

   Katarina now came and unexpectedly confessed to an old sin that she had kept silent about in her earlier confession, recount ing the carnal relations that she'd had with young Arn Magnusson. Mother Rikissa should have been very strict with Katarina because of her long silence. But as Katarina explained with her eyes lowered as she seemed to wipe away a tear, her sin had now become even worse. That same Arn had seduced not only her, as he with a smooth tongue promised her a betrothal ale, but also her sister Cecilia, who was now with child.

   Mother Rikissa saw at once a great possibility opening up. Katarina had clearly also seen it, since she demurely pointed out that the seducer Arn was Knut Eriksson's close friend, and that much trouble could be stirred up for the enemy if Arn Magnusson were to be excommunicated.

   Mother Rikissa prescribed a very mild punishment for Katarina's inadequate confession and belated admission, and sent her away for a week of solitude, silence, bread and water, and the usual list of prayers. Katarina humbled herself and kissed Mother Rikissa's hand in gratitude, thanking aloud the Holy Virgin for the kindness that had been vouchsafed her. Then she left with a little satisfied smile, which sharp-eyed Mother Rikissa did not fail to notice.

   The prioress strode resolutely toward the scriptorum, ramming her heels hard on the floor, a sound that the novices at Gudhem feared more than anything else. There she wrote to Boleslav, insisting that he must appeal to the archbishop in Östra Aros regarding this matter. She also wrote to Bishop Bengt in Skara, telling him that he must deal with this excommunication as soon as possible, before the crime was compounded by being blessed by any servant of the Lord in the diocese who married the two sinners. She harbored a great hope of winning Bishop Bengt to her side, since she knew that he shared her uneasiness that the time of generosity toward the church and its foremost servants might now be at an end. For Bishop Bengt owed a great debt of gratitude to the Sverker clan as well.