Hedy sat with her advisors and the high command of both armies, including her brother Edward of Wessex, at tables set hastily on the floor of the ancient arena at New Deva, as some were calling the fortress at Chester.  She liked the name, Hedy, although it was only used by family and those very close to her, and of course the children.  Protocol dictated she be addressed as Commander by all others of Mercia, or Lady Mercy by foreigners both friendly and cowering beneath her sword.  She had never liked the name Aethelflhaed.

   Having proven herself a strong leader in battle many times while retaking Mercian territories held by the Welsh or the Danes, she had shown all who marveled at this decrepit Roman Military Capital of Britannia, reborn like the phoenix some 700 years after...

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