If Ceol and Ceolwulf made efforts to eradicate the members of the original branch of the ruling family, they were unsuccessful. At any rate Cuthwine remained at large during this period and some sources indicate that around the year 605 Ceolwulf may have been forced into a power-sharing deal with him, his brother (with whom he had previously shared power) having been dead seven years. At any rate, Cuthwine was far from a fugitive after the first few years of his supposed exile.