“Beonna asked me why I wanted to come here,” he said. “I told him I think this could be my penance for breaking my vow. For killing again.” His breath caught in his throat at these words, but he pressed on. “I feel compelled to find The Treasure of Life. I cannot rid my thoughts of what I saw in its pages, and the more I have thought on its content, the more convinced I am that it is my sacred duty to find it and bring it back to Werceworthe, where it can be studied and kept safe.”

“I too have spent a lot of time thinking about The Treasure of Life.”

“Indeed? And what have you thought?”

“When the Norse attacked here,” I said, not answering his question directly, “one of their number survived.”

“Did you learn from him about the whereabouts of the book?” Leofstan’s tone was excited. “Where is he now? I would speak with him.”

“That will not be possible.” He turned to look at me. Seeing the meaning of my words in my expression, he nodded and let out a sigh.

“What did he say about the book? Before…” he hesitated. “Before he went to meet his maker?”

“Nothing,” I said. “But I remembered our conversations about the writings of the Mani. You told me that he did not believe that Jesus was the son of God, or that the Almighty had absolute power.”

“That is true,” he said, making the sign of the cross at such heresy. “Mani taught that every man and woman’s soul is a battleground between the darkness and the light.”

“Yes,” I said, staring out at the sea that had become silently enshrouded in the cloak of the night as we had talked. “I remembered that, which is why the final words of the Norseman we captured remained with me.”

“What did he say?”

“He spoke of someone he called Ljósberari, the bearer of light, and I remembered the title being used in the book. He mentioned fires, demons and darkness. And that this Ljósberari, whoever he is, had only recently come to the lands of Rygjafylki.”

Leofstan let out a long breath.

“This can surely be no coincidence. My fears are come to pass. Could it be that this Ljósberari,” he stumbled over the Norse name, “could it be that he has possession of The Treasure of Life?”

“I know not, but when I heard the name, I could think of no other explanation.”

He placed a hand on my arm.

“Together, you and I will find out.”

“So you will travel with us to Rygjafylki?” Although he had come to sea with us that day, he had not made his intentions about the voyage clear.

“If I survive the crossing, I will,” he said with a thin smile. “I believed it was God’s will before. Now I am more certain of it.”