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Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise forMATTHEW HARFFY
  3. BY MATTHEW HARFFY
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Maps
  8. Epigraph
  9. Contents
  10. Place Names
  11. One
  12. Two
  13. Three
  14. Four
  15. Five
  16. Six
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Ten
  21. Eleven
  22. Twelve
  23. Thirteen
  24. Fourteen
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. Thirty-Eight
  49. Thirty-Nine
  50. Forty
  51. Forty-One
  52. Forty-Two
  53. Forty-Three
  54. Forty-Four
  55. Forty-Five
  56. Forty-Six
  57. Forty-Seven
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Forty-Nine
  60. Fifty
  61. Fifty-One
  62. Fifty-Two
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Sixty-Two
  73. Author’s Note
  74. Acknowledgements
  75. About the Author
  76. An Invitation from the Publisher

“If Runolf had wanted to kill you, do you truly think we would be talking now?”

He held my gaze for a long moment.

“And you think that makes me feel better about him?” He spat into the nettles that grew beside the path. “That he did not throw me into the sea to drown? I must be blessed that he merely choked me before all the men.” His rage simmered hot as a banked forge.

I had wondered about Runolf’s reaction to Eadmaer on that first day, but when I had tried to broach the subject with him, he had merely repeated that when men did not obey a ship’s skipper, they died. He would say no more on the matter.

“Perhaps it was wrong of him to treat you thus,” I said.

“Perhaps?” Eadmaer said, chuckling without mirth. “I cannot believe that we are allowing that man to lead us. I pray that Aelfwyn is well and I can bring her back safely to her kin. I do not wish to spend any more time than needed with that pagan whoreson.”

“He is a Christian,” I said without conviction. “He was baptised at Eoforwic.”

He laughed then, a jagged ugly sound, like the bark of an angry hound.

“Of course he is,” he said. “And I am the King of Wessex.” Turning on his heel, he left me watching after him, thinking of the trouble we were storing up by taking him with us to Rygjafylki. And yet I felt for the man. His brother had been slain, his friends and neighbours slaughtered, and his brother’s wife stolen away. He was a brave man to travel here and to join us in the search for Aelfwyn. I said nothing of my fears to Hereward or any of the others. It was not for me to stand in the face of such courage.

There was one other who seemed unhappy. Gwawrddur’s sickness abated, and he was strong and quick to learn, so the chores of the ship were no problem for him. And yet, even as the spirit aboard Brymsteda lifted with each passing day, so Gwawrddur’s mood seemed to sour.

There was no time for our regular training with sword and shield, as each day was spent sailing. I wondered whether he would have been content to teach me as he had since we had first met the previous summer, if we’d had the time and not been too exhausted. For ever since I had spoken to him at the feast, he seldom addressed me and avoided my company.