“We are finally on our way,” Leofstan said, from beside me.

We were both part of the Aft crew, led by Scurfa. He was young, not much older than me, but he had spent his life in boats and at sea. He was quiet, with thoughtful eyes, and seemed able to sleep no matter the weather or the circumstance. But over the previous weeks, we had learnt to listen when he spoke, and Runolf trusted him to lead the small Aft crew. As well as Leofstan, Scurfa and myself, the Aft crew was completed by Sygbald, Gersine, and the swarthy-skinned, black-bearded thrall who had stared me down at the feast. His name was Ahmad.

Each of the six small crews had to spend every moment together. We slept, worked and ate with our crew. When aboard a ship, surrounded by the cold sea, with nothing between you and death but strakes of oak and the skill of your skipper, you learn to put your trust in your crew mates, and to give your all in return that they might trust you. You may become tired of their jokes, their snoring and, in the case of Sygbald, their belches and farts, but at any moment, you might rely on them to save your life, just as their life could be in your hands.

I have found that the bonds forged in battle and aboard a longship are similar. Trust and cooperation are everything, and the friendships woven at sea are stronger than the thickest rope.

I glanced away from the birds I had been watching. Leofstan was smiling, pleased that we were at last on the quest we had begun to think of close to a year before. He seemed more at ease than I had seen him before, certainly more than I would have thought possible just two weeks previously. He clung to the shroud a little more tightly than perhaps was necessary, his knuckles white, but he was upright and able to function.

For my part, and for the first time aboard, my innards rebelled, and I was frightened that I might disgrace myself and puke.

“I can scarcely believe we are going,” I said, watching a flight of guillemots settling on the ledges of a huge rock that jutted out of the sea like a fist. Waves broke against its base, turning the dark blue of the water a foaming, boiling white.

Leofstan placed a hand on my shoulder.

“We will find her,” he said.

I nodded, unsure. Since she had been taken, I had avoided thinking too much of what might have befallen Aelfwyn. But after speaking to Eadmaer I could not rid myself of thoughts of her being abused in all manner of ways. I was scared of who we might find, if indeed we were able to track Aelfwyn down. Despite learning from Torfi that she had been bought by Estrid, I did not dare to believe we would find her so easily.