BooksBarbecue
Back A Night of Flames Save as PDF
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

“You know how he is,” he said, scratching beneath his shaggy beard. “He would not cease his pacing while we worked. Tannskári asked what ailed him. Lord Mancas told him.” He smiled, emptying his cup and refilling it from the jug that rested on a small table just inside the door. “I do not always see eye-to-eye with the man, but I respect his honesty.”

“What did he say?”

“That the men of Northumbria are at war with Causantín mac Fergusa, and this island is still part of Pictland, and therefore Causantín’s land.” He found a splinter in a finger on his left hand and gnawed at the skin. “Then he said that it had been Norsemen who had attacked the holy places of his people. I think that was why he was truly ill at ease.”

I thought of my own concerns about the people of this treeless island, and nodded.

“But you are a Norseman,” I said.

“Indeed I am. And it has been no easy thing for Mancas to trust me.”

I sighed, thinking of Eadmaer, and how he still avoided Runolf, clearly uneasy in his presence.

“How did this lead to Drosten coming ashore?”

“Tannskári is a good speaker,” replied Runolf. “He has the tongue of a skald. Men listen to him.” He grinned and winked. “Women part their legs for him.” I thought of Thurid then, and my face flushed.

“So what did he say?” I asked, moving the conversation on.

“First he spoke to Lord Mancas. He said there were no enemies here. ‘This is my hall,’ he said. ‘Everyone is welcome here. In my house, we are all comrades. We are all servants of the sea.’”

“Those are strong words,” I said. “Good words. But what of Drosten? What did he say to him.”

“I know not what Tannskári said to him,” Runolf shrugged again, taking another gulp of ale. “When he saw Drosten aboard, he asked if he was a thrall. When Mancas said he was not, Tannskári spoke to Drosten in his own tongue. They did not speak for long. I assume he said similar words to those he spoke to Mancas, for when we had finished the work, Drosten followed us ashore.”

I was glad for Drosten. The nights were still cold this far north, and it had saddened me that he had stayed aboard Brymsteda the night before. Runolf said the crossing to Rygjafylki would take two or three days. We would all have enough of the chill winds out in the expanse of the sea, so we should make the most of the warmth, provender and comradeship offered to us now.