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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

He glowered at me and I could see in his eyes that if he had the chance, he would kill me. Whatever happened, I would never be able to come back to this place. Not while Tannskári lived. But first we needed to leave the island alive.

Approaching Eddarrnonn now, Tannskári spoke for some time. He gesticulated and his voice took on a distraught, desperate tone. The rest of us stood watching one another, fearful of what might happen next, unwilling to let down our guard.

Lambi was crying now, his body shaking against me, his tears wet against the hand that held the knife to his throat. In my long life, I have done many things that, when looking back with an old man’s eyes, ashame me. But of all those dark, shameful memories, few induce more self-loathing than when I remember how that boy wept believing I would cut his throat if his father could not convince the dour Pict to part with his prisoner.

After a time, Tannskári turned back to me and nodded tersely.

“It is agreed,” he said. “They will give you Drosten in exchange for my son.”

Hereward and Runolf whispered briefly. Mancas had joined them too. He glanced in my direction and I thought I saw disapproval on his features. A breeze had picked up and the sun was burning away the sea fret now, the day hazy and light, where it had been gloomy and damp.

I let out a sigh.

“All will be well,” I whispered to Lambi. God had answered my prayers and we would all live.

The boy turned his tear-streaked face towards me. His eyes burnt with the same hatred I had seen in his father.

“May you be fucked by a goat, you nithing,” he said. Despite my shock at the words coming from one so young, I could not blame him for the sentiment.

Twenty-Nine

I leaned over Brymsteda’s side and watched the water rush past the ship’s sleek strakes. The fog of the early morning had cleared and the sun was bright in the sky, gleaming from the waves ahead of us so brightly that I needed to squint against the glare.

Fulmars soared behind us and our wake was stippled with gulls, terns and kittiwakes. Beyond them, in the distance and hazed by the last remnants of morning mist, I could just make out the cliffs of Orkneyjar.

I let out a long breath, finally able to acknowledge that we had safely escaped from the island. There had been no time to rest before now.