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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

The Pict’s tale had saddened me, but I was warmed by the trust he had shown in me by recounting the sorrow that followed him everywhere. He was right, few men possessed such friendships, and I counted myself blessed that no matter the dangers that surrounded me, I knew I would not face them alone.

I watched as the whale surfaced again and I offered up a prayer that the Almighty would see us safely to our destination. My mind was clearer now, and the words of the paternoster followed, soothing my thoughts and my soul.

Whether God listened to my prayers that day, I cannot say. But He chose not to send His leviathan to smash Brymsteda to kindling, and the wind continued to blow us steadily eastward, towards the land of Rygjafylki.

If I had known then our grim destiny of heartache and death, I might have been tempted to ask Runolf to turn the ship about. But the future is never known to any man, so we sailed on, across easy seas with the wind at our backs, unaware of the darkness that awaited us.

Thirty

The good weather held and as the sun fell to the horizon behind us, there was no land to be seen in any direction. The sea in our wake was aflame with the last rays of the sunset as we readied ourselves for our first night at sea.

Runolf had still not spoken to me, but the mood aboard had lifted during the afternoon. After the perils we had faced in the dawn mist on Orkneyjar, we were enjoying the peace of the open sea. We saw no sails, the newly repaired rudder was holding well, and the wind continued to send us unerringly towards our destination.

It was close to midsummer. The days were long, and even though it was never truly dark this far north, it was as cold as winter after the sun had set and there was nothing but the chill sea all around. We slept as best we could and when the sun rose once more, it seemed as if Runolf had not moved. He still stood at the steerboard, his face lit with the brilliant glow of the dawn, and wreathed in the flames of his red hair and beard.

That second day was much like the first, and we fell into the routines of life aboard the ship. All that long day, we saw no other ship, and the scarcity of birds told us we were far from any land. The wind continued to blow from the west and, though clouds formed far away in front of us to the east, there was no imminent threat of rain. For that we were thankful. The night had been bitterly cold, and a rime of frost had formed on the stays and exposed timbers. The thought of trying to shelter from the chill at night, while also wet from rain filled us all with dread.