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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

“Hunlaf is not the only observant one, I see,” she said. “Yes, I still live. Though my life was not assured when Ljósberari first came here. He was happy to let his people have their fun. His Frank, Chlotar, was eager to…” She hesitated, her body tensing as she recalled Ljósberari’s Frankish henchman. “To teach me the ways of Mani.”

Leofstan’s grip on my shoulder tightened at the mention of the author of The Treasure of Life.

“We have heard of this Chlotar,” said Runolf, his voice rumbling like a distant rockfall. “I will end his teaching days soon. You have my oath on that.”

“Be careful,” she said. “He is dangerous, that one.”

“So am I.” Runolf spat into the fire. “But if Chlotar was so keen to torment you, as he has so many others,” Runolf’s huge muscles bunched in his arms as he clenched his fists, “how is it that you can still look upon us with your strange eyes, völva?”

Gudrun snorted in amusement at Runolf’s blunt words.

“I convinced Ljósberari to spare me.”

“How?” I asked.

“First, I spoke to him, but I doubt that would have ever been enough. He has a mind as sharp as a blade, and knowledge as deep as the sea. I have never felt my intellect to be any less than a man’s. But in the presence of Ljósberari, I felt as a child sitting at the feet of a teacher. You know that feeling, do you not?”

I flushed, angry again at her jibes, but I did not respond to her teasing.

“How did you convince him to let you live then?”

Gudrun grew still. She stared into the flames and for the first time I saw her for what she truly was. Not the statuesque beauty, the white-haired, pink-eyed seeress, but the woman, alone and vulnerable on her small island home, surrounded by men of war. To stand before us with only her wits as defence was as brave as anything I had witnessed. My anger at her vanished like smoke on the wind. What right did we have to question what she had done to survive? I imagined her on this very spot, encircled by the howling fiends that Audun had described, facing Ljósberari and the bloodthirsty Frank, Chlotar, whose name struck fear into all who mentioned it. It was clear that Gudrun was not one to scare easily, but in the vision of my mind’s eye, she must have been terrified.