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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

“Ljósberari had ignored my pleas,” she said, her voice quick and curt, as if she wanted to rush through the telling and not to dwell on those memories. “His people had lit a fire, and they were ready to burn me, as they had so many before.” She faltered in the telling for a moment. With a shiver, she forced herself to continue. “It was only when that bastard, Chlotar, set upon me that things changed. Perhaps I should be thankful to him for that. Ljósberari had been sure that like all his victims, I must have the darkness burnt from me. I was certain then that I would die. The children wailed and screamed, the men and women howled like beasts. Then the Frank ripped off my dress.” She raised her shoulders, proud of this memory at least. “I stood before Ljósberari naked, and with the power of Frigg, I willed myself not to show my fear to him, or to that monster, Chlotar, and the slavering thralls baying like hounds scenting a hart. If I was to die, I would die with my pride. I would not weep and beg. I stood tall, and stared at Ljósberari.”

“And he spared you?” I asked, lost in her tale and uncaring now of the stupidity of my question.

“He saw for the first time the whiteness of my skin and hair. The colour of my eyes. These eyes and this hair, that so unsettle men, saved my life. For he believed I was touched by the light. He called off his Frank and the howling hounds then.”

“Are you?” I asked.

“Am I what?”

“Touched by the light?” I could think of no better explanation for the hue of her skin, hair and eyes. I have never seen anyone else with skin and hair so pale, and her eyes were not natural.

Gudrun laughed at that, and it was as if with her laughter, we were able to breathe again.

“Ljósberari’s light and darkness reside within us all.” She shrugged. “Or perhaps in none of us. Mostly, I would say they dwell within him.” She let out a long sigh and stared into the flames. “I believe the battle he sees in others is really his own.”

Forty-Two

We slept around the campfire in the clearing before Gudrun’s hut. When darkness fell, the seeress slipped away. I lay awake for a time thinking of her story, and imagining Aelfwyn and Revna amongst the onlookers to Gudrun’s torment. How many people had they seen tortured and murdered? Even if they yet lived, would they still be the young women we were searching for? I pondered too Gudrun’s strength. She was clearly intelligent and knowledgeable, but I wondered at the life she had led. The solitude she must feel here. Had she once lived in a village, surrounded by kin? Had she been driven away because of her pallor and pink eyes?