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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

I could not see how many of them there were. Perhaps a dozen. But they moved off stealthily, heading towards our camp. We were some distance from where my friends were resting beside the river and I knew, as surely as I have ever known anything, that it was my duty to warn them of our approach. The shadowy forms around me rustled through the undergrowth, making little more noise than a breeze through the forest. I walked with them, treading as carefully as I was able. Sound travels far in the stillness of the night, but the thick trunks of the trees and the dense foliage might mask a distant noise. If I attempted to alert Runolf and the others too soon, my signal could be missed entirely, or mistaken for the night-time movements of an animal.

I recited the paternoster silently in my mind and tried to calculate how far we had gone in the gloom, and how much further remained until we would reach my friends. An owl screeched, its pained voice a jolt that ripped the silence asunder. Everybody stopped moving. The leader’s hand grasped my shoulder and once again I felt the steel of his knife at my throat. He did not speak. No words were necessary. I stood still, breathing through my nose, pushing my tongue against the cloth in my mouth in an effort to dislodge it.

The night bird called again. We waited. Silence once more draped like a thick cloak over the forest. With a gentle shove on my back, we set off. The knife was withdrawn from my skin, but the memory of its touch was yet fresh and I imagined its cold metal still.

All about me, I sensed the figures drifting away into the gloom, leaving me with only a handful of captors. I had not heard them speak, so their movements must have been part of a pre-arranged plan. How thoughtlessly we had wandered into Ljósberari’s lair. But if I had been watchful, we might have been warned in time to defend ourselves. Again, I cursed my pride and stupidity. I pictured the location of the camp and where we now must be. I imagined Ljósberari’s people stealthily sneaking between the shadows of the trees, circling round to come at my friends from all sides. We must be close to Gullbringa and the resting men, I thought. If I gave my attackers any more time to move into position, Gwawrddur and Hereward might suffer the same fate as me. Or worse.

I had to act now.

The leader of the band was close behind me. I could smell his breath and the reek of wood smoke on his clothes. I recalled the cold steel of his knife, but fear would not dissuade me from my course.