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Back A Night of Flames
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

His comments, well-meaning though they were, further reminded me of my weakness. I shuffled over to Os and, with Beorn’s assistance, Leofstan and I managed to lie him down along one wall of the hut. I tore off the cleanest part of my kirtle I could find and used it to wipe the worst of the blood and muck from his face. His eyes were bruised and swollen shut, and one of his teeth had been knocked out. Blood trickled from his broken nose and oozed from his split lips. Os’ breathing was shallow and his sallow skin was cold to the touch. He did not awaken as we moved him. I could find no bones broken on his body, but my greatest concern was with the battering he had taken to the head. I feared that his skull had been cracked, and I looked up at Leofstan in dismay. Our eyes met and I could see he had the same thought. He gave a small shake of his head. We said nothing.

“How bad is he?” asked Beorn.

“We will pray for him,” replied Leofstan.

“Pray for us all,” said Gwawrddur, rapping his knuckles against one of the posts that supported the roof. It was a thick as a man’s leg. “As I see it, we will have little chance of escape from here.”

“Little chance is better than no chance,” said Drosten. He looked over at me with a sad smile. “As we have seen before.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Hereward, clapping the Pict on the back. “We must prepare for whatever opportunity might present itself. As I see it, our best chance will be when they open the door, before they have had time to tether us again.”

They continued to debate the possibilities in hushed tones. They spoke of contingencies, such as the time of day or night that our captors might open the door, how many of them there might be, and how they might go about entering the prison or getting us to leave. For all of these scenarios they came up with differing plans of action, but none felt truly possible to me. We had failed. I would not rescue Aelfwyn, if she yet lived. Nothing we had done to get here amounted to anything. We were trapped and we would die, as those who had occupied this hut before us. All too soon it would be our corpses that would adorn the path, or hang over the river.

Drosten beckoned me over to join them, but I shook my head and stayed with Os, doing the only thing I thought might help us. I knelt beside Leofstan, and joined him in whispering the words found in the book of Isaiah.

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”