Chapters (76)
- Cover
- Praise forMATTHEW HARFFY
- BY MATTHEW HARFFY
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Maps
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Place Names
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- An Invitation from the Publisher
I pulled Leofstan to his feet.
“Perhaps I will get my chance after all,” I whispered, then more loudly. “We are to be guests of Ljósberari.”
Fifty
We were taken to the water’s edge, Leofstan and I blinking in the bright afternoon sunlight. My gaze kept flicking to the shapes of the corpses that hung like putrid pears from the trees along the riverbank. As well as the dozen or so armed warriors that Chlotar commanded, we were followed by a great throng of Ljósberari’s people, mostly children. This time they did not taunt and strike us, but walked in an uncanny silence, their eyes wide and fixed on our every movement. I wondered if we were to be Ljósberari’s next victims. Were we being led to the pyres where we would be consumed by flames? I suppressed a shudder and offered up a prayer that God would grant me the strength to die with honour. I did not wish to disgrace myself, weeping and puking with pain and fear, but I could already feel the terror of what was to come coiling within me, gnawing at my guts.
When we reached the first wharf, Chlotar shoved me forward.
“Strip and wash.”
I stared at him in disbelief. The children were amassed along the shore. Scores of dark gazes stared back from behind the Frank.
“Your soul cannot be cleansed with water,” he said, by way of explanation, “but the master would like you to have a clean body before he meets you.” He threw a pale linen robe to me. “You will wear this.”
I looked down at the cloth in my hand. It was lightweight, and undyed. It made me think of a funeral shroud.
“Get washing,” Chlotar growled, grabbing Leofstan and pulling him close. “And don’t get any ideas. If you try to swim away, I will slice this old one from ear to ear.”
Quickly I began to undress. I could feel the gaze of the onlookers roving across my pallid skin and I shivered. When I was naked, I did not tarry on the wharf for all to see. I took a deep breath and jumped into the river. I had expected it to be deep and I was surprised when my feet hit the muddy riverbed before my body was fully submerged. My right leg twisted painfully and I stumbled forward, disappearing beneath the surface. I came up sputtering and coughing. I thought I heard a sprinkling of childish laughter from the crowd, but they were soon eerily silent once more.