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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

She was alive! After all this time I had finally found her. A wave of elation washed through me, where it mingled with the other swirling powerful emotions. Grief and despair battled against the surge of joy at finding my cousin alive in this strange and dangerous land. I had not allowed myself to admit it, but I knew the truth then. Until that moment, I had long since ceased to believe I would ever find her. It had seemed certain to me that we would all be slain, and, if she yet lived, the closest I would ever come to Aelfwyn again would be to see her as we were led to the place of our execution. But now, the angle of her neck and curve of her cheek unmistakable, her skin pale in the gloom, there she stood, a shadowy vision, close enough to touch.

Eadmaer was whispering to her, holding her tightly and she responded by nuzzling into his neck. Aelfwyn murmured words to the fisherman, but I could not make them out. I felt a stab of a new emotion then: jealousy. It was an ugly feeling, but I could not be rid of it. Aelfwyn was my kin and I wanted her to know how much I had striven to come to her aid. How much danger I had faced and what I had sacrificed.

“There’s no time for tears,” whispered Hereward, his voice pulling me away from my petty thoughts and back to the predicament in which we found ourselves.

My companions were all outside the hut now, and they crowded around us. I glanced up the slope at the settlement. All was still there, but I noticed a sliver of warm light shining from beneath the hall’s great doors, no doubt from the oil lamps and candles Ljósberari favoured. We were close to the river, and the dark waters beckoned. Freedom lay in that direction. The wharfs were nearby and we could be away, paddling downstream in moments.

“Revna,” growled Runolf, shouldering past me and stooping to the slender form I had grappled with. Dismayed, I realised I had been choking the Norseman’s daughter. He swept her up from where she had fallen after I had released my grip on her.

“Is she well?” I asked, horrified at what I had done and terrified of what answer he might give.

“I am well enough,” hissed Revna, rubbing at her neck.

“It is good for you that she is,” snarled Runolf.

“Enough, Father,” she said, her tone sharp.

He held her at arm’s length, staring at her in the gloom.

“I thought I had lost you, child. As I have lost everything else.”