“We bore gifts,” Felix said. His eyes were calmer now, as if he saw the bright promise of the voyage, the hope with which it was begun. “Muredach’s son is to wed the daughter of Jarl Thorkel, ruler of the Orcades. Those items you showed me were chosen by Eoghan as gifts for his betrothed and for her mother. Our party was led by Muredach’s senior councillor—one of the men you buried here on the island, along with Paul. Paul . . . my brother did not need to come on the voyage. There were others in our party who could have fulfilled the role of guard. Eoghan did not want Paul to come with us; the two of them had become close, and the prince said he would miss Paul too much. But my brother said that he had made a promise to watch over me, and that Eoghan would be so busy over the summer with riding and hawking and games that he would scarcely miss us. Either he stood by his little brother, Paul told the prince, or he left Eoghan’s service altogether. Eoghan let him come with me. He let my brother follow me to his death.”

A silence followed Kalev’s translation to Knut, and then came Cathal’s voice. “Have I permission to ask a question, Johnny?”

“Very well.”

“How many people were aboard the ship when she left Ulfricsfjord?”

Felix sighed. “Forty oarsmen, Knut among them. Five other crew. Eight passengers.”

“And how many were on the ship when she sank off the coast here?”

“Cathal—” I protested, but it seemed Felix was prepared to face this dark truth.

“When we approached this isle, seventeen were left. The last seventeen.” After a moment he added, “Eighteen, with the woman.”

Cathal regarded him levelly. “Only seventeen, for a ship of that size,” he said. “No wonder your hands bore blisters.”

Knut stirred as Kalev murmured a translation, but he did not speak.

“There were catastrophic losses, then,” Cathal said, “even before you reached here. If you’re telling the truth, why didn’t Knut—”

“Cathal,” said Johnny. “Let him tell it in his own time.”

“You left from Ulfricsfjord,” I said quietly. “You must have traveled some distance by land to reach the ship.”

“We rode for some days, yes. Muredach had procured passage for our party of eight. A Norse vessel; there were men among the crew who intended to stay in the Orcades. I understood the plan was to pick up crewmen on the islands for the return voyage.”

“You said forty oarsmen, five other crew and eight passengers—those passengers were your own party, I assume, from Muredach’s court.”

“That is correct, Sibeal. The councillor, Matha, who was to discuss certain sensitive matters with the Jarl; my brother and I; and five other men, all Irish.”

“We know that Svala and the child were traveling with Knut,” I said. “Didn’t some of the other crewmen who were planning to settle in the Orcades have wives and children with them?” Knut had told Johnny this was so. The numbers did not add up.