“She was alone on the island, naked and beautiful on the shore. All alone, abandoned there in that grim place. A woman, on her own, without shelter, without the means to make fire, without even a shred of clothing. How can anyone believe she wants to go back there? Such a place is home to nothing but crabs and shellfish. I could not leave her there, at the mercy of that monster. So I saved her, rescued her. She is mine, my wife in all aspects but the law, and that can be made good. With me she has shelter, food, companionship, all a woman needs from her man. I provide for her, I keep her safe. Most men would not trouble with a woman who was . . . ” He did not make his gesture again, the one that meant crazy, out of her wits, but his meaning was clear.

“So you lied,” said Johnny.

“You would not have believed me. It sounds like a wild invention. There was no need for anyone to know this, no need at all. He only made trouble telling it—”

“And the child?” asked Johnny.

Knut hesitated. I wondered if he was weighing up the odds: better to tell the unpalatable truth now or somehow to perpetuate the lie? “There was no child,” he muttered.

“Why would you invent such a story?” asked Muirrin, clearly shocked. “Were the losses from Freyja not enough for you, that you had to embroider them?”

“Svala,” Knut said. “Crazy. Unpredictable. I thought . . . I thought, without a good reason for such wildness, you would not let her stay here. I thought you would quickly send us away.”

“I have another question for you,” Johnny said, and the perilous quiet of his tone frightened even me. “Did you attempt to kill Felix tonight to stop him from telling this story?”

“No! Not to kill, only to warn him. I heard Sam talking; at supper, he was saying something about an island and a monster. How could he know this, save from Felix? I did not want the story told. I confess, it shows me in a bad light, and I . . . But I would not have killed him. Why would I do that? I came to give him a fright, to make sure he held his tongue, that was all.”

“Sam,” I said, seeing how it had been. “Brenna must have spoken to Sam about what I told the others earlier.” I turned to Knut. “Brenna didn’t learn the story from Felix,” I said. “She learned it from Svala, through me. What Gull said was true. Until you attacked Felix and he hit his head, he had no memory of this.”

Knut opened his mouth and shut it again. Nobody said a word. Johnny made a motion with his head, indicating that Gareth and Kalev should go, and they left with the Norseman between them. Cathal made his good nights and followed.