And so the screaming began.

Six

I swore. Much good that did.

Bedwin was gaping, the other men about the table were looking equally confused, each of them just waiting for someone to tell them what to do.

‘This way,’ I snarled at my men and grasped the sleeve of Benedetta’s robe, ‘come!’

At that moment, of course, I did not know what was happening, but the insistent horn and the clangour of bells spoke of an attack. The only other event that might have started such an alarm was a fire, but as we ran from the palace door there was no glow in the sky. The guards were just standing there, staring eastwards. ‘What do we do, lord?’ one called to me.

‘Go inside, join Bedwin!’ The last thing I needed was nervous half-trained men trailing me. The bells announced that there would be killing in the city this night, and I needed to reach Spearhafoc. I shouted at my men to follow me down the hill, but before we were halfway to the river I saw horsemen pouring from a nearby street, the points of their spear-blades catching and reflecting the light of a torch. I was still holding Benedetta’s arm and she gasped in alarm as I veered sharply right to dive into an alley. I would have preferred to go left, to head eastwards towards Spearhafoc, but there was no alley or street close enough.

I stopped in the alley and swore again, and it did no more good than the first curse. ‘What is it?’ Beornoth asked.

‘The enemy,’ Vidarr Leifson answered for me.

‘Coming from the east by the look of it,’ Finan said quietly.

‘I told the fool to send scouts,’ a voice said, ‘but he refused! He said he had too few men, but he’ll have even fewer now.’

The alley was dark and I could not see the speaker, but his Danish accent betrayed him. It was Father Oda. ‘What are you doing here?’ I asked harshly.

‘Seeking safety,’ he answered calmly, ‘and I trust you to protect me, lord, more than I trust that fool Bedwin.’

For a moment I was tempted to order him back to the palace, then relented. One more man would make no difference to us, even if the man was a Christian priest and carried no weapon. ‘This way!’ I said. I still went downhill, but now using backstreets and alleys. The sound of the horses’ hooves was muffled, but I heard a scream, then heard the clash of sword on metal. We kept running.

The horsemen I had seen had been coming from the east. The riverside house where I had left Berg, the rest of my men and Eadgifu were all to the east, and the house was not far from the city’s easternmost gate. Waormund, I thought, must have attacked that gate to let in the approaching troops who now spread through the city. Worse, Waormund would know exactly where to find me, and he had doubtless led men straight to the house. So had Berg managed to escape? If he had, then he would have taken Spearhafoc into the river’s centre and would be holding her there, but as we stumbled down the alleys I wondered how we would ever reach her.