“And Osmod, one thing before that. Send twenty women to me now.”

“Women, lord?”

“Women. There are plenty with us. Wives, friends, drabs, I don’t care. As long as they can push a needle.”

Two hours later, Thorvin, Farman and Geirulf—the only priests of the Way present among a half dozen English unit commanders—stared unhappily at the new device hastily stitched onto the army’s main battle-banner. Instead of the white Hammer standing upright on a red field, there were now a Hammer and Cross, set diagonally, one across the other.

“It is dealing with the enemy,” said Farman. “More than they would ever do for us.”

“It is a condition made by the king for his support,” said Shef.

Eyebrows raised as the priests looked at the shabby, solitary figure of the king.

“Not just my support,” said Alfred. “The support of my kingdom. I may have lost one army. But there are still men who will fight against the invaders. It will be easier if they do not have to change religion at the same time.”

“We need men, for sure,” said Osmod the camp marshal and leader of the catapulteers. “What with this morning and the desertions we’ve had—seven, eight men to a team left, where we need a dozen. And Udd has more crossbows in store than men to use them. But we need ’em right now. And where are we to find them? In a hurry, like?”

Shef and Alfred stared uncertainly at each other, digesting the problem, groping for an solution.

An unexpected voice cut the silence from the back of the tent. Godive’s.

“I can tell you the answer to that,” she said. “But if I tell you, you must grant me two things. One, a seat on this council. I do not care to be disposed of in future like a lame horse or a sick hound. Two, I do not want to hear the jarl say again, ‘Not now. Not now, because I am the jarl.’”

Eyes turned; first, in amazement, to her, then in doubt and alarm to Shef. Shef, hand fumbling automatically for reassurance to his whetstone, found himself looking into Godive’s brilliant eyes as if for the first time. He remembered: the whetstone was no longer there, nor what it stood for. He looked down.

“I grant both conditions,” he said hoarsely. “Now tell us your answer, councillor.”