As night drew nigh, they halted at a house he owned on the Isefjord, where he kept a yacht. The caretakers put a meal together That also went glumly. However, at the end the king got up and said, “Bring these men as much more ale as they want.” To them he added, “Refresh yourselves. I’m going for a stroll.”

“Not overly gladsome at seeing daughter and grandkids again, is he?” muttered one of them when the tall shape had limped out the door.

“Hold your jaw,” said Olaf. “Kings, they got much on their minds, they do. I’d not willingly be a king, I wouldn’t. Hoy, this is a mighty tasty brew here. Let’s swill while we can.”

—Dusk closed in. Hadding stood on the shore, looking north over the water. It lay still, a steely glimmer broken by the black hulk of an island, out to the worldrim and beyond. Once he said into the hush and chill, “I think you are the home I have ever been seeking.” A few stars trembled forth, small and far. “But how can a man have his home in the sea?”

He turned and went back to the house. The men were already snoring on the benches. By the light of the dying fire he found his own place. In the morning he did not look as though he had slept much.

They reached Keldorgard before midday. The sky hung low, a sunless gray. A mile or so northward the shaw stood like a stronghold wall for jotuns, the barrow a hill before it. Lesser dwellings stood nearer, and neighbor farms afar, their smoke more dear to sight than the dwindled buildings. Otherwise the land stretched flat, shadowless, bare fields, withered grass, tangled briars. The air was not very cold, but it gnawed.

The garth bustled. Hoofs rang in the flagged yard. Smells of roasting meat rolled around it. Folk milled about the newcomers, shouting. Even their most faded woad-dyed wadmal was colorful today, and Ulfhild’s red cloak blazed like her hair as she hastened forth to greet her father. Gudorm lagged behind, well enough clad but his face locked.

Hadding swung down from the saddle. Ulfhild caught both his hands. “Welcome, welcome!” she cried. “Thank you for that you’ve come. Did you have a good journey? You shall surely have a good stay with us. Now, into the house with you, a stoup of mead, a bite of food if you like, then the bathhouse.”

“Yes, welcome,” said Gudorm roughly. “We have much to talk about.”

Hadding’s eyes met his. “We have much to remember, you and I,” he answered.

“We’re happy to see you, lord.”

“I keep my promises.”