Somerled damped the cloth, dabbed at the wounds on Eyvind’s face. After a while he said quietly, “You can talk to me, Eyvind. I’m not some monster, you know. I am your friend as I always was; like you, I swore to be loyal above all else. That’s why you are here alone with me, not dragged forth to account for your actions before the whole court. I want this settled properly, and I want to protect you if I can. Here, drink this ale, you look like a walking ghost. That’s it. And eat. I suspect you’ve had nothing at all today. The men are angry; you cannot expect them to treat you kindly. They saw the way you defied my orders. They saw the way you stood against your own comrades.”

Eyvind felt confusion and doubt creeping back into his mind; his hand shook, and he set the ale cup down. “What do you mean, protect me?” he asked. “I’ve come here to tell the truth, that’s all.”

Somerled was watching him closely. “Truth?” he queried, brows raised. “Which truth is that? The same you were shouting that morning when you came back from the dead? Unfounded accusations wholly without proof, the rantings of a man driven out of his wits by long captivity and torture? You may choose to call those ravings truth, but I am king here, and these men follow me. On these islands, mine is the only truth that counts.”

Eyvind drew a deep breath. Thor’s hammer, his wrists felt as if naked flames licked at them. “So, you expect our people to follow a man who murdered his own brother?” he asked. “It seems to me you have let nothing and no one stand in the path that leads to your desires. I’m not sure you understand what you have done.”

“If you want to explain it to me, please go ahead, Eyvind. I’m here to listen.”

“On one count you are right.” Eyvind’s fists clenched tight; the shaking was getting worse. “I did swear loyalty to you once, and I meant it. I have never forgotten that you saved my life. From the first, I recognized in you what others could not see: courage, determination, fierce strength of will. A cleverness I could never come close to. A desire to be your own master and set your own course. I admired that in you; I saw a future in which those qualities would flower, a time in which you would set them to some great and noble purpose.”

A light had awoken in Somerled’s dark eyes. “Now is that time!” he exclaimed, springing to his feet and setting a hand on Eyvind’s shoulder. “Can’t you see that? We are here together, and I am king, and we have a whole new world to make as we will. These people look up to me, Eyvind, they like a leader who’s prepared to make hard decisions and to abide by them. They want someone who will adhere to the old gods. They don’t want some vacillating peacemonger with his head in the clouds, they want direction. I’ve given them that. They’re grateful. They’ll do anything for me. Look at your fellow Wolfskins, lurking out there in the hallway. They’re more loyal to me than they ever were to Ulf. I’ve given them real work to do, the only kind they understand.”