“Be silent!” The whiplash of Olaf Sveinsson’s voice startled them all. “Is not this Lord Ulf’s widow? The lady Margaret must be given whatever details she wishes to know. The lady is right; we’ve been forgetting what is correct here. Speak up, Wolfskin. Perhaps this account will distress you, my lady,” he glanced at Margaret, brow furrowed in concern, “but you should hear it.”

“Go on, Eyvind.” Margaret’s voice was calm.

“The attack was wrong,” Eyvind said faintly. Step aside a little. Who is that who stands behind you? “It was against all the principles of right engagement. The folk of the Whaleback were in mourning. And there was a ring-sworn treaty; Engus intended to keep peace, as Ulf himself did. I only tried to stop an act of barbaric slaughter.”

“And?” Margaret was looking at him with something of Somerled’s own ferocity in her gaze. It was as if she knew the truth already.

“And…and I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it was Somerled who killed your husband. I know this is true, and I have tried to show it, but they say I have no real proof, no true witness. They say I might just as well have done it myself. I’m sorry, my lady, for I have failed here. I have tried to seek justice for Ulf—”

“Nonsense, of course,” said Somerled crisply. “The rambling product of a confused mind. Our friend here was always susceptible to female influence. A sorceress caught him in her net. Very sad. He has no case, no witnesses, nothing at all. Ridiculous, the whole effort, and a sorry thing to see, for you are right on one point: this was once the foremost of our warriors, and the truest of friends. Such is the evil these island folk can set in a man’s spirit. Weak as they seem, they are still dangerous. We must not forget that. Now, it grows late. Shall we retire, and consider this in the morning?” For all the confidence of his tone, Somerled seemed edgy; Eyvind had learned to read him long ago, and he saw the little twitch in the cheek, the tapping of fingertips against the thigh, the signs of unease. Somerled was nervous. What had they said before in the darkness? Thirty men coming? Somerled had been warned of surprise visitors; it was clearly someone other than Margaret he expected.