‘He asked who you were,’ said Bragi. ‘Unmask yourself and face us as man to man.’
The man took off his mask.
‘Veles Libor,’ he said, ‘friend to the prince and to all who travel with him.’
‘Veles!’ said Bragi. ‘Veles, is it you? What are you doing here?’
‘Living here,’ said Veles, ‘at the invitation of the late King Godfred, may whatever gods you find appropriate guard him in the afterlife, and the good King Hemming, may the same gods… Well, you catch my drift.’
‘You have abandoned your people?’ said Vali.
‘The good King Godfred abandoned them for me when he was so considerate as to burn down my home town of Reric. His generosity did not stop there though. He was kind enough to offer, nay insist, that we merchants transfer our business here. The chance to come to such a warm and pleasant land was far more welcome than the alternative, so here I am.’
‘What was the alternative?’ said Vali.
‘An inventive, original and rare death,’ said Veles. ‘It was the easiest bargain I have ever struck.’
‘So you’re a thrall?’ said Vali.
‘But a comfortable one. If you’re going to be a slave, why not be the king’s slave? And besides, the price of my efficiency is a certain level of freedom.’
For the first time since he had returned to Eikund with the wolfman, Vali laughed. ‘It’s so good to see you,’ he said.
‘And you. You have grown mighty, my prince. You must have killed many men by now.’ Vali noticed he was looking strangely at the wolfman. Veles missed nothing, least of all something as obvious as the wolfman’s resemblance to the prince. It didn’t stop the merchant speaking. ‘I have arranged everything for your stay here. You are guests at my house. Whatever you want to buy here, whatever you want to sell, I will be pleased to do it for you. It would be my honour to conduct your dealings for you and lend you my expertise.’
‘We are a delegation.’
‘From Forkbeard. Some business about Haarik’s raid, no doubt.’
‘How did you know about that? No one could have travelled here more quickly than us,’ said Vali.
‘You are a seer?’ said Bragi.
‘Hardly,’ said Veles. ‘I simply asked them when they passed through.’
‘Which way?’ said Vali.
Veles looked hard at Vali.
‘Come on, man. It’s an easy enough question to answer. Were they on their way or coming back from the raid?’
‘On their way,’ said Veles. ‘They have something you value? A captive?’
‘Magician!’ said Feileg in a low growl.
‘My skills are baser, I assure you,’ said Veles. ‘It is my business to recognise want when I see it. There has been a raid on Rogaland; the esteemed prince is dispatched to retrieve something that can be carried in such a small boat. Very wise way to travel. You need five drakkars or none in these waters nowadays. Believe me, the pirates have nearly broken me in two. I bleed coin to them. Bleed it!’ He seemed on the verge of losing his temper but then caught himself. ‘So it is a single captive. I can’t think of anything else that needs diplomacy to retrieve. If it was gold I think you would come with war-paint on your eyes, not these fine lines fit to please a lady.’ He gestured at the kohl that Bragi and Vali had applied to each other.
‘Where is the girl?’ said Feileg.
Veles smiled broadly.
‘I do not have her here, but if she is to be found, then I can find her,’ said Veles. ‘A girl. A princess no doubt. Has little Ragna been taken? I will help find her and expect no payment; simply your thanks and whatever gift your generous people choose to bestow on me will be enough. ’
‘It is not Ragna, though the captive is no less dear to the king. No gift would suffice to thank you for her return,’ said Vali.
‘Well, let’s talk about the exact sums later,’ said Veles. ‘I’m joking of course. But, please, come to my house, where you will be my guests. And you must see King Hemming. We should start by asking for compensation for the raid and the abduction of the girl. I’m sure he couldn’t have sanctioned this, prince. He wouldn’t want to risk your father’s wrath. I will handle everything — the amount, whichever way it is paid, the form, the delivery. The details of mere trade are beneath princes, or at least that’s what the Franks maintain, and their empire seems to thrive on it. You need only return to Rogaland and wait for the happy outcome.’
Vali felt his heart leap. If anyone could locate Adisla, he thought, Veles could.
28
Haithabyr was as much a marvel close up as it had been from the sea. Logs had been split and laid on the ground so there was a solid path, firm underfoot. The houses huddled in so close that the thatches nearly touched at some points, blocking out the light. Each yard was fenced, some with individual wells. People shoved and bustled on the waterfront, and even in the alleys that led up from the jetties you could hardly take twenty paces without encountering someone coming the other way. Still, the place was filthy. Piles of rubbish lay everywhere and in places the wooden path was slick with shit.
Would it have hurt, thought Vali, to have carried some of the mess down to the water and thrown it in? Haithabyr stank, and he wondered that people could live in such fetid conditions.
‘Danes,’ said Bragi. ‘They don’t know the meaning of washing and cleaning.’
‘They are a filthy people,’ said Veles, ‘say their enemies. However, I have always found them to be scrupulously clean, as such an opinion is more conducive to a long and happy life. This way, please.’
They moved up through the town, crossing a bridge over a small stream that ran down to the quay. Vali marvelled at that too — the stream had been cut into a channel and was as straight as an arrow. Was this stinking, teeming place the future? he asked himself.
Then, in a square not far from the channel, he saw it — the market. All around were open barns, which he could see contained livestock. One was smaller than the others, squat to the ground like a normal longhouse but without walls, the roof low and the space underneath it black. Vali went closer and saw ragged figures huddled in the darkness. Walking faster and faster, he ducked under the roof of the building and peered into the gloom. Pale faces looked back at him, some shrunken with starvation, others quite plump and healthy. All, however, were chained together. The smell was overwhelming.
His eyes went from face to face. There were two monks — as he now knew them to be — as he’d seen on the island, a mother and two children huddling together, a tall man who could only be a Swede, sitting upright and defiant, and, at the end, a girl of around seventeen, blonde-haired, pretty and staring blankly ahead. It wasn’t Adisla though, not her at all.
‘What is it you’re looking for, sir? Market is two weeks from now, but if you offer the right price the goods are yours. Or do you have slaves to sell? I will buy the right material.’
Vali turned to see a well-dressed man in a dark cloak. He was carrying a long switch of hazel. Beside him was a red-haired woman he guessed was a freed slave because she did not look Danish. She was carrying a set of keys.
‘I’m looking for a woman who might have been brought here, taken from the raid on Rogaland,’ he said.
‘The Rygir girls are cold,’ said the man. ‘Here, try this one at the end. She’ll set your bed on fire, as long as you’re willing to put up with a month of sulking while she gets used to you.’
The girl looked at him from the darkness. Her eyes didn’t contain hope, or anything in particular.
‘I want the Rygir girl,’ said Vali.
‘This one is from the western islands — that’s as near as you’re going to get to Rygir,’ he said.
‘So Haarik’s men have not been here selling slaves?’ said Vali.
‘They left a month back,’ said the slaver, ‘and I haven’t seen them since. Hey, you, pauper, come away from
