keel in the forest. It was an oak with a trunk straight as an oar shaft and I cut that myself. We used eleven other oaks, Lord Uhtred, for her ribs and her cross-pieces, for her stem and her planking. Her caulking was hair from seven bears I killed with my own spear, and I made her nails on my own forge. My mother made her sail, I wove her lines, and I gave her to Thor by killing a horse I loved and sprinkling his blood on her stem. She has carried my brother and me through storms and fog and ice. She is,” he turned to look at
“You love her more than your life?”
He thought for an instant, then shook his head. “No.”
“Then it will be a ship of my choice,” I said stubbornly, and that might have ended the negotiation except there was a commotion under the archway where the Northmen’s shield wall still faced my troops.
?thelred had come to the bridge, and was demanding to be allowed through the gate. Erik offered me a quizzical look when the news was brought to us and I shrugged. “He commands here,” I said.
“So I will need his permission to leave?”
“You will,” I said.
Erik sent word that the shield wall was to let ?thelred onto the roadway and my cousin strutted onto the bridge with his customary cockiness. Aldhelm, the commander of his guard, was his only companion. ?thelred ignored Erik, instead facing me with a belligerent expression. “You presume to negotiate on my behalf?” he accused me.
“No,” I said.
“Then what are you doing here?”
“Negotiating on my own behalf,” I said. “This is the Earl Erik Thurgilson,” I introduced the Norseman in English, but now changed to Danish. “And this,” I said to Erik, “is the Ealdorman of Mercia, the Lord ?thelred.”
Erik responded to the introduction by offering ?thelred a small bow, but the courtesy was wasted. ?thelred looked around the bridge, counting the men who had taken refuge there. “Not so many,” he said brusquely. “They must all die.”
“I have already offered them their lives,” I said.
?thelred rounded on me. “We had orders,” he said bitingly, “to capture Sigefrid, Erik, and Haesten, and deliver them as captives to King ?thelstan.” I saw Erik’s eyes widen slightly. I had assumed he spoke no English, but now realized he must have learned enough of the language to understand ?thelred’s words. “Are you disobeying my father-in-law?” ?thelred challenged me when I made no response.
I kept my temper. “You can fight them here,” I explained patiently, “and you’ll lose many good men. Too many. You can trap them here, but at slack water a ship will row to the bridge and rescue them.” That would be a hard thing to do, but I had learned never to underestimate the seamanship of the Northmen. “Or you can rid Lundene of their presence,” I said, “and that is what I chose to do.” Aldhelm sniggered at that, implying that I had chosen the coward’s option. I looked at him and he challenged my gaze, refusing to look away.
“Kill them, lord,” Aldhelm said to ?thelred, though he continued staring at me.
“If you wish to fight them,” I said, “then that is your privilege, but I’ll have none of it.”
For a moment both ?thelred and Aldhelm were tempted to accuse me of cowardice. I could see the thought on their faces, but they could also see something in my face and they let the thought go unsaid. “You always loved pagans,” ?thelred sneered instead.
“I loved them so well,” I said angrily, “that I took two ships through that gap in the black of night,” I pointed to where the jagged stumps of the bridge’s planking ended. “I brought men into the city, cousin, and I captured Ludd’s Gate, and I fought a battle in that gate such as I would never wish to fight again, and in that fight I killed pagans for you. And yes, I love them.”
?thelred looked at the gap. Spray showed continually there, thrown up by the seethe of water falling through the break with such force that the ancient wooden roadway quivered and the air was filled with the river’s noise. “You had no orders to come by ship,” ?thelred said indignantly, and I knew he resented my actions because they might detract from the glory he expected to garner from his capture of Lundene.
“I had orders to give you the city,” I retorted, “so here it is!” I gestured at the smoke drifting over the scream-filled hill. “Your wedding present,” I said, mocking him with a bow.
“And not just the city, lord,” Aldhelm said to ?thelred, “but everything in it.”
“Everything?” ?thelred asked, as if he could not believe his good fortune.
“Everything,” Aldhelm said wolfishly.
“And if you’re grateful for that,” I interjected sourly, “then thank your wife.”
?thelred jerked around to stare wide-eyed at me. Something in my words had astonished him for he looked as though I had struck him. There was disbelief on his broad face, and anger, and for a moment he was incapable of speaking. “My wife?” he finally asked.
“If it had not been for ?thelflaed,” I explained, “we could not have taken the city. Last night she gave me men.”
“You saw her last night?” he asked incredulously.
I looked at him, wondering if he was mad. “Of course I saw her last night!” I said. “We went back to the island to board the ships! She was there! She shamed your men into coming with me.”
“And she made Lord Uhtred give her an oath,” Pyrlig added, “an oath to defend your Mercia, Lord ?thelred.”
?thelred ignored the Welshman. He was still staring at me, but now with an expression of hatred. “You boarded my ship?” he could barely speak for loathing and anger, “and saw my wife?”
“She came ashore,” I said, “with Father Pyrlig.”
I meant nothing by saying that. I had merely reported what had happened and hoped that ?thelred would admire his wife for her initiative, but the moment I spoke I saw I had made a mistake. I thought for a heartbeat that ?thelred was going to hit me, so fierce was the sudden fury on his broad face, but then he controled himself and turned and walked away. Aldhelm hurried after him and managed to check my cousin’s haste long enough to speak with him. I saw ?thelred make a furious, careless gesture, then Aldhelm turned back to me. “You must do what you think best,” he called, then followed his master through the arch where the Northmen’s shield wall made a passage for them.
“I always do,” I said to no one in particular.
“Do what?” Father Pyrlig asked, staring at the arch where my cousin had so abruptly vanished.
“What I think is best,” I said, then frowned. “What happened there?” I asked Pyrlig.
“He doesn’t like other men speaking to his wife,” the Welshman said. “I noticed that when I was on the ship with them, coming down the Temes. He’s jealous.”
“But I’ve known ?thelflaed forever!” I exclaimed.
“He fears you know her only too well,” Pyrlig said, “and it drives him to madness.”
“But that’s stupid!” I spoke angrily.
“It’s jealousy,” Pyrlig said, “and all jealousy is stupid.”
Erik had also watched ?thelred walk away and was as confused as I was. “He is your commander?” the Norseman asked.
“He’s my cousin,” I said bitterly.
“And he’s your commander?” Erik asked again.
“The Lord ?thelred commands,” Pyrlig explained, “and the Lord Uhtred disobeys.”
Erik smiled at that. “So, Lord Uhtred, do we have an agreement?” He asked that question in English, hesitating slightly over the words.
“Your English is good,” I said, sounding surprised.
He smiled. “A Saxon slave taught me.”
“I hope she was beautiful,” I said, “and yes, we do have an agreement, but with one change.”
Erik bridled, but stayed courteous. “One change?” he asked cautiously.
“You may take
I thought Erik would kiss me. For a heartbeat he did not believe my words, then he saw that I was sincere and he smiled broadly. “Lord Uhtred,” he began.
“Take her,” I interrupted him, not wanting his gratitude, “just take her and go!”
