Knights of the Hawk

served my brothers.’

‘You never told me this,’ Snorri said.

‘And why should I have done? This was three summers ago, before I even knew you.’ Magnus turned back to me. ‘So, you see, he took something from me as well. Something more valuable than gold or silver or weapons. He took the lives of my brothers. It’s because of him that they’re now dead, and I find myself reduced to this.’

A moving story, to be sure, although he was not alone in having such a tale to tell. In a similar way Eadgar had taken from me my lord and all my loyal brothers in arms on that night at Dunholm. What I wanted to know was the one thing Magnus had not yet told me.

‘Where is Haakon’s fortress?’ I asked.

‘I do not know the name of the island, although I know how to find the fjord in which it lies.’

‘You’ve been there before?’

‘Once,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen his stronghold on its crag by the sea. Jarnborg, he calls it.’

‘The iron fortress,’ Snorri murmured.

Magnus nodded. ‘It might as well be made of iron, for all the success that men have had trying to capture it. It’s all but unassailable, protected on three sides by high cliffs rising from the water, and approachable only by a narrow neck of land, but it’s so steep and uneven that you could never lead an army up it.’

‘Could you take me there?’ I asked.

‘Take you there? Why?’

‘To claim back what’s rightfully mine.’

‘With this army?’ he asked, nodding at the various members of my retinue. ‘Four men, yourself included, and one girl?’

‘And as many others as I can hire.’

He snorted derisively. ‘Hosts numbering in the hundreds have marched against Jarnborg and failed to take it. What makes you think you can do it with five?’

‘It needn’t come to an assault, if Haakon is willing to deal with me.’

Magnus shot me a look as if to suggest that was unlikely, and in truth I didn’t really believe it either. For what could I possibly offer that he would accept in return for Oswynn?

‘Haakon doesn’t give up anything willingly,’ Magnus said. ‘I’ve met him, so believe me when I say this. Whatever he has of yours, you won’t get it back without a fight.’

‘Then join me,’ I said, more confidently than I had any right to, given that I knew little of this fortress Magnus had spoken of, in particular the condition of its defences, or the number of spears that guarded its gates and walls. But I was desperately in need of allies, and it seemed to me that fate had led me to this man. ‘You mentioned you still have followers who remain loyal to you. I could use their swords.’

‘You’re asking me to risk my neck on such an expedition?’

‘Why not?’

‘Many reasons,’ he muttered. ‘Not least of which is that I don’t know you, Fleming.’

‘I’ll admit to having little knowledge of war, but even I know that this is not the season to go campaigning,’ Snorri put in. ‘Assuming that you could gather the men and the ships for such a voyage, all Haakon has to do is withdraw inside this fastness of his, where, if he’s sensible, he’ll have provisions to last until spring. Do you really plan on besieging him for the next half a year, battered by the winter winds, bedding down night after night on frozen ground?’

I glared at him. The old Dane wasn’t helping. ‘Think instead what you stand to gain,’ I told Magnus.

‘And what might that be?’

‘Vengeance,’ I said, hoping to appeal to his baser instincts. ‘Honour. Make him pay the blood-price for your brothers’ deaths. If he’s as powerful as you say he is, he must have wealth stored away in a hoard somewhere, too. All that can be yours.’

‘Don’t you think that if I considered this possible, and had the means for it, I would have tried already — without your help?’

‘Perhaps. But there are ways of achieving victory without resorting to siege or a direct assault.’

Not many came to mind, admittedly. I was thinking, I supposed, of how we had slipped inside Eoferwic to open the gates to King Guillaume’s army two years ago, of how we had distracted the enemy by burning the ships at Beferlic last autumn, of how we had negotiated with Morcar to bring about the downfall of the rebels at Elyg. On each of those occasions it was not sheer weight of numbers that had won us the battle, but cunning and not a little daring. I had done it before. I could do it again.

Magnus sat, chewing upon his lip, slightly and almost imperceptibly shaking his head.

‘Assuming that you were to join me,’ I said, ‘how many men could you marshal, do you think?’

‘Twenty, perhaps thirty, given time and depending on who is willing. I have my own ship, too, although she leaks and is in need of some repair.’

That was a not inconsiderable host for one man to command. I had been expecting him to say five, or a dozen, perhaps, not more than that. Excitement stirred within me, as I had a sense suddenly of what was possible.

‘How many is Haakon likely to have?’

Magnus shrugged. ‘Assuming that he’s expecting a quiet winter warming himself by his hearth-fire, not many. A full ship’s complement of fighting men, at least.’

Around fifty, then, at a guess. They would be his household retainers, his hearth-troops, his best and strongest warriors: his huskarlar, to use the Danish word, which I only knew because it was essentially the same as the English huscarlas. Perhaps twice the number that Magnus and I could muster between us, then, although of course as the defenders they would hold a distinct advantage over us. Still, those were far from insurmountable odds.

‘There’s one thing of which you haven’t yet spoken,’ Magnus said. ‘You’ve told me what I might gain from this, but what about yourself?’

‘As I’ve told you, all I want is to take back what was stolen from me,’ I said. ‘I’m not interested in Haakon’s hoard, his horses or his ships.’

Magnus sat for a few moments in silence, staring into the hearth while he fingered the pitcher of ale. On his hand, I noticed, lit by the fire-glow, was a gilded signet ring engraved with the emblem of a dragon or some other winged beast, which for some reason seemed strangely familiar. The roof-beams creaked as the wind gusted. Outside in the street, geese were honking, perhaps being driven to the city in time for a market tomorrow.

I turned to Snorri. ‘What about you? Would you join us?’

‘Me?’ he asked. ‘I’m no warrior, nor have I ever been. I’ve no interest in pursuing feuds that aren’t my own, and I’m too old for such adventures in any case. I’d only slow you down. All I want is to get back home and spend Yule in my own house.’

‘I understand,’ I said, disappointed though not surprised. He had already done me a great favour by bringing me here. Another ship would no doubt have proven useful, but then again I supposed that to do this we only really needed one. ‘What do you say, Magnus?’

He hesitated, no doubt weighing up in his mind how much he could trust me.

‘I cannot promise anything,’ he said after a short while, ‘but I’ll send word to my followers in the morning, and see whether they are willing to come with me. If enough of them are eager, then we sail.’

It wasn’t the definite answer I’d been hoping for, nor did I sense much conviction in his tone, but it was something. Of course I would rather have an ally on this expedition, but if the only choice was for myself and my small band to go alone, then that was what we would do. How I thought we could possibly confront Haakon and storm this iron fortress of his, I wasn’t sure. One thing of which I was sure, however, was that we would find a way, as we had always done. We had to.

I bade farewell to Snorri and his crew the next morning. I was surprised they were leaving so soon, but understood there was no sense in delaying while the winds were still favourable, especially given how far he had yet to travel to reach his home, which he told me was in distant Ysland. Hrithdyr’s hold was full, except that the quernstones and casks of wine had now been exchanged for bundles of the shaggy woollen cloaks that seemed to be considered fashionable in these parts.

‘The tufts lend them the appearance of fur, see?’ he said, proudly showing off one that he’d kept for himself. ‘For those who are too poor to afford deerskin or sealskin or ermine pelisses, it’s the next best thing. They’re