‘Some will go aground at low tide,’ I said, ‘but they’ll float off on the flood. They’re safe enough. And why are you here?’
‘To threaten you, of course!’ He smiled. ‘You haven’t tasted the wine!’
Finan snorted. ‘The last wine you gave us, lord King, tasted like goat’s piss.’
‘This isn’t much better,’ Æthelstan said, raising his glass. ‘Do you feel threatened, lord?’
‘Of course.’
‘How many men do you have?’
‘Fewer than you, lord King.’
He gazed at me again, and again he looked amused. ‘Are you frightened, Lord Uhtred?’
‘Of course I’m frightened!’ I said. ‘I’ve fought more battles than you have had birthdays, and before every one I was frightened. A man does not go into battle without fear. I pray I never see another battle. Ever!’
‘Are you going to give me Bebbanburg?’
‘No.’
‘You would rather fight?’
‘Bebbanburg is mine,’ I said stubbornly. ‘I only ask one favour of you.’
‘Ask!’
‘Look after my people. Benedetta, the women.’
‘And you?’
‘My ambition is to die in Bebbanburg.’
‘I pray that happens,’ Æthelstan said. He smiled again, a smile that was beginning to annoy me. He was toying with me as a cat played with its prey.
‘Is there anything more to say, lord King?’ I asked sourly.
‘Oh, a lot!’
‘Then say it.’ I stood. ‘I have work to do.’
‘Sit down, lord.’ He spoke with sudden anger and waited for me to obey him. ‘Did you kill Ealdred?’ he demanded, still angry.
‘No,’ I lied. He stared at me and I stared back.
I heard waves break on the nearby beach and neither of us spoke, just stared, and it was Æthelstan who broke the silence. ‘Constantine denies it.’
‘And so do I. You must decide which of us to believe.’
‘Have you asked Owain, lord King?’ Finan intervened.
‘Owain? No.’
‘I was there,’ Finan said, ‘I watched what happened, and the men who killed Ealdred carried black shields.’
‘Owain is Constantine’s puppy,’ Æthelstan said savagely, ‘and Constantine denies sending any men south.’
Finan shrugged. ‘As Lord Uhtred said, you can’t trust the Scots.’
‘And who can I trust in the north?’ He was still angry.
‘Maybe you can trust the man who swore to protect you,’ I said calmly. ‘And who has kept that oath.’
He looked into my eyes and I saw the anger fade from his. He smiled again. ‘You saw,’ he said, ‘that I burned some of your trees?’
‘Better trees than houses.’
‘And every pillar of fire you have seen, lord, came from trees. None from your people’s settlements.’ He paused, as if expecting me to react, but I just looked at him. ‘You thought I burned your steadings?’
‘I did.’
‘And that is what the Scots are thinking.’ He paused again. ‘The Scots will be watching us. They expected me to march, and I’ve no doubt they’ve sent scouts into your land to spy on our progress.’ He waved a hand westwards. ‘They’ll be lurking in those hills?’
I nodded cautiously. ‘Probably, lord King.’
‘They’re good at that,’ Finan said dourly.
‘And after a week or two I’ve no doubt Constantine will realise that I have not come to battle him, but to crush the defiant Lord Uhtred. To capture his fortress. To show all Britain that there is no lord too powerful to resist me.’ He paused, then turned to Bishop Oda who had not said a word since we had come to the tent. ‘Why am I here, bishop?’
‘To show that there is no lord in Britain capable of resisting you, lord King.’
‘And which lord will learn that lesson?’
Oda paused, looked at me and gave a sly smile. ‘Constantine, of course.’
‘Constantine, indeed,’ Æthelstan said.
Finan was quicker than me. I was still gaping at Æthelstan as the Irishman chuckled. ‘You’re invading Constantine’s land!’ Finan said.
‘Only two people know that,’ Æthelstan said, pleased at my astonished expression. ‘Bishop Oda and myself. Every man in my army believes we’re here to punish Bebbanburg. Many aren’t happy! They regard you as a friend, Lord Uhtred, but they believe you have defied me. And what do you think Constantine’s spies have heard?’
‘What every man in your army believes.’
‘And every man in my army, every man in my court, believes I’m here to starve you out. I said I was unwilling to lose men on your ramparts so we would let hunger do our work. And that would take me how long? Three months?’
‘Longer,’ I said sharply.
‘And Constantine will believe that, because now only four men know what I plan. We four. I have to stay here for a week, maybe two, so that Constantine hears what he wants to hear. He’ll have troops watching the frontier, no doubt, but once he’s sure I’m intent on capturing Bebbanburg he’ll send more men to make trouble in Cumbria.’
I was still trying to comprehend the deception he had planned, then wondered who was being deceived. The Scots? Who would think Æthelstan was besieging Bebbanburg. Or me? I just stared at him, and my silence seemed to amuse him. ‘Let the Scots think I’m here to teach you a lesson, lord,’ he said. ‘And then?’
‘And then?’ I prompted him.
‘And then, lord, I shall march north and lay Scotland to waste.’ He spoke viciously.
‘With just eighteen hundred men?’ I asked dubiously.
‘There are more coming. And there’s the fleet.’
‘Constantine wants Northumbria,’ Bishop Oda spoke again, sounding almost bored. ‘His lords have construed his presence at Burgham as a humiliation. To salvage his authority he needs to give them land, conquest, and victory. To which end he is stirring up trouble here, he denies it, and he needs to be reminded that Northumbria is a part of Englaland.’
‘And I,’ Æthelstan said, ‘am the King of Englaland.’ He stood and took a small leather bag from a pouch and filled it with the almonds. ‘Take this as a present to your lady. Assure her she is in no danger.’ He gave me the bag. ‘Nor, lord, are you. Do you believe me?’
I hesitated a heartbeat too long, then nodded. ‘Yes, lord King.’
He grimaced at my hesitation, then shrugged it off. ‘For a week or two we must pretend. Then I shall strike north, and when
