dead.'
'Now Alfred will kill me,' he said miserably.
'He ought to,' I said, 'but I owe you a favour.'
'Do you think you can persuade him to let me live?' he asked eagerly.
'You'll do the persuading,' I said. 'You'll kneel to him, and you're going to say that you've been waiting for a chance to escape the Danes, and at last you succeeded, and you got away, found us, and have come to offer him your sword.'
?thelwold just stared at me.
'I owe you a favour,' I explained, 'and so I'm giving you life. I'll untie your hands, you go to Alfred, and you say you're joining him because that's what you've wanted to do ever since Christmas. You understand that?'
?thelwold frowned. 'But he hates me!'
'Of course he does,' I agreed, 'but if you kneel to him and swear you never broke your allegiance to him, then what can he do? He'll embrace you, reward you and be proud of you.'
'Truly?'
'So long as you tell him where the Danes are,' Pyrlig put in.
'I can do that,' ?thelwold said, 'they're coming south from Cippanhamm. They marched this morning.'
'How many?'
'Five thousand.'
'Coming here?'
'They're going to wherever Alfred is. They reckon they'll have a chance to destroy him, and after that it's just a summer of women and silver.' He said the last three words plaintively and I knew he had been relishing the prospect of plundering Wessex. 'So how many men does Alfred have?' he asked.
'Three thousand,' I said.
'Sweet Jesus,' he said fearfully.
'You always wanted to be a warrior,' I said, 'and what name can you make for yourself fighting a smaller army?'
'Jesus Christ!'
The last of the light went. There was no moon, but by keeping the river on our left we knew we could not get lost and after a while we saw the glow of firelight showing over the loom of the hills and knew we were seeing Alfred's encampment. I twisted in the saddle then and thought I saw another such glow far to the north. Guthrum's army.
'If you let me go,' ?thelwold asked sulkily, 'what's to stop me going back to Guthrum?'
'Absolutely nothing,' I said, ‘except the certainty that I'll hunt you down and kill you.'
He thought about that for a short while. 'You're sure my uncle will welcome me?'
Pyrlig answered for me. 'With open arms!' he said. 'It will be like the return of the prodigal son.
You'll be welcomed by slaughtered calves and psalms of rejoicing. Just tell Alfred what you told us, about Guthrum marching towards us.'
We reached the Wilig and the going was easy now for the light of the campfires was much brighter. I cut ?thelwold free at the edge of the encampment, then gave him back his swords. He carried two, as I did, a long one and a short sax.
'Well, my prince,' I said, 'time to grovel, eh?'
We found Alfred at the camp's centre. There was no pomp here. We did not have the animals to drag wagons loaded with tents or furniture, so Alfred was seated on a spread cloak between two fires.
He looked dispirited and later I learned that he had assembled the army in the twilight and made them a speech, but the speech, even Beocca admitted, had been less than successful. It was more a sermon than a speech,' Beocca told me glumly. Alfred had invoked God, spoken of Saint Augustine's doctrine of a righteous war and talked about Boethius and King David, and the words had flown over the heads of the tired, hungry troops. Now Alfred sat with the leading men of the army, all of them eating stale hard bread and smoked eel. Father Adelbert, the priest who had accompanied us to Cippanhamm, was playing a lament on a small harp. A bad choice of music, I thought, then Alfred saw me and waved Adelbert to silence. 'You have news?' he asked.
For answer I stood aside and bowed to ?thelwold, gesturing him towards the king. 'Lord,' I said to Alfred, 'I bring you your nephew.'
Alfred stood. He was taken aback, especially as ?thelwold was plainly no prisoner for he wore his swords. ?thelwold looked good, indeed he looked more like a king than Alfred. He was well made and handsome, while Alfred was much too thin and his face was so haggard that he looked much older than his twenty-nine years. And of the two it was ?thelwold who knew how to behave at that moment.
He unbuckled his swords and threw them with a great clatter at his uncle's feet, then he went to his knees and clasped his hands and looked up into the king's face.
'I have found you!' he said with what sounded like utter joy and conviction.
Alfred, bemused, did not know what to say so I stepped forward.
‘We discovered him, lord,' I said, 'in the hills. He was searching for you.'
'I escaped Guthrum,' ?thelwold said, 'God be praised, I escaped the pagan.' He pushed his swords to Alfred's feet. 'My blades are yours, lord king.'
This extravagant display of loyalty gave Alfred no choice except to raise his nephew and embrace him. The men around the fires applauded, then ?thelwold gave his news, which was useful enough.
