TLV - 02 - The Road of the Sea Horse (3 page)

Harald stood alone in the room for a while. So they trusted him no more than that?

It was an acrid knowledge. Perhaps, he told himself, he had given them some cause to dislike him, but surely not so much. He meant to hold by his bargain, if not from love of Magnus then because civil war would be the chiefs' chance to regain their old power, undoing Harald Fairhair's work in all but name. If now and then he flared up when he had to take second place, Magnus need not be so concerned over it. But too many men were working mischief. Magnus they knew; Harald was the unknown, the fearful tomorrow, and they would do all they could to stir up trouble for him.

Well
...
If hate was what they wanted, they should have it till it choked them. But he felt very much alone. He wished Ellisif were here, but many wintry miles lay between, and even together they did not understand each other.

He decided to visit Olaf's shrine in St. Clement's church. It was at least something to do, and perhaps the old king would give him a sign. He donned his outer clothes, took an ax, and went by himself down the dusk-filled street. Men stared after his big lonely form till it was lost in the twilight.

At the church, a stone building small beside those he had seen abroad, he left his weapon and hat in the entrance. Inside, the place was dark and cold, with a few candles throwing a dull flame before the altar. There lay the coffin, wrapped in costly furs, a cloth-of-gold canopy above it. The threads shimmered against the gloom.

Harald knelt before it. This was a miracle, they said. The martyr's body was uncorrupted, looking as if he slept. Magnus, his son, had the only key to the shrine, and each twelvemonth, alone, supposedly clipped the hair and nails that were still growing. Harald wondered if he might view the body, but doubted that Magnus would agree. Impious thoughts ran like devils through his head; there were ways to embalm a corpse so it lasted for a while, but here in the North the art was crude and rotting was bound to start sometime.

He muttered an Ave in penance. It turned his mind to Maria, the earthly Maria he had left in Miklagardh. In the dimness, he came near feeling her lips brush his again.
...
No, she was behind him, he would not see her in this life and heaven was a bloodless place at best. Hellfire would at least be warm. He shivered and got up to go. There had been no sign.

3

In the entry
room of his hall, Einar Tham
baskelfir took off his muddy boots and changed into shoes. Outside, early rain scourged the earth, snow melted and ditches overflowed. He felt his bones creak in the damp; yes, he was getting old.

Bergljot, his wife, gave him a cup of warm ale as he trod into the main room. He drained it with some rebirth of his olden heartiness; he was still Einar Thambaskelfir, Einar the Bowman. She filled it again. She was the only one there just now. Eindridhi, their son, lived nearby with his family, and of course they had plenty of housefolk; but somebody seemed to be huddled elsewhere.

A long booming rattled the door. "The first thunder already," said Einar. "This will be a stormy year."

Bergljot nodded. She was a tall woman, handsome rather than beautiful, her face as stern as his under the thick gray hair. "In more than one way," she answered. "What do they say in Nidharos about the war?" Einar had just returned from a meeting of chiefs.

"The kings are going to raise a great levy—half the fighting men in Norway. That means nigh every ship, you know. It will be hard on fishermen." Einar set the cup down, a massive thing of chased silver, studded with rubies. "I want to get rid of this."

"Why? I thought you had it from Magnus."

"But he got it from Harald." Einar spat. "I'd say nothing if we were going to Denmark on Magnus's behalf, but it galls me to fight for that upstart. These kings are a pest in the land, and no sooner do we get a good one than the old sort raises itself anew."

Bergljot could not resist a little mockery: "Olaf Tryggvason was a harsh king, but you stood by him when the
Long Snake
was boarded."

"Yes . . . yes . . ." Einar moved slowly toward the high seat. For a moment the strength and the mask of him dropped, and she saw he was aging. "I was young then, we were all young. I remember how I stood shooting and shooting, till the bow snapped in my grip. 'What was that sound?' cried Olaf. That was Norway breaking from your hand, King,' I answered. And then the ship was taken, and Olaf leaped into the sea. It was in the one thousandth year after Christ, and some thought doomsday would come then. To me it was like the end of the world when the waters closed over his head." He sat down, resting his chin on gnarled fingers. Rain was noisy against the roof.

Bergljot joined him. She had heard the story often, in those same words, and replied now much as she had always done. "Well, what's dead is dead. My father Haakon Jarl held Norway before, and Olaf Tryggvason hunted him to his death; yet we two have lived happily together, Einar."

"We share the same blood," answered her husband. "The chiefs of the realm, risen from the folk and speaking for them. It was better in the old days,

I think, when power came from below and no man had too much might. Now the kings have set themselves above us all, above the law. Harald Sigurdharson would
be
the law." He clenched his fist. "May I never see the day when my life hangs on one man's will."

"The time is another," sighed Bergljot. "Now we are Christians, and Thor is a demon, though he had many a hard fight to win this land for men from the giants. Now there is a king, and a Pope, and I know not what else, gnawing away at our freedom." She shook her head. "I don't understand it. What better and cleaner thing can a woman do than to bear a child? Yet they say that is unclean, and she must remain out of church till—"

"Stay away from holy matters," warned Einar. He glanced up at the rafters, half frightened, as if he would see St. Olaf scowling down at him. "Things could be worse. While Magnus lives, the old law is shielded. And this Harald is so reckless that he may well be killed in battle. If that should happen, I'll give many candles, and even some land to the new Olaf's church."

"How much?" asked Bergljot sharply.

"Well, let it happen first!"

"But if it goes the other way? Suppose Magnus falls. What can we look for then?"

"Trouble," said Einar grimly. "Unrest and killing, till Harald is slain and the red cock crows on his rooftop. From me he shall never have any gift but the edge of an ax."

II

How King Magnus Went to his Weird

1

In spring Elizabeth traveled up to Nidharos with Maria, who was growing swiftly; but she scarce had time to greet Harald and show him how the child was already walking, before he was off again. The host had been raised, and the Norse kings were sailing to conquer Denmark.

Each day the fleet slipped past an immensity of cliffs towering over restless gray waters; at night they would find anchorage, and the men sleep aboard, or there would be a strand wide enough to beach the ships and make camp. Harald was in charge of somewhat less than half the vessels, the southern levies and his own guardsmen, but being smaller his force was more quickly readied. A few days after the voyage had begun, he was up early, had the order called to raise anchors and masts, and got under weigh well ahead of Magnus. When he reached the stopping point agreed for that evening, he rowed his craft inside the little bay to the beach. This was the better spot, for men could go ashore to stretch their legs, and Harald thought it only right

his followers should have the chance this time.

A low sun burned swollen and dull red across the sea when Magnus's ships hove into view. They came sailing past the steeps and into the bay, one long hull after another; in the lead, the great
Wisent
lifted her horned golden head and shields rattled along her bulwarks. Harald stood up in his own dragon, wondering what Magnus would say to his taking the royal place. The
Wisent
glided to a stop; faintly he heard men cry out. Then her sail was lowered, the oars went out, a horn blew, and he saw the crews of the king's vessels snatching after their weapons.

"What the devil?" asked Ulf.

Harald showed his teeth mirthlessly. "Unship the hawsers and get our keels out of here! It seems the good Magnus is angered."

"He'd fight his own folk over so little a thing?" said Halldor. "You kings are an eldritch breed."

One by one, Harald's craft were shoved into the water and rowed out toward the sea, where they dropped anchor, while Magnus's came in to the shore. The horizon gulped the sun, and twilight rose like mist from the land. Harald had his gig drawn up, jumped in with a couple of men, and told them to bring it over to Magnus.

When he bumped against the
Wisent's
strakes, he stepped into her with one long-legged movement and walked up between the benches to the prow, where his nephew stood. The young king was shadowy in the blue dusk, his face could not be read, but he said quietly: "Good evening, Harald. Welcome aboard."

"I thought we were among friends," answered Harald coldly, "but for a moment I was in doubt whether you felt likewise." He lifted his shoulders. "But it's true, the old saying: childhood is hasty; and so I'll not reckon this business today as more than a childish freak."

Magnus's breath whistled inward, and he said in a thick tone, "There you go wrong, for it was the family nature, and not the child's, that broke forth here. I never forget what I have given and what I have kept." After a pause, he added: "Yes, this was a trifling matter that came between us today; but had I given up on that, there would soon have been another. I mean to keep the whole bargain we made, but then I must demand that you also abide by what was agreed."

"There's another old saying, which goes: 'The wisest man yields,' " replied Harald. He went back to his boat and so to his ship.

Aboard her was a wrathful buzzing, as of a wasp's nest disturbed. "Are you going to suffer that slight?" asked Ulf.

"Well," said Harald, "a pledge was made about anchorages."

"I heard that, and my understanding was that Magnus should only have the royal place when you came together—not when he was too lazy to get up in the morning with us. Harald, I misdoubt he plans to break the whole bargain."

"You were still the wisest," said Halldor.

"If a horse must carry double, which is never well," said Ulf, "then at least only one man should have the reins."

Harald lay awake for a long time. It had not been easy for him to give in; only the chance of an open break had been enough to make him do so. Was Magnus really so embittered? He had been known as a generous man erenow. But with Einar T
ham
baskelfir, kingmaker and kingbreaker, always at his ear, what else could be awaited?

No doubt Einar was honest in his beliefs. But to Harald, they meant ruin, not alone for the Yngling tribe but for the whole realm. What did farmers and carpenters and fishermen know about steering a land? What had they seen of the world, what had they ever thought of save the crops and the petty quarrels of one small shire? Someone's evil dream would dishearten an entire army and send it skulking home; two chiefs would clash head-on and brother smiting brother would trample the country underfoot; once more a crafty outlander would play the factions off against each other and bring the realm beneath himself; none would hold the bishops reined and the Church would swallow gold and acres, until all Norway lay in thrall to Rome. Old greeds and hatreds ringed in the North, the heathen Wends, the German empire, the dangerous Norman duchy, and more; nothing but a powerful king could beat them off . . . for the good of his folk.

Harald grinned at himself. No use throwing a mantle of holiness across his dreams of might and fame. Nonetheless the truth remained, that time went like a gale at sea, and whoever did not sail before it with a strong steersman would be swamped and drowned.

* * *

The Norse fared on, across the Skagerrak and around the Skaw and thence between low, heather-clad hills into the Limfjord. They went ashore near a hamlet burned last year—ashen stumps and a few wicker huts from which squatters fled into the woods. Tents were raised and horses led off the ships, to snort and stamp and roll their eyes at this new ground. Harald sought Magnus's shelter to talk over plans.

The cloth brushed his head as he entered. Magnus, Einar, Eindridhi, and some other chiefs were already seated at the table. Among them was Finn Arnason, who had stood by Olaf at Stiklastadh and whose wife, also named Bergljot, was a daughter of Harald's brother Halfdan. He was a strong man, broad in the shoulders, his hair and beard now gray and his eyes blinking nearsightedly; but power and calm were in him, and he gave the newcomer the best greeting.