Viking Wrath (15 page)

This time they came especially to see me. The hall I had had built had a number of small chambers which led off from the great Hall. I had seen such rooms in Miklagård when I had been there and Aiden had designed them. It meant Aiden and I could be alone with my two captains who obviously wished to speak with me privately. They were genuinely pleased to see Kara well again and it was a sign that powers were returning when she smiled at me and took her women off to the Great Hall.

Once alone they handed me a jug. "This is a gift for you, Jarl. It is some of the red wine from Miklagård which you liked."

"Thank you." It was indeed a fine gift. The amphora was a large one and would have taken careful storage on the long journey from the east. I was touched. I insisted that they shared a beaker with me.

We chatted about trade and their voyage and then I said, "There is something else on your mind. Speak. We are all friends."

The two captains saw much and were like my eyes and ears on the high seas. Siggi nodded and smiled, "It is true what they say. The Dragon Heart sees into your mind. The men of Gwynedd seek your head. The Priestess you slew was to be married to
Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog. You have taken his bride."

I frowned, "The High Priestess is usually a virgin and cannot be married."

"That is why they kidnapped Kara. She was the only one who had as much power as the High Priestess."

Trygg nodded, "Some say more."

"And the men of On Corn Walum, Mark of Tintagel also seeks vengeance. Luckily the men of Wessex press their borders and they will not be in a position to attack for some time. You hurt them grievously."

"Where did you hear this?"

"On the Sabrina. You still have friends there. They are grateful that you hurt the men of On Corn Walum. They have fewer raids from that land now."

"Then I need not worry. The men of Gwynedd are poorly armed. And the men of On Corn Walum have no ships."

"But they are allies with Mercia. You have upset a complicated alliance, Jarl Dragon Heart. The marriage of Angharad and Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog would have brokered a peace between Mercia and Gwynedd. Neither ruler is happy. King Coenwulf is rumoured to want to expand into the north. With Wessex threatening him in the south your lands would bring him iron and copper."

"I care not for their state of mind. I have new walls and I am safe behind them. But what you say about his desire for my lands is disturbing." They looked at each other. "Go on, give me all."

"Everyone knows how many Ulfheonar you lost. It is said that every Ulfheonar has a golden wolf about his neck and armour which is magic. They believe that you are weak but your warriors are rich beyond belief."

"They have the golden wolf pendant but their armour is not magic."

"Those are the tales they tell. It encourages treasure hunters and the lack of warriors makes them believe they might succeed. The ale houses in Lundenwic are filled with tales of this land which is seen as being filled with riches. And you are now seen as weak." He sighed. "And it is not just you who is danger. King Egbert has put a price on your son's head. Harald Klak is not happy about his brother's death and he too has offered gold but this is for your head. We heard, in Lundenwic, of many warriors who thought to claim the reward."

"So the sword alone is no longer what draws them close. Now it is me and my land. They think I have lost enough men to make an attack worthwhile."

"I am sorry that we have to tell you this. The stories of your exploits make many men jealous and others seek the reputation of being the ones who kill you. The land the Danes control in the east is growing. It is said that Northumbria will not last long and the Danes are already flooding north."

We drank in silence while I took in their words. This could not be happening at a worse time. My new Ulfheonar were not yet trained. I had warriors who were willing but were untried and had neither armour nor good weapons. I smiled at the two men, "Thank you for the wine. Would that you had better news to bring to me."

Trygg smiled, "The men of Mann now see an opportunity to raid
Ynys Môn. Your raids and the destruction of the fort at Ynys Cybi have encouraged them."

I laughed, "Good then there is some good news."

After they had gone I sent for Haaken and Sigtrygg. My daughter also joined us and I told them what I had been told. "We had better send a warning to my son about King Egbert and Klak."

"You had better mention the Mercians too. If they come up the west coast then they would reach Wolf Killer before they reached here."

Haaken looked at Kara, "Have you sensed danger yet?"

She shook her head, "I am sorry Haaken One Eye. My powers are returning but slowly."

Aiden put his arm around her shoulders, "Do not worry, Kara. They would not come in winter no matter how gentle it lies upon the ground. They will come when the trees are in leaf and they can sneak up on us. They will wait until our farmers are in their fields and our hands are employed." He smiled, "This hall is stronger than the other. There is less wood to burn and it has higher walls."

She laughed, "I know, Seara complains every time she has to enter. She says there are too many stairs for her!"

Seara was little older than I was. She had been the children's nurse when she had come to us as a slave. Now she was more of a companion to my daughter. The three rescued captives did more of the work now..

"Have some of this wine, Kara."

She shook her head. "Angharad has made me wary of taking anything which changes my body and affects my mind. Besides there will be more for you." We all had another beaker. "I am sorry I caused this chasm between you and my brother."

Aiden said, "It is
wyrd
. The Dragon Heart wanted your brother to learn how to become a leader. Perhaps the Weird Sisters were listening and this was their answer. He is learning to lead now is he not?"

I had not thought about that but it made sense to me.

"What do we do about the armour and the weapons for our new warriors? We can train the men we have to be better warriors but we all know that armour is vital."

"I know, Sigtrygg, but I have spoken with Bjorn and he is making mail as quickly as he can but it takes a long time. There is much skill in linking the mail. As for the swords; they too take time."

"Then we will have to let the new men use spears. We can teach them how to use them to protect us while we fight with our swords."

Sigtrygg was intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"We have eight Ulfheonar but we have another twelve warriors who have fought with us before and have good swords and some mail. If the new men form a rank behind us their spears can keep the enemy from us. We just have to change the way we fight until Bjorn can make the new weapons. They can use throwing spears too. They have a smaller head and are lighter. They should be easier to produce in large numbers."

Aiden suddenly smacked his hand against the table. "Bjorn's apprentices cannot make swords nor can they make mail but they train by beating out metal."

"I know I have seen them. It builds up their strength and improves their skills."

"They can make metal plates the size of Kara's hands. Now that we have more animal hides they can make leather byrnies and women can attach the plates to the byrnie. It is not mail but it will protect them. Do you remember Jarl, we saw them in Miklagård?"

Sigtrygg smiled, "That might work."

Haaken looked wistfully at the fire which burned. "Think of the fine weapons and mail we left in Gwynedd. Would that we had it now."

Kara said, as she stood, "We have our lives and we should be grateful for that."

After everyone else had gone I said to Aiden, "Have we much gold left?"

"Yes, Jarl. Are you thinking of buying weapons and armour?"

I shook my head, "That would be a waste of gold. Bjorn makes the best of both. No, I would have a wolf pendant made for each of the new Ulfheonar. They did well and they deserve it."

"We have enough."

"I would like these different from the first ones you made. I would have each of these have a pair of small blue stones for their eyes."

He smiled, "The stones which saved Haaken? I think that would be a good idea but we will need more gold if all the new Ulfheonar which wish to join us are to have one."

"Then we will get more gold. The monasteries have plenty and we have not raided for some time. Come the end of winter we will visit the monasteries and replenish our supply."

When the snow had gone and while Haaken and Sigtrygg took the four new warriors who wished to be Ulfheonar to kill their wolves, Aiden and I went to Elfridaby to see my grandson. I had carved a piece of wolf bone during the winter into a handle and Bjorn had made me a beautiful blade. When fitted together they made a fine gift. I took it with me as a gift for Ragnar. I saw that they had built the hall where we had had a fort some years earlier. Although destroyed by raiders my son had learned from that destruction and made it stronger. He had used some of the stone from the old Roman fort and made the lower level stone. The ditch was formidable and the walls as high as two men. It would do.

Elfrida made a great fuss of us when we arrived. This was her home and she wanted us welcomed. My son was less effusive but he was, at least, polite. While Elfrida went to bring us ale we spoke of the dangers of King Egbert and his hired killers.

"I have cleared the forest back as far as possible. It is now out of bow range. We have two tall towers and, on a fine day, we can see to the sea."

"Then you had better hope that his men come when the sun shines." Even before the words were out of my mouth I regretted saying them but we do sometimes speak without thinking.

Aiden came to my aid. "You might think of towers such as we saw on Ynys Cybi. I thought they were good for they gave ample warning."

"But we eliminated them."

"Yes Jarl Dragon Heart but your men were Ulfheonar. The ones who come here will be the sweepings of the towns."

"I will use that idea, Aiden. I have some of my warriors who are farmers now. They could build towers. It would not need warriors to man them. Anyone with eyes could do so."

That cordial exchange saw the ice in my son's heart begin to melt. He spoke at great length with Aiden and I went with Elfrida to bounce Ragnar on my knee and to make the ridiculous noises other grandfathers made. When he giggled and smiled I felt inordinately happy and that was strange.

"Thank you for this opportunity, Elfrida. He is a fine boy."

"I hope he will take after his grandfather."

I glanced over to where Aiden spoke with my son, "I am not certain his father would agree with that."

"He is stubborn. I bear Kara no ill will. It was not her fault. It could as easily have been me. Angharad tried to suborn me too. If I had not been carrying Ragnar here then I, too, may have succumbed. But I would drink nothing which might harm my child. Be patient with him. He will come around."

"You are the best thing that could have happened to him, Elfrida."

She smiled, "Your coming to Lundenwic was
wyrd
. I am content. I left a nightmare and found a perfect world. I will always be grateful to you."

My son smiled at me as we left. That too made me happy. Aiden confided in me about their conversation as we rode back to my home. "He wants to prove to you that he can be a good leader."

"Can he be?"

"I believe he has improved. He is not complete but I am not certain that you were at first."

"Perhaps. And what do you think of his home?"

"He has done a good job. It would take a well led warband to take it."

"But."

"But?"

"There was a '
but
' in your mind."

"You are becoming more fey, Jarl. I was going to say but he does not have warriors like your Ulfheonar to defend it."

"I have but eight."

"It matters not. You have told me, as has Haaken, that at first you only had eight such warriors. With you there are nine so you are already better off. Begin to look at the horn as half full, Jarl. And you will get more. When the warriors return from their hunt you could have four more."

As events turned out we only had three. Thorstein Ill-luck slipped on the rocks and broke his arm. He would have to try again. The other three, however, had all done well and killed a wolf each. Vemund Haroldson, Olvir The Red and Rolf Tryggson were all welcome additions especially as each of them had a short mail byrnie and a good sword. We now had twelve Ulfheonar, counting me. It was not perfect but it was better.

Rather than being satisfied with my hall, my wall and my ditch as they were, we spent time to improve them. We used our experience of attacking other places to make ours harder to take. The gorse we had seen in Ynys Cybi had made us move in one direction. We encouraged the wild brambles to grown in areas we did not use as paths and against our walls. We made sure that all the paths became killing grounds. We knew the distances our archers could accurately send their arrows and we marked the distances by white stones. We had used such devices in Lundenwic in the days we had fought for King Egbert. Finally we demolished all the empty huts belonging to those families who had left to follow my son. We had more space than we had and Aiden and Scanlan were put in charge of deciding where new buildings went. This would no longer be haphazard. I wanted killing areas inside Cyninges-tūn. We would force attackers to go where we wished.

Each day without a sign of enemies was a relief. We were weak and we had been hurt but we were getting stronger. So long as the many enemies we had delayed then the more chance we had of surviving.

Bolli repaired our ship. Erik sent a message to say he was happy with the repair. I took the Ulfheonar and the six warriors who had chosen to fight and to crew for me, down to my drekar. The ship's boys had grown but our losses meant we could not afford to lose their experience. They were kept on and seemed happy to do so. The river looked empty without '
Josephus
'.

Bolli was there with Erik and they were examining the repaired dragon prow. "Is there any permanent damage?"

"No Jarl, my father built well," Bolli smiled., "but we have strengthened the bow in case Erik here decides to make this drekar into a Greek warship and ram his enemies."

"Good. When can we sail?"

"We are ready now Jarl but I thought we would remain close to home until our numbers increased."

"I would but we need gold. Our losses have hurt us. I need gold to buy more horses and to pay for the new armour and weapons. We will not sail far. It is a risk I know but I intend to make a voyage and a raid of no more than five days. It will also allow the new Ulfheonar to work with the old. It is important that they are all of the same mind."

"Then the earliest we could sail will be tomorrow."

"We will be here before dawn and we sail on the first tide."

As we marched back to Cyninges-tūn Haaken asked me about my strategy. "I do not object to raiding but are we not in danger of leaving our people weak and undefended?"

"You think of your family, Haaken One Eye, and you are right to do so. I have spoken with Aiden about my ideas. This is the best time for us to raid. Winter's grip is still on the land. No crops will be sown for a while and there will be no new births. Our men can stay close to home. Thorstein Ill-luck has a broken arm but he still has the potential to be Ulfheonar. He and Bjorn can command the men. We have improved our defences and, as I said, it will only be five days, if that. We will not venture far."

I also left Aiden at home. Thorstein was a fine warrior but he was young. Aiden had a sharp mind and if danger came then I knew that my Galdramenn would know what to do. Finally I spoke with both him and Kara and asked if they sensed danger. Kara showed her lack of confidence in her powers by hesitating. When Aiden shook his head and said, "The spirits are quiet." Then Kara concurred. We left, not feeling totally secure but gambling that the Weird Sisters had, temporarily, tired of toying with us.

Erik had spent part of the winter training his ships' boys in the art of archery. We had so few warriors now that we needed them to augment our men. They were happy to do so and thought of themselves as warriors. With such a short voyage we did not need many supplies and we rode higher when we sailed. The fact that we only had eighteen warriors also meant that we rode higher in the water. That did help us. It meant that it negated our lack of oar power. However I would still be wary of other sails. We could no longer rely on our ability to out run anything we saw.

As we passed
Úlfarrston I saw that Siggi and Trygg's ships were at sea. They, like me, had taken advantage of the clement weather. "Where do we head, Jarl?"

"We will try the Maeresea. Mercia is richer than it was and there will be monasteries there. I am gambling again. I hope that the Norse in Dyflin will not have risked that river."

"It is narrow, Jarl."

"Aye Erik but not at its mouth and I hope that those trees which overhung it have not been cut down."

Haaken was on his usual bench at the front and he smiled, "Are you gambling too that there will be a monastery just waiting for us?"

"No. Siggi said that he has heard that the Pope and King Coenwulf had had a dispute. It means that Coenwulf now reaps the rewards from his monasteries for they no longer pay tribute to Rome. From what Siggi heard in Lundenwic that may not continue. While it does his monasteries are wealthy and there is one which is close to Caer. It is between the Dee and the Maeresea. Siggi did not know its name or its precise location but he said that Caer was but half a day's march from it."

Haaken smiled, "And that means it will rely on Caer for protection."

"Indeed. We have raided in this area before. It is close to where we took Scanlan. I have spoken with him and, from his description I have a good idea where it will be."

We hugged the coast as we headed south. We knew there were monasteries there but we had raided them before. I was not sure if they had been repaired. The one Siggi had identified was relatively new. If the King of Mercia was investing monasteries then it made sense he would have one closer to a fort than those on the Lune and the Ribble. I wondered at the hypocrisy of these Saxon kings. It was not long ago that they were, like us pagan. This dispute with the Pope seemed to me a clever way for a crafty king like Coenwulf to become wealthier.

It took all day to reach the Maeresea but that proved propitious. It meant we edged our way down, in to the darkness, as the sun was setting behind us. We lowered our sail and sculled down to the trees I remembered. From Scanlan's words and my memory I hoped and believed that there was a nearby road. Snorri and Bjorn the Scout took off as soon as we had tied up. We did not light a fire but we ate on board and prepared for our raid.

Sigtrygg spoke with the new Ulfheonar. Even the four who had been on Ynys Cybi had not raided with us. "The monks in these monasteries are not warriors. They may try to stop us from taking what they have but they are weak. It does not do to kill them unless we have to. Now that the Mercians follow the White Christ they feel precious about their holy men. If we kill they make seek revenge. Do not kill or wound unless you have to. A blow to the head with your shield will normally be as effective as a sword thrust."

I saw them nodding, "It is not just their gold we seek. Take any holy books which you can. They are often worth as much as gold and Aiden finds them useful. The linens and the cloths which they have are often worth much, to our women at least. Leave nothing which may be valuable. We do not need slaves and so we travel light. All of you will be with one of the more experienced warriors. This is your first raid and you will learn what we do."

Snorri and Bjorn the Scout returned a short while later. "We have found a road which heads south. it goes towards Caer."

"Then we will head along it. Erik, we have too few crew to leave guards. Use your own judgement."

"Aye, Jarl, my lads will be able to take us to the middle of the Maeresea. May the Allfather be with you."

"And may Ran and Icaunis be kind to you."

The first part was difficult as we travelled through woods and along animal tracks. Within a short time we came upon the road. It was Roman and I knew enough of the letters to see that it was twenty five miles to Caer. I hoped that the monastery would be between us and the fort.

The land through which we travelled was flat but, as it began to rise I wondered if they had chosen high ground for the monastery. We were, quite literally, searching in the dark for the monastery but, as ever, the monks told us where they were. We heard the bell tolling for another of their prayer sessions. It sounded remarkably close and we halted so that Snorri's remarkable ears could identify the direction. He pointed to the east. I guessed that there had to be a track of some kind which led from the Roman Road to the monastery. We kept heading down the road but watched for a trail to the left. Bjorn the Scout found it. We turned up it and halted. Now was the time to prepare ourselves and make sure that we would be ready for whatever we found. We each took our swords from our scabbard; it was one less job to do when we were closer to the monastery and here none would hear.

We trotted up the trail. I saw ruts which showed that carts regularly used this. Bjorn the Scout and Snorri led. The trail wound upwards between yew and elm. For some reason the followers of the White Christ believed that yew was special. It was another indication that we were on the right track. Snorri and Bjorn the Scout halted. I could smell wood smoke and the perfumed incense the priests used in their rituals. There was a glow ahead and we moved cautiously. A low stone wall was all that surrounded the monastery. It was there to keep wild animals out and their own in. It was not a deterrent to raiders. Snorri clambered over and took the bar from the door so that we could enter. I pointed to the gate and circled the six warriors who had accompanied us. I gave them the sign to keep watch.