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  “Because we always planned this raid and we might as well become richer for it. I am intrigued as to their next move. Erik is no hero. He will not face me. Magnus seems rather slow. Thorfinn fears us already which leaves just Sihtric and Ragnar. Sihtric might bring things into the open but Ragnar will continue to be devious. He will greet us with open arms and beaming smile.”

  “We stay then?”

  “Not all of us.” Einar had suffered a slight wound to his leg and was limping a little. “I will send Einar with the slaves, the booty and the wounded back to Úlfarrston. ‘Bear’ can join us here in case we need more men. Ragnar will not know where she is and will worry.”

  We reached the river and saw the ships of the others rowing up river. They were not rushing. I suspect they were hoping that the Saxons would have finished us off and they would be able to race in and slaughter them. It was a perfect plan, if it had come off. It would have eliminated a large number of the king’s men while giving Ragnar a base and, at the same time, ridding them of the thorn in their side, Jarl Dragon Heart.

  Rolf had done as I asked. I turned to Einar. “Be careful as you travel north. I do not know if there are other drekar waiting to ambush you. You are a clever sailor.” I handed him the sword of Harald Bagsecgson. “Give this to Harald’s son and tell Bjorn that his brother died well.” As I climbed aboard my boat I saw the relief on the faces of Arturus and Aiden.

  Ragnar stopped his drekar next to mine. “Did you not attack the village?”

  “We did. The slaves are aboard ‘Ran’ and the king’s men all lie dead.”

  He frowned, “Where is Hermund? And how did you manage to avoid losing more men.”

  He had slipped up there. “Then you knew there were more men in the village than I expected?”

  “No, but we both know how sneaky the Saxons can be.” He was a quick and devious man.

  I let the words hang in the air like insects buzzing above a pond. “You are right Ragnar Hairy-Breeches we both know how treacherous men can be.”

  He glared at me and snapped out, “Where is Hermund?”

  “He died with a sword in his hand fighting for his life. He will be in Valhalla.” He could not dispute that statement as much as he might want to. “What will you do now Ragnar?”

  I was taunting him. I was speaking of one thing but meaning another. “We will rest in the hall and then tomorrow cross the Maeresea and begin to raid the lands of Mercia and Northumbria.”

  “Good. We will sleep aboard our ships for we are tired and need not another march. We will watch your ships for you.”

  I heard Haaken stifle a laugh as he realised I had outwitted Ragnar. He could not argue with my reasons for staying and yet he was risking me being as treacherous as he was. I saw the argument in his head before he smiled and said, “You deserve the rest. I will leave a few men on board our ships. I will speak with the others.”

  Their ships were soon unloaded and the warriors headed up the trail to the village. They would find Hermund and see that I spoke true. They would just not know that it was Haaken who was responsible.

  As soon as they were out of sight I waved to Einar and ‘Ran’ began to head downstream and then home. “Get some food for us. I am starving and then, after we have eaten, half the crew sleep. The other half can sleep in a few hours time. I want a good watch kept tonight.”

  I took off my mail, with the aid of Aiden and washed the red dye from my eyes. I would have bathed in the river but I could see that it was stained from the blood in the village. I would wait until I was near the sea. Magnus Larsson brought us a bowl of some sort of fish stew which had been cooked on the shore. I smiled at him.

  “I forgot to reward you when you brought us news of Thorfinn Skull Splitter.” I slid my seax out and handed it to him. “Here, Magnus, is you first weapon. It was my first weapon too and I took it from a raider when we lived in Norway.”

  His eyes widened and he took it as though it was hot enough to burn. He looked at me. “Erik Dog Bite says that you helped Harald Bagsecgson to go to Valhalla.” I nodded, “You gave him the warrior’s death?”

  “If I am too wounded to carry on then I hope that you too, Magnus Larsson, will do the same for me and I will thank you when you join me and Harald in Valhalla.”

  He said, in all seriousness, “I will, my jarl. That I swear.”

  As we ate our stew Arturus said, “How do you do that father?”

  “Do what?”

  “Make men be so loyal to you that they will not betray you?”

  “Do not lie to your friends nor your men and never let them down. Even if your life is in danger you must remain true to your oathsworn and they will be true to you. That is why Harald One Eye was doomed. He left his men to die at Hrams-a. If he had stayed with them they might have escaped and they would have been more loyal. It is where Ragnar and the others go wrong. They have given themselves the title of king and think that makes them more important than the rest of their men. It is not the king who is important it is the kingdom.”

  Aiden nodded, “And we have a kingdom but we do not have a king.”

  “That is what I believe, Aiden. The Saxons use the term Viking as an insult. I take it as praise for we are not Dane, we are not Norse and we are not Saxon. We are something more. If people ask me where I live I shall tell them, the Viking kingdom.”

  Aiden said quietly, “Cyninges-tūn.”

  I nodded at Arturus, “Do you see how Aiden understands? When the midsummer sun touched me and Old Olaf it was crowning not a king, but a kingdom.”

  We all ate in silence until Arturus said, “Then why do we stay here with these false kings? Why do we not go home?”

  I laughed so loudly that some of my men started. “This voyage has been worth it already for you are learning wisdom beyond your years. I would have more treasure and I would see what treachery the others have planned for me. If they are treacherous here then your mother and sister will be safe. Our people will be safe. If I leave I may be inviting even more. No, we shall stay but we will keep our wits about us.”

  Chapter 25

  I think that Ragnar did try something in the night but the vigilance of our men prevented anyone coming close. My guards heard movement in the water but their presence deterred whatever it was. I noticed a few bleary eyed warriors when we gathered at the river the next morning. Sihtric snarled, “Where has your other drekar gone?”

  “Home to Cyninges-tūn. I had wounded men and slaves. There was no point in leaving them here. Now we all have two drekar.”

  Ragnar swept his hand towards the south. “We will cross the river and leave our ships anchored in the middle.”

  Erik asked, “How long do we raid for?”

  Thorfinn laughed, “Until we have so much that we have to bury some.”

  We rowed the boats across the river. I made sure that my two were on the downstream side. I chose my crews carefully so that I had good men on board. Arturus was staying along with Aiden but I knew that they would be in good hands. I left Snorri with them. He had turned his ankle when pursuing Hermund the Bent. He could rest and take charge. He had been a ship’s boy before now and knew how to sail a drekar.

  We set off towards the south east. This was all new country to me. It was Ragnar who supplied the scouts for his land was the closest and his men had travelled far to the east. The hills rose sharply to the east and we skirted them as we headed for the place of the pots. The Saxons made fine bowls using the clay from the plains ahead. The men who made them were rich. Rich men liked fine churches and so we knew that the books of the White Christ and gold awaited us. I also resolved to capture some of the pots. They might not be as attractive as gold but we needed to buy them anyway.

  We halted at a river. Ragnar told us that there was a town not far ahead where they had great quantities of salt. This was valuable but I questioned how we would transport it.

  The others seemed dismissive of my query. I now knew why they had sought me out. They did
not think things through.

  “Are there any religious houses close by?”

  Ragnar summoned his scouts over. “Are there churches of the White Christ close by?”

  One of them pointed to the east where the land began to rise toward the distant hills. “There is one but it has a ditch and a wall.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. A ditch and a wall meant that there was something to protect. “How far away is it?”

  “Just two Roman miles away.” Ragnar looked at me expectantly.

  I shook my head. It was as though they had never raided before. “If they protect the church then there has to be a reason. There will be things of value within.”

  “But the salt is just ten miles away.”

  “And it will still be there when we have liberated the books of the White Christ.”

  That convinced them and we headed east. I heard the bells tolling long before we reached the knoll where the monastery was situated. Ragnar’s scouts could not differentiate between the churches and monasteries. The wooden wall was as high as two men and there was a stout gate. That meant it had items of value. I could see a number of buildings within and a church with the cross of the White Christ on the top.

  Even the dull and unimaginative Magnus Bare Legs conceded that it might have things worth stealing within. He grudgingly admitted that it might be a better decision than a salt house. Once we had collected enough treasure I would head back to Cyninges-tūn. These kings were poor raiders. It was no surprise that their men had less armour than mine and their weapons were inferior, bending at the wrong time.

  We surrounded the monastery. My men were given the task of attacking the front gate while Sihtric and Thorfinn took the rear gate. Beorn and Erik clambered over a quiet part of the wall and we waited. Sihtric and Thorfinn were less patient and we heard the hack of axes on the rear gate which was followed by the pealing of the bell in alarm.

  Our gate swung open and we poured in. The monks and priests were fleeing with whatever they could carry. My men merely knocked them down and held them but Ragnar’s men were killing the valuable priests who could be sold. The whole monastery was subdued in quick time but there were just ten of the monks left at the end of the unnecessary slaughter and they had been captured by my men.

  Ragnar was beside himself with joy for we had not lost a single warrior. I spat with disgust. I had yet to lose a man attacking an unguarded monastery. The reason for the fence and the ditch became apparent when we entered the church. They had small golden crosses and silver candlesticks. They had fine lace and, in one room they had eight of the books so prized by the Saxon kings.

  I even saw Sihtric smile. “And only three of their priests escaped. A mighty victory.”

  I could not believe my ears. “Three escaped! Why did you not capture them?”

  “We were too busy ensuring that the rest of you did not rob us!”

  “You are a fool! They will bring help!”

  His hand went to his sword. “I have taken enough from you, whelp.”

  Ragnar’s Spirit was out in an instant. “Let us try then and see who the gods favour.”

  Ragnar roared, “Enough. The Dragon Heart is right. They should not have been allowed to escape. But there are no warriors close by. The nearest are on the borders near to the Dyke built by Offa. We still have time to get to the salt houses and return to our ships.”

  “We do not! My men and I will head back as soon as we have divided the treasure.” I was not foolish enough to wait around for the King of Mercia and his men to descend upon us.

  Thorfinn shook his head in disgust, “You would flee at the first sign of trouble? I think you do not deserve your reputation as a fearless warrior; fearful more like.”

  I did not remind him again of our first encounter. His opinion did not matter. “Think what you will, we will leave as soon as we have our two slaves, our gold and our two books.”

  “What if we choose not to share them?”

  “Then I will save the Saxons the pleasure of dealing with you when they come. I will kill you all and take the treasure.”

  “We outnumber you.” Sihtric said darkly.

  “So far I have seen you kill priests and let three of them escape. We took a village and fought two warrior halls filled with Saxons.” I turned to Ragnar. “As you knew when you sent us into the trap!” My sword was still out and I saw fear upon his face.

  He began to back away. “I will not command you to stay. Take your share and go.” He pointed to me. “You are alone now. I am High King and I forbid any of our people to give you aid or succour.”

  I shrugged, “I have never asked for any. Rolf, get the slaves. Haaken, get the books, Cnut, get the gold and silver. Take just what we are due.”

  We left not long before dark. There were comments hurled at my men by the bodyguards of the kings. Rolf and the Ulfheonar ensured that we did not respond. I did not want a bloodbath. Already some of the warriors who remained were drinking from the holy wine they had found. Soon it would be a roaring, drunken camp and I knew that blood would be spilled. The sooner we were away the better.

  As we marched along the old Roman Road Rolf asked, “Will we try to reach the Maeresea tonight?”

  “Aye I will feel safer afloat and then hence to home.”

  “Was Ragnar right? Could we have raided for the salt and other treasures?”

  “If that had been men commanded by Prince Butar and the old Jarl Erik then I believe we could. That which we left was a rabble. They were like Harald One Eye’s men. King Coenwulf of Mercia is not going to allow his land to be raided. Neither will King Cynan of Gwynedd take kindly to a Norse warband on his door step. Had we been raiding I would have stayed closer to the river.” I pointed north east where the sun was beginning to set. “There would have been many places just on the other side of Mammceaster where we could have raided and reached our ships easily. Those five men were all taken in by the titles they gave themselves. As for me? I am grateful that we lost so few men.”

  “Had we raided ourselves we might have lost those.”

  I shook my head, “No, Rolf, for we took the word of Ragnar and Hermund. Had we been alone we would have scouted better and known that there were more warriors. This is a lesson learned. From now on we fight alongside no man.”

  We found the ford some eight miles from the river and we halted. Our two priests were tiring and we needed a little food. Suddenly we heard, in the near distance the sound of voices. The noise was coming from the road we had just travelled. My men immediately grabbed their weapons and went into a defensive stance.

  Warriors appeared along the road. It was Erik and he had fifteen or so of his men with him. They had been bloodied. I did not relax my guard as he ran up to me.

  “Thank the Allfather that I found you! King Coenwulf surprised us. He and his men fell upon the camp. We were lucky to escape with our lives.”

  “Where are the Mercians?”

  “They are pursuing us!”

  “Rolf, get the slaves and the treasure and head to the ships. We will catch you.”

  “And you?”

  “This ford is the only place they can cross; if we can delay them then it gives us more chance to escape.”

  Erik looked appalled as Rolf marched the men off. “We cannot stay here. We will die!”

  I turned and barked at him. “We will die if they catch us on the road and ambush us. Get some backbone, man!” I turned to his men. “You have a choice, fight with me and live or flee with this and die!”

  They had all fought with me before. They were warriors of Man and they nodded. The leader of the oathsworn, Knut the Bold said, “We will fight with the Dragon Heart.” He looked in disgust at Erik. “I, for one, have had enough of dishonour. This day I will gain honour and fight amongst real warriors.” As he stepped back I noticed his wild eyes. You can push men so far and then they break. This was one angry warrior and his voice swayed the others who stood behind him.

  Erik
had no choice. He had to stay. “Those with bows hide in the bushes above the ford. Thorkell command them. You know what to do. The rest of you come with me.” I led the others a little way from the ford so that we were hidden by the slight rise where the road climbed from the river. If we crouched we could delay when the pursuers saw us.

  We did not have long to wait. I heard the hooves of horses as the Mercians came resolutely on. I could not see faces for night had fallen but I saw the shadows as they approached the ford. The shadows told me that they had at least six horsemen. They masked the others who were behind. I crept forwards slowly, crawling along the ground. I reached into my leather satchel and took out two handfuls of hedgehogs. I could not risk throwing them in case they made a noise. I spread them along the road in a line and began to creep back.

  I had almost made it when I heard a shout, “Up ahead! I can see a movement.”

  There was little point in hiding any longer and I stood and shouted, “Go home Saxons for I am Jarl Dragon Heart. I am the Saxon’s Bane and I will destroy you.”

  I knew that Haaken would keep the others hidden and Thorkell would choose his moment well. I wanted their attention on me.

  I heard a laugh. “I am Aelle the leader of King Coenwulf’s warriors and I am not afraid of one Viking even if he does possess a famous sword. Charge!”

  The problem the horsemen had was that they had to slow down once they hit the bubbling ford and they had to watch their footing. Thorkell timed his volley of arrows to perfection. Three riders and two horses were struck. The two wounded horses bucked, reared and then fled back up the slope disrupting the warriors who hurtled after their leader. One of the riders struck fell into the stream but the other three came on. The leader was unwounded, well armoured and wielded a mighty axe. He urged his horse up the slope towards me. Swinging his axe he anticipated striking me as I stood, apparently alone and facing him. When his horse stepped on to the hedgehogs it stood on its hind legs as though stung. The leader could not keep his saddle and he rolled backwards over the rump of the horse to be deposited into the stream.