The Last Kingdom Series Books 4-6: Sword Song, The Burning Land, Death of Kings. Bernard Cornwell
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the Norseman in English, but now changed to Danish. ‘And this,’ I said to Erik, ‘is the Ealdorman of Mercia, the Lord Æthelred.’
Erik responded to the introduction by offering Æthelred a small bow, but the courtesy was wasted. Æthelred looked around the bridge, counting the men who had taken refuge there. ‘Not so many,’ he said brusquely. ‘They must all die.’
‘I have already offered them their lives,’ I said.
Æthelred rounded on me. ‘We had orders,’ he said bitingly, ‘to capture Sigefrid, Erik and Haesten, and deliver them as captives to King Æthelstan.’ I saw Erik’s eyes widen slightly. I had assumed he spoke no English, but now realised he must have learned enough of the language to understand Æthelred’s words. ‘Are you disobeying my father-in-law?’ Æthelred challenged me when I made no response.
I kept my temper. ‘You can fight them here,’ I explained patiently, ‘and you’ll lose many good men. Too many. You can trap them here, but at slack water a ship will row to the bridge and rescue them.’ That would be a hard thing to do, but I had learned never to underestimate the seamanship of the Northmen. ‘Or you can rid Lundene of their presence,’ I said, ‘and that is what I chose to do.’ Aldhelm sniggered at that, implying that I had chosen the coward’s option. I looked at him and he challenged my gaze, refusing to look away.
‘Kill them, lord,’ Aldhelm said to Æthelred, though he continued staring at me.
‘If you wish to fight them,’ I said, ‘then that is your privilege, but I’ll have none of it.’
For a moment both Æthelred and Aldhelm were tempted to accuse me of cowardice. I could see the thought on their faces, but they could also see something in my face and they let the thought go unsaid. ‘You always loved pagans,’ Æthelred sneered instead.
‘I loved them so well,’ I said angrily, ‘that I took two ships through that gap in the black of night,’ I pointed to where the jagged stumps of the bridge’s planking ended. ‘I brought men into the city, cousin, and I captured Ludd’s Gate, and I fought a battle in that gate such as I would never wish to fight again, and in that fight I killed pagans for you. And yes, I love them.’
Æthelred looked at the gap. Spray showed continually there, thrown up by the seethe of water falling through the break with such force that the ancient wooden roadway quivered and the air was filled with the river’s noise. ‘You had no orders to come by ship,’ Æthelred said indignantly, and I knew he resented my actions because they might detract from the glory he expected to garner from his capture of Lundene.
‘I had orders to give you the city,’ I retorted, ‘so here it is!’ I gestured at the smoke drifting over the scream-filled hill. ‘Your wedding present,’ I said, mocking him with a bow.
‘And not just the city, lord,’ Aldhelm said to Æthelred, ‘but everything in it.’
‘Everything?’ Æthelred asked, as if he could not believe his good fortune.
‘Everything,’ Aldhelm said wolfishly.
‘And if you’re grateful for that,’ I interjected sourly, ‘then thank your wife.’
Æthelred jerked around to stare wide-eyed at me. Something in my words had astonished him for he looked as though I had struck him. There was disbelief on his broad face, and anger, and for a moment he was incapable of speaking. ‘My wife?’ he finally asked.
‘If it had not been for Æthelflaed,’ I explained, ‘we could not have taken the city. Last night she gave me men.’
‘You saw her last night?’ he asked incredulously.
I looked at him, wondering if he was mad. ‘Of course I saw her last night!’ I said. ‘We went back to the island to board the ships! She was there! She shamed your men into coming with me.’
‘And she made Lord Uhtred give her an oath,’ Pyrlig added, ‘an oath to defend your Mercia, Lord Æthelred.’
Æthelred ignored the Welshman. He was still staring at me, but now with an expression of hatred. ‘You boarded my ship?’ he could barely speak for loathing and anger, ‘and saw my wife?’
‘She came ashore,’ I said, ‘with Father Pyrlig.’
I meant nothing by saying that. I had merely reported what had happened and hoped that Æthelred would admire his wife for her initiative, but the moment I spoke I saw I had made a mistake. I thought for a heartbeat that Æthelred was going to hit me, so fierce was the sudden fury on his broad face, but then he controlled himself and turned and walked away. Aldhelm hurried after him and managed to check my cousin’s haste long enough to speak with him. I saw Æthelred make a furious, careless gesture, then Aldhelm turned back to me. ‘You must do what you think best,’ he called, then followed his master through the arch where the Northmen’s shield wall made a passage for them.
‘I always do,’ I said to no one in particular.
‘Do what?’ Father Pyrlig asked, staring at the arch where my cousin had so abruptly vanished.
‘What I think is best,’ I said, then frowned. ‘What happened there?’ I asked Pyrlig.
‘He doesn’t like other men speaking to his wife,’ The Welshman said. ‘I noticed that when I was on the ship with them, coming down the Temes. He’s jealous.’
‘But I’ve known Æthelflaed for ever!’ I exclaimed.
‘He fears you know her only too well,’ Pyrlig said, ‘and it drives him to madness.’
‘But that’s stupid!’ I spoke angrily.
‘It’s jealousy,’ Pyrlig said, ‘and all jealousy is stupid.’
Erik had also watched Æthelred walk away and was as confused as I was. ‘He is your commander?’ the Norseman asked.
‘He’s my cousin,’ I said bitterly.
‘And he’s your commander?’ Erik asked again.
‘The Lord Æthelred commands,’ Pyrlig explained, ‘and the Lord Uhtred disobeys.’
Erik smiled at that. ‘So, Lord Uhtred, do we have an agreement?’ He asked that question in English, hesitating slightly over the words.
‘Your English is good,’ I said, sounding surprised.
He smiled. ‘A Saxon slave taught me.’
‘I hope she was beautiful,’ I said, ‘and yes, we do have an agreement, but with one change.’
Erik bridled, but stayed courteous. ‘One change?’ he asked cautiously.
‘You may take Wave-Tamer,’ I said.
I thought Erik would kiss me. For a heartbeat he did not believe my words, then he saw that I was sincere and he smiled broadly. ‘Lord Uhtred,’ he began.
‘Take her,’ I interrupted him, not wanting his gratitude, ‘just take her and go!’
It had been Aldhelm’s words that had changed my mind. He had been right; everything in the city now belonged to Mercia, and Æthelred was Mercia’s ruler, and my cousin had a lust for anything beautiful and, if he discovered I wanted Wave-Tamer for myself, which I did, he would be sure to take it from me, and so I kept the ship from his grasp by giving it back to the Thurgilson brothers.
Sigefrid was carried to his own ship. The Northmen, stripped of their weapons and valuables, were guarded by my men as they walked to the Wave-Tamer. It took a long time, but at last they were all on board and they shoved away from the quay, and I watched as they rowed downstream towards the small mists that still hovered above the lower reaches of the river.
And somewhere in Wessex the first cuckoo called.
I wrote Alfred a letter. I have always hated writing, and it has been years since I last used a quill.