Chapter 26 #3
The tiles showed a very handsome man wearing nothing but a strange white pleated cloth wrapped around his waist and held with a wide leather belt.
He wore a golden helmet on his head. He was large, muscular, and looked to be very sure of himself.
He was standing at the bow of a boat, men bent over oars behind him, and he had his sword drawn and was looking toward the horizon.
The handsome man looked like his father.
Egill made a sound in his throat and Lotti quickly swiveled around and placed her hand on his arm.
She was smiling and nodding. In the next tile the man was ashore, his sword still pointed at an unseen enemy, and he was ready to strike.
In the final tile, there was the enemy, a monster cloaked in thick dark smoke, writhing and hissing.
The handsome man severed the monstera??s neck with his sword.
a??Father will save us,a?? Egill whispered.
a??It is a portent.a?? He heard footsteps and turned quickly.
It wasna??t Cecilia; it was King Guthrum, and Egill felt both fear and hope build inside him.
The king looked to be in a temperate mood today.
Egill looked at the battle-scarred king, his face seamed and leathery from a life spent in the sun, his shoulders bent slightly forward, his thick ebony hair threaded with gray, as was his short beard.
His clothing was rich with golden thread.
Lotti was very silent, her eyes on the king. Her hand slipped into Egilla??s. They waited, watchful and wary.
King Guthrum nodded to them, not really paying them any heed. He was speaking to another man, one who was garbed like a soldier. Guthrum called out suddenly, a??Bring us Rhenish wine, boy.a??
Egill didna??t want to leave. He wanted to listen to the men. He turned quickly to Lotti and made signs for her to watch the men and try to understand what they were saying; then he walked quickly away toward the antechamber where he would find one of Ceciliaa??s house servants.
The kinga??s soldier, Aslak, was saying in a fierce voice, a??I tell you we must cease these silly womana??s taunts, sire. We must gather in force and attack Alfred. The damned Saxons run hither and yon, without direction. The treaty with King Alfred means nothing. You have said so many times.a??
The king was stroking his beard. a??Aye, a??tis true. What is it you want to do, Aslak?a??
a??I would lead men to Chippenham itself, to the very gates of the kinga??s house.
We would travel swiftly and stealthily, and that would give us the surprise.
We would take all the gold and coin we can carry.
Alfred must be shown that a Viking bows to no man, particularly to a Saxon. It is time to strike the death blow.a??
Guthrum liked the sound of those arrogant words, for he had himself spoken similar ones many times, but he wasna??t a fool, even though the words did stir his blood.
Aye, but his blood was thinner now, much thinner.
a??Leave me to think about it, Aslak. a??Tis a risk we would take.
Alfred isna??t like the other petty little lordlings.
Nay, he is a man and a fighter. Let me think about it.a??
a??Someday, sire, we will hold all of England. Do you not want to be the man to lay the final claim? The man to hold all in the palm of his hand?a??
The king laughed as he looked down at his gnarled hands. a??Ah, Egill, you bring the wine.a??
Aslak said abruptly, a??The boy looks familiar. His features touch a chord in my memory.a??
Guthrum agreed. a??Aye, the boy looks familiar to me as well.a?? He crooked his finger. a??Egill, come here, lad. Have you a father still living?a??
Egill didna??t know what to say. The moment had finally come, and he stood stupid and stiff as a rune marker.
Did the king hold Orm in high regard? It would seem that he did from what Egill had observed going on between the two men.
The king thought he looked familiar. Did he know Magnus Haraldsson?
Did he hold him in favor? Would Orm see that he and Lotti were killed if he spoke the truth?
Egill looked toward Lotti. By Thor, she was his responsibility, and if she were harmed, he would never forgive himself.
He had nearly lost her once. He wouldna??t lose her again, ever.
He shook his head even as he said, a??Nay, sire, my father is dead.a??
King Guthrum had already turned away. Egilla??s words had fallen on departed ears. Egill sighed silently, wondering if he were a fool.
Both men drank their wine from finely wrought glass goblets.
Guthrum said after a moment, a??You take your notion of a surprise attack on Chippenham itself from me, Aslak.
Aye, and that pleases me. We did it before and brought them bloody death.
Why not again? Theya??ve had time to replenish all their goods and ready new plunder for us. Let me ponder this.a??
a??Wait not too long, sire.a??
a??Nay, I shana??t. Ah, here is Cecilia.a??
Aslak grunted even as he stared at her with such ferocious lust that even Egill recognized it for what it was.
Egill looked at Lotti, hopeful that she hadna??t recognized anything.
She was smiling at him and he moved toward her.
Suddenly, without warning, one of the kinga??s stewards appeared.
Behind him waited a young woman with white-blond hair, a young woman who was Ingunn, his aunt, his fathera??s sister.
Lotti saw her and made a frightened moan.