The practice drew to a close and, having sheathed their weapons, the men gathered in small groups to talk. Eyvind looked up at Wulfgar.
‘I want to learn how to fight. Ina says he’ll teach me one day.’
His large companion nodded. ‘A man must learn the skills of a warrior.’
The boy examined the sheathed blades at Wulfgar’s side. ‘What do you call them?’
‘The sword is Skull-Biter, the dagger Serpent Sting.’
‘May I look at them?’
‘All right.’ Wulfgar drew the dagger and held it across his palm. ‘Careful. The edge is sharp.’
Eyvind nodded, eyeing it respectfully. Then, unable to resist, his fingers closed on the hilt. He lifted the blade carefully, grasping it like a sword, which in terms of their relative sizes it might have been. He turned it this way and that to catch the light and then essayed a few thrusting stokes at an imaginary foe.
‘I will have a dagger like this one day.’
‘I’m sure you will.’
His trial complete, Eyvind reluctantly handed the weapon back. Wulfgar sheathed it again and then drew out the sword.
‘May I hold that, too?’
‘Very well, but hold it firm. It’s heavy.’
Eyvind gripped the hilt with both hands. Even so, the weight of the blade took him by surprise. However, Wulfgar had anticipated it and, reaching out, cupped his hand under the child’s, arresting its downwards progress. Looking somewhat crestfallen, Eyvind sighed. His companion smiled.
‘One day you’ll be strong enough to wield such a blade.’
‘Ina says you have to start with a wooden sword.’
‘He’s right.’
‘But a wooden sword won’t cut anything,’ said Eyvind.
‘No, it won’t, but it will teach you how to use the real thing.’
‘Did you have a wooden sword?’
‘Aye, I did.’
‘Did your father give you Skull-Biter?’
‘No, I had the sword specially made.’
‘My father’s sword is buried with him, but he didn’t die in battle.’
‘Oh?’ Wulfgar was genuinely taken aback. ‘What happened to him?’
‘He had a cheezer…no, I mean a sheezer…’
‘A seizure,’ said a voice from behind them. They looked round to see Ina. His gaze met Wulfgar’s. ‘He collapsed at meat one night. It was all over in moments.’
‘I’m not going to die at meat,’ said Eyvind. ‘I’m going to die in battle.’
‘It is an honourable tradition,’ replied Ina.
Together they began to walk back towards the hall.
‘I did not know that the Earl had met his end thus,’ said Wulfgar. ‘I assumed it had been in combat.’
‘A fair assumption,’ said Ina. ‘And it might have been; he was no slouch with a sword.’
‘He knew how to pick fighting men, too.’
‘That he did.’
‘Did you serve him long?’
‘Long enough.’ Ina grimaced. ‘The man had a foul temper.’
‘A difficult person to be around, then.’
‘He was, but grown men can take what falls to them. ’Twas the woman and boy I felt sorry for—particularly her.’ Ina shook his head. ‘He kept her a virtual prisoner.’
Wulfgar frowned, recalling an earlier conversation with Anwyn. ‘Did he ever use violence towards her?’
‘Many a time, but for all that, he never succeeded in crushing her spirit. She stood up to him, anyway.’
Wulfgar now had a very clear picture of Earl Torstein’s character; he’d met the type many times. The thought that any man might use his strength that way against a woman filled him with contempt. When that woman was Anwyn… Contempt turned to cold anger. The conversation also shed light on her reluctance to remarry. So many of the things she had said now made perfect sense.
‘She deserves better,’ Ina went on. ‘The boy deserves better.’
‘Aye, they do.’
‘Well, the right man will come along eventually—a man who will protect her and treat her well.’ The old man paused. ‘A man she might learn to love.’
Wulfgar frowned. ‘That’s as may be, but right now the role of protector falls to me.’
‘So it does, my lord.’
‘You need have no fear that I shall fail in my duty.’
‘Oh, I do not fear that.’
With this cryptic remark Ina took his leave and followed the child indoors. Wulfgar watched him go, feeling unaccountably disquieted. A man she might learn to love? What man? It couldn’t be Ingvar. Was there another local admirer he didn’t know about? His frown deepened.
However, there were other matters requiring his attention now. To begin with there was the question of the extra patrols. He went to find Hermund and told him his mind on the matter.
‘It’s a good idea. I’ll organise it, my lord.’
‘Patrols will go out day and night, effective immediately. I’ve been caught napping once, but it’s the last time.’
‘You could not have foreseen such a trick.’
‘Well, Ingvar’s given sufficient warning now so I reckon we can expect more such tricks,’ said Wulfgar. ‘All the same, we can make it difficult for him.’
‘That we can. The men will enjoy it; give them more to do.’ Hermund paused. ‘And if we catch anyone?’
‘Send his head back to Ingvar.’
‘Right. This underhand connivance is unworthy of warriors. Let him bring his force and face us man to man.’
‘It is my thought he will not do it. He will try to achieve his ends by other means.’
Hermund nodded. ‘When you consider the prize it’s clear he won’t give up easily.’
‘No, he won’t,’ said Wulfgar.
At table that evening he told Anwyn about the arrangements he had made earlier. She listened with quiet approval.
‘When will these new patrols begin?’
‘They already have.’
‘You don’t let the grass grow under your feet, do you?’
‘If I’d done that, I’d have been dead long since.’
She smiled. ‘A mercenary’s life requires vigilance, then?’
‘Of course.’
‘And yet you enjoy the life.’
‘It has its advantages.’
‘And its disadvantages, too,’ she replied. ‘Each fight may be your last.’
‘It is a risk one takes.’
‘Does the thought not disturb you?’
‘No, why should it? The thread of a man’s life is cut as the Nornir decide—what use to worry when?’
‘No use at all, but it might be wiser not to tempt them.’
‘I have tempted them often,’ he said, ‘but they have shown no interest. On the contrary, I have had great luck; much more than I have deserved.’
She heard the note of bitterness in his voice and guessed its origin. ‘If you have been thus favoured, then it was not your time to die. Perhaps there is more for you to do in this world before you go to the next.’
‘A purpose for which I was intended?’ He shook his head. ‘There is no purpose, Anwyn. We are born, we fight and then we die.’
‘Is fighting the be all and end all?’
‘If a man fights, he suffers less than those who do not. That is the way of the world.’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘That is a sombre view of life.’
‘It is an accurate view of life.’
‘Yet you did not always think so.’
‘No, but I’ve learned better now. I will fight whatever battles come, and one day I will meet the warrior whose sword arm is stronger than mine.’
‘Your death will not change the past, Wulfgar.’
Her words were softly spoken, but they caught him unawares and their accuracy pierced like a honed blade. His hand tightened round his cup and all trace of former ironic detachment vanished along with the gentleness in his eyes. What replaced it was bleakness and anger, the latter directed towards himself. The odds he chose to fight should have killed him fifty times over; instead he grew rich and his fame spread. He could almost hear the gods laughing.
Seeing the look in his eyes just then, Anwyn felt an inner tremor, glimpsing the mercenary in those icy-blue depths. However, he made no reply and for a little while they lapsed into silence. She threw him a swift sideways glance and decided it was time to change the subject.
‘Do your men care to hunt, my lord?’
‘Of course. Why?’
‘It’s just that we could do with some fresh meat and there are boars aplenty in the woods.’
‘I’ll see to it.’
Anwyn hesitated, regarding him speculatively. ‘I wondered if I might go along.’
‘Certainly not.’ As soon as he’d said it, Wulfgar could have kicked himself. Even to his ears it had sounded arrogant and high-handed. Nor did he miss the way she suddenly stiffened or the expression of resentment on her face. He drew a deep breath and, having hastily re-established the connection between his brain and his mouth, he hurried on. ‘Forgive me. That was not the arbitrary decision it may have seemed. What I meant was that it’s too dangerous at present. The woods do not only conceal boar, as we have recent proof. You would be an easy target there.’