Black Monastery Read Free Page A

her down to the shoreline. Her sail, homespun wool in a green-and-yellow striped pattern, was already soaking in animal fats and oil. The cost of the wool had been enormous, even for his father, and it had taken their servant women more than a year under his mother’s direction to weave it together into a single piece. The tiller and side rudder would be attached last, once she was afloat.
    The worst of the winter cold had passed, and within another month, spring would be upon the land. Once the spring planting was completed, the time would come for raiding. Excitement grew among the men. Soon, the right day to launch the ship came. On a day with favorable weather and few crosswinds, they attached long lines of walrus-hide ropes to her, and Sea Eel ’s wooden planks squeaked as the men hauled her down to the shoreline. Women and children from town left their tasks undone to come watch. Even the earl came. Removing his coat, he stood next to Asgrim’s father to help haul on the ropes. Every man knew the honor the earl was paying to his father by his presence, especially since he had left his newborn son, Frodi, to come and help. Under Guthorm’s steady command, they rolled her to the water. Her dark-green hull scraped along the wet sand as she hit the shoreline and stuck fast. Men pushed and pulled, but the massive longship stubbornly held her place. Asgrim and Bjorn stood beside one another, up to their thighs in the frigid water, pushing and straining against the hull.
    “Get in there! Get in there!” Asgrim screamed as he shoved.
    Then, with a rush of foam and splash so fast it took most of them by surprise, the mighty longship slid into the waters of the Schlei . Bjorn pitched forward headfirst into the water. Asgrim reached into the waters, caught his brother by the shoulders, and yanked him free. Bjorn was wild-eyed and spitting water, but grinning like a berserker. And Sea Eel , perfectly ballasted in advance by Guthorm, rocked gently in the calm waters of the inlet. As one, they all cheered—men in the water, the women and children along the shoreline, his father, and the earl. And this time, finally forgetting his wounds, Asgrim cheered as well, hugging his younger brother.
    That night, along the shoreline, Asgrim accompanied his father and the other men to a ritual. There, by the light of a massive bonfire, his father sacrificed a bull to Odin, killing the beast with one blow of an ax. He helped his father and his father’s warriors anoint the hull of Sea Eel with the ox’s blood. The earl was there, as well, having remained for this most sacred of tasks. All the men agreed the gods were pleased. Luck would be with his father and this magnificent longship.
    With the ritual completed, the earl approached his father. In his hands, he held a long fur-wrapped bundle, which he handed to the other man. His father took the bundle reverently, inclining his head in thanks. Then the earl bade farewell, and he and his bodyguards mounted their horses and rode off for his own estates. Asgrim’s father’s bondsmen also bade farewell then, wishing to return to the warmth of their own farms, promising to return early in the morning to help prepare Sea Eel for raiding.
    Asgrim stood in front of the bonfire with his father. Both men were soaked to their waists, but bundled in thick fur cloaks. His father wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him against him.
    “The rigging will be done in days,” his father said. “In another week, she’ll be ready to sail. Then, I’ll teach you all you need to know about being a man.”
    “I am a man.”
    His father snorted and hugged him just a bit tighter. “Aye, maybe you are at that.”
    They stood in silence for a time, staring at the flames as the wood crackled and spit. The frigid wind howled, fanning the flames higher.
    His father released him and stepped back. “I’m getting old, son, too old for raiding. This will be my last voyage across the sea. We will sail for