Divide and Conquer Read Free

his mind, but as he stood on the Île de la Cité, the Island of Paris, Dak realized that the books had been mere ghosts. Reality was so much cooler. Smellier, too.
    Just then, the bombardment stopped, and the cacophony of war horns and shouts from the other side of the wall was replaced with the sound of ringing church bells. Dak watched as a contingent of Vikings started to make their way into the city over a low stone bridge that stretched across the Seine from the north bankof the river.
    Dak wanted nothing more than to run forward and get a better look, but Sera already had her hand firm on his shoulder. “Don’t even think about it. We have a Hystorian to find. Here, help us figure out what this means.”
    She held out the SQuare, and Dak read the highlighted lines:
    To find the person whom you seek
Upset the clue within:
To lead you to the Hystorian
Find a roofless inn.
    Dak stared at the words, but he had absolutely no clue what they meant. “This should be Riq’s gig — he’s the expert on things like this,” he said. “I’m just the history buff. And as your guide through all past occurrences, I think our time would be better spent eavesdropping.”
    He pointed toward a small group of Parisians striding through the inner city. Many of them were priests, with ornately decorated tunics over their cowls. Others were soldiers, their own tunics less ornate and complemented with chain mail.
    Dak knew an official welcoming party when he saw one. The priests and soldiers were on their way to meet with the Viking contingent on the bridge, and Dak desperately wanted to be there for that discussion. Although he figured the important stuff wouldn’t happen until they’d all gathered in some central location.
    “Those are the guys who make decisions around here,” Dak said. “The Hystorian is probably one of them, or on his way to wherever they’re headed. That’s where the history is going to happen, and that’s where we need to be!”
    “You’re forgetting that we don’t look like Parisians,” Sera argued.
    “Well, technically we
are
dressed like Parisians. Just Parisians of another century. We’re very fashion forward!” Dak tugged on the ruffles at his wrist and wagged his eyebrows.
    “Dak . . .” Sera’s tone of voice left no question — she was getting fed up.
    Dak put a hand on her arm. He and Sera had known each other for a really long time, since before they could talk, actually, but sometimes he didn’t understand her at all. These were real, actual, honest-to-Thor
Vikings
. How could she not want to get closer to them? “Trust me,” he said. “Have I steered you wrong before? Besides, I think I know what’s about to happen. And it could be crucial to our mission here.”
    Riq looked up from where he was pawing through a low wooden trunk on the other side of the room.
    Dak took a moment to relish their undivided attention before diving in. “The small contingent of Vikings crossing into the city is headed by Siegfried, their leader. Well, I don’t know if
leader
is the right word since Viking society wasn’t strictly ordered the same as ours. Usually power wasn’t quite so concentrated —”
    Sera cleared her throat and began tapping her foot.
    “Er, right. Anyway, just before the Vikings sack Paris, Siegfried has a little chat with their bishop, Gauzelin, and asks him to hand the city over. The bishop agrees. The Parisians figure everything’s cool — so they’re pretty surprised when the Vikings attack the next morning.”
    Riq frowned. “That doesn’t seem sportsmanlike,” he said.
    Dak shrugged. “That’s not really what the Vikings are known for. They were more the pillaging-and-plundering kind of folk.”
    Sera’s body appeared to tense a bit at that. “So this Siegfried guy — what happens after he takes Paris?”
    Dak felt the same excitement he always did before imparting cool historical details. “He becomes one of the most powerful men in France. See, he ends