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the case, he thought, it would do the people good. It was spiritually useful to confront the reality of death, to see the inevitable end and to think on your sins. He felt sorry for them, nevertheless. It must be hard to lose a loved one and to pass their mortal remains as you went about your business every day.
    The confessor knew there was a chance he could be marooned on the island. A section of both banks of the river had held against the Danes, making resupply of the walled city, and expeditions like his own, risky but possible. However, the people were weak and dispirited from nearly four months of struggle. If the Norsemen attacked the city outside the walls, instead of concentrating on the bridges barring their progress upstream, the banks would fall and there would be no resupply, no coming and going even for a small unlit boat in the middle of the night.
    ‘Father?’
    He recognised the voice.
    ‘Abbot Ebolus.’
    ‘Thank you for coming.’ The voice was near his ear – the abbot had bent to Jehan’s level. The confessor could smell the sweat of battle on him, the smoke and the blood. Up close, the warrior-monk reeked like a butcher’s shelf. ‘Do you think you can help her?’
    ‘Surely it is we, not she, I am here to help.’
    Ebolus shifted on his haunches. Jehan heard the jingle of mail. The abbot was still in his armour.
    ‘You know why you are here?’
    ‘Count Eudes sent for me so I came. His sister Aelis is afflicted.’
    ‘Just so. She is at the father’s house at Saint-Etienne. She claims sanctuary there.’
    ‘From what, an ague?’
    ‘It is not an affliction of the body, rather one of the mind or spirit. She has taken to the great church and will not come out. Eudes feels it’s bad for the sentiment of the people. They need to see the nobility confident and healthy.’
    ‘Take her out and tell her to smile. There’s no sanctuary for a woman from her relations who wish her to come to table.’
    ‘She claims to be pursued, and as such my men will not force her from the house of God.’
    ‘Pursued by what?’
    ‘She will not say. She says something is coming for her and that she can only be safe from it in the church.’
    The confessor thought for a moment.
    ‘Is she a woman of the court?’
    ‘No, she was raised half wild down at Loches on the Indre.’
    ‘Then it’s likely some country fancy has come into her head. There are plenty in that area who dance naked before bonfires in the night, only to go to church when the sun rises.’
    ‘Aelis is a Christian.’
    ‘But she’s a woman. She has believed some peasant stupidity, that is all. It’s troubling, I grant you, but is it really worth bringing me over here in the middle of a siege?’
    The abbot lowered his voice. ‘There is more,’ he said. ‘Count Eudes has received an offer.’
    ‘The pagans want money to leave?’
    ‘No. They want the girl. If she can be persuaded to go to them they’ve sworn that they will leave us alone.’
    Jehan rocked back and forth – in contemplation or under the influence of his disease Ebolus could not be sure.
    ‘A girl, a marriage, brings peace and security, even the possibility of conversion of the pagan. Silver is only like giving a lamb to a wolf – he will be back for more. You are certain the northerners will leave if they have her?’ said the confessor.
    ‘They have given their oaths, and it is my experience that, when they swear, they swear in earnest.’
    ‘They gave their oaths when our fat emperor paid them off rather than facing them as Christ’s enemies in the field, but they are back.’
    ‘I think this is different. We may be wrong about why they are here. There is talk that they came just for her. They have no designs upstream, and if Aelis goes to them then they will retire.’
    ‘A count’s sister seems a poor prize for a Viking king,’ said Jehan.
    ‘She is high-born and a famous beauty. A Frankish farmer’s daughter is too good for their highest