Viking Wrath Read Free

fighting for the King of Mercia. I would not judge them for that. Sometimes we fought for allies and sometimes for gold.
    "You are welcome to my land. What brings you on such a perilous journey?"
    Although I spoke to the warrior who had a golden strip upon his helmet it was the woman who answered. She had an accent but she spoke our language well. "It was not so perilous. The people we met were kind to us and we spent some time at the holy mountain of Wyddfa and on Caer Cybi."
    It made sense now. The people of On Corn Walum were related to the Welsh and they shared a common religion. "Do the people of your land not follow the White Christ as the Saxons do?"
    Her face darkened briefly and then she smiled. "We follow the old ways still. I am sorry, I have not introduced myself. I am Angharad, the sister of Mark of Tintagel. This is Demelza my companion." I nodded and looked pointedly at the warriors. "These are my bodyguards. This is Cynan. I am afraid none of them speak your language." She spoke in her own tongue and the six body guards gave a slight bow. There was neither smile nor warmth on their faces.
    Kara became the hostess, "Shall we retire to my brother's hall? Elfrida has made it more homely than mine. She turned to Aiden. He knew the language of the Cymri. "Aiden, would you take these to the warrior hall. Bjorn the Scout  can entertain them."
    Angharad spoke to Cynan and they followed Aiden. She waved a hand at the mountains and the Water. "You have a fine land here. I can see why you have prospered. The waters and meres we have passed show that the mother must protect this country."
    I nodded to the Old Man. "And the spirits of the dead watch over us too."
    "You have a good land. I can feel the power of this land. You are fortunate to have chosen this land. Or perhaps it chose you." I smiled. I did not like this woman yet she was being pleasant and I could not work out the reason for my dislike. She suddenly stared at my belt. "Is this the sword I have heard so much about?"
    "It is Ragnar's Spirit. What have you heard?"
    "It was touched by the gods. I heard it was destroyed."
    "It was damaged. I have had it repaired."
    Her forefinger reached out and she touched the blue stone in the pommel. He eyes closed briefly and a look of ecstasy came over her face. "A powerful weapon. I now understand why you are so successful. The Gods smile upon you."
    I held out my arm and led her into the hall. As we entered I saw that Elfrida, who had been absent from the gathering, had been preparing food. My wife Erika would have loved my son's young wife. She had no faults that I could see. If Erika had been alive she would have approved whole heartedly of her.
    As we sat around the table and food and drink were shared Angharad spoke with Elfrida and Kara. She smiled at me. I noticed, for the first time, that the smile was with her lips and not her eyes. She appeared to be analysing me. I became suspicious. She suddenly took her gaze from me and spoke. Her words made me wonder if she could read my thoughts. "You will be wondering why we came to visit here." I nodded, "Your reputation as a warrior has come to the attention of my brother and he asked if you would hire out your warriors to fight for him against the King of Wessex, Egbert." She glanced at my son, "We know there is little love lost between your peoples."
    I smiled my own false smile in return. "We do not hire out our swords. When we fight it is to protect what we have. We have little desire to die for another man."
    "I heard you took gold from King Egbert. Perhaps I heard wrong." She shook her head as though it did not matter. "You would be richly rewarded."
    I spread my arm around the hall, "We have all the reward we need from this land." She inclined her head in acceptance of my decision. "It seems your journey has been wasted."
    "Not so, Jarl Dragon Heart. I also came because your daughter also has a great reputation as a volva. I am the High Priestess of my people. I