‘What do you mean?’
‘They met at the court of King Mael Coluim three winters ago. He supported both Eadgar’s rebellions, but there was some disagreement between him and the ?theling after the failure of last year’s campaign. He took his leave by ship shortly afterwards. We didn’t hear of him after that, until a passing trader happened to mention him, and that’s how we learnt he was in Dyflin.’
I was beginning to form an opinion of this Haakon. Like many Danes, he probably made his living by selling his sword and his loyalty to anyone who would offer him sufficient reward. When Eadgar’s efforts to wrest the crown of England from King Guillaume had ended in humiliation, he must have decided he would do better searching for employment or riches elsewhere.
I only hoped I could catch up with him. Eudo might be right, I thought, and Oswynn could be many hundreds of leagues from here, but at least now I had a trail to follow, and a place to begin my search.
‘How would you like to go to Dyflin?’ I asked the girl.
At once the defiance drained from her face. She paled and cast her gaze down. ‘I’ve been there before,’ she said. ‘I have no wish to go back.’
‘Why not?’ I asked, but she didn’t answer. ‘You’ve met Jarl Haakon before. Your knowledge could be useful to me. You could help me find him. And if you know the city, then all the better.’
‘All I want is to find passage back home, to my kin, if they still live,’ she said. ‘I’ve given you what you asked for. Isn’t that enough?’
‘You can either come with me, or else I can leave you here to the mercy of the king’s men. It is your choice.’
‘You promised, lord! You said I’d be allowed to go free!’
‘And you will,’ I said mildly, ‘after you’ve helped me. Then I’ll take you wherever you wish, but not before.’
A glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. ‘You’ll take me home?’
That had been a rash thing to say, in hindsight. But if it would convince her, then perhaps it was worth it.
‘Not straightaway,’ I said. ‘First we go where I say. But as soon as my business is finished, I’ll do what I can. You have my oath.’
She did not look at me for a long while, and I thought she might still refuse. What reason, after all, did she have to trust me?
Eventually she gave a sigh. ‘Very well.’
‘Good,’ I said, and smiled, but she did not return it. ‘One last thing. What do I call you?’
‘Eithne.’
It sounded like no name I had ever heard. It was neither French nor Breton, nor, from what I could tell, Danish or English.
‘Eithne?’ I repeated, and she nodded.
I called to the guardsman, who was sitting on an ironbound chest with his back to me, polishing his helmet with an oilcloth.
‘I’ll take her with me now, with your permission,’ I said.
‘You’re welcome to her,’ he said. ‘Just watch that she doesn’t gouge out your eyes, or slide a knife between your ribs while you’re not watching her.’
‘Have no fear for my sake,’ I said, and jerked my head in Eithne’s direction as a signal that she should follow me. The scowl was once again upon her face as she rose from her stool. I gave a nod of thanks to the guardsman as we left the tent and emerged into the sunshine.
A new sense of purpose filled me. At last I knew what it was I had to do, and where I needed to go. To the city across the sea, that ill-famed den of villainy and treachery.
To Dyflin.
Fifteen