Oathsword (Danelaw Saga Book 2) by Griff Hosker

Author:Griff Hosker [Hosker, Griff]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Sword Books Ltd.
Published: 2021-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Cnut was not to be given sea duties. Firstly, it was too risky and secondly, he did not have the skills the other boys did. He had not had the experience of scampering up ropes and lines like a squirrel. He had not balanced atop the yard to peer out to sea with a deck pitching back and forth. He had not been brought up to race along a strewn deck with heaving oars and a storm sent by Njörðr. He would wait by the steering board and act as a messenger for Thorstein the Lucky. He would fetch our horns of sea ale and if a storm blew cover us with our capes. In short, he would become a servant but, when he ruled, it would help for he would know what the lowliest of his subjects did when they went to war. That he was slightly older and a little bigger than the other boys would also be a spur for him to avoid making a mistake.

As usual, the first part of the voyage was the easiest. We sailed to Ribe to meet with the other drekar. There would be too many ships for the port when the king came and so we would await his arrival aboard our drekar and sail out to meet him when his fleet arrived. We had been told that there would be one hundred or more ships and that mean five thousand warriors. Our king was taking the vengeance trail and he was taking no chances. Even Jarl Svein Hákonarson and twenty Norse ships would be joining us. Cnut and his brother would be in the same war but in different parts. Their experiences would be different and would make them different men.

The fleet arrived three days later, and they appeared as dark dots on the horizon and then, as the sails grew larger, we saw the size of the fleet. It was formidable. Although it was not as large as the one from Svolder it would be harder to keep together for we had more open sea with which to contend and we would not be able to simply wait for an enemy to appear. As soon as the dots were seen we readied for sea and rowed out in good order to wait a mile or two off the coast. We had not received orders about our position, but Sweyn Skull Taker had told his captains that we would adopt a three drekar wide formation with ours at the head. Pots had been made to contain oil we could burn at night so that we did not become separated. The responsibility of keeping the pot filled on our ship was given to Cnut. That first row to the meeting point was our easiest one and we just sculled to exercise muscles that had not had to do this for some time. Even so, when we hove to and awaited the fleet I turned and saw some of the new men at the prow rubbing their hands.

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