Saint Magnus, The Last Viking (God's Forgotten Friends: Lives of Little-known Saints Book 1) by Peek Susan

Author:Peek, Susan [Peek, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Seven Swords Publications
Published: 2015-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

“He’s gone,” Aerling said, stunned. “Unlocked you and left, just like that.”

Magnus limped painfully over and freed him as well. “This is it, Aerling . . . your chance to escape.” He could not have sounded more excited, as if it were he himself who was the one about to get away.

Aerling couldn’t believe the opportunity had come upon him so easily. This was better than his wildest dreams. Yet now that the reality was here, he realized that he had never been so torn all in his life. How could he actually abandon his brother, wounded and still so weakened by all that he had been through? The king had increased their rations this last week and a half, and Magnus was slowly regaining a little strength, but he was still far from being his old self.

Aerling’s hesitation must have bewildered him because he asked, “You are going to try, aren’t you? You’ll never get a more perfect chance.”

“I can’t leave you here alone. I . . . I just can’t do that, Magnus.”

“You have to. There’s no way in the world I can swim to shore, or even to a Welsh boat. Do it, Aerling. You must. Our people back home need you.”

Whatever was happening out there, it was starting to sound really wild. Any minute now there would be no place on this ship that was safe. Not even down here. Aerling knew he had to decide, and quickly.

“But what if they punish you for my escape? You heard what that Kol fellow said. The king won’t hesitate to torture you.”

“He can do nothing to me which God does not allow. Besides, not one man will be able to prove you weren’t thrown overboard in battle, like dozens of others. No one will ever know you jumped, except me, and I’m certainly not telling. Those half-witted cavemen will never suspect otherwise.”

“But what are you going to do? Look at yourself! You can barely walk. I can’t abandon you like this, Magnus. You know I can’t. You’ll be slaughtered within the first five minutes of fighting.”

“And if I am, will it make any difference whether or not you are on this ship? We will each die when we are meant to, Aerling, in exactly the way God has ordained from eternity. There is nothing we can do to add one day, nor even one single moment, to the time allotted us by our Creator. If I’m meant to live, He will protect me, yet if I die with innocent blood upon my sword, I will have condemned my own soul to Hell.”

Aerling knew in his heart that Magnus was right. To murder even one Welshman would be a mortal sin, nor could either of them fight their real enemy, the Norsemen, lest they sign their father’s death-warrant. Magnus had meant every word of what he had said to Kol. This battle was unjust; the Welsh were only defending their country, their waters, their women and their children, exactly as they themselves had done a few weeks ago against this same invading army.

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