The Wild Hunt by Garry Kilworth

Author:Garry Kilworth [Kilworth, Garry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
Publisher: NewCon Press
Published: 2022-12-05T16:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Osric waved a hand. ‘Oh, that’s not important. Think nothing of it, Kenric. We followed you because we were worried about you.’

Kenric didn’t miss the sideways glance that the Thief gave Osric and knew this was not the case. However, he could not concern himself with Osric’s possessiveness now. He had to find his sister and inform her she was now a widow. This he passed on to the other two. They agreed they should accompany him and then perhaps, once she had been given the good news, they had better get out and ride for Mercia. There had been no permission from the king of the South Saxons for this single combat to take place and all three knew that strangers entering a village, killing one of the inhabitants (however loathed that man might be by the populace) was not acceptable. The Frithguildsmen would demand an enquiry and there was no guarantee Kenric would walk away with all his limbs or even his life. Oscetyl might be a favourite of the king or one of his hearth-companions and demand blood for blood. Certainly he was highly thought of by at some of the nobles in the royal hall.

They found Kenric’s sister, Coelwin, scrubbing clothes at the village washhouse. She looked up and saw her brother coming. First there a frown appeared on her brow, then it cleared and the woman, looking careworn and drab, smiled.

‘Brother! You’ve come home!’

‘Not for long,’ replied Kenric, as the other two held back. ‘Just come to set you free. Just killed your husband in single combat…’

Coelwin let out a shriek. ‘What? Don’t make jokes like that.’

‘It’s not a joke,’ called Osric. ‘We saw him do it. Chopped his head off.’

Coelwin’s mouth fell open and her grey face switched back and forth, studying the expressions of these newcomers and her brother. She was gauging whether this was an elaborate jest – a distasteful one, but a jape none the less – but the expressions on the faces of the three men, especially the older one dressed all in black, told her that this was the truth. Her husband had been slain by her younger brother. She screamed and threw a twisted bolt of wet clothing at Kenric, crying, ‘You bastard! You killed my man? Why? In the name of the gods, why? He did nothin’ to harm you. He spoke well of you and said he was lookin’ forward to meeting you.’ She sank to her knees and sobbed for a moment, while Kenric gaped in disbelief. Then she said, ‘What will become of me now he’s gone? What about the baby in my belly?’

Kenric stared at his sister. ‘You’re with child?’

‘If he’s a son,’ she said, fiercely, staring up at Kenric, ‘I’ll tell ’im what you did and send ’im out to get you. I will, Kenric. I will.’

At that moment a man came between the hovels and marched over to them.

‘All right, what in hellmouth is goin’ on here?’

‘Oscetirl!’ cried Coelwin. ‘You’re alive.’

The

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