Woden’s Spear: Book 1 of The First Kingdom series by Donovan Cook

Author:Donovan Cook [Cook, Donovan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books

20

‘Welcome to Corstopitum, or Coria as the locals call it,’ the old Saxon warrior said as they entered the fort and Octa gaped as he saw more Saxons and Angles inside, but what disappointed him, though, was that most of them had grey hair and beards and they looked like their fighting days were long past them.

‘You are the Jutes that King Vortigern has hired?’ the old Saxon warrior asked. He introduced himself as Reinald and, though his smile was friendly, Octa noticed the suspicion in his eyes.

‘Aye. He needs us to fight his battles for him.’

Reinald glanced at the other six Jutes. ‘Thought there’d be more of you.’

‘There are. Most of the army is still in the south,’ Eadric responded.

Reinald nodded and glanced at Octa. He raised his eyebrow when he saw Octa’s leg wound. ‘You have a Saxon with you?’ Eadric nodded, but said nothing as he watched Reinald. ‘What happened to your leg?’ Reinald asked him.

Before Octa could respond, Eadric said, ‘We were attacked by one of the tribes and Octa was injured in the fight. We’ve not been able to treat his wound properly.’

Reinald nodded. ‘We have some men here skilled in the matters of healing. They can help with his leg.’

Octa wanted to accept, but the look in Eadric’s eyes made him keep his mouth shut.

‘We thank you, but we have no time. We are on an urgent quest for my lords, Hengist and Horsa.’

‘A quest?’ Reinald now raised an eyebrow at Eadric.

Eadric scowled at the old Saxon for a few heartbeats and then said, ‘We seek a shrine to Brigantia. We were told there was one near the Roman wall.’

‘A shrine to Brigantia?’ Reinald scratched his grey beard. ‘And here we thought you sought to make an agreement with the Picts.’

‘We are here to fight the Picts, not talk to them.’

Reinald smiled as he raised his hand. ‘I mean no offence, friend.’

Eadric grunted as he looked around the fort. Octa did the same and saw that it was in a good condition, almost better than the cities he had seen further south. The buildings were perfectly square and laid out in a way that all the paths around them ran straight. All the roofs were tiled and there were a few places where he saw what looked like newer stones in the walls of some of the buildings.

Octa saw about two hundred warriors in the fort and most of them were old. There were some younger warriors as well, and some of them looked like Britons, while others looked like Saxons.

‘Well, we didn’t expect to find Saxons here,’ Eadric said.

Reinald smiled. ‘Aye. We came with the Romans as feoderati and when they left, we stayed behind. Or were left behind. But it’s the same thing, really.’

‘To do what?’ Eadric asked.

‘What we were told to do. Protect the wall.’

Eadric looked at his Jutes and smiled. ‘Well, Woden knows you’re not doing a good job of it. We fought a large force of Picts in the south not that long ago.

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