The Dawn of the Iron Dragon by Robert Kroese

Author:Robert Kroese [Kroese, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Culain Press
Published: 2018-06-17T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-five

Sigurd stood on the dock near Hrólfr’s camp at Rouen, waiting for a sign. For the first time in his life, he felt truly lost. As a young man, he had been a warrior and a carpenter, working in the winter and partaking in raiding expeditions in the summer. After he’d married Thora, he devoted himself to her, and when Yngve was born, his life centered on caring for his family. Even when Thora died, Yngve gave him a reason to go on. Since Yngve’s death, he’d been driven only by vengeance. And now that drive was gone. He’d had his chance and failed.

Further, he had failed in his mission for the spacemen as well. The whole point of recruiting Ibrahim—from the spacemen’s perspective—was to make a peace offering to Hrólfr, helping to ensure his dominion over Normandy. If it helped smooth things over with Harald, all the better. Reyes hadn’t been sure Harald would even come to Normandy, but Sigurd knew he would. He wondered if Harald had any intention of living up to his promise. There was no way to know. Sigurd hoped he’d done enough to allow the spacemen to proceed with their plans, but the matter was out of his hands now. Whatever he did now, he did not plan to return to Iceland.

“It’s a shame we didn’t get a chance to fight at Rouen,” Njáll said. He stood next to Sigurd on the dock, their rucksacks at their feet. He wisely had not asked Sigurd why he had allowed Harald to live.

“There was never going to be any fighting at Rouen,” Sigurd said. As he spoke, he spied a small boat, weighed down with some kind of cargo, coming up the river. A lone man worked at the oars.

“Then it’s true? A settlement has been reached?”

“Harald did not come all this way just to see me,” Sigurd replied. “He wanted to express his support for Hrólfr to the leaders of Rouen. With a word, Harald could send a fleet up the Seine.”

“Do you think he would do that? Doesn’t Harald have enough to worry about in Norway?”

“He’s put down any internal resistance. His concern now is that the Danes are restless. He will likely not commit many of his own ships, but by looking the other way while the Danes attack, he keeps the Danes occupied while helping Hrólfr strengthen his hold on Normandy.”

“How is it you know so much about this?” Njáll asked. “I confess I am not as savvy about political matters as you, and certainly have not had as much reason to concern myself with Harald’s business. But you speak as if you have seen these things with your own eyes.”

Sigurd laughed, continuing to watch the boat move closer. “Yesterday I would not have spoken with such confidence, but I am coming to accept that some of the future, at least, is already written.” He saw now that the boat was loaded with a pile of rawhide skins. A gray-haired boatman strained at the oars.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.