Saxon Fall Read Online Free Page A

who may wish to earn our gold.”
    “This use of gold does not seem honourable, Warlord.”
    Pol was one of the few men who could speak to me as critically as he did. “I have learned that there is little honour these days from any. Look at my cousin, Morcar.  He had no honour and my father did.  Had my father been less honourable then he might still be alive.” Morcar and his witch had killed my father with a poisoned blade.  I had killed Morcar but I wished to kill him over and over again. One death was not enough.
    Pol was silent for a while. “And yet even if he were that would not bring back your family, would it, Warlord?”
    He was right of course and my silence was enough of an answer for him to contemplate the coastline which began to appear to our left. It took us two more days to reach the beach which was closest to the home of Fiachra.  Last time we had been here my father had brought horses for he wished to impress the Hibernians.  I had no need to impress them now for they were our allies and the journey would have been difficult for them. It meant, however, that we would need to walk. I wondered if Myrddyn was up to it.
    Dawn had just broken when we clambered ashore and I told Daffydd ap Gwynfor to wait for us offshore. My ship was a tempting prize for any pirate and I wanted him to have sea room. It only took Pol and I a mile or so to regain the use of our legs, properly. Some of the younger ones marched as though they were drunk. They would learn- eventually. It amused Myrddyn. Despite his frequent naps the wizard seemed to be able to march as quickly as we did.
    Perhaps someone had been watching us for, as we approached the coast, a group of armed warriors trotted down to meet us on the small hill ponies so favoured by the Hibernians. I had tried it once but my feet trailed along the ground and I could not see the point. My size went against me. The leader bowed, “Prince Fiachra saw you as you approached.  He recognised your ship and sent us to escort you to the oppidum safely.”
    Something in his voice alerted me, “Safely? Is there trouble afoot?”
    He nodded, “The Uí Néill has begun raiding for slaves. They came in the night. The king is away and they think we are weak.” He spat into the grass. “We were less than vigilant, that is all.  We will recover them.”
    “How many did they capture?”
    “A whole village.  They killed the old and the handful of warriors who were there. They have over thirty women and children.”
    Something in the bitter way he spoke told me that this was personal. “You lost family?”
    “I did.” He set his face in a look of stone. This was a warrior.  He would get his family back.
    I knew that in Hibernia slave trading was a lucrative business. Many would be sold to the Saxons.  They knew better than to try to sell them to us or the men of Strathclyde. I wondered if I had come to the right place.  It seemed unlikely that there would be spare men for me to hire as mercenaries.
    I remembered the king’s brother. Fiachra was a good and loyal brother to the king but he was no general. The king would have been better served appointing a trustworthy leader for his people and keeping Fiachra as the leader of his bodyguard.  There were more sentries around the hill fort than the last time I had visited but the ditch had not been deepened nor had it been sown with traps. My plan looked to be faltering before I had even started.
    He looked older than the last time I had seen him but that had been some years earlier. He gave a deferential bow as I approached.  Like my father before me I was no king but many warriors were impressed by my armour, helmet and the trappings of an equite. They treated me as a king. The Hibernians fought without armour and most deigned a helmet. However they had seen my father fight in armour and knew the effect.
    “It is good to see you, Warlord, and you come at a propitious moment.”
    “I heard about the raids.  Does your