Shadow of the Raven: Sons of Kings: Book One Read Online Free Page B

torches, carried by people. What do you think? You’re so clever you should be able to work it out.’
    Eadwulf stared at his friend. ‘There’s nothing to work out, stupid! It’s most likely as you said. Torches carried by people.’
    ‘Which people?’
    ‘How should I know?’ Eadwulf mimicked. ‘I was in bed, where I was supposed to be.’
    ‘Well, I reckoned we’d go and have a look round. You know, search for clues.’
    ‘Sounds good to me,’ Eadwulf agreed. ‘But we’d better get back in time for Ocea’s instruction, or we’ll get more than earache.’
    * * *
    Burgred cursed. He’d waited for the two brats to leave their resting place, expecting them to turn back to the hall. But now they were heading straight for the forest. He hoped Egil and his men had the sense to stay hidden. The woods were expansive and the undergrowth should offer ample concealment, despite the sparse spring foliage.
    His assignation with Egil was arranged for a place some distance into the forest, where a huge, gnarled oak, struck by lightning some years ago, sprawled across the forest floor. Its trunk and branches were charred lifeless and black, like a great, contorted sculpture. Burgred recalled Egil’s sneering words as he’d stroked the blackened wood:
    ‘This is what your London will look like when Rorik is through with it.’
    From a distance he observed the boys for a while. Thankfully, they seemed to be keeping to the edge of the trees, searching through the litter of the forest floor. What strange game was this? Perhaps they were collecting insects, or looking for something they’d lost on a previous visit. But he hadn’t the time to find out. Moving in a wide arc, he entered the woods some distance from where the boys were grovelling. His mood was thunderous following his encounter with Morwenna; he’d not intended to reveal the full extent of his feelings and wondered how he’d face her again.
    But right now he must finalise details with Egil.
    * * *
    ‘What exactly did you think we might find? There’s nothing here that couldn’t be found in the rest of the forest.’
    ‘Can’t you see it’s been recently trampled?’ Aethelnoth retorted, trying to hide his disappointment. ‘There are lots of broken twigs and – yes! Just look at this.’
    Eadwulf scrambled over to his friend. ‘A firebrand of some sort,’ he deduced, pointing to the charred end. ‘So this proves you did see torches, but not who was holding them.’
    ‘Keep looking.’
    The novelty of the activity was rapidly wearing off and Eadwulf rummaged half-heartedly. He inched his way along a narrow passageway between the undergrowth, his mother’s warning about wild boars ringing in his ears. Something hard jabbed his knee and he winced. Recovering the object from the rotting leaves, he stared at it.
    ‘I’ve found something,’ he yelled.
    Aethelnoth scurried towards him. ‘Well, what is it?’
    ‘A brooch,’ Eadwulf said, passing it to his friend. ‘One used to fasten cloaks. And, I may be wrong, but I think I’ve seen it before.’
    ‘Really?’ Aethelnoth studied the brooch. ‘It’s gold, and I think these red stones are rubies. Not a poor man’s trinket then.’
    ‘No,’ Eadwulf agreed, trying hard to place where he’d seen the object before.
    Aethelnoth rubbed bits of soil and vegetation from the brooch. ‘Could’ve fallen from some nobleman’s cloak whilst out hunting, I suppose.’
    ‘Well, I think it’s something to do with the torches you saw. Perhaps someone hid here, waiting for someone.’
    ‘But it was dark,’ Aethelnoth reminded him, ‘and miles away from anywhere. Why would he need to hide? He couldn’t be seen in the woods.’
    ‘Maybe he needed to be sure the people arriving with the torches were the ones he was expecting.’
    ‘Who, at that time of night?’
    ‘Well, I suppose poachers after our livestock could be about at night,’ Eadwulf surmised, sagely nodding his head. ‘But I doubt that a