The Flame Bearer

“Lord,” he asked nervously, “whose side are we on?”
I laughed. I was born a Saxon, but raised by Danes, my daughter had married a Norseman, my dearest friend was Irish, my woman was a Saxon, the mother of my children had been Danish, my gods were pagan, and my oath was sworn to Æthelflaed, a Christian. Whose side was I on?
“All you need to know, boy,” Finan growled, “is that Lord Uhtred’s side is the one that wins.”
The rain was slashing down now, turning the drove path we followed into thick mud. The rain fell so hard I had to raise my voice to Eadig. “You say the Mercians haven’t invaded?”
“Not as far as we know, lord.”
“Just West Saxons?”
“Seems so, lord.”
And that was strange. Before Sigtryggr captured the throne in Eoferwic I had tried to persuade Æthelflaed to attack Northumbria. She had refused, saying she would not start a war unless her brother’s troops were fighting alongside her men. And Edward of Wessex, her brother, had been adamant that she refuse. He insisted Northumbria could only be conquered by the combined armies of Wessex and Mercia, yet now he had marched alone? I knew there was a faction in the West Saxon court that insisted Wessex could conquer Northumbria without Mercian help, but Edward had always been more cautious. He wanted his sister’s army alongside his own. I pressed Eadig, but he was sure there had been no Mercian attack. “At least not when I left Eoferwic, lord.”
“It’s just rumors,” Finan said scornfully. “Who knows what’s happening? We’ll get there and find it’s nothing but a goddamned cattle raid.”
“Scouts,” Rorik said. I thought he meant that a handful of West Saxon scouts had been mistaken for an invasion, but instead he was pointing behind us, and I turned to see two of the horsemen watching us from a ridge. They were hard to see through the drenching rain, but they were unmistakable. The same small, fast horses, the same long spears. We had seen no scouts for a couple of days, but they were back now and following us.
I spat. “Now my cousin knows we’re leaving.”