Free Hereward 03 - End of Days by James Wilde Page B

back and put on a sad smile. ‘I am weak, Hereward. You know that. You were always my strength. When the boys in the village beat me, you were the one who bloodied them in turn.’ He took a step forward, wringing his hands. ‘In my weakness, I chose poorly time and again. And my heart burns for what I did to Turfrida. Not a day passes when I do not pray for forgiveness. But I was afraid of the Normans and what they would do if they came to Ely.’ He blinked away tears. His voice lowered until it was almost a whisper. ‘I am not strong, Hereward. Not like you.’
    The warrior tightened his grip on the sword. He shook his head. ‘You speak as if the death of my wife was your only crime.’
    ‘God will judge me.’
    ‘I will send you to him.’
    Redwald held out his hands. ‘Remember when we were boys—’
    ‘Aye, I do. And that makes the sting so much sharper. Kneel.’
    ‘No!’ Redwald’s face flushed, making him look even more like a child. He bunched one fist. ‘You would judge me? You, who have had all you ever needed. A father and a mother, land, gold, power. I was the dog who fed on the scraps from your table.’ His eyes blazed.
    ‘Kneel. I will be merciful. Your death will be swift.’
    ‘Do you think I have paid so many high prices to die here, in this filthy hovel, like some ceorl?’ Redwald’s voice cracked with passion.
    ‘If you do not kneel, I will butcher you like a pig where you stand.’ Hereward felt a calm descend on him. He had reached acceptance. This day would haunt him for the rest of his life, but the deed needed doing. He had no choice.
    Like a rat, Redwald darted behind the forge. The hot coals lit his face and for the first time he no longer appeared angelic.
    ‘You cannot run,’ Hereward said. He stepped to one side of the forge. His brother edged in the opposite direction.
    As Hereward readied himself to rush him, Redwald lunged.Hereward found himself wrong-footed by the movement, for it was away from the door. Edoma squealed as Redwald grabbed her wrist and yanked her through the smoke towards the forge. Snagging his hand in her hair, he rammed her head down. She screamed and struggled, but he held her fast, barely a hand’s width from the hot coals. Locks sparked and sizzled as they fell on either side of her face. Hereward could smell the burning.
    ‘Coward,’ he growled. ‘Leave her.’
    Edoma wailed in terror, but Redwald never once looked at her. ‘If you would be rid of me, do it now,’ the traitor said, his eyes fixed on his brother. ‘And if her face is burned away to the skull beneath, so be it.’
    Soon her flesh would blister and blacken even if his brother did not force her down into the coals, Hereward saw. He put on a smile. ‘You think I care about your woman?’ Yet he knew his hesitation had already answered his question.
    ‘My woman … all women.’ Redwald grinned. ‘I know you as well as I know myself.’
    Edoma’s cries became strangled and then died away. Hereward watched her eyelids flutter as the heat drove her wits from her.
    As frustration ate away at him, his brother threw back his head and yelled, ‘Murder! In here! Murder!’
    Hereward stiffened, torn by his lust for vengeance and the realization that this day was now certainly lost. For a moment, he held Redwald’s gaze, feeling the rage build inside him, and then he darted to the door. Outside, querying cries were beginning to respond to the shouts. He glanced back. His brother watched him through the smoke, smiling.
    ‘Count your days,’ Hereward called back. ‘I will not rest until our debt has been cleared.’
    ‘This was your one chance and you failed,’ Redwald replied. ‘The king is coming, as he did in the north. It is your days that are ending.’

C HAPTER N INE
    HEREWARD BOLTED FROM the smithy. Suspicious folk milled around the anvil and the brown mounds of iron, their faces darkening. If he gave them a moment, they would be on him like wolves.
    ‘Inside,’ he