Free Saxon Bane by Griff Hosker Page B

to smell a man and then rip a knife across his throat requires discipline.
    One advantage of being Warlord is that you do not stand a sentry duty and I had a peaceful night’s sleep. The sleep, however, was punctuated with strange dreams. Morcar was running away and I was trying to save him.  I found I could not move and when I looked around I saw my mother holding on to my cloak to stop me moving. When I awoke I tried to make sense of it.  The only explanation I came up with was that she did not want me to get hurt saving my nephew.  Perhaps I was meant to let others take the risks.
    It was before dawn when I was shaken awake.  We swallowed a mouthful of water and ate some dried meat. Then we waited.
    The two scouts closest to the fort gave a low whistle.  The warriors were coming. Dawn was breaking to the east and there was light enough to see the gate.  We had all had enough time to hide ourselves beneath bushes, branches and anything else which would aid us.  All of us had smeared our faces and hands with mud.  We had even committed the sacrilege of dirtying our blades so that they not reflect light. We would not be seen. It was brighter outside the copse than within and the twenty warriors who trudged towards us would be coming from the light into the pitch dark. Those few moments of adjustment to the different light would be all that we would need. They would also still be sleepy; they would not expect death to be lurking beneath the branches of the trees. I drew my dagger in preparation.
    I heard them talking as they walked towards us.  They had no need for silence. “I am glad this is the last day we will have to squat in this midge infested swamp.”
    “Ah stop moaning, Aelle, you are worse than Egbert. This will be the last time.  Just do what you normally do and sleep.”
    “I would if it wasn’t for the insects. I have no idea what they eat when we aren’t here but they enjoy my blood!”
    And then I saw them.  They just had swords and axes with them.  They had no shields and their weapons were in their belts. They would have to try to draw them. That would make life much easier for us. We had decided that Lann Aelle, Tuanthal and Pol would be the first ones to strike.  They were hidden towards the end of the trees which was nearest to the hill fort.  I saw one Hibernian approaching my place of hiding. Before he reached me I heard a scuffle and he looked up. I swept my good leg around and he crashed to the ground. I pinned his head with my left hand and slashed across his throat with my dagger.  His life gurgled away. All around me warriors were falling so quickly that none had the chance to make a sound.  Two of them made a break for the fort but they were wrestled to the ground and killed by Lann Aelle and Pol. One of them managed a shout and we froze.
    From the walls came the shout, in Saxon, “What is happening?”
    Myrddyn had the quickest reactions. He shouted in Saxon, laughing as he did so, “It was just Aelle, he tripped up.  He is clumsier than Egbert.”
    The voice, seemingly reassured, drifted back. “Well, keep it down.  The scouts found horse tracks yesterday.”
    It showed how close we were to the ramparts that we could have a conversation and I saw why they had chosen the spot. We all moved closer to the edge of the trees.  They would not see anything wrong with warriors in the trees now.  They would assume that they were their own men.
      “Is anyone hurt?”
    One of Lann Aelle’s warriors said, “They are animals.  One of them bit me.”
    Lann Aelle laughed, “You were killing him at the time.”
    “Quiet.  Now we wait.”
    We knew that they would not bring Morcar out for some time. They would wait until it was later in the morning. It was hard to wait within spitting distance of the walls. I began to worry that someone could come out at any time but no one did. The sun rose higher and I was expecting Morcar and the guards to come out every time the guards on