Avelynn: The Edge of Faith by Marissa Campbell Read Free Book Online Page B

talked over several courses and jugs of ale. Once they finished a platter of trout, cooked in a coating of milk, flour, and herbs, Hyfaidd stepped outside. The men shook hands.
    With a tight-lipped smile and a curt nod for our benefit, Hyfaidd left.
    Alrik pounded Gil on the back, a wolfish grin spreading on his face.
    “So what is it, then? Are we to have our sail?” I asked.
    “Better.” Alrik stretched, his back cracking. “We are to fight.” He grinned.
    I turned to Gil for elucidation.
    “My uncle has asked Alrik and his men to help aid his cause against Rhodri of Gwynedd—a shit-eating worm who has taken over much of Wales. Gwgon, king of Seisyllwg, wishes to enter into an alliance with Hyfaidd to push Rhodri and his army out of the south. With Alrik’s assistance, we will send Rhodri and his men back north where they belong.”
    “What is left of them.” Alrik beamed. “It is a good day. I will get my sail, we will add gold to our coffers, and the men will have plunder and battle.”
    “How long?” I asked.
    “The conflict is set to begin within a fortnight,” Gil said.
    A fortnight? How long until word of my scurrilous past reached Welsh ears? If Osric sent messengers out to the farthest reaches of the land, I might only have a week until Hyffaid’s court learned I was a wanted traitor. If I was lucky, whispers would travel from lip to salacious lip, and the dissemination of the tale might take two weeks, possibly more. “You’re not worried then?” I asked Alrik.
    “Of Welsh rats?” He laughed. “No offense, my friend.” He winked at Gil.
    “None taken, Viking dog.”
    The two men pushed and shoved themselves back into the hall and set about wrestling on the rush-covered floor. Cushions and reeds flew from swinging feet and arms.
    What was Alrik thinking? We couldn’t stay that long. Soon all of Wales would know the truth of our troubles. I wasn’t naïve enough to think I could hide my trail forever. In time, Osric would pick up my scent, but I wanted to be long gone before that happened.
    When the boys finished their roughhousing, I drew Alrik aside. I didn’t want to walk in the direction of Sigy’s cottage, so instead we followed a path away from the village. We skirted rows of earth left fallow. Dry dusty clods edged troughs left barren and empty. “Why must you enter into their war? We have no place in this conflict. I thought we were to head overseas, to see your uncle.”
    “This is a worthy pursuit, a chance to gain honor. My men will celebrate.”
    “You convinced me that we needed to get as far away from England as possible. You know I’m not safe here.”
    “You are safe by my side.”
    I waved away his sentiment. “I’m not the only one in danger of discovery. Your brothers have cast you out—”
    “A matter I am trying to remedy.”
    “How? By getting yourself killed in a foreign land for a foreign king?”
    “My brothers left me in Gotland and sailed to England to avenge my father. I vowed to win renown. I fought. Gained treasure and fame. I built a name to be feared. I earned the favor of the gods. Yet what have my brothers done but attempt to render me invisible once again? They have stripped me of my honor and tarnished my name. I mean to regain the valor I have lost.”
    “And what of my honor? What of my desire to regain what I have lost? Why is it you have agreed to fight for some distant king but would not stand by my side in England and help me reclaim my land and title?”
    “A whole country stands against you. My brothers stand against me. How were we to execute this cause of yours? Could you raise an army? Draw men to your aid? I understand your conflict, but that was a battle we could not win.”
    I gritted my teeth. The man infuriated me. I may have been able to accept his words, but I didn’t have to like them. “If it’s valor you seek, why here? Your men already respect you. They left Reading to follow you.”
    “With each passing day, they