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"Who were they?" asked Berthold "My vieas blocked by these daood view, but in any case I saw no banner Given that they’re riding from the west, I must assume they are Conrad’s men"

"Should we cross the strea us closer to the ht between their roup I think wearound in a circle and avoid them that way"

The mud sucked and slurped as Ivar pulled his hand free He crawled backward, stood, and wiped his hand on his tunic, which was already so caked with dust and dried mud that he shed it in flakes as he walked He itched, but no blisters had broken out, so God had shown hi the nettles

They cut north off the path and trudged through the sparse field layer, spacing theht hide more easily behind the boles of trees should they spot armed men It was a warotten what it et the nature of the sun in its glory, bright and fierce and blinding, like the angels The servants of God--sun andin their duty; he must serve likewise He walked, and because he was tired, he fixed his gaze on his feet so he could keep fro branch, a splintered stu was bloo late It was hard to remember what he meant to do Warn the noble commanders about the Eika attack, save Constance, find Hanna He no longer particularly cared to oe He just wanted a wash to ease the ache in his feet

"Hush! Halt!" The Eagle raised a hand

They staggered to a halt in their broken line The oldwhat he heard: the clash of ar and cracking as h the underbrush in the distance Despite the open vista of beech forest, the rise and fall of the land hid the skirh

"Follow me!"

Wolfhere set off at a brisk walk north by northwest, heading away froh the low field layer easily, ht he would probably die as his thighs ached and tres burned, he refused to fall behind and be seen as less of a n wo

Jonas tripped, and the Quman soldier--the others called him Odei, but Ivar could not bear to think of hi down to help him up All heads turned back to watch Shapes moved in the distance as one flank of the melee whipped into view: A trio of mounted riders lashed their horses as half a dozen others pursued theround and scrambled on hands and knees toward Wolfhere as the others hid in whatever cover they could find Only the cleric stood, staring not at the fighting but at the treetops as though he were gazing toward an angel hidden within the trerappled the cleric’s legs, and they tuether, but it was too late The blow hit fro of footsteps andas they closed in "There! There!" they called "Grab theiven quarter"

The riders had vanished into the wood, but as Ivar pushed up to kneel he found their party surrounded by a score of infantry, men whose tabards were blazoned with the stallion of Wayland and whose faces were streaked with dirt, as though they had tried to hide theht Each one carried a spear All had bows and short swords They were impressively armed

"Move! Move!" said their leader "We’ve been on your trail since yesterday My lord duke wants a ith you"

"Damn," said Wolfhere as he rose He looked around once as if he had a notion to cast ic into the air and confound their captors so that he and Berthold and the rest could escape But he couldn’t possibly do that

"I’ve twisted ging He glanced at Berthold, and the young lord shook his head slightly The other two--Odei and Berda--looked at Berthold, and the young lord lifted both hands, palms out and open, to show that it was, alas, time to surrender