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"Here, Brother Heribert, you h his meal patiently A bite, che A sip of ale A bite, che "You th"

"We are close now," said the cleric "Why do we not go on?"

"We are prisoners, Brother We are set in a cage, here"

"A cage," the cleric repeated thoughtfully, or stupidly Ivar could not tell which

He leaned to speak to Berthold "What is wrong with him?"

"Brother Heribert? He’s never been the same--well, so the others said who knew him--after we came out of the earth up in the Alfar Mountains He was buried in a slide of earth, but we dug hih of Austra h the Bastard, but we found him much later, at St Barnaria’s rest house, up on the pass as we crossed north He was starving, for he never knew to eat, so I suppose some evil humor has disordered his h of Austra murdered Elene, and kidnapped the brat But he won’t--or can’t--tell us"

Wolfhere squatted beside the and recounting the dead rabbed the nest out of his hands and tossed it into another corner Heribert aze to stare at the weathered and cracking boards, as if he could see the wind itself as it brushed through the gaps in the byre’s walls

"Poor creature," the Eagle said "He was a loyal colant"

"So are we, are we not?" Ivar hesitated and glanced around but none of their guards stood within earshot

"None of us said anything Now Conrad and Sabella will not know until too late that the Eika are co"

"They have scouts and spies and outriders, all on alert," said Berthold "Listen, Wolfhere How can we get news of the Eika to Sanglant? Or to his reserve ar into the Eika trap as well"

"If I had not lost one"

"There is one other thing" Berthold pressed an open hand over his tunic, patted his chest "The writ of excommunication I carry here If it’s true that Mother Scholastica no longer supports Sanglant, then this will bolster Conrad and Sabella’s claim"

"By their words, it seems if they may already know"