‘Each puts them in the best place for an inland march to one of our principle towns. The southern group will head to Glastonbury, the central group to Salisbury, and . . . ‘ ‘. . . the last group here,’ said Alfred, finishing the sentence for him. ‘Where are your men?’ asked Twilight. ‘All ten thousand of them are here, outside Winchester.’ Alfred
looked thoughtful. ‘May I make a suggestion, my lord?’ Alfred looked at Twilight.
‘Of course.’
‘If you can get half of your men to Salisbury quickly, they could get there before the marauders and dig in for the defense of that town. The other half can stay here to defend Winchester, and I’ll take care of the southern group.’
‘Edward?’ Alfred looked at de Gaini.
‘If we leave tonight I can have five thousand men in Salisbury by tomorrow afternoon,’ replied the battle leader.
‘Hugh?’ Alfred switched his gray-green eyes to Easton.
‘The ramparts of this castle are impregnable, especially with five thousand trained soldiers. And since they are already here, they can be in place at first light tomorrow.’
‘Good,’ said the king. ‘That leaves you, veneficus.’
‘We will do our best,’ replied Twilight. ‘But do not forget, the Norsemen have their own venefici. Two of them. Twins, to be precise. Not forgetting the animals that are in ligamen to them and who will add greatly to their fighting capability.’
‘Ah,’ said Alfred, ‘and just what are their animals?’
Desmond, do not react to what I am about to say. We will discuss it later.
‘One has sea eagles and the other bears.’
Desmond’s eyes bulged at the revelation, and it was all he could do not to cry out in dismay.
‘Sea eagles and bears,’ said Alfred, stroking his sparse beard reflectively.
Septimus Godleman spoke for the first time.
‘My liege,’ he said vehemently, ‘I really must protest at all this rubbish. How do we know that this purveyor of black sorcery and his disreputable companion are telling us the truth? For all we know they could be Viking spies sent to divert us from the true paths of the invasion, or there is no invasion at all. To rely on their low shamanism and trickery when the very defense of Wessex could be at stake is clearly wrong.’
Alfred said nothing but looked at Twilight with his brows raised.
‘How would you handle it, priest?’ asked Twilight evenly.
‘How I have always handled oppression and tyranny, with God’s words and precious unction.’ He shook his silver curls in a display of piety and held his hands up to the heavens, allowing the silk sleeves to slide down his arms. ‘I wear the cloth of God as a divine writ against those who would cause their own downfall by sloth and malpractice.’
‘Amen,’ said Alfred, which was followed by four other Amens from around the table.
Sensing that matters were going his way, Godleman pressed home his advantage.
‘And if you think that you can affect or inhabit my mind with your deception and dupery, beware, for I am protected by God against such demonization.’
Twilight looked around the table before coming back to Alfred.
‘My lord, the decisions are yours. For my part I will be attending to the southern raiders.’
He gripped Desmond’s hand and they were gone.
Later Desmond raged around the Avebury compound, spitting out his wrath.
‘Why didn’t you turn him into a goat, destroy his mind, burn his curls, and unravel his fancy coat? How does he expect to fight those savages with ‘God’s words and unction’? Oh, how I hate people like that Godleman.’
‘What good would that have done?’
‘Made me feel better, that’s what. That stupid priest now actually believes he is protected against people like you and the invaders. Even I, a lowly purveyor of entertainment, know better than that.’
‘His mind is closed to learning anything from me, especially in front of his king. He’s been peddling them that stuff for far too long to turn back on
looked thoughtful. ‘May I make a suggestion, my lord?’ Alfred looked at Twilight.
‘Of course.’
‘If you can get half of your men to Salisbury quickly, they could get there before the marauders and dig in for the defense of that town. The other half can stay here to defend Winchester, and I’ll take care of the southern group.’
‘Edward?’ Alfred looked at de Gaini.
‘If we leave tonight I can have five thousand men in Salisbury by tomorrow afternoon,’ replied the battle leader.
‘Hugh?’ Alfred switched his gray-green eyes to Easton.
‘The ramparts of this castle are impregnable, especially with five thousand trained soldiers. And since they are already here, they can be in place at first light tomorrow.’
‘Good,’ said the king. ‘That leaves you, veneficus.’
‘We will do our best,’ replied Twilight. ‘But do not forget, the Norsemen have their own venefici. Two of them. Twins, to be precise. Not forgetting the animals that are in ligamen to them and who will add greatly to their fighting capability.’
‘Ah,’ said Alfred, ‘and just what are their animals?’
Desmond, do not react to what I am about to say. We will discuss it later.
‘One has sea eagles and the other bears.’
Desmond’s eyes bulged at the revelation, and it was all he could do not to cry out in dismay.
‘Sea eagles and bears,’ said Alfred, stroking his sparse beard reflectively.
Septimus Godleman spoke for the first time.
‘My liege,’ he said vehemently, ‘I really must protest at all this rubbish. How do we know that this purveyor of black sorcery and his disreputable companion are telling us the truth? For all we know they could be Viking spies sent to divert us from the true paths of the invasion, or there is no invasion at all. To rely on their low shamanism and trickery when the very defense of Wessex could be at stake is clearly wrong.’
Alfred said nothing but looked at Twilight with his brows raised.
‘How would you handle it, priest?’ asked Twilight evenly.
‘How I have always handled oppression and tyranny, with God’s words and precious unction.’ He shook his silver curls in a display of piety and held his hands up to the heavens, allowing the silk sleeves to slide down his arms. ‘I wear the cloth of God as a divine writ against those who would cause their own downfall by sloth and malpractice.’
‘Amen,’ said Alfred, which was followed by four other Amens from around the table.
Sensing that matters were going his way, Godleman pressed home his advantage.
‘And if you think that you can affect or inhabit my mind with your deception and dupery, beware, for I am protected by God against such demonization.’
Twilight looked around the table before coming back to Alfred.
‘My lord, the decisions are yours. For my part I will be attending to the southern raiders.’
He gripped Desmond’s hand and they were gone.
Later Desmond raged around the Avebury compound, spitting out his wrath.
‘Why didn’t you turn him into a goat, destroy his mind, burn his curls, and unravel his fancy coat? How does he expect to fight those savages with ‘God’s words and unction’? Oh, how I hate people like that Godleman.’
‘What good would that have done?’
‘Made me feel better, that’s what. That stupid priest now actually believes he is protected against people like you and the invaders. Even I, a lowly purveyor of entertainment, know better than that.’
‘His mind is closed to learning anything from me, especially in front of his king. He’s been peddling them that stuff for far too long to turn back on
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