"He is sleeping now; his wounds make him groggy. There is a slave aboard. The rest are on the other ship."
Thrand chuckled, and the girl gave him a quizzical look. She could not decide which of his eyes to meet. So Toki fucks and naps while his friends risk death, he thought. You threw out all the injured to keep your secret. I'd be doing Ulfrik a favor to cut your throat before I leave.
"The men are on the other ship now. Will they be all right?"
"I don't know," her gaze faltered. She was a thin woman with milk-white skin and fair hair. Freckles splattered her face and her expression wavered between vulnerability and sadness. Certain men would find her appealing, though Thrand disliked her girlishness.
"Be on your way. And I won't mention any of this, I promise."
Her face brightened and she thanked him several times before flitting off. He watched her go, then let himself aboard.
Sunlight turned the sail canopy to bright yellow. His eyes adjusted to the dim and his nostrils filled with the tangy scent of blood. Toki, his leg wrapped and braced, slumbered on his side and tucked into the gunwales. Humbert slumped against ropes binding him to the mast, head down and gray-streaked hair falling forward. For a moment, Thrand feared he had died, but then he stirred as Thrand approached.
He drew a knife, and crept up to Toki. Humbert suddenly spasmed, shaking his head violently but keeping strict silence. Thrand did not want to kill Toki, but felt the precaution had to be taken. Humbert's dark eyes glittered and wordlessly pleaded for Thrand to stay his hand.
With a frown he acquiesced, padding with exaggerated care to Humbert's side. He put his mouth directly to Humbert's ear, so close he could feel the roughness of his beard brush his cheek.
"I am releasing you now. We are going to Paris, where you will show me your treasure." He moved to Thrand's back and grabbed the ropes biting into his wrists, but Humbert struggled against the bonds and hissed in his ear.
"Wait! I have a better plan. Please, listen to me."
"No time for that." He began to saw at the ropes.
"You will get us both killed. Then what of your treasure?" His voice cracked and Thrand shot a glance to Toki, who replied with a snore.
"Keep your voice down."
"If you don't listen to me I'll scream." Not only the challenge but the sudden power and clarity of Humbert's voice stilled Thrand. Nearly nose to nose with the priest, Thrand backed away and shrugged. Humbert glared at him, then spoke.
"Where is your friend?" Thrand mimicked a cut across this throat, and Humbert's smile deepened the lines on this bony face. "Better it's just you and me. So much easier to enter Paris. Your Lord Ulfrik doesn't want to help, and will force me to tell him the secret hiding place. But Humbert never will. God willing, Humbert will die first. Many days can Humbert live and not speak. God protects me."
"I'm not sure about that." Thrand put the tip of his knife to the slave's throat. "If you're wasting time so I get caught here, your god better act fast."
"The secret way is not open. Humbert knows this because my countrymen are guarding the walls. To go that way is to die. But Humbert is smart. We will enter through the front gate as friends."
"You are wasting my time." Sawing anew at Humbert's binds, the priest's words rushed out of his mouth.
"Do you hear my countrymen? They celebrate victory. Listen!" Thrand paused and heard vague sounds of chanting. Sitting back on the deck, he concentrated as Humbert began to smile.
"They are praising God and Saint Denis. Your cowardly friends will be rushing back any moment. You will never get away fast enough. Listen to Humbert's plan. Your Danish friends won't leave Paris, and will stay for the winter. So when your friends settle in, you and Humbert will go to Paris. You will bring a disguise for us. From the dead or prisoners, take Frankish coats, shields, and helmets. We will look like Franks. At the gates, Humbert will speak and they will know Humbert is true. The doors will open for us, and we will enter. Simple!"
"So simple I don't believe it. Won't your enemy know you have entered his city?"
"But he now has much to attend to. Ulfrik told me he fights on the walls. He believes Humbert is lost or dead, and will not think of me."
"And why so sure the gates will open?"
"Humbert is a priest, and I know what to say to make them open for us. It will just be two of us, yes? No threat from two men wanting to join the city."
Thrand dropped into silence as he considered the plan. The cheering of the victorious Franks was overtaken by the footfalls of men running back to their ships. If Ulfrik lived, he would return soon. He had to slip away to make it seem he was lost in the fighting. Shooting a hard look at Humbert, he turned his good eye toward him.
"Then you will take me to the treasure, and show me how to escape after?"
"Yes," he said. "Trust Humbert. I want to return to my city, and the gold is for you. Ulfrik's plan will make Humbert a slave forever, but we can help each other."
"And no revenge? I thought that was your goal."
A derisive snort shot from Humbert's nose. "That was before Ulfrik treated me so poorly. Look at these ropes tying me to this mast. Freedom is enough."
"We'll destroy Paris. You might end up here again."
"God will not allow it. Help Humbert, and he will help you. I swear this to God."
Muffled voices came from outside the ship and Toki rolled over in his sleep with a grumble. Thrand stood, sheathing his knife. "I will find us disguises. We will leave soon."
Slipping out of the ship, he jogged toward a confused group of men stumbling back from the failed attack. Joining them, he began to plan how to acquire and hide Frankish gear until the time for escape. The promised gold, the treasure Ulfrik had risked all their lives to obtain, would soon be his.
December 4, 886 C.E
Thrand's breath clouded before him as he crouched low. Two drunk men staggered past, their shapes outlined by moonlight. One stumbled while his companion laughed, and Thrand thought they would never move on. Beyond them the southern tower guarding entrance to Paris loomed huge and white, crowned with points of orange light from the sentries patrolling its battlements. Unsullied by attacks, it appeared solid and strong, as impenetrable as the northeastern tower had been. According to Humbert, its huge iron doors would swing open at his word.
The two men ambled away, their breath like chugging smoke from a fire. Thrand cursed them to fall into one of the trenches dug around the city. In one week, the Danish army had sacked a Christian abbey and made it their base, then dug in around both towers and riverbanks. Ulfrik had followed Hrolf to the southern bank, and participated in seizing the abbey. Thrand was glad for the easy fight, but less satisfied at digging in the mud for the remainder of the week. His hands still throbbed with blisters.
Confident he remained unobserved, he glided through the dead grass to the stand of trees and the boulder where he had hidden their Frankish disguises. Many Franks had been captured as they dug their own trenches around their towers. Their distinctive helmets and shields, plus their bright colored surcoats had been easy to obtain. He only had to wait for the right time to execute his plan.
Tonight.
While Ulfrik's men slept on land in tents pitched closed to their beached ships, Thrand had stole away with a silent nod to Humbert. He remained bound by the feet and hands, but no longer tied to a mast. Ulfrik's closest men guarded him, though on this night they had all been summoned away to attend Hrolf at the abbey, even Toki still lame with his injured leg. Ulfrik had left Thrand in charge of Humbert, providing the perfect night for escape.
He pulled up a mat of grass he had cut to hide the hole where surcoats and helmets were buried. The shields lay nearby under cloaks covered in branches. He wore the surcoat, but hid it beneath his cloak, and clutched the rest of the gear to his chest, then scurried back toward camp.