Pagan Siege (Tribes of Britain Book 5) by Sam Taw (10 best novels of all time TXT) 📕

a little gasp from behind the palisade wall, and then soft cries of despair. My heart went out to Kenver’s wife. She’d lost everyone except this young boy at the gate tower. I hoped that her panic and grief would be enough to talk the boy out of his stubborn revolt. It was not.

The lad screeched so that we could all hear. “Then you will pay for his death.” His cry was desperate and filled with pain. He ordered his little band of untested warriors to fire their slings and arrows onto us. Senara lifted her shield above my head. Tallack stepped aside as a rounded rock landed at his feet. A small volley of flint-headed arrows stuck in the gravel or were easily deflected by our men. None found their mark.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Before the women and children could reload, Tallack nodded to a single archer on his left. I watched the warrior take no more than a moment to aim the nocked bolt before launching it at Kenver’s son. I heard it hit the lad with a familiar squelch of spurting humours, followed by a dull thud as his body slumped against the watchtower floor. I closed my eyes to the sadness welling up inside me. Loyalty to his father had claimed another life. Would he spend eternity in the Summerlands? I wasn’t sure. One so young would not have had the chance to earn his place at the side of those fallen in honourable battle.

Our men did not wait for Tallack to give further commands. They charged at the gates and forced them open before the pitiful attempts with sling shots could do any damage. When the miner’s wives and children realised that the insurrection was over, they put up no more resistance. They gained nothing by risking their lives. Kenver’s widow no longer held power over them. As soon as they were able, they handed her over to Tallack in return for leniency.

By daylight, Ren and the men had uncovered a massive trove of jewels, weapons, tin, copper, gold, and more importantly, a huge store of traded Frynkish grain. The bounty was so unexpected that Tallack ordered Ren to find a suitable sacrifice to honour the gods watching over us. We’d been fortunate indeed to have secured their favour in recovering the mines.

While Massen oversaw the transfer of grain and metal into Kenver’s ship to take back to the Exe, Tallack spoke to some of the Head Hunters. He tasked them with the job of helping Nectan while he began his new role as clan leader.

The Chief allowed me to select a few choice items from the hoard before the Sea Warriors carted them away. With the binding ceremonies looming close, I took two delicate brooches inlaid with amber beads and a jewelled dagger as offerings. I was also able to replace a couple of the knives lost to the Belgae from my medicine kit.

I suspect that my nagging doubts about Nectan had played on my nephew’s mind, since I overheard him tell one of the men to send word if Nectan did anything suspicious or untoward.

Before we set sail in Tallack’s vessel the following day, Kenver’s widow was brought before us. One of the other women had caught her with a rope suspended from a supporting beam in her hut. The noose was about her neck when they stumbled in and stopped her from taking her own life.

“What do you expect me to do about it?” Tallack huffed, sheathing his sword and gathering his bedding furs in a roll. “If she wants to die, let her.”

The women pleaded with him to take her back to the compound on the River Exe, to give her useful employment, but he would not budge.

“I’ve no use for the wife and mother of traitors. Tried that before. Won’t make that mistake again.” He lifted his things into the row boat and gestured towards me to follow. I knew to whom he was referring. The Skotek Novantae Chief and his sons had turned against us. It had been my idea to save the life of the troublesome daughter. I kept my mouth shut this time around. Tallack used to be so kind, so forgiving. This is what happens when you see your lover skinned and strung up for the crows. I wondered if he’d have shown more mercy if she had chosen another method to kill herself.

Nectan stepped up. “I’ll take her on, Chief, make sure she has food and shelter, but she’ll have to work like everyone else.”

Of course, he would take her under his wing. He would make her a slave after her family had treated his so badly. That poor woman had suffered so much in her time, she hardly deserved that fate. As we pushed off and rowed out to the bay, I watched her drop to her knees, sobbing. I doubted that she would live much past the solstice. Her grief was absolute. If she failed to take her own life once, her determination would be all the more pressing.

Kewri and Senara were given the choice of vessel in which to travel. I urged my giant friend to sail with Massen straight back to the compound at the Exe. His injured back needed time to heal, not more trudging across moorlands under the relentless sun. Senara was keen to be present at the binding ceremony to support her friend, and I suspect, her lover, Endelyn. Somehow, I couldn’t imagine Senara wearing a colourful robe with flowers woven into her hair. I could be wrong.

Our trip back along the coastline was swifter in this direction. Both the current and the wind was with us and the mood of the menfolk buoyant and cheerful. We rattled along at such a pace, we overtook Massen in Kenver’s boat and pulled into shore where the River Yealm empties into the sea.

It was late in the day when we arrived, but it being so close to the solstice, there was