Osbern was ready. The spear with my token was held straight out for Hereward to ride into. And he, Hereward, wore no armour at all. He had not even troubled to don the helmet one of his men had held out to him.
Oh sweet Jesus, I never meant this... But I had given the token, knowing it was wrong. And now somebody had to pay the price.
It was over before it had begun, so speedily that I barely registered the moves. Hereward galloped straight past the spear, missing it by a hairsbreadth, or so it seemed to me. And then, before I could so much as draw relieved breath, he had wheeled round, reading the other’s comparatively slow turn, galloping in on the sword-side instead, away from the lethal spear. He closed. I heard the clash of steel on steel, a shout, the brief, wild encouragement of m
