Chapter NineteenThe warriors sat in near silence, broken only by an occasional groan or a sudden lurch outside to be sick.
“Odin save me.” A warrior lifted his head briefly, groaned and replaced it on the table. He looked sideways at the hall, seeing that only embers remained of the fire, while slaves moved in fear of quick blows from suffering men. Two slave girls lay under the table, one intertwined with an unconscious young warrior, the other as naked as a new-born baby, coiled around a shaggy deerhound. Nobody looked at them – the warriors were suffering from the debauchery of the previous day and night.
Outside, the rush of the nearby river was the loudest sound, save for the crowing of a c**k, until a black-bearded man threw an axe at the bird and it flapped off, protesting. Once i
