Frei Island, North More, Late Spring, AD 957
Frei was the name of the island. Hakon had seen it a handful of times on his journeys to Sigurd"s estate in Lade. It was hard to miss its craggy peak, Freikollen, which towered over the rest of the island and its flat neighbors like a slumbering giant. But Hakon had never been here. For on the island, in the shadow of Freikollen, was Jarl Tore"s private estate at Birkestrand, the place he came to escape the pressures of ruling and matters of state, and to which he invited very few people.
As Dragon pulled into the bay on the east side of the island, it was suddenly clear why Tore clung so jealously to its privacy. The place was serene and stunningly beautiful, with a bay lined by a sandy beach, near which several ships lay at anchor. A broad p
