Sean’s sense of his surroundings intensified. The smell of the dung heap. The moss growing along the well. The ocean waves in the distance. He ground his teeth together to keep from responding. The fear coiling in his belly would surely be heard in his voice.
“Nothing to say? Well,” Ivan reached beneath his cloak and withdrew a heavy metal object, “I have something to say.”
The key to Sean’s leg iron. Ivan held it up in front of him like a carrot before a stubborn mule. Sean still refused to speak. If he didn’t speak, Ivan could only guess how he’d be feeling. Sean felt angry enough to rip the man’s head from his body with his two bare hands.
“I understand you may have… acted hastily when confronted by all that bloodshed.”
Sean shifted. Ivan smiled.
“Come now, even a warrior can have too much. Yes? And that sweet little morsel you held in your arms? Mmm, a piece of that would be worth getting away for.”
Rage swept like a fire through his chest and Sean lunged at the man. Ivan stepped back, his eyes widening in fear. He snorted then laughed when he realized he was beyond Sean’s grasp.
“Now. Now. That’s no way to behave. And me with the key to your freedom? Should I just leave you here?”
Sean’s lungs were ready to bust. If no one was going to come to save him, he would need to save himself. It hadn’t set well with him to be chained like this. Waiting.
“What do ye want?” Sean asked.
“Ah, now, you see? We can speak as men.”
Sean’s jaw ached from keeping his mouth shut. He gave the slightest nod.
“I knew you would see reason.” Ivan sat on the ground, just beyond Sean’s reach. He glanced up at him. A questioning expression.
Sean acquiesced and sat back down.
Ivan smiled again. The greasy smile of someone who was going to sell you something you didn’t want, at a price you couldn’t pay. “Good. Now, as I see it, you have every reason to want to agree to any bargain that can save your neck. Would I be correct?”
Sean nodded again.
“Well, let me explain my bargain.” The smile dropped from the little man’s face. “You will side with my Lord Godwin against these Normans and kill as many as need be.”
“Godwin?”
“Yes.” Ivan rolled his eyes as if Sean were the biggest idiot he’d ever come upon. “Heis the rightful king. He is the only living male heir to the House of Godwin and nephew to King Harold who was overthrown by William.”
“I thought all Godwins were killed in battle. How did he survive the fighting?”
Ivan shifted, averting his eyes. Ah, a touchy subject.
This time Sean was the one who smiled. “Or should I be asking how did he avoid fighting?”
“Lord Leofrid does not need your condescension.” Ivan’s tone was thick with contempt. “He was not in the country when the attack happened.”
Many of the Godwins had been exiled to Eire over the years. Other clans welcomed them in. Perhaps family. For generations, the MacNaughton had always stayed clear of the power struggles going on across the water. Whether Danes, Gaels, or Saxons, they weren’t worth the trouble.
“It was more than an attack, Ivan. It was an ongoing battle. For months.”
“Yes but his father, Tostig, was quickly overrun both by his own brother and then the relentless Normans. They had no chance.”
“So how is it different now? The Normans are the ones who have all the power.”
Ivan smiled, his fat tongue gliding over his lips before he spoke. “Because now Leofrid has the backing of the MacLochlainn.”
“Of Inishowen? That’s quite a ways to go to get support for a cause over here.”
“There are others. Across Eire. But MacLochlainn has the thirst for power. The guts for the venture. They enjoy the fighting. Norman blood will spill until it runs like a river through the streets. Leofrid will be crowned king and their alliance—the Saxons and the Eire—will be too powerful for anyone to stop us.”
