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“No. I pray for them to watch over my home and my family. I pray for them to give me the opportunity to prove myself in battle. I pray for the storms to be kind and the skies to be clear for sailors. I pray that my belly will always be full, and my thirst will always be slaked. What do you pray for?”

“I pray tae be safe. At the moment, I pray for my da...” she said, her words trailing away into sadness.

“What happened when he was taken?” Egon asked.

Caoimhe sniffed back her sorrow. “His hands were bound. His face was bruised. He was being dragged along, away from the village, along with some of the other survivors. What dae ye think is gaeing tae happen tae him?”

“It sounds as though he put up a good fight; the Vikings will respect this. There is nothing a Viking likes more than a challenge. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that he would be used in duels, either against other Highlanders for entertainment or against Vikings to test his prowess.”

“Oh, no! The state he's in...he'll be killed,” Caoimhe uttered helplessly, raising a hand to her mouth.

But Egon shook his head. “That's not necessarily true. Vikings don't usually kill unless they have a good reason to. If your father can offer enough entertainment or enough of a challenge, then he might be able to delay the inevitable.”

Caoimhe felt sick to her stomach. “Why will ye nae help me find him? If ye were born tae this land, then surely ye must feel a kinship with our people? If ye want glory from yer gods, then why dinnae ye want tae attack? Ye could have this matter settled.”

“It is not that simple,” Egon said, scowling. “I have orders from my father. Anyway, it would not be prudent to send an attack party to these other Vikings because we have no idea where they are or how many of them there are. We would be walking in blindly to a fight, and those are the kinds of fights that you end up losing. We would only be risking more lives. You have to trust me. The way of war is what I know.”

“But Sven...”

Egon let out a barking sound at the mention of the other Viking. “Sven seems more concerned with telling people what they want to hear, not what must be done. I am more concerned with making sure this village is safe when we do go out and look for the Vikings who carried out this attack. I do want to help, Caoimhe, but I cannot promise I will do everything to your liking.”

Caoimhe was surprised at how reasonable he sounded. It wasn't at all the impression she had gotten from him earlier, and given that he was a pious man too, she found herself wondering if she had made an error in judgment. After all, just because he worshiped different gods didn’t mean his faith was any less important.

She walked away, feeling confused and conflicted, wishing that there were easy solutions to all of life's problems.