Harald stormed into his longhouse, furious at the night's events. He had been in a position of strength until his men had lost their wits and decided to attack the Ragnarssons. Dimly he acknowledged it was most likely in order to please Harald but that irked him even more; his men were as thick as oxen and they [i]knew[/i] not to do anything without his express permission. A slave bowed to him in fear as he entered, tentatively asking if he wished to eat. Eyeing the broken man with scorn, the slave's face beaten and bloody from his assault earlier, an idea bloomed.

[b]"There's food aplenty here that I can fetch myself. You can go to the Healing House in the morning and don't come back until you've found out something useful to me. If you're not back by noon I will nail your genitals to my front door, understood?"[/b] The slave nodded mutely and scurried out, too afraid to remain in the longhouse for the night. Harald sighed and collapsed into the mountain of furs that formed his bed, next to the fire of course, and he consumed a quick meal prepared by one of the female slaves. Still furious he dragged the unfortunate girl to his bed and, once satisfied, threw the woman out from the fur fortress and slept.

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Wilfred laid the boy's corpse into the deep trench he had dug and crossed himself, muttering a few words for the boy's pagan soul, before shoveling the dirt back into the hole. A deep cold was setting in and the rain showed no sign of stopping, drenching his bandaged torso but also washing away the filth of the day's exertions. Finally the sad little grave was finished and the big slave marked it with the shovel, thrust into the mound. His brief act of mercy done Wilfred turned to go but a wave of exhaustion, mixed with roaring pain, washed over him forcing the Saxon to sit at the foot of the grave.

[b]"I have no intention of joining you though."[/b] He muttered to the buried corpse, tilting his head back and letting the rain run in rivulets down his face. [b]"Maybe this rain will wash away that satanic filth outside the walls."[/b] He murmured before offering up a prayer asking the same before thanking the Almighty for delivering him from the Dane dwarf's control. There was yet hope for freedom.