The tempest was sudden, mercifully short. All the long ships were able to regroup quickly; all but one. The Kentish shores were inviting and begging to be raided. Odin had smiled on the warriors from Kattegat but for the ship which had carried the Saxon priest and Lodbrok's brother. Ragnar hoped the drowning had been quick. Today, all the prisoners would be sacrificed in Rollo's honour.
His nose was being tickled. Probably a prank of the youngest monk of Lindisfarne. A feather was rubbing his nose, a feather which smelled like sea salt and possibly some seagull backside. The next thing he felt was certainly not ticklish as a large rugged hand slapped his face.
"Wake up, Athelstan. The Gods have spared us. We must find Ragnar. Where do you think we are? South of Dover? Naaah."
The Saxon got up painfully. He could not believe they were still alive. The wave had broken the ship in two; by some miracle, the two men had grabbed the same oar and tried to reach the surface together to breathe and they had managed unlike the other raiders. Now, once again after Wessex and Northumbria, he was back in England. This time, the Men from the North were going to ransack Kent.
The cliff standing in front of the beach their exhausted bodies had reached, was tall, very tall though not as tall as the famous white cliffs of Dover. Shrugging his shoulders, the Saxon wondered why he would make such a pointless observation. If anything, the smaller cliff was going to make the raid easier for his new friends.
"Come, priest. Let's not waste time"
The two men started to climb up the steep path which was running down to the seashore almost vertically. They could not see down without falling or up without wringing their necks. Unsure of the path, they were walking in silence when they heard the voices.
"Apres la tempete d'hier soir, nous devrions trouver des coquillages interessants"
Athelstan stopped on his tracks as Rollo was showing him to try and hide in the foliage of the trees and bushes which were growing on the wall of the cliff.
"Nous devrions attendre les soldats de votre pere. Si jamais des hommes du Nord…"
The rest of the words was swallowed by the sharp breeze coming from the sea. Whatever was shared by the two women and missed by his ignorance of the Saxon language was making no difference to Rollo. If they screamed, he would kill them. And they were bound to scream soon as the stupid priest was standing rooted in the middle of the path.
"Move up, man!"
The tempest had spared them, but the Gods had played quite a trick on them.
"Rollo. Do nothing without my acquiescence. We have a big problem here"
The tall Viking stopped and looked at the Saxon; once again since his rescue from Wessex, the former monk was talking in riddles.
A sudden gasp coming in his back produced the apparition of the side dagger which has survived the sinking of his ship. Confronted with two Saxon women, probably the mother and the daughter, he decided to kill the crone and keep the young girl when Athelstan started to jabber the same incomprehensible language. Worse, the Saxon was kneeling and kissing the maid's hand like a frenzied dog.
" Rollo, you idiot. Do like me. Kneel and bow if you want to tell this story to King Horik."
The Norseman had no choice but bow as two and more armed men appeared on the path. He was unable to understand what was said; but for Athelstan who was excitedly waving his arms and showing the sea's vast expense. Here and there, a few words for his own benefit were uttered.
"Do like me. Avoid speaking as much as possible and look grateful!"
The women retreated on the path while the two men were invited to walk along with the soldiers. Athelstan was smiling like a mad man and inviting him to smile like him. Rollo's patience was growing thin when the Saxon's last sentences freezed him.
"Aren't we lucky, Rollo? We have survived the tempest and found safe haven on this benighted land ruled by Count Berenger. This young maid's father. We are safe from the wrath of the Normanni; here we are safe under the protection of the Emperor. Rejoice my friend. We are in Frankia where no Viking has ever been allowed to set foot"
