Taking my place at the rail, I called down to the harbour master, standing at the prow of the boat. "We are halting now," I told him. "The king will allow his ship to be boarded."
"Then stand well back," the quaestor answered angrily. With a forward motion of his hand, he signalled his men to scale the side of the longship. There were eight guards altogether, each armed with a spear and a short, broad-bladed sword.
When they had all come on deck, the harbour master swaggered to where Harald stood and demanded to know why he had attacked the other boat, to which-once I had translated the question-King Harald replied placidly, "I found the sight of them annoying."
"Do you not know that it is an offence to molest a ship in the emperor's harbour?" demanded the quaestor.
I conveyed the man's words, and Harald replied: "And is it an offence in the emperor's harbour to steal a man's silver?"
"Of course it is," replied the guard. "Do you claim that they tried to steal your silver?"
"Nay," confessed Harald, "they are not the thieves-it is you who have stolen my silver." The words were scarcely out of his mouth when the entire company of barbarians rose up with a terrible shout and threw themselves upon the guardsmen. The struggle was brief, and the Sea Wolves were able to disarm their outmanned opponents with little effort and no bloodshed.
Then, seizing the quaestor, Harald hurled the thief onto the deck, and placed his foot on the man's neck. The guardsmen squirmed to see their master treated so, but they were disarmed and held in the iron grip of Danes inflamed with righteous anger, and there was nothing they could do.
The quaestor shouted and thrashed around, demanding to be released. Jarl Harald, his bare foot well placed to crush the official's neck, ignored the commotion and called for his sword. The blade appeared and was placed into his outstretched hand.
"What is this?" the quaestor croaked from the ship's deck. "What…?" Appealing to me, the captive shrieked pitifully, "Tell him, agh!…must release us at once…wrath of the emperor! Tell him!"
The king indicated that I should relay the prisoner's words; I convinced Harald to free the man's throat sufficiently to allow the wretch to speak, then repeated the quaestor's threat. Harald laughed. "Good! I have not killed a thief in a long time. I will enjoy telling his master why I have done this." With that, he raised the sword.
"Wait!" cried the writhing captive.
"Tell him to hold still," Harald instructed, "or it will not be a clean chop."
"What? What?" gasped the quaestor.
"He says you'd better lie still or the blow will not be clean."
"Tell him it was a mistake," shouted the quaestor. "Tell him I will give it all back."
"It is too late," I told him. "King Harald has determined to take revenge on you for the way you cheated him yesterday. He no longer cares about the money."
"Then what does he want?"
"He wants to nail your head to the mast of this ship," I answered. "And I believe he will do that very thing."
Harald removed his foot from the quaestor's neck, and placed the edge of the sharpened sword against the soft flesh; the tender skin parted and a few large drops of blood trailed down the doomed man's neck and splashed onto the deck.
"Does he know who I am?" the captive shrieked.
"He believes you to be the man who made him a fool before his men and stole his silver," I replied.
"You are making a mistake!" wailed the captive.
Harald put his foot on the man's back and raised the sword above his head, preparing to strike.
"No! No!" shrieked the quaestor. "Wait! Listen to me! I am an important man, a wealthy man. You can ransom me!"
"What does he say now?" wondered Harald, squinting his eye as he judged where the blade would fall.
"He is saying he is a man of some importance and that you might consider holding him for ransom."
Harald cocked an eyebrow at this. "Who would pay?"
I relayed the king's question to the captive, who said, "The emperor! I am the emperor's man, and he would pay for my release." Tears fell from the wretch's bloated, red face and the smell of fear wafted from him like a rank perfume.
King Harald listened intently while I translated the tax collector's words, and considered the new possibility presented to him. "How much?"
"The king wants to know how much he might expect in ransom," I told the quaestor, who was now sweating so much that the rivulets formed a puddle beneath his head.
"Twice as much as I took from him," the captive said.
King Harald shook his head firmly as I gave him the harbour master's words. "Tell this ignorant fellow that I have slaves worth more than that. Besides, I will get all the silver I can carry when I plunder the city. Nay," he said dismissing the opportunity, "I will have his head on my mast, and this will be a warning to all who think to plunder Harald Bull-Roar's silver."
