Byzantium

Turning to me, Harald Bull-Roar declared, "Ever since Aeddan returned to fetch us from the slave pit, Gu

"I have vowed to build the church, but we have no one to teach us what to do. Therefore, if we are to get any peace, you must come with us, I think."

Before I could think what to say, Gu

I looked at Gu

"Not a priest?" wondered Gu

Before I could explain further, Abbot Fraoch spoke up and asked me to entreat the Danemen to stay with us and observe the Easter celebration. Harald, always ready for a feast, readily agreed, and we proceeded into the hall where they were offered cups of mead in welcome.

The abbot determined to show the Danes around the abbey and explain each and every detail of monastic life, including the Holy Mass which would mark the begi

"Look here!" cried Harald, seizing a new-copied vellum leaf. "It is like the book Aeddan had."

The Sea Wolves proceeded to examine the work of all the monks, making much over the cu

Owing to this lengthy distraction, it was not until after our evening meal that I found another chance to speak to Gu

"By all means," I agreed. "But I-"

"Karin would have liked this," he said. "Helmuth, too."

"It is too bad they could not come with you," I replied. "But, Gu

"They died while I was a-viking," he sighed. "Ylva said it was a bad winter, and the fever got them and they died. First Helmuth and then Karin. Many others died as well-it was very bad, I think."

"Gu

"Heya," he sighed, shaking his head sadly. We sat together in silence for a moment-but only for a moment, for he suddenly smiled, and said, "But I have a daughter now-born in the spring after I left. She is just like her mother, and I have named her Karin."

His smile grew wistful. "Ylva is my wife now, so it is not so bad. Ah, but I miss Karin, Aeddan. She was good to me, and I miss her." He paused, remembering his good wife, then added, "But everyone dies, and I will see her again in heaven, heya?"

Despair cast its dark cloak over me, and I said, "You see how unreliable this God is, and yet you still want to build a church? Truly, Gu

Gu

"It is because of all we have seen that I speak as I do," I retorted. "God cares nothing for us. Pray if it makes you feel better; do good if it pleases you, but God remains unmoved and unconcerned either way."

Gu

"I remember also that you told me he was a god of love and not revenge, so that anyone who calls on his name can join him in his great feasting hall. I ask you now, does Odin do this for those who worship him? Does Thor suffer with us?"

"This is the great glory of our faith," I murmured, thinking of Ruadh's words to me-but changing them to reflect Gu

"Just so!" agreed Gu

"You find this comforting?"

"Heya," he said. "Do you remember when the mine overseer was going to kill us? There we were, our bodies were broken, our skin blackened by the sun-how hot it was! Remember?"

"Sure, it is not a thing a man easily forgets."

"Well, I was thinking this very thing. I was thinking: I am going to die today, but Jesu also died, so he knows how it is with me. And I was thinking, would he know me when I came to him? Yes! Sitting in his hall, he will see me sail into the bay, and he will run down to meet me on the shore; he will wade into the sea and pull my boat onto the sand and welcome me as his wayfaring brother. Why will he do this? Because he too has suffered, and he knows, Aeddan, he knows." Beaming, Gu

I agreed that it was, and Gu

Sure, I myself had told him most of what he knew. But he had endured the same hardships, and suffered all that I had suffered, and more-at least, I had not lost wife and friends to fever while a slave in foreign lands-yet Gu

The thought dogged me into the next day. It was Passion Day, the commemoration of Christ's death, and the begi

"Do you think this wise?" I asked, while Harald and the others considered the offer. "They know nothing of Christianity. They have had no instruction."

"I merely open the door," the abb told me. "Let the Good Lord bring in whoever he will." Lifting a hand to where the Danes conferred, he said, "Look at them, Aidan. They have come here to get a priest and build a church. This is the favourable Day of the Lord! Let them seal their faith-now while the spirit is moving. There will be plenty of time for instruction later."

Harald spoke up then, saying, "We have held council over this matter, and it is decided that Gu

I relayed the answer to the abbot, who professed himself well pleased, and at once led the whole body of monks and Danes out from the monastery and down the path to the stream where we often bathed. There, Fraoch put off his robe and strode into the water in his mantle; in order to act as translator for the proceedings, I was required to join him. He called Gu