She nodded again, slowly this time, taking in his meaning and thinking about it.
He held his knife to her throat. “Now I’m going to take this gag out of your mouth, and if you scream it will be the last sound you ever make.”
She nodded again.
He released the strap.
She swallowed and rubbed her cheeks where the leather had left red marks.
Wynstan noticed that Wigelm had splashes of blood on his hands and face. He assumed that his own body showed similar telltale signs. There was a bowl of water on a table and he quickly washed himself and gestured to Wigelm to do the same. They probably had blood on their clothes, too, but Wigelm was wearing brownand Wynstan was in black so it showed only as unidentifiable stains that told no particular story.
The water in the bowl was now pink so Wynstan emptied it onto the floor.
Then he said to Carwen: “Put on your shoes and cloak.”
She did as she was told.
He handed her the bag.
“We’re going to open the door. If the remaining two guards are awake, Wigelm and I will kill them. If they’re asleep we will tiptoe past them. Then you will walk, briskly but quietly, to the gate of the compound and silently let yourself out.”
She nodded.
“Let’s go.”
Wynstan opened the door softly and peeped out.
Both bodyguards were slumped against the wall. One was snoring.
Wynstan stepped out, waited for Carwen and Wigelm, then closed the door.
He gestured to Carwen and she walked away, quickly and silently.
He allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. Her flight would be seen by everyone as proof of guilt.
Wynstan and Wigelm walked to Gytha’s house. At her door, Wynstan looked back. The guards had not moved.
He and Wigelm went into their mother’s house and shut the door.
Ragna had been sleeping badly for months. She had too many worries: Wilf, Wynstan, Carwen, Osbert and the twins. When at last she fell asleep she often had bad dreams. Tonight she dreamed thatEdgar had murdered Wilf, and she was trying to protect the builder from justice, but every time she said something her voice was drowned out by shouting from outside. Then she realized that she was dreaming but the shouting was real, and she woke quickly and sat upright, her heart pounding.
The cries were urgent. Two or three men were calling out, and a woman was speaking in a high-pitched scream. Ragna jumped up and looked for Bern, who normally slept just inside her door; then she remembered that she had assigned him to guard Wilf.
She heard Agnes say: “What’s that?” in a frightened voice.
Then Cat said: “Something’s happened.”
Their fearful voices woke the children, and the twins began to cry.
Ragna pulled on her shoes, snatched up her cloak, and went out.
It was still dark, and she saw immediately that there were lights in Wilf’s house, and his door was wide open. Her breath caught in her throat. Had something happened to him?
She ran across the short distance to his door and stepped inside.
At first she could not make sense of the scene in front of her. Men and women were milling around, all speaking at the tops of their voices. There was a metallic smell in the air, and she saw blood on the floor and on the bed, lots of blood. Then she made out Bern, lying in a congealed puddle, his throat horribly slashed, and she gasped with horror and dismay. At last her gaze went to the bed. In among the red-stained blankets was her husband.
She let out a scream, and cut it short with a fist in her mouth. He was horribly wounded, his mouth full of dried black blood. His eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. A knife lay on the bed beside his open fist: he had tried to defend himself.
