not been the fashion of our House to wed with drabs. Tell Steinar, the
woman-thief, that he would do well to slay himself, or to be sure that
he is killed in battle, since if we take him living he shall be cast
into a pit of vipers or sacrificed to Odin, the god of honour. Begone!"

"We go," answered the spokesman of the messengers; "yet before we go,
Thorvald, we would say to you that you and your folk are mad. Some wrong
has been done to your son, though perhaps not so much as you may think.
For that wrong full atonement has been offered, and with it the hand of
friendship on which you spit. Know then that the mighty lord Athalbrand
does not fear war, since for every man you can gather he numbers two,
all pledged to him until the death. Also he has consulted the oracle,
and its answer is that if you fight with him, but one of your House will
be left living."

"Begone!" thundered my father, "lest presently you should stay here
dead."

So they went.



That day my heart was very heavy, and I sought Freydisa to take counsel
with her.

"Trouble hovers over me like a croaking raven," I said. "I do not like
this war for a woman who is worth nothing, although she has hurt me
sorely. I fear the future, that it may prove even worse than the past
has been."