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Authors: Jonathan Stroud
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voice was high and nasal, with an inflection Halli had not heard before. 'Why aren't you down in the meadow? There will be dances before long.'
Aud spoke carelessly. 'I was hungry for apples. You?'
'The crowd at the ale tent in the meadow is too thick. Father sent us to bring a beer keg to our booth. If the Sveinssons had any sense they'd have distributed kegs already – that's what Father did, three years ago. But what do you expect? That fool Leif Sveinsson is already drunk, careering round, ogling the girls like the bumpkin he is. I'm surprised he hasn't fixed on you.'
Aud's eyes flicked uneasily to Halli; she cleared her throat. Before she could speak, Halli stepped forward with a deft touch of his forelock. 'Lords, may I be of assistance? If you desire ale I can bring you a keg with all speed.'
Until that moment none of the youths had so much as glanced Halli's way.
'At Hakon's House retainers are silent until spoken to,' one said.
'And taller,' said another.
'He deserves a clip round the ear for that,' said a third, a youth with a thin fox-face. 'For his cheek, I mean, not his height. Though that's offensive too.'
Ragnar Hakonsson said easily: 'All right, boy, get us a keg of the best ale you can. Meanwhile, if the Lady Aud would accompany us back to the meadow for the dances, she can help enjoy the drinking of it.'
Aud had been staring at Halli in some perplexity, but now she seemed to collect herself. 'I'd be glad to.' She smiled round at the youths, eyes creasing. Halli watched them shift and simper, basking in her attention. He felt an odd prickling in his belly.
'What are you waiting for?' Ragnar Hakonsson enquired. 'Get going, boy.'
Halli gave a smile in which his canines were prominent.
'Of course, sir. I am sorry to have caused offence. If I might just give these apples to the Lady Aud . . . Now, one cask of ale without delay! If you would wait by the main gate I will fetch it for you from the tent yonder.'
Halli pattered away into the crowd. When he was out of sight his movements became slower, more deliberate. He entered the tent stealthily, keeping out of sight of the attendants, who busily trundled casks from the central pile to handcarts waiting in the yard. A hop, a skip; Halli was at the rear of the stack. Selecting a solitary keg with a tap at its end, he rolled it to a place where the tent fabric was flapped and torn. A moment later, he was back in the yard on the opposite side to the waiting Hakonssons.
He rolled the keg rapidly into the deserted workshop of Unn the tanner.
The process of curing skins to make strong leather was a messy and unpleasant business, and as always the bitter smells made him gasp and wrinkle his nose. He considered Unn's vats where the curing leather festered. Each contained solutions of – among other things – urine, chopped bark, decaying vegetation, sour milk and animal fats – ideal substances for hardening the skins.
Now they would have another, more satisfying, purpose.
Halli found a jug and set it under the keg. He poured out a good quantity of ale, some of which he drank, some of which he transferred to an empty vat. Then, turning the keg upside-down, he unscrewed and removed the tap, leaving its small round hole. Taking up the jug again, he scooped it full of foul black liquid from the nearest vat. Moving carefully to avoid getting any of the noxious substance on himself, he poured it into the keg, where it fizzed and steamed.
Halli considered. Enough?
He recalled Ragnar's haughty manner and the possessive way he talked to Aud.
Perhaps a little more.
Another jugful went into the keg, together with a scraping of white paste from a nearby bowl. From the smell Halli guessed this to be chicken dung, used for cleaning flesh from skins.
All was ready. Halli refixed the tap and went his way.
Ragnar Hakonsson and his friends waited at the gate, surrounding Aud in an admiring horseshoe ring. They regarded Halli impatiently as he approached.
'You
Aud spoke carelessly. 'I was hungry for apples. You?'
'The crowd at the ale tent in the meadow is too thick. Father sent us to bring a beer keg to our booth. If the Sveinssons had any sense they'd have distributed kegs already – that's what Father did, three years ago. But what do you expect? That fool Leif Sveinsson is already drunk, careering round, ogling the girls like the bumpkin he is. I'm surprised he hasn't fixed on you.'
Aud's eyes flicked uneasily to Halli; she cleared her throat. Before she could speak, Halli stepped forward with a deft touch of his forelock. 'Lords, may I be of assistance? If you desire ale I can bring you a keg with all speed.'
Until that moment none of the youths had so much as glanced Halli's way.
'At Hakon's House retainers are silent until spoken to,' one said.
'And taller,' said another.
'He deserves a clip round the ear for that,' said a third, a youth with a thin fox-face. 'For his cheek, I mean, not his height. Though that's offensive too.'
Ragnar Hakonsson said easily: 'All right, boy, get us a keg of the best ale you can. Meanwhile, if the Lady Aud would accompany us back to the meadow for the dances, she can help enjoy the drinking of it.'
Aud had been staring at Halli in some perplexity, but now she seemed to collect herself. 'I'd be glad to.' She smiled round at the youths, eyes creasing. Halli watched them shift and simper, basking in her attention. He felt an odd prickling in his belly.
'What are you waiting for?' Ragnar Hakonsson enquired. 'Get going, boy.'
Halli gave a smile in which his canines were prominent.
'Of course, sir. I am sorry to have caused offence. If I might just give these apples to the Lady Aud . . . Now, one cask of ale without delay! If you would wait by the main gate I will fetch it for you from the tent yonder.'
Halli pattered away into the crowd. When he was out of sight his movements became slower, more deliberate. He entered the tent stealthily, keeping out of sight of the attendants, who busily trundled casks from the central pile to handcarts waiting in the yard. A hop, a skip; Halli was at the rear of the stack. Selecting a solitary keg with a tap at its end, he rolled it to a place where the tent fabric was flapped and torn. A moment later, he was back in the yard on the opposite side to the waiting Hakonssons.
He rolled the keg rapidly into the deserted workshop of Unn the tanner.
The process of curing skins to make strong leather was a messy and unpleasant business, and as always the bitter smells made him gasp and wrinkle his nose. He considered Unn's vats where the curing leather festered. Each contained solutions of – among other things – urine, chopped bark, decaying vegetation, sour milk and animal fats – ideal substances for hardening the skins.
Now they would have another, more satisfying, purpose.
Halli found a jug and set it under the keg. He poured out a good quantity of ale, some of which he drank, some of which he transferred to an empty vat. Then, turning the keg upside-down, he unscrewed and removed the tap, leaving its small round hole. Taking up the jug again, he scooped it full of foul black liquid from the nearest vat. Moving carefully to avoid getting any of the noxious substance on himself, he poured it into the keg, where it fizzed and steamed.
Halli considered. Enough?
He recalled Ragnar's haughty manner and the possessive way he talked to Aud.
Perhaps a little more.
Another jugful went into the keg, together with a scraping of white paste from a nearby bowl. From the smell Halli guessed this to be chicken dung, used for cleaning flesh from skins.
All was ready. Halli refixed the tap and went his way.
Ragnar Hakonsson and his friends waited at the gate, surrounding Aud in an admiring horseshoe ring. They regarded Halli impatiently as he approached.
'You
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