Ath Cliath would have been visible in daylight, but now the cluster of cots and cabins lay hidden in the smoke and

blackness. The shifting reflections of orange and gold turned the river into something strange and beautiful, and her eye

followed the dazzling ribbon from the bridge, past the dark mud below the Steyne and out to sea.

Her eye adjusted to the flickering patterns of light and dark and she made out the black, moving shapes of men

running, screaming and fighting. Her new husband flung his arm about her shoulder and she felt the excitement that

thrummed through his body and shone in his wide eyes. "If you look over there," he said with his mouth close to her ear,

"I would bet the man in ring mail is Ivarr of Waterford. There, down by Dame Gate.

Eba stared through the flickering shadows. "Do you know him?"

"Sitric and Ivarr haven't fought for years. I've never met him. I don't think my father has, either."

Eba looked down. Several men grouped about their Lord, alert and ready to guard him from danger. They won't want to lose another

leader, she thought. "But he looks old."

Kimi's smile vanished. "How can you tell? He's wearing a helmet with a nose guard!"

"He just looks old; the way he stands, the way his head hangs forward, the lines on his face."

"Yes. Can't you?"

"No," he said. "I'm dammed if I can. What else can you see? Where's my father?"

"I've no idea."

"Then look for him!" Kimi grabbed her arm and forced her to face the settlement. "Tell me when you've found him."

The solid stone parapet nudged her hip as she walked along its length, fingertips grazing the rough, gritty surface. It

was difficult to see anything in the dark shadowy areas away from the flames. She turned the northern corner, and

pointed. "There!"

Kimi surged up behind her, his breath hot on her cheek. "Where? Show me! Point him out!"

She pointed to the open space where Lord Sitric planned to build his new church. A great many men struggled and fought

there but Kimi finally isolated a stocky, bright haired figure wielding a heavy sword. He let go of her arm and stared

down, absorbed in the struggle. "Watch him," he said quietly. "He's so good!"

"Not as good as all that," she said dryly, without thinking. "He seems to be retreating."

The back of Kimi's hand cracked across Eba's cheek so hard she reeled back against the opposite wall under the

force of it. The story of Sitric and the Lady Emer jumped into her mind. She probed her teeth with her tongue and was

relieved to find all seemed firm.

"Get up! Get up and come here. I want you to watch my father."

Eba hesitated. Her gaze slid sideways. She was so much nearer the doorway to the stairs now, but almost as if he

guessed her thought, Kimi took a quick step, gripped her wrist and yanked her back to the parapet. He jammed her

between himself and the stones and stared out to where his father's sword flashed in the darkness.

Kimi ground his hips against her, groaned with the pleasure it gave him and Eba feared she was about to become

a wife in a very real sense. He yanked at her laces and dragged the leather garment to one side without taking his

eyes off the fighting below the tower. His fingers found the soft swell of her breast, his mouth sucked the bare skin of her

shoulder and Eba cringed away from him. His fingers stilled. Torquil stumbled and almost fell, forced to give ground to the men

from Waterford and Kimi's teeth sank into her shoulder. She cried out, air rushed up the side of the tower and carried her

hair with it, a bright golden mass floating on the hot air stream. Kimi, his face stamped with fright, watched the Waterford men

isolate Torquil.

"Father!" Kimi shrieked, his mouth close beside her ear. His fingers dug into her bare flesh. "Break free, father! Break free!"

It was the probably the last thing Torquil heard. Eba stood in horror and watched the glittering axe rise and flicker in the

fiery light as it flashed down to cleave Torquil's skull like an apple. A second sword, swung from a different angle,

separated his head from his body.

Eba's hair flared over her face in the strengthening breeze and she did not see the savage, war-crazed faces of the

Waterford men turn, seeking the source of the youthful cries. She did not see them point to the pale-headed youth and the

girl with hair streaming out like the figurehead on one of their ships; nor did she see them start to run towards the tower.

Kimi did. With a strangled grunt, he dragged her to the steps and hurtled down so fast Eba missed her footing and

bounced off the curved wall. "Ow! Stop! Stop!"

Kimi took no notice, turned sharp right at the bottom of the tower and ran towards the church. He hissed a single

sentence that sent a chill down her spine. "They're chasing us now!" She registered cold, stale air and darkness, the echoing

slap of their feet on the stones, and crashed through a jumble of wooden stools before the altar. Kimi ran on like a madman,

pulled up short at the far wall, ripped aside a glittering tapestry and groped at another small door.

He wrenched it open and pushed Eba through, followed her and pulled the tapestry into place. He closed the door behind

them without a sound.

They were out in a cold, dark, damp space where the air smelled of grass and earth and a huge shadow hung over

them. Eba yanked her laces tight, nursed her bruised shoulder and glanced fearfully into the shadows. Kimi

grabbed her arm and plunged into the deepest shadow. She ran with him until Kimi hissed at her, peered into the

gloom at their feet, found a set of overgrown steps and led her down through nettles and briars. Some twenty feet down

was a small, ancient gate. Kimi heaved with all his strength and swore when it would not budge. Eba stood, panting and

looking back over her shoulder.

The gate grudgingly opened and they squeezed through and pulled it shut behind them. Beyond the thickness of the

palisade, the sounds of Dublin were cut off as if they did not exist. A peaceful countryside silvered by moonlight lay

opposite, and the Poddle glinted at the bottom of the slope. To her right and left the wooden stakes of the palisade

stretched away on either side. Two hundred paces to the east, a burst of light and noise marked the St Nicholas Gate,

where a lessening stream of people jostled through heading for the Slige Dala and the roads to the south.

"If we can join them, we will be safe," Kimi muttered.

"But where will you go?" she asked. "Your mother ... she is still in Dublin. She was in the Hall ... What if the Vikings found

her?"

Kimi stared at the water below them. "I can't help it," he said. "Would you rather they caught us?" The water slid

uncaring over the stones. "Lord Sitric was there. He will have made a deal. It's his fault all this happened, anyway."

Eba shivered in the cool breeze and hugged herself for warmth. "But don't you want to go back and see if she's ...

alive? Your father..."

"We have to cross," he said, as if she had not spoken. The Waterford men scared her, but she worried that

Annikki, Conn, her brother and Leod were caught up in the violence, too. Out of nowhere the image of a striking blade,

bright hair and blood flashed across her mind and she knew that if it unsettled her, it must be very much worse for Kimi.

He stirred. She looked at him, and then looked again; he sensed it and turned away; but not before she had seen the

gleam of moisture on his cheek. She dithered, uncertain how to help him. She opened her mouth and then closed it again,

and he launched them both down the slope towards the water and she only just stopped herself pitching forward into the stream

by clutching at Kimi.

"Can you see the stones?" He glanced up the slope behind them.

Serene in the moonlight, a series of black, shiny stones dotted the gleaming river like beads on an invisible string.

"Yes. Is the water deep?"

"No," he said. "But it's cold, so don't fall in. Come on!"

He stepped out and skipped across to the other side. "Come on," he hissed. "Three paces and you're over!"

It occurred to Eba she should run in any direction to get away from him; but he skipped back across the stones and

offered his hand. Sighing at her own slowness, Eba took the first step. From there, it was easy to reach the adjacent

stone. The next one wobbled, but she regained her balance with a great whirling of arms, jumped and landed in a damp

patch of mud. She skidded, fell into Kimi's arms and he staggered under the impact. Eba giggled, and then

remembered where she was.

Kimi took the bank at some speed, dragging Eba behind him and her thigh muscles soon began to burn. When they

reached the top Kimi halted and Eba, breathing hard, found she was almost looking down on Lord Sitric's Hall. She could

see no sign of pursuit. The blackness of the walls made the glowing orange and yellow glare above them seem so fierce

she felt sure no house in Dublin could survive.

Kimi brooded in silence and then asked, "Can you see the Tower?"

"What? Yes. Why? There's someone there, waving. Do you think they're waving at us?"

Kimi swore. "I thought you had good eyes," he snapped. "They're pointing at us! Come on!"