“We do not dispute your title; give my brother his life and liberty, and take all; we have never injured you.”
“All would be nothing without vengeance; you appeal in vain to me. Did I wish to spare you I could not; an oath, a fearful oath, binds me, taken to one from whom I derived life, one whose death was far more agonising and lingering than yours shall be.”
“Do you scorn the company of your thrall in death?”
“Oswy, you have given your life for us; we die in company. God protect my poor mother, my poor childless mother! She will be alone!”
He addressed a few words in an unknown tongue to his men; his face was now pale as death, his lips compressed as of one who has taken a desperate resolution.
“Retire to your brother’s chamber again. You will not compel me to use force?”
They retired up the stairs; Ragnar followed, two or three of his men at a respectful distance from him.
They re-entered the chamber; Ragnar followed and stood before them.
“I will grant you all that is in my power; you shall all die together, and you may tend your brother to the last.”
“What shall be the manner of our death?” asked Alfred, who was very calm, fearfully calm.
“You will soon discover; my hand shall not be upon you, or red with your blood. Believe me, I am, like you, the victim of stern necessity, although I am the avenger, you the victims.”
“You cannot thus deceive yourself, or shake off the guilt of murder; our father’s blood is upon you. You will answer for this, for him and for us, at the judgment seat.”
“I am willing to do so, if there be a judgment seat whereat to answer. I had a father, too, who was condemned to a lingering death, by thirst, hunger, and madness; I witnessed his agonies; I swore to avenge them. You appeal to the memory of your father, who has perished a victim to avenging justice; I appeal to that of mine. If there be a God, let Him deliver you, and perhaps I will believe in Him. Farewell for ever!”
He closed the door, and, with the aid of his men, securely fastened it on the outside, so that no strength from within could open it; he descended to the hall.
“Warriors,” he said, “the moment I predicted has come; I have received a warning that the usurper Edgar already marches against us; tomorrow, at the latest, he will be here; before he arrives we shall be halfway to Wessex. Let every one secure his baggage and his plunder, and let the horses be all got ready for a forced march. We have eaten the last feast that shall ever be eaten in these halls.”