The hostages that Isaac refers to are several qualified North warriors that Guzlen handed over when he made an oath with Alfred. These people as hostages can guarantee the oaths of both parties. Of course, accordingly Alfred also handed over several nobles to Guzrun, and one of them was the son of Alfred's wet nurse.
"That's right." Alfred nodded slightly after listening to Isaac's words. Although he did not think that Guzlen would destroy the peace agreement this time, it was always right to be cautious.
"Yes, Your Majesty." After the nobles bowed to Guzlen, they walked slowly backwards out of the house, and then the heavy door closed again.
When Isaac walked out of Alfred's room, he lowered his head but a young face kept appearing in his mind, especially Ulf's eyes as blue as lakes, which brought Isaac a It was a huge shock, as if staring at the calm sea.
"I hope we won't meet him again." Isaac crossed himself unconsciously, kissed the joint of his right index finger, and murmured to himself.
At this moment, Isaac raised his head slightly and inadvertently looked through the stone window on the side of the corridor. From here, he could just see the scene in the castle square, where he saw dozens of knights riding astride horses. There were also several spear-wielding attendants surrounding him.
"What happened?" Isaac frowned, and an ominous premonition arose in his heart. He quickly picked up his monk's gray robe, moved his legs, and ran along the long corridor.
At the same time, the knights were already riding on their horses under the service of their attendants.
"Sir Hart, you go to the barracks first to gather our soldiers. They are all good and determined young men." The knight riding a white horse, wearing a Wessex peaked iron helmet, and a sophisticated Wearing chainmail and wearing a red and white burqa, this man is King Alfred's vassal Voltheov. His thick brown-black beard and hair are his trademark.
"Lord Volciov, where are you going?" Just as Volciov was about to pat his horse and leave, Isaac quickly moved his legs and ran to the side of Volciov's horse. He raised his head and asked.
"Oh, it's you!" Volciov frowned slightly when he saw Isaac, stretched out his right hand wearing a leather glove, touched his helmet lightly, his eyes wandered around, and said calmly.
"Lord Voltheov, what are you planning to do by gathering your knights and soldiers?" Isaac's face turned serious. He knew very well that these vassals did not like him and thought that he was just a talkative person. Although he was a monk, he was able to gain the favor of Alfred. Jealousy, a bad quality like this, was always inevitable, and even someone as smart as Isaac could do nothing about it.
"Master Isaac, there is no need to make a fuss, we are just going hunting." Volciov's strong body couldn't help but move on the saddle, and he continued.
"Do you need so many people for hunting? What's more, why don't you bring a hound?" Isaac looked around, his expression calmed, and he said to Volciov in a deep voice: "In this case, then it should be reported Your Majesty the King!"
"That's enough. I'm a vassal noble. It's not your turn to tell me this kind of thing." Volciov's eyes wandered and he said to Isaac in a rough voice, but he did not dare to raise his voice. tone.
"I will not let go if you don't tell me the reason." Isaac grabbed the reins of Voltheov's horse and said to the vassal.
"Okay, to tell you the truth, we are going to hunt witches." Seeing this, Volciov had no choice but to lean down and say to Isaac.
"Witch hunting?" Isaac's eyes widened, his mouth opened slightly, and he said in surprise.
"Yes, those damn witches of the north used evil methods to kill our soldiers, and now that they have left Guzlen's army, isn't it a good opportunity for hunting? I want to tie them up and put them on the fire. Burn to death." Voltheov said through gritted teeth.
"No, you will anger Guzlen." After listening to Volciov's explanation, Isaac not only did not relax at all, but tightened his grip on the horse's reins.
"Don't worry, I have already found out clearly that the army of witches is not with Guzlen. We just need to eliminate them as soon as possible without attracting anyone's attention." Voltheov said coldly , and immediately kicked the horse's belly hard with his heel. The horse neighed and almost stood up.
"Oh." Isaac, who originally held on to the horse's reins, loosened his hands because of fright.
Amid a burst of laughter from Count Voltheov, the war horse carried the count away, followed by five attendants with spears and shields, who followed their master with weapons.
"Oops." Isaac stood in the castle, looking at the backs of the knights, with a look of fear on his face.
.....
Between Dorset and Hampshire, rolling hills and forests extend between the two counties until they reach the mouth of the English Channel.
On a dirt road, dozens of Wessex people, dressed as farmers and businessmen, were preparing to make a pilgrimage to the diocese of Christchurch, where the bishop preaches salvation in Christ.
A little girl wearing a white woolen long-eared headscarf stretched out her left hand to pull her mother. Her feet were wearing clumsy shoes, one foot deep and one foot shallow.
The little girl obviously didn't understand why she had to travel across mountains and rivers, leaving the village and heading south. But being able to travel far away always seems very novel to a child of her age, especially when the roadside is already covered with beautiful wild flowers.
Suddenly, the little girl broke free from her mother's rough hand and ran towards the roadside, as if she had seen something interesting.
"Meili." Her mother called her child's name anxiously, but Meili ignored her at all. She cautiously approached the wild flower, and saw a beautiful butterfly sitting on the flower's stamens, its wings opening and closing. , the curved mouthparts are piercing into the flowers, absorbing the essence of the flowers.
Little Meili blinked her big eyes and stared at this butterfly carefully, as if they were the only ones in the world.
At this moment, the butterfly seemed to feel the vibration and flapped its wings to fly. Little Meili's eyes followed the movement of the butterfly. When she raised her head and looked at the butterfly dancing in the sun, suddenly, a shadow covered it. On top of her head.
A hand quickly reached forward, and the wings of the flying butterfly were gently held in the palm of his hand. Then it slowly moved downward and placed it in front of little Meili.
Little Meili had a puzzled look on her face, and a tall figure reflected in her green eyes. The owner of this figure was wrapped in a leather armor and an animal skin shawl, with an ax hanging on her waist, and her hair was made of silver. Hair accessories.
"Ah~~~."
There was a panic among the pilgrims. Everyone's faces showed a look of fear, and some people wanted to escape in a panic.
From the woods, the North warriors led by Ulf walked out slowly like a pack of wolves, with several pack wagons behind them.
"Take it." Ange handed the butterfly in his hand to little Meili, and then patted her baby-fat little face with his hand.
"No, don't hurt my child." Among the pilgrims, only little Meili's mother rushed towards Ange and others. She desperately hugged her child tightly. Only then did she realize in horror that she was in a Among the terrifying Vikings.
Ange ignored the panicked mother and daughter, and walked past them towards the group of pilgrims. At a leisurely pace, these groups of pilgrims were like a group of helpless lambs.
"Tell everyone not to do anything." Ulf was riding on his horse, looking at the group of pilgrims who had been surrounded by them, and calmly ordered Vargas.
"I understand." Vargas nodded lazily, not bothering to attack a group of unarmed people.
"Go and tell them that as long as you follow us to the coast and help us cut down trees to make boats, we will let them go free." Ulf looked calm, lowered his head and turned to Roger next to him, and said to him.
"Yes, yes, sir." Roger nodded quickly and agreed. As a slave, he could only obey.
Ulf captured all the Wessex people he met along the way. Because they were far away from the Danfa area and lost their original Viking longships in the battle, they needed to build new ships. This kind of ship It doesn’t take long to dry, just enough to get across the English Channel.
As the army led by Ulf went south, the Wessex lords who were able to protect themselves along the way took refuge in strong castles, fearing that they would be attacked by the greedy Vikings. Some of them even Some treasures were piled outside.
Seeing this, Ulf accepted it without any courtesy and continued walking towards the seaside.
"Ten miles further is the Diocese of Christchurch."
When night fell, Ulf and others immediately set up camp. They formed a circle around the pack wagon and lit a bonfire in the middle. Roger hugged his legs and sat next to the bonfire, and said to Ulf and others.
At this time, the tong pot on the campfire was steaming hot, and the venison captured in the forest along the way was boiling in it. Ange and the shield girls also found some delicious mushrooms, berries and spicy plants in the woods. Put the juice in it to make it taste more delicious.
"Well, give some food to the captured slaves." Ulf nodded slightly and ordered Ange and others.
The captured passers-by were sitting on the ground in a corner of the camp dejectedly. Although Roger explained to them that he would let them go as long as they completed their mission, the fear of the Vikings still made them uneasy.
