The great dragon-beaked longboat of the Vikings cleaved the waves, rocking endlessly, and yet, when he looked at the shore, it felt as though they were making no progress at all. But they had to be, or Thorvald would have beached the ship and called the rowers off. It was hard, exhausting work, and the men rowed in two shifts; after a thousand strokes of the oars, each shift was relieved by the next. There was little room for the exhausted, sweaty rowers to recover in. The longboat had no hold or cabin, and the wooden deck was crammed with sea-chests that also served as benches for the rowers. Whatever items of plunder did not fit into the sea-chests were stowed in the middle of the deck, covered with sails and made fast with ropes. And Edric was one of those items of plunder. He was tied to the main mast with a thick hemp rope that fastened around his ankle, with enough slack that he could move a pace, but no more. The Vikings had made two raids since Edric had become their captive. They had captured a great number of thralls - men who had been free, like Edric, men who had lived peaceful lives as fishermen and farmers, until the Vikings raided them.
