Summary

The two longships, the Sea Snake and the Storm Wind make their way along the sandbanks. Aquila is one of the rowers. He worries about Flavia’s fate. The men cheer as a settlement comes into view. People dot the beach welcoming the ship home. Aquila stands beside the Sea Snake in waist-deep water. Thormod whistles to him like a dog. Aquila doesn’t want to go to him but he has no choice. Thormod presents Aquila to Bruni, his grandfather. Seeing his tattoo, Bruni pronounces that Aquila will henceforth be called Dolphin and become his thrall.

Aquila learns he is in Western Juteland in the hands of the Jutes. Bruni’s farmstead consists of a long barn with stables for the horses and oxen. There is a houseplace at the far end of the barn where the family lives. Aquila sleeps in...