The Emeralds

XII

The wolf walked proudly and confidently into the feasting hall of Jarl Knut, accompanied by a few of his men in arms. Rainer, seeing how lavishly the Jarl had prepared the hall, could not help but think that Knut was living his dream. The role of mediator in the largest civil war that even the oldest inhabitants of Scandinavia could not remember was clearly a special ennoblement for the Jarl.

As Rainer walked through the long, well-lit and heated hall, he could clearly see a round table with three place settings at the end of it. Two of them were placed on opposite sides of each other, while one was situated between them. The whole room seemed to have been well cleaned before the negotiations, for the grey stone floor almost glistened in the glow of the burning torches. The thick wooden pillars were decorated with the numerous vines that grew at this time of year. On either side of the room stood upright sentinels holding spears and shields of gold. What interested Rainer more was that Knut had not even bothered to place the flags of the opposing sides on either side of the table - as if Rainer and Magnar did not know each other.

To the left of the table from Rainer's walking perspective, was a large, proud flag in the colors of white and red. These were the colors used by the Magnar jarl, of course. In the middle, in the stillness was a gold colored pennant that obviously belonged to Jarl Knut. What seemed amusing to Rainer was that Knut had apparently decided to design the flag for Rainer himself. For the rebels fought under different flags depending on which of the allied Jarls they belonged to. Thea had the blue colors of her lineage, Olaf the brown and Rainer? Wolf did not have a flag, as he was not a Jarl nor did he have high-born ancestors in his blood. Nevertheless, Knut decided to give the rebel leader the colors of black and green. Rainer guessed at the reason for this choice of colors, but he did not want to anticipate the facts.

"Let Knut himself tell me why he chose these colors for me. I will flatter his ego in the process." - Rainer thought happily.

The man then turned his gaze straight to Jarl standing alone at the table. Knut was dressed very ornately, wearing a tunic of white and a cloak that shimmered in the rising sun. The long beard resting on the stag's face was braided elegantly, but that did not distract from the scar running across his one white, blind eye. Rainer remembered the circumstances under which Knut had been mutilated. It happened in northern England, in the Kingdom of Nortumbria, where there was a great battle between an alliance of Vikings and an alliance of English kingdoms.

Rainer saw that Knut had already given him a head-to-toe look. He probably expected Rainer to dress specially for the occasion. The problem was that all of the wolf's clothes were made for living in the middle of nowhere, away from the court. And even if Rainer did own some clothes, he certainly would not wear them. First of all, ornate clothing limited mobility. Secondly, they did not provide the wearer with any real protection against the enemy's blade. And thirdly, Rainer believed that ornate clothes were the domain of women, not men.

Rainer smiled broadly at Knut once he was within reach of his hand. Then he also shook hands with him and said:

- I see your wound has healed well. It is a worthy reminder of that memorable victory.

Knut also smiled and immediately shook Rainer's hand tightly.

- That's right Rainer. - He said in his quiet voice. - However, my children care more about the stories not about my contribution to this invasion, but about the famous slayer of King Norttumbria, Rainer Thorde. - He said even more quietly, as if he would rather whisper than talk. - It is indeed a great honor for me that such a renowned warrior has agreed to negotiate in my home.

- And for me it is an honor that you honored me with a flag, even though I am not a jarl. - Rainer replied with a broad smile on his face. - Interesting choice of colors. I assume it is not random?