Kip. 14: The Light of Dawn

14

As Askeladd and his men cross northern Mercia, they are caught in early winter snows. Cold and hungry, they come across a village of Christians and pillage it, taking all of their food. They kill the villagers so that no-one can reveal their location. The only survivor is a young woman who was in the woods outside the village seeking penitence because of a cheap ring she had stolen at a fair.