The meeting with Archdeacon Wulfred left as many questions unanswered as answered for Deormund. As they rode north, heading for Faversham, he tried to understand what he had heard, but with Thegn Sibert deep in conversation with Wardric, he had nobody to consult. For reasons unknown to him, the Archbishop of Canterbury was in exile and the archdeacon, Wulfred, in some way was standing in for him. Much of the archdeacon’s speech made sense to him, but on his island of Sceapig, little news reached his ears of the politics of the age. However, sooner than expected, answers would come.
Their party consisted of twelve horsemen, for whom the journey of just under four leagues, passing through the Forest of Blean, could be easily accomplished in one day: unless something untoward occurred. A mor
