bear’s denthe serpent’s pitThe weapons did not remain in a storeroom, either. He had them distributed among the recruits to military training. By sagely rotating his call-ups so that no landowner felt penalised by the prolonged absence of labourers, he managed to prepare an army ready for mobilisation at short notice. His captains, veterans of Ynys Seiriol, spared no one with their harsh fitness and skills training. The results were pleasing to the expert eye of the watching baron.
As he enjoyed a period of home life without strife in the kingdom, Alun employed observers sent into neighbouring kingdoms to inform him of the political situation in Wales and nearby Saxon territories. At the same time, ocean-going traders referred the Norsemen’s seaborne movements, so he was under no illusion
