Saxon: The Emperor's Elephant (13 page)

It was an echo of what Walo had asked when we set out from Aachen. He had said that if a unicorn shed its horn every year, then it was a sort of deer.

‘I don’t know,’ I said hesitantly. ‘The book doesn’t say.’

‘My mother’s people know of a wild deer that could be the animal you speak of. If you are gentle with it, the animal can be tamed.’

His mother’s people, I presumed, were the wild Finna. ‘And is this a white deer?’

‘Some are.’

‘Can you draw me a picture?’

Using a twig Ingvar scratched an outline of the animal in the dust. The body, legs and head could well have been a unicorn. But when he came to sketch a full set of branching horns, it was clear
that this was not the creature of the book.

He saw the disappointment on my face. ‘It’s not the animal you are seeking?’

‘No. The animal I’m looking for has a single horn, a spike that springs directly from the forehead. You cannot mistake it. The horn is made in a spiral like the strands of a
rope.’

Ingvar’s face was alert with sudden interest. ‘There is such an animal. Some years ago I came across a broken piece of its horn.’

My heart gave a lurch. ‘Where was this?’

‘I had gone to the coast to catch those birds whose flesh you so enjoy. A broken piece of its horn was lying on the beach, just a small fragment. Maybe the creature had been fighting with
a rival and damaged the spike.’

‘Do you still have it?’

He flipped his knife in the air, caught it by the blade, and held it out to me.

‘Take a look,’ he said.

The handle was dark wood, much polished with use. Where it tapered towards the hilt was a creamy yellow band, the width of my little finger. I looked at it more closely. It had been inset into
the wood, and was a section of pale horn or some sort of ivory. Without question, the surface bore the distinctive spiralling twist of the unicorn’s horn.

*

The moment I got back to Kaupang, I placed the gyrfalcons in Gorm’s care and hurried off to check on Walo and the two ice bears. Ohthere was standing in front of their
cage, chewing on what I supposed was his favourite whale blubber.

‘If they get any bigger I’ll have to build them a larger, much stronger enclosure,’ he said as I joined him.

In the week I had been away, the two ice bears had thrived more than I would have imagined possible. They had grown several inches in height and length, put on weight, and their fur was losing
its ugly yellow tinge.

‘So Walo’s doing a good job,’ I said.

Ohthere nodded. ‘Twice a day he crawls in there, plays that wretched pipe, gives them food and water, brushes their coats, scratches them behind the ears. I won’t be surprised to see
him rolling around and wrestling with them one day.’

‘So he’s tamed the bears.’

‘Not at all! If anyone else goes near them, they start that snaky movement, side to side with their heads. A warning that they’re about to lash out. They won’t let anyone near
them except Walo.’

‘Where is he now?’

‘With Osric. The two of them are helping Redwald. That crafty rogue drove a shrewd bargain over the price of my bears.’

As I walked away, heading into the town, he called out, ‘And tell Redwald that I want to talk with him about who’s going to pay for their food. They’re consuming eight chickens
every day, and all the lard I can get my hands on.’

I identified Redwald’s place of work by a pile of quern stones. They were heaped outside one of the small, wooden houses just beyond the slave market. Inside I found Redwald standing in
the light from the window, moodily rubbing a piece of broken silver jewellery against his touchstone. He looked round as I entered and treated me to a smile of genuine welcome.

‘Back already, Sigwulf! How did you get on?’

‘Two more white gyrfalcons, one male, one female. And an eagle, but that’s of little interest.’

He reached up and brushed back the strand of hair, which, as usual, had slid away from his bald patch. ‘Carolus’s mews master will find a place for that eagle.’

‘And pay you handsomely?’ I suggested.

‘Of course. I’m a Frisian. I never miss a chance to turn a profit.’

‘Yet you don’t seem to have sold many of the quern stones.’

He waved dismissively. ‘They have their uses. Everyone knows that Redwald brings a cargo of wine to Kaupang each year as well as quern stones. So when they see the display, they know
there’s a decent drink nearby. It avoids open competition with the other taverns.’

‘Is Walo with Osric on your ship?’

‘You’ll find both of them next door. I’ve rented half that building.’

It was one of the long boat-shaped structures with a turf roof and, when I entered, I found that wooden partitions divided the interior into a line of rooms, each with its own door, all firmly
closed. The first one I looked into contained an array of barrels and crates. I recognized the wine that had been Redwald’s cargo. The next was a drinking den, with several rough-looking
customers seated on benches with their cups and tankards. They gave me a less-than-welcoming reception as I peered in. I closed the door hastily and went to investigate the next room that proved to
be much smaller, with a single table and a couple of stools. Walo and Osric were bent over the table, sorting through a pile of fresh plant leaves.

‘Walo, I’ve seen the ice bears. You’re doing a splendid job,’ I congratulated him.

Walo bobbed his head and grinned happily.

‘How did you get on with the trapper?’ Osric asked.

I told him about the two white gyrfalcons and described the sliver of unicorn’s horn that decorated Ingvar’s knife.

‘I’ve got something to show you,’ said Osric. He glanced at Walo. ‘Can you find somewhere to put these leaves so they dry in the sun?’

‘What are those?’ I asked my friend as Walo carefully gathered up the leaves.

‘Black horehound is your Saxon name for the plant. Chewing the leaves staves off sea sickness.’

I waited until Walo had left the room and was about to ask Osric why he had left our silver unguarded, when my friend forestalled me.

‘Hear me out, Sigwulf,’ he said flatly. ‘The silver’s in safe keeping . . . what’s left of it. The only times I’ve been off the ship were when I knew Redwald
was safely in town, and it’s just as well that I came ashore.’

He held my gaze, his dark eyes troubled. ‘I had a chance to talk with one of those Khazar slave traders while you’ve been away.’

‘Is there something wrong?’

‘There could be.’ Osric lowered his voice. ‘The Byzantines won’t be pleased when they learn about our mission to Baghdad. The Khazar confirmed that the basileus in
Constantinople is at war with the caliph. It’s an all-out conflict, Christian against Saracen.’

I recalled that the caliph styled himself Commander of the Faithful. ‘Do you think they will try to disrupt our mission?’

‘The basileus would prefer Carolus to despatch troops to help him fight his battles, not send exotic animals as presents to the foe.’

‘Maybe Constantinople won’t find out what we are about,’ I said.

My friend shook his head. ‘Not a chance. The Greeks place their spies everywhere. No one pays more for gathering intelligence on their neighbours. I wouldn’t be surprised if they
allowed the Khazars to travel to Kaupang on condition that they brought back information for them.’

‘But the slave traders don’t know why we’ve come to Kaupang.’

‘I’m afraid they do. I as good as told them.’

I was shocked. Osric and I had agreed to keep our mission a secret. We would explain our presence in Kaupang only to those who, like Ohthere and Gorm, could supply white animals. By being
discreet, we should avoid coming to the attention of King Offa who was sure to have his informers at the market. I opened my mouth to ask Osric why he had been so reckless, when he held up a hand
and cut me short. ‘I think you will agree it was worthwhile.’

My friend reached under the table and brought out a long, thin package wrapped in heavy purple velvet cloth and secured with a cord of crimson silk. ‘I mentioned to the Saracen that I had
originally studied to be a doctor. He said he had acquired an item likely to be of great interest to a medical man.’

‘Sounds as though he was trying to sell you something.’

‘He was, and I was sufficiently intrigued to ask him to show me what he was talking about.’

I waited for Osric to continue. His slim brown fingers were untying the knots in the silk cord. Slipping off the binding, he set the package on the table and gently unrolled the square of velvet
to display what it contained.

A complete unicorn horn.

I felt something tighten in my chest, and for several moments was lost for words. The horn was exactly as depicted on the brow of the unicorn in Carolus’s bestiary. Two inches thick at the
base, it was the length of my outstretched arm and tapered to a fine point, the twisting spiral impossible to mistake.

My hand shook as I reached forward and picked it up. It was a little lighter than I would have expected, and the same faded yellowish-creamy colour as on the haft of Ingvar’s knife.

‘Where did the slaver get it?’ I asked, my voice husky with shock. The material felt more like ivory than horn.

‘He wouldn’t tell me directly, only that it was in trade. I suspect that he was lying. Slavers will raid remote villages to grab their victims, and they take the chance to pillage
the settlements. I think this is plunder.’

I ran my fingers along the length of the horn, feeling the twist of the spiral glide beneath my touch. ‘Why would it be of value to a doctor?’

‘Items of great rarity are often considered to have medical value. For example, pearls are ground to powder and taken with a herbal infusion as a treatment for convulsions.’

‘Did the Khazar know that it is a unicorn’s horn?’

‘He wasn’t sure what it was. Only that it was something very unusual.’

I passed the horn back to my friend. ‘What did you tell him it was worth?’

‘I tried to avoid giving a value, but then he said he was thinking of offering it to one of Kaupang’s dealers in precious stones and jewellery.’

‘So you bought it.’

My friend treated me to one of his thin-lipped smiles. ‘It was expensive – twelve hundred silver denarii.’

‘The cost is not important,’ I assured him. ‘It would have been a disaster if we had lost the horn. Besides, by the time Redwald has finished haggling with Ohthere and Gorm
over the price of the bears and the falcons, he’ll have saved us at least that much.’

‘The Khazar insisted on being paid at once,’ Osric explained. ‘I had to use our coins from the Aachen mint. That’s how the slaver worked out that we must be agents for
Carolus himself. He as much as told me so.’

He began to roll the horn back inside the velvet cover. ‘The Khazars know we’ve purchased white bears, and are buying up any white gyrfalcons that are for sale. They’ll be
wondering what Carolus wants these animals for. If they also know that white is the imperial colour in Baghdad, they’ll be stupid not to have made the connection between Carolus and the
caliph.’

I was so elated at having proof of the unicorn’s existence that only now I thought to ask Osric what he had meant when he said the unused portion of our silver hoard was in safe
keeping.

‘I handed the last few coin bags over to Redwald,’ he answered calmly. ‘He’s put them in that secret cubby hole aboard his ship.’

I stared at him. ‘Was that wise?’

Osric was unperturbed. ‘Ohthere was pressing to be paid for the ice bears, and by the time he had a down payment and the Khazar got his coin, less than a third remains.’

A faint shadow of doubt clouded my satisfaction. I wondered if we were putting too much trust in the shipmaster. Even a third of Carolus’s original funds was a temptation for someone
sufficiently unscrupulous.

*

Freed of the necessity to mount guard over our silver hoard, Osric and I redoubled our efforts to obtain clues as to where the unicorn itself might be found. We could not
interrogate the Khazars because they packed up and left Kaupang abruptly, less than a day after selling the unicorn horn to Osric. So instead we split up and worked the market, asking traders and
their customers, sailors down by the landing place; anyone who looked as though they might provide us with information. We were met with blank looks, humorous and sometimes ribald inventions and
– as often as not – outright laughter. If we had picked up the slightest hint about where the unicorn lived we would have travelled there immediately, but with each passing day there
were fewer people to answer our questions. Midsummer’s day was the highpoint of Kaupang’s annual market and soon afterwards a number of traders began shutting up shop and heading home.
The fine weather also left us. Mornings that dawned full of bright sunny promise turned into afternoons when masses of close-packed clouds sailed overhead and a chill west wind rattled the canvas
covers on the remaining stalls. The gusts brought sudden, heavy showers. When it rained, Walo usually stayed with his ice bears, and Osric and I would take shelter in the building where Redwald had
rented rooms.

It was on such an afternoon that I decided not to wait to be drenched by a downpour from a bank of smoke-coloured clouds moving in rapidly from the sea. Already there were rumbles of distant
thunder, and a curtain of heavy rain trailed below the storm’s underbelly. Hurrying my steps, I reached the building ahead of Osric. The drinking den was crowded and several of the clients
smelled of wet manure, so I made my way to the smaller room where Osric and Walo had checked their horehound leaves. I stood by the small window, looking out and waiting for my friend. The light
dimmed as the storm swept in, and the rain began to come down in a solid cascade, splashing up from great puddles in the rough ground behind the building. I jumped as a flash of lightning lit the
sky at no great distance, rapidly followed by an enormous crash of thunder. I came to the conclusion that Osric had got out of the downpour elsewhere so was surprised to hear the door of the little
room open behind me. I turned to greet him, but the two men who entered were strangers.