King Constantine I, protected behind the ranks of his riders, measured Hárekr with his gaze once again.
The Pictish strategist, highly impressed by the Northman’s skill with the bow, noticed that Hárekr was descending from the walls. He approached the king and told him with absolute seriousness:
"We must leave, my lord."
However, the king ignored his advice once again. Suddenly, the heavy gates of the city began to open. Hárekr stepped out in front of his warriors, walking with a firm step. Beside him, Torstein murmured:
"We could die here... May Valhalla receive us with glory."
He said it watching the enemy cavalry; the Vikings had barely a few horses, but on their faces there was not the slightest trace of fear.
Hárekr ignored Torstein’s comment. Once outside, he fixed his gaze on the enemy troops and shouted with a booming voice:
"Head for a head! Bring me the man who killed Gormr and accept the terms of the negotiation."
He spoke looking directly at Constantine I, whom he considered a true coward. The king looked at his interpreter, who translated the words to the Saxon:
"He asks for the head of the warrior who fired the arrow."
The strategist and the king immediately looked at the responsible Pictish chieftain. However, the king had no intention of handing him over and shouted with arrogance toward the interpreter:
"I will never hand over one of my men! And neither will you leave here so easily!"
The interpreter translated the refusal to Hárekr. The young leader’s gaze lit up with rage and he ordered immediately:
"Bring all the nobles locked in the monastery. Cut off their heads on the wall, each and every one. Let these men see that Norse blood weighs much more than any of them."
A vanguard warrior, pleased with Hárekr’s order, went himself to fetch the prisoners from the monastery.
Within minutes, the Vikings began bringing the nobles up to the top of the battlements, showing them one by one. The king looked up without understanding what the Northman intended, but the strategist exclaimed in terror:
"He is going to kill them! If this happens, the people and the noble families will rise up in arms against the crown..."
Constantine I listened to the warning in silence. He had not yet earned the total loyalty of the great lords of the kingdom, and this fact would leave him in a politically devastating position. Even so, he refused to give in publicly; he could not bow his head in front of his own soldiers. Find the original chapter at NovelPing.
With all the nobles lined up on the wall, including the beaten priest, Hárekr gave the order without blinking:
"Kill them. One by one."
The Viking executed the order on the spot: he delivered a dry axe blow and severed the head of the first noble, letting it roll from the top of the wall down to the snow. Constantine I, horrified to witness the scene, stepped forward and shouted at Hárekr:
"You are provoking the entire Pictish people!"
The strategist looked at the king and let out a heavy sigh; did he truly believe those words would stop the Northman’s fury? The second head immediately fell.
The king, unable to withstand the pressure, ended up giving in and shouted desperately:
"Enough! Let us talk!"
The interpreter translated the plea to Hárekr, but the young chieftain did not even flinch and ordered coldly:
"Next."
A third head fell onto the snow. Of the ten main nobles, only seven remained. One of them, desperate over his king’s indecision, shouted at the king from the battlement:
"Coward king! You use us as simple tools... You knew they had us trapped in this city. Why come to fight now? Inept!"
In an act of desperation, the noble himself snatched a knife from the nearest Viking guard and slit his own throat before collapsing onto the wall.
Constantine I, overwhelmed to see that his own nobles cursed him before dying, did not know how to react. Cináed, the strategist, took the initiative and shouted at Hárekr:
"We will comply with all the conditions! Leave the Pictish lands and we will send a ship loaded with the gold and silver you asked for."
Hárekr listened attentively. However, the fury over his companion’s death had not faded. After hearing the translation, he demanded again with a thunderous voice:
"Give me the head of the man who killed my friend!"
The strategist, indignant to see that the Viking would not yield on anything, replied firmly:
Hárekr let out a laugh full of disdain and replied:
"Let Odin wait for me with mead and let the valkyries take me to Valhalla! My friend is going to be avenged today."
Gormr and almost half of his host came from his own lands in Norway. To Hárekr, those warriors were not expendable pieces, but men who had grown up with him and fought faithfully alongside his mother. He could not look his people in the eye back in the fjords if he left the death of one of them unpunished. Taking that life was the only way to settle the debt.
The king directed his gaze toward his chieftain. Hárekr noticed instantly that all the Pictish chiefs were looking for that same man, confirming his suspicions: he had been the one who fired the deadly arrow at Gormr.
The Pictish chieftain, realizing that the situation was completely out of his control, understood there was no way to leave there alive without condemning his own people. He observed the weakness of his troops and looked at his king, who, despite everything, had refused to hand him over until the very last moment.
Decided to face the consequences, the chieftain advanced slowly on his horse until he stood in front of Hárekr. He looked at him fixedly and declared:
"My mistake was destroying the chance to negotiate... I only hope you keep your word, young warrior."
Without hesitating a second, he drew his own sword and drove it forcefully into his chest.
King Constantine I witnessed the scene with his teeth clenched in fury. He burned Hárekr’s face into his memory, swearing internally that he would seek revenge in the future.
Hárekr, seeing the man’s sacrifice, nodded with a slight gesture of respect toward his determination. Then he addressed the enemy ranks and sentenced:
"You have seven days to deliver all the gold, silver, and agreed-upon armor. How you obtain the loot and where you deliver it is your problem."
Without adding a single word more, he turned around and walked back into the city. The Pictish king, deeply humiliated and without arguments to fight, said nothing; he tightened the reins and ordered his riders to retreat.
Upon reaching the main camp, Constantine I met with the rest of his troops. With his face distorted by rage, he looked at Cináed and asked him:
"Is there truly no way to finish off those pagans right now?"
The strategist, keeping a cool head in the face of his king’s irritation, replied with bitterness:
"There was before, my lord... But for that we needed time to plan a proper strategy. At this moment, with the winter cold, besides.. Without the chieftains leading the troops, it is impossible to win."