"Well spoken, daughter of Rudulf! This time our great plot has failed; yet our enemy will soon have cause enough for grief. We will go out and rejoice at the tidings which shall soon blacken his merrymaking. Come. The good wine has put heart into me," answered Hardrat, and he stooped to grasp Kosru by the arm. But the Magian was palsied with terror; and while Fastrada lingered beside him, in a vain attempt to overcome his fear, Hardrat came springing back from behind the king's seat.
"Stay!" he cried. "Here comes a rider, fleeing down the valley."
"_The word!_" Seized with a second panic, the plotters drew back again into the depths of the tent.
A sudden hush had fallen upon the merrymakers about the king. All had turned, with paling cheeks, to gaze up the road. Down the valley a red Arab courser was racing as for life, and upon the flying beast sat a blood-stained figure which swayed and reeled in the saddle like a drunken man.
"God's wounds!" he cried. "What mummery is this?"
But then from the viking camp in the rear burst out a terrible shout, and the lofty figure of Floki the Crane came rushing through the midst of the Franks.
"Olvir! Olvir!--my earl--my bright one!" he cried; and as Liutrad sprang in and halted the red mare at the edge of the gathering, Floki's long arm caught her rider from the saddle. But it was Rothada who took the king's flagon out of the cupbearer's hand and ran to place it at the lips of the Northman.
The fiery wine lent new strength to the fainting messenger. He drew away from Floki and faced the king.
"Vengeance!--vengeance, lord king!" he gasped. "Slain is the Hero--my brother--and all his host! I alone come forth alive--I alone--to call for vengeance!"
But Olvir was reeling. Blood gushed from his mouth. He fell back into Floki's arms like one dead.
Quivering with rage and grief, the giant raised his earl as though a child, and turned upon the king.
"Thor!" he roared. "Do you still stand idle? Who rules the fell-folk?"
"Ha! Lupus,--that bastard fox!" cried Karl. "Where's Hardrat? Stay; 'tis a deed for his own men; they will not fail. You shall lead them yourself, Crane,--you and Liutrad. Those who have horses, let them ride; the rest follow as best they may. Five thousand of my Austrasians shall come after. Here is my seal-ring. Go swiftly to Bordeaux, and seize the Vascon Wolf!"