His heavy breathing steadied, and the heaviness in his limbs seemed to have vanished.
‘Come closer.’ Death was still sitting on the edge of the altar, swinging his little legs, but his words could not be ignored. Tahon and Einar approached the god almost immediately and stopped beside the druid, almost within arm’s reach of Thanatos. ‘How did this happen?’
‘Flavius went out onto the deck of our ship, arguing with one of the sailors,’ Tahon began to explain. ‘Something didn’t go his way and, furious, he came down, almost ran down, the gangway. At the same time, a young man from Ytren was carrying a crate along the quay. Furious, Flavius first insulted the lad, and when the lad didn’t react, he shoved him into the harbour basin. Later…’
‘That’s enough for now,’ Death interrupted him. ‘We’ll talk about what happened next in a moment. Do you have anything to add?’ Thanatos turned to Einar, who merely shook his head. ‘Very well. Do you have anything to say, Flavius?’ The God of Death once again fixed his blue gaze upon the accused legionary. The man turned pale and lowered his eyes. ‘And so, the third charge. Olaf Anson, you accused these two of attacking your son, Einar. Do you stand by that?’
‘Yes.’ Not even the divine presence could quell the father’s anger.
‘Well then, let us hear what you have to say, Einar.’ Thanatos smiled at the boy in a friendly manner. The hairs on the nape of Toinen’s neck stood on end, but he was not overcome by fear.
‘When the man who’d been pushed into the water resurfaced and it was clear he wasn’t in any great danger, I demanded an explanation from the attacker.’ Einar stammered slightly, but tried to speak with complete certainty. ‘Instead of an answer, I heard insults, and then the legionary swung at me to strike me. Before he could hit me, I turned my bracelet into a shield and struck him in the fist.’ He demonstrated the shield manoeuvre. ‘I think I broke his fingers. With a second blow, I
