"You forget that at Casseneuil you placed your hands between my hands. As liegeman, you should have held my service above all else."
"Not so, lord king. I own to a service above your service,--the will of Christ."
"Was it His will to free that heathen duke, who, more than any other man, withstands the spreading of the Gospel?"
"I and mine have slain many warriors in your service, lord king; I am not yet Christian enough to slay one in the name of Christ."
"The more shame to own it, Dane," muttered Hardrat. "But for what else could one look from a heathen?"
"Curb your scoffing tongue, drunkard," commanded Karl. "Prudence should counsel you to silence. There are those who say that the false horn which, in the midst of the battle, called your Neustrians to retreat, is the horn which hangs at your belt."
"It is a lie, lord king!--a foul lie! I am no coward!"
"I know that well, Thuringian; yet I have known of brave traitors. Enough. You will return to your shire when Count Rudulf marches homeward. See to it that neither he nor the missi have cause to report drunkenness or ill deeds against you, if you do not wish to lose your countship as well."
As the Thuringian shrank back before the stern rebuke, Karl turned again to Olvir, and his face softened.
"I have been harsh, lad. I even failed to hear you out. You said that you talked with Wittikind before you set him free?"