Ross Lawhead (50 page)
“No, hold that thought,” Alex said. “We should push on. You can tell me in the car.”
“The car?”
“Aye. We've got a long drive ahead of us. Come with me. You're not under arrest, just âhelping me with my enquiries,' if anyone asks.”
They left to find the two police officers still in the hallway. The security guards and the nervous man in the shirt had wandered off somewhere.
“Thanks, chappies,” Alex said to the officers. “They've agreed to come with me and my associate. I owe you one.”
The policemen just nodded and walked away. Alex shook his head. “The English . . . ,” he muttered under his breath.
He led them out of the train station. They spotted the police car as they started down the steps. There was a man inside of it, in the passenger's seat, who made to get out when he saw them. The door opened and he stepped out, and as he did so, the car rocked with himâhe was evidently very large. He straightened up to his full height, about seven feet tall, and looked at them from over the car's roof. Daniel and Freya stopped and looked at the man, hardly believing their eyes.
Alex flashed a smile. “Let me introduce my associate,” he said. “Or have you met him already?”
“It can't be . . .”
“It's not . . .”
“Hello, young Daniel and young Freya.”
“Ecgbryt!”
It was indeed the knight, but now dressed in a blue uniform and with a much tidier beard and closely trimmed hair that stuck out from a policeman's hat.
“
Swa swa
, it's Ecgbryt. Just so,” he said, grinning. “What say you? Are you ready to rejoin the battle?”
2
Two Weeks Earlierâ¦
Gád gazed down at Robin Ploughwright from the throne he sat upon. He didn't like elves, as a rule, and had plans to be rid of them for good. Although they could be relied upon, they were unpredictable. He had overcome his antipathy because they were perfect for just these sorts of jobsâdistraction and detention.
Gád made a gesture, permitting him to leave.
Robin had walked a few steps when he turned.
“With respect,” he said, twitching, “I know I shouldn't questionâ never have before, but I must ask . . . why not simply kill them, or detain them in a more conventional manner?”
Gád rose a hand to his chin. Kill Daniel and Freya? The thought truly hadn't occurred to him any more than removing chess pieces from his own side of the board halfway through a game. He liked themâthey were so . . . manipulable . . . malleable.
“Really, Robin,” he said, grinning. “Is that any way to treat a friend?”
When the British monks first started to record the history and literature of their land, they wrote them in the Old English language but used the Latin alphabet instead of the pagan one. This was mainly for practical purposes, since Latin was spoken in nearly every European country at that time, usually by other priests and monks. The Roman system of writing was convenient, economical, and comprehensible to foreigners.
The problem, however, was that a few sounds used in English as it was at that time didn't exist in Latin and therefore had no letters to express them. To fix this, they decided to use the letters for those sounds that they already had, which came by way of the Scandinavians. A few of these letters and sounds were:
Ã, þ âcalled “thorn” and pronounced like the “th” in “thin”
Ã, ð âcalled “eth” and pronounced like the “th” in “then”
Ã, æâalso used to represent a vowel sound that was like the “a” in “ate”
Then England was conquered by France in 1066, and the English language went undergroundâall documents were written in Latin or French. When it started being used officially again several hundred years later, they didn't use any of the old letters or even most of the old words. This was the start of Middle English.
However, everyone living in Niðergeard and nearly all the knights who were already sleeping when this was happening didn't know of this change and a lot of them still use the old letters, which is why you'll find them in these books.
Ãlfred - AYL-fred
Cnafa - KNAF-ah
Cnapa - KNAP-ah
Ealdstan - ee-ELD-stan
Ecgbryt - ETCH-(ye)-brit
Gád - GAAD
Godmund - GOHD-mund
Frithfroth - FRITH-froth
Kelm Kafhand - KELM KAHF-hand
Modwyn - MOHD-woon
Niðergeard - NI-thur-gayrd
Slæpismere - SLAYP-is-mare-eh
Swiðgar - SWIDTH-gar
yfelgóp(es) - EE-fel-GOHP(as)
1. Freya and Daniel live with the knowledge that there is more to the world than what most people understand. How does this knowledge affect each of them?
2. “Black ops” officer Alex Simpson is committed to fighting the forces of evil. Do you believe that the presence of evil can physically manifest itself in the existence of malicious creatures? Do you believe, like Ecgbryt, that “there are places that are more enchanted than others”? Where and why?
3. Despite his grim situation in life, Daniel feels as if he belongs to another time, to a greater purpose. Do you believe a person can choose his or her own destiny or that it is chosen for him?
4. Though Freya declares that her time in Niðergeard was the worst thing she's ever gone through, Daniel fondly recalls it as the best thing that has ever happened to him. Why do you think two people, going through the same experience, have such different perspectives? How did Freya's and Daniel's experiences define each of them?
5. How are Freya and Daniel alike? How are they different? Why do you think they were each chosen for this task, and why were they chosen to do it together?
6. What parts of Freya's and Daniel's lives do you think were reality, and what parts were deceptions, meant to entrap them?
7. Daniel says, “I think I'd rather die doing something than die doing nothing.” How does the ideal of being a hero affect Daniel's determination and course of action in the book? Does this ideal affect Freya's perspective?
8. Freya has the opportunity to kill Gád and falters. What prevents her from completing the quest set before her? Why do you think she lies to Daniel about what actually happened?
For more Reading Group Guide questions,
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Return to
Ancient Earth through
BOOK TWO IN THE
ANCIENT EA RTH TRILOGY
Available September 2012