 Brought to you by Penguin The Bear King by James Wilde read by David Shaw Parker and Fate No one alive has ever escaped it neither brave man nor coward. I tell you It's born with us the day that we are born Homer Sometimes even to live is an act of courage Lucius and Eos Seneca part one the island Each of us bears his own hell Virgil chapter one red sales AD 375 Tintagel in the far west of Britannia The years of peace seemed a distant memory now Each turning season was punctuated by death and though the red rim tied ebbed and flowed There would be no respite from battle They all knew that Katia stood among the huddled women on the stony beach and peered out to sea Though the salty wind whipped strands of blonde hair across her face her stare never wavered She was queen of this land For what it was worth All that meant in truth was more swords pointed at her heart hard decisions sleepless nights The ships bobbed closer under the pink streaked sky Scarlet sails glowed along the horizon like blood roses on a shroud Katia glanced above the bowed heads of the keening women to where Amarena stood Bundled in her emerald cloak against the dawn chill Her urban hair had streaks of silver now faint lines marred her pale skin in The year since they traveled into the west she seemed to have aged a notch faster than others as if she bore some hidden burden She looked back at Katia her cold green eyes giving nothing away That was Amarena a stone chest of secrets The ships swept towards the cove six of them Katia imagined she could see the hibernian raiders on board braced against the heaving swell all red Beards and wild hair and eyes like nail heads The steady thunder of the drums rolled out and when the wind dropped she could hear their full throated songs They'd known this day was coming. It had only been a matter of time The legend of Nile of the nine hostages had surged around the coastline of southern Britannia like the tide Soon to be the High King of all hibernia some said a warrior gifted with the powers of the gods others countered One thing was certain He and his fierce raiders smoked the coastal settlements like a smith's hammer striking the anvil and they had done so for long months now Treasure plundered stores snatched men cut down like stalks of barley before the scythe The dumb know me I who occupied those wind blasted southwest and lands lived in daily fear that Nile would descend upon them again Oh They come Amarena cried her voice dripping with acid What chance do we stand? The keening of the women echoed louder soon those raiders would hear it courage Katya called Nile was cunning He'd saved the best until he was certain what feeble defenses existed along that coastline Katya crained her neck back to look at the towering fortress perched on the cliff top that had been their home for seven years now Raised up into new life from the ruins once occupied by the great kings in the West Creamy stone shaped by the finest masons among the dumb know me I and Inside treasure beyond reckoning gold and silver Sample complete ready to continue