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Month: August 2026

Les Longpré – Chapter 5

Les Longpré – Chapter 5

The next morning, Rollo didn’t have to worry about finding Aethelred and returning the challenge. Aethelred stormed into the main room while Rollo was breaking his fast with Derelie seated next to him. Gurim still hadn’t recovered from his excesses of the night before. He was still snoring on the bench. Brest was also at the table with his wife and two of her sisters. “Rollo,” Aethelred spoke with fierce determination. “I demand satisfaction for your unprovoked physical assault against…

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Les Longpré – Chapter 4

Les Longpré – Chapter 4

Three years later, Rollo sat beside his older brother Gurim, pulling on the same oar, while their father Kettil manned the rudder. Both brothers had crossed over to their father’s longboat for the last day of travel to the Western Isles. The long ship had entered the mouth of the river at the end of a long narrow bay. A small fishing village along the north shore of the river was ignored as they moved further west to reach a…

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Les Longpré – Chapter 3

Les Longpré – Chapter 3

The next year, Rollo, along with his brother Gurim and their father, Kettil, like other years, had embarked on another season of viking. Once again, they stopped at the village of Long. The village had prospered under the Danes working with the Ambiani. And, to Rollo’s surprise, his teen-aged wife, Derelie had given birth to a girl child named Apadeva. Their stop in Long had been brief. Kettil had brought thirty-five longboats down river after having met little resistance at…

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Les Longpré – Chapter 2

Les Longpré – Chapter 2

Kettil led a contingent of six longboats past a place called Abbéville. The river further upstream continued to be slow moving allowing the longboats easier passage down the River Samara. Kettil knew that this river, despite its calm waters had a turbulent history, a place where cultures clashed and many died in ferocious combat. The old tales told of the Ambiani as warriors just as fierce as the Picti across the sea he had just traversed. The river valley was rich…

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Les Longpré – Chapter 1

Les Longpré – Chapter 1

In the two hundred years since Alba and Gyr journeyed to the sacred stone, fewer and fewer young couples made the journey from scattered villages. The Church wisely folded local folklore into their attempts to convert the pagans who held fast to the old ways. In Inverugie, the village where Alba and Gyr returned and raised a family, had become prosperous enough that it allowed the Church to accumulate a small fortune in treasures. The priest had been joined by a…

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