Two strangers point weapons at each other. One of them has to die.
It’s a pivotal scene in my latest release, The Ashes of Heaven’s Pillar, and one that has occurred on battlefields throughout time, whether those weapons are Bronze Age swords (as you will find in Judith’s Hand of Fire), early medieval spears, or World War II torpedoes. The other side is “The Enemy,” part of a group capable of great evil, not a human being with a family who will grieve. And that makes the conflict as impersonal as a shoot-’em-up in a video game or movie.
That concept went into my creation of Hugh, a young Frankish warrior in The Ashes of Heaven’s Pillar. As the story unfolds, 16-year-old Hugh believes he’s doing God’s will when he eagerly joins the Frankish army and leaves the stench of his father’s tannery. In battle, he kills a Saxon warrior and is proud of the scar he got in the fight. Mainly, he’s just glad to be alive. At that point, he gives little thought to the dead man, the husband of my heroine, Leova.
When a critique partner asked if Hugh should say a prayer for the man who died or wonder if he had a family, I decided against it. At that point in the story, Hugh is not ready for that. He knows only that his foe was older, had a scar, and was pointing a spear at him. I needed Hugh to grow as a character, and that meant starting with a teenager more worried about himself and his fellow Franks than the effect his actions on pagan Saxons.
To Leova and her children, Deorlaf and Sunwynn, the death is personal, no matter that it happened on the battlefield. And Deorlaf, like any good Saxon, vows to avenge his father’s death, even though he has no idea who did it. To him, the Franks are The Enemy who destroyed his home and desecrated a sacred monument.
But what happens when people on opposing sides of a war see each other beyond a caricature, as human beings who love and grieve? Both Hand of Fire and The Ashes of Heaven’s Pillar explore that question.
What we find is that these men who thrust weapons into each other are not monsters, and the reality becomes more complex, as you will see in this excerpt from Ashes.
“Hugh,” one of his friends said, “you should tell them how you got your scar.”
In the firelight, Hugh patted his side and grinned. He was about to begin his story when his gaze fell on Sunwynn, sitting near her mother and brother. Through Helewidis’s tirades, he had learned their names were Leova and Deorlaf.
Sunwynn shifted on her place at the floor and sat up a little straighter. The words to the story stuck in Hugh’s throat. The Saxon he had killed could have been one of the girl’s neighbors or even her kin. He did not wish to bring a girl—especially one his sister’s age—to tears.
“I got it while fighting an ogre, who was guarding a vast, stolen treasure,” he said, staring at Sunwynn.
“The ogre was as tall as two men. He had no need for armor because his skin was as tough as the bark of a tree, and he wielded a magic spear.”
“But Hugh…” one of his friends said. The man followed Hugh’s gaze. “Oh.”
Hugh continued his story, using his own memories of the fight in Eresburg, substituting the ogre for the Saxon warrior. Sunwynn and Deorlaf listened in rapt attention.
Kim Rendfeld is the author of The Cross and the Dragon (2012, Fireship Press) and The Ashes of Heaven’s Pillar (August 28, 2014, Fireship Press). To read the first chapters of either novel or learn more about Kim, visit kimrendfeld.com. You’re also welcome to visit her blog Outtakes of a Historical Novelist at kimrendfeld.wordpress.com, like her on Facebook at facebook.com/authorkimrendfeld, or follow her on Twitter at @kimrendfeld, or contact her at kim [at] kimrendfeld [dot] com.
About The Ashes of Heaven’s Pillar:
Can love triumph over war?
772 AD: Charlemagne’s battles in Saxony have left Leova with nothing but her two children, Deorlaf and Sunwynn. Her beloved husband died in combat. Her faith lies shattered in the ashes of Irminsul, the Pillar of Heaven. The relatives obligated to defend her and her family sell them into slavery instead.
In Francia, Leova is resolved to protect her son and daughter, even if it means sacrificing her own honor. Her determination only grows stronger as Sunwynn blossoms into a beautiful young woman attracting the lust of a cruel master, and Deorlaf becomes a headstrong man willing to brave starvation and demons to free his family. Yet Leova’s most difficult dilemma comes in the form of a Frankish friend, Hugh. He saves Deorlaf from a fanatical Saxon and is Sunwynn’s champion — but he is the warrior who slew Leova’s husband.
Set against a backdrop of historic events, including the destruction of the Irminsul, The Ashes of Heaven’s Pillar explores faith, friendship, and justice. This companion to Kim Rendfeld’s acclaimed The Cross and the Dragon tells the story of an ordinary family in extraordinary circumstances.