Which is why the best arrangement would have been if Katarina became the mistress of Arnäs. Then Algot would truly not have put all his eggs in one basket. No matter which clan won the contest for royal power, his clan would be properly allied, securing both their lives and their property.

   But it had all come to naught because Magnus Folkesson in the end preferred to marry into the Erik clan instead. Algot could not blame Magnus for this wise move at the same time as he bemoaned his own misfortune. However, it was not too late to solidify a secure position, for Magnus did have a son who was the same age as Katarina and Cecilia, and Eskil would in time become the lord of Arnäs. With a little good will such a betrothal might actually be viewed as a better solution, since otherwise Katarina would have been forced to marry a man in his best years when she was but a child herself.

   Still, there was a problem with his daughters' unsuitable behavior. In their associations with young men neither of them displayed the modesty that a father might desire, and since this behavior harmed their reputation and in the worst case risked making it impossible to marry them off, Algot had decided to separate his daughters. When Katarina was home, Cecilia was a novice at the convent in Gudhem. Now it would soon be Ka tarina's turn to go to Gudhem, and she had not a good thing to say about the matter.

   It cost a good deal of silver for the nuns to keep the daughters at Gudhem, and silver was the only payment they accepted. But it was worth it, according to Algot, for what he laid out for his daughters would come back sevenfold if they married well. And besides, it gave him a convenient reason to do business with Magnus Folkesson, who was thought to have a limitless amount of silver in his treasure chests. By selling oak forests to Arnäs, Algot obtained the silver he needed, as well as many opportunities, after the business was concluded, to speak of his daughters' good manners, for which the money would be used. In this way he was often able to remind Magnus about the halfway-broken promise of marriage and about the fact that Katarina and Cecilia might still prove a good bargain for both men.

   Algot Pålsson had heard only vague rumors about Magnus Folkesson's second son, who was sent to the monastery at a very young age and had now returned to Arnäs. What was said about the boy, however, was not intended to give him great honor, since he was deemed half a monk.

   And Arn, as he was called, was obvious to everyone when he came riding in one cold and misty autumn evening two weeks before the big Western Götaland tingat Axevalla. He had two thralls with him, and they were heavily loaded with deer and swine that they now wanted to offer as Husaby's share of their hunt. Magnus Folkesson and Algot had come to an agreement regarding hunting on Algot's land, which was sometimes a better hunting ground than the one down by Arnäs, since the swine in particular made for the acorn woods in the autumn. A fourth of the catch was to be sent to Algot at Husaby as reimbursement.

   Their hunt must have been very successful since everything they had with them was to be unloaded at Husaby. When that was done, their intent was to ride home at once, since the older thrall said he could find the way even in the dark.

   But Algot objected. Allowing someone to ride off into the night would be ill mannered to those who came with such excellent meat. Besides, he quickly realized that it might seem quite providential to introduce Katarina to a son of Arnäs in this Godgiven way, even though Arn was the poorer of the two. It might make her prefer the eldest son.

   And so a little feast was now arranged at Husaby just before All Saints' Day, when winter was near. After the horses were unsaddled and settled in their stalls, the meat was taken off to be flayed and prepared by Husaby's spit-turners, and Arn's thrall companions sent off to the thrall house. Then Katarina came to her father and suggested with an innocent expression that they shouldn't let the guest sleep in the longhouse with all the others, for at Arnäs they had more refined customs. Instead she would arrange it so that Arn had his own bed in one of the guesthouses which they were just about to close up for the winter. Algot merely grunted curt approval of this arrangement without either understanding or wanting to understand what sort of intentions Katarina might have.

   Arn felt great embarrassment because he had never been anyone's guest before, and he wasn't sure how to act. He knew enough from Arnäs that it was considered an insult if one ate and drank too little. So as he unsaddled and curried Shimal he decided with a deep sigh to try to eat and drink like a pig so that his father would not be ashamed of how he behaved away from Arnäs. Fortunately, they'd had no food for many hours, so he had no lack of hunger, at least.

   He went out to wash himself at the spring in the courtyard, where he saw that thralls had gathered. He realized as soon as he started washing that he was not behaving as a guest should. The thralls, startled and snickering, moved away as they pointed at him behind his back. But he wasn't about to give up this habit of washing, he thought. For even though he had to eat like a pig he didn't want to smell like one.

   He lay down to rest for a while on the low wooden bed they had assigned to him and stared up at the ceiling, where he pictured clear images of deer and wild boar in the flickering of the candle flame. He was glad that he had accomplished something that his father was bound to appreciate more than his masonry work. With this consoling thought and with the wild animals before his eyes he fell asleep.

   When a house thrall came and cautiously woke him it was pitch-dark; several hours must have passed since he went to sleep. In shock he jumped up at once, worried that it might seem as if he was declining his host's invitation, which would not likely be taken well. But the house thrall calmed him and said that the feast was just now starting, and all he had to do was come along. It had taken a good long time to roast the meat.

   When Arn stepped into the dark hall at Husaby he felt himself transported back to ancient times. The long dark room was supported by two rows of carved pillars; Arn guessed that the roof was heavy with turf and earth and needed this support. Along the roof ridge were three smoke vents with lids over them, but he still felt some scattered raindrops on his face as he walked past the long log fire placed in the middle of the hall. The square pillars were decorated on all sides up to the height of a man with red patterns of winding dragons and mythological beasts. Similar patterns were visible around the high seat and the sleeping places in the corners at the end of the hall. This seemed to Arn a heathen, dismal, and cold abode.

   He discovered that Algot and his daughter Katarina had dressed in feast clothes, as had the four men sitting around the high seat who were strangers to him. This made him uneasy, since he was wearing hunting garb of rough wool and deerskin. But he wouldn't have been able to do much about that. And now they all looked at him as if they expected him to do something. He greeted them with God's peace and bowed to them all, first to the lord and his daughter Katarina. He saw that she smiled a bit scornfully at him and surmised that he probably should have done and said something more.