Erik Jedvardsson's father was Jedvard of Orkney, who had sailed with Sigurd Jorsalafar to the Holy Land and there performed great services for the Norwegian king. In gratitude for this Christian help, King Sigurd had granted Jedvard of Orkney two small splinters of the Holy Cross on which Our Savior was tortured and died. King Sigurd had been given a piece of the holy wood from King Baldwin of Outremer, or the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

   Here Knut paused in his story and asked Arn whether he had heard of Outremer, and Arn's happy laugh and eager nod made him quickly understand that he had.

   Well, these two splinters from the Holy Cross had been inherited by Knut's father, Erik Jedvardsson, and he'd had them cast inside a gold cross that he always wore around his neck. When Emund One-Hand chopped off his head, the holy relic fell to the ground and was conveyed by a wily man to the one who stood behind the murder, the man now called King Karl Sverkersson. So he was not only a king-killer but also an outlaw who had violated a holy relic of God. The gold cross containing the wooden splinters from Our Savior's Cross inside was now worn by Karl Sverkersson himself around his neck, and this had to be a constant abomination in God's eyes. Surely there could be no doubt about that.

   Arn at once agreed that this must be abominable in God's eyes, and he added that everything must be done to right this wrong.

   Then Knut Eriksson smiled at Arn and repeated quietly that now the hour was upon them. But to reach the place where God's holy relic might now be found, they would need a select few men who could tolerate cold and were able to sail well, who were skilled with a bow and could defend themselves better with a sword than any other men.

   That was why they had staged this contest, Knut went on. There were men who could shoot well in a contest but could not do the same in battle, when their heads were full of anger and fear. Such had been the case for Arn when asked to shoot and simultaneously think about Cecilia, but Arn had acquitted himself well.

   Now, not later, was when they must do what had to be done, Knut continued. Then a bit hesitantly and with an assurance that when he became king he would be the first to bless a wedding ale between Arn and Cecilia, Knut asked whether Arn wished to join this expedition as one of only eight men.

   This was the third time that someone had told Arn he would never have Cecilia as long as Karl Sverkersson was alive. If he had hesitated the first two times, he did not do so now.

When they arrived at Forsvik by the shore of Lake Vättern, they found that Eyvind Jonsson, Jon Mickelsen, and Egil Olafsen of Ulateig had built a small but elegant ship that was broad in the beam, had a shallow draft, and could be rowed with three pairs of oars. The Norwegian retainers apologized for not adorning the ship with the runes required to finish it completely, but seaworthiness had been foremost on their minds because the ice would soon begin to thaw. This small ship, which was built like a Norse longship, could be sailed faster than other ships of the day, especially in Western Götaland; it could be rowed faster than any other, especially with Norwegian oarsmen; and it could be dragged easily over ice. Knut was very pleased with what he saw and explained everything to Arn, who hadn't had as much to do with Norway as others in his clan.

   After three days of waiting it was time to set out. They first celebrated a mass, which Arn, to lend the words greater power, held in church language. After the mass Knut Eriksson spoke to them and spurred them on. Their strength lay in the fact that they were eight good men who would cross Lake Vättern when no one believed it was possible. Out there on the southern tip of the island of Visingö sat the king-killer Karl Sverkersson with his retainers, assuming he was safe. But God would not stand by the man who had murdered a saint for his own gain. When they had won what now had to be won, each and every one of them would be rewarded according to his merits.

   More was not said. The ship was pulled by horses up from the hole in the ice by the shore where it had lain so that the water would make the planking swell and grow tight. The horses were stabled, and then they finished loading the ship. Each of the men grabbed the end of a rope for the hard task of dragging the ship out to open water. But the broad-beamed vessel was easy to drag on the ice, and eight men were not too few.

   After half a day's toil they came to a channel leading toward the open water in the middle of Lake Vättern, and from there they could already see Visingö. The wind was westerly as usual at this time of year, and they were soon able to set sail. The farther south they sailed, the more the channel widened. In the dusk they saw that the southern tip of Visingö lay surrounded by open water, and they understood then that God was with them. Had they come a day earlier they would have been forced to leave their ship out on the ice, fully visible as soon as day broke. A day later and the ice on Lake Vättern would have dispersed, and a guard would have been posted on the walls of the royal fortress of Näs to watch for dangers approaching from the sea.

   They lowered their sail and rowed slowly toward Näs, reaching the shore only after it had long been dark. There they pulled in to wait in a little cove with dense alder thickets. They pulled the sail over their ship and lighted fires in two iron braziers, sending scouts ashore to make sure the fires weren't visible. For they did need heat, since the spring nights in the North were still bitterly cold.

   Knut was in a good mood, as if all the difficult things had already been accomplished. He sat close to Arn and said that this was either their last night together or their first on a long journey.

   Then he talked about the man who had murdered his own father, and who had tried to murder Arn's father with trickery and unfair single combat, but Arn interrupted him at once, saying that these words were unnecessary. He knew all this already and had given it much thought.

   And yet he felt doubt, he admitted to Knut. He had sworn a holy oath not to raise his sword in anger or for his own benefit, and now it seemed that he was on his way to doing just that. He would gain much from Karl Sverkersson's death. He said that he understood that it was not merely a question of taking back the holy relic that rightfully belonged to his good friend Knut, and which hung unjustly around Karl Sverkersson's neck. He understood that this neck should be severed when the cross was freed.

   Knut said nothing to release Arn from his anguish, because what Arn had said was entirely true. Instead Knut spoke in a low, warm tone about Cecilia and what a joy it would be as their king to bring them together in any church they liked, even before the archbishop in Östra Aros if they so desired. Arn then grew warm with tenderness despite the raw, damp late winter night, and replied that any church at all would be fine as far as he was concerned, as long as it was close by. And then they laughed together. As their laughter died away, Knut said that if he liked, Arn could borrow one of several good Norwegian swords that were not bound by a holy oath.