I had spotted the Viking and circled slowly until I found a safe perch. I did not want him to see me or suspect he had seen anything other than a falcon. Some men had a problem with witches. Especially those who came from exotic places. I perched in a tree close by and watched him as he worked. He was a fine specimen of a man as large a man as I had ever seen. His muscles rippled under his skin like the stallions of Achilles.

I don't know what had drawn me to this Viking having only met him once in Rhodes when he was raiding with my half-sister Catharina, Mogh Roith and others. This particular Viking had fascinated me and I could not seem to forget about him. It was not by chance the Argos-Timoleon had stopped here. I was used to getting what I wanted. I had no doubt I would do so again. I did not know if this Viking would remember me but I was going to make sure that after today he would never forget.

A couple of hours had passed since I first stopped to observe him and I noticed he had made quite a bit of progress. I watched intently as he walked back down to the spring and crouched down for another drink. That was the moment I flew after him. A swishing noise made him turn around, and I could see I had startled him. His first instinct was to take a swing at me. When he realized he was looking down at a woman he stopped his swing in midair which threw him completely off balance. I tried to grab hold of him as he fell backward, but he was such a big man, I was pulled down into the water with him in a huge splash that scared every bird, rabbit and vermin in the whole area. Half sitting, half lying on top of the huge Viking who was now quite prone in the water with a red face and blazing blue eyes, I opened my mouth to speak but all I could do was laugh until tears begun to flow. The more I laughed the more bizarre his look. I didn't guess he would be forgetting me now.