Chapter 87: The First Move

Aboard a ship steered by Wulf and Floki, Canute presses toward Ketil's land in October 1018, expecting to arrive within a couple of days. Floki suggests the king could have left the matter to the Jomsvikings, but Canute means to handle it himself. He explains that his subjects are his treasure and that surrender will spare them, yet if they resist he will not restrain his hand. Sweyn's severed head cackles from the deck as the king studies the distant, wave-tossed horizon.

Leif's knarr reaches the farm just as Thorgil returns and hurls a barrel that spills out a hollow-eyed, broken Ketil. Thorgil orders the stunned workers to abandon their fishwork, arm themselves and muster every able body for a coming war, refusing to name the enemy. He drags a reluctant Olmar along for what he jokes may be the young man's first and last battle. Mols demands his promised triple payment while Ketil staggers off crying for Arnheid, and Leif quietly tells himself not to hope too hard that this Thorfinn is the one he seeks.

At the guests' quarters Rat relays the war news, and Fox concludes they are finished, since almost none of them can fight and five men were just lost in the Gardar affair. Nearby, the tied Thorfinn and Einar fret over Arnheid's fate, guessing Ketil will punish her despite his fondness and her pregnancy. Thorfinn regrets breaking his vow against violence and keeps grasping for a first choice that would spare everyone, insisting a truly good person never harms others. Meanwhile Ketil, home at last, learns from his wife that Arnheid attempted to flee, that her former husband slew several guards, and that two slaves aided them. Shaking with rage, he asks why everything he holds keeps slipping from his grip.

Canute, Wulf and Floki close in on the farm and vow no leniency against resistance. Thorgil returns with a shattered Ketil and commands the workers to prepare for an unnamed war, taking Olmar under his wing. Leif arrives searching for Thorfinn. The captive Thorfinn voices his philosophy that violence is a last resort and searches for a first choice. Ketil discovers Arnheid's escape attempt and the deaths of his guards.

The chapter opens Volume 13 and corresponds to Episode 42 of the anime. Its Japanese title, Saisho no Shudan, translates as the first means or first measure, echoing Thorfinn's central reflection. The featured quote is his own musing on always reaching for the first choice rather than the last.