The sounds of the camp could be heard from a good way off: men rousing each other and calling for weapons; hissing steam from hastily doused campfires; horses showing by their whinnying that they could well read the nervous mood of their riders. The Saxon army was preparing for battle, but with an uneasiness quite uncharacteristic of a band of warriors that had met and resisted the Heathen from one end of the kingdom to the other. In much quieter tones the men might be heard talking about the reason for their unease: the Danes were coming that day, but no one had seen the King. "Ethelred!"