It was only when the trio were trussed up on their horses like this that the leader of the group stepped forward. Dressed in leather and fur, with a long braided beard of the style that was common in these parts, he looked up at them and addressed them for the first time. His voice was calm and pleasant, which seemed at odds with his rough appearance and the manner in which he and his men had just captured them.

‘You are trespassing in Vorneland territory without permission of Queen Favner. If you do as you are told, you will be brought before Her Grace unharmed. However, I will quite happily present you to the queen in a less than pristine condition if you choose to give us any trouble. Is that understood?’

‘And you are?’ Fleya asked.

‘Captain Rinkor of the Queen’s Guards.’

‘Since when is it a crime to cross these lands?’ Astrid asked, fixing the man with a haughty stare. ‘The Volken people have always been permitted movement across any of the Six Kingdoms in times of peace.’

Her outburst was answered with a shrug.

‘Do you know who I am?’ she asked hotly. ‘I’m—’

‘An innocent young woman scared out of her wits at being captured like this,’ Fleya said, cutting her off and shooting the girl a look. ‘And so she should be. If the warriors of Vorneland are stopping travellers and threatening them like this, who knows what else they are willing to do.’

Captain Rinkor turned to face Fleya, his own expression grave. ‘I am a father as well as a warrior, and you have my word that no man in my charge would ever harm a woman. The men of Vorneland are not barbarians like the Northmen, or mindless thugs like the Hasz’een.’

‘Even the Northmen do not make prisoners of those entering their lands.’

‘No, they just cut their hearts out and feed them to their ice-wolves.’ The man shook his head and went on. ‘There have been thefts of livestock of late. That alone gives us the right to take you captive. The queen will judge you fairly, I am sure.’ There was something about the way he lingered a little too long over these final words that struck Fleya as odd; as if there were much more he would have liked to say. Instead, he turned his back on them and mounted his own horse. ‘Now, perhaps you’d all do me the service of remaining quiet for a while. If you feel you cannot do so, I’m sure we can arrange to have you all gagged for the remainder of the journey.’ He raised an eyebrow at them and nudged his horse forward in the direction of Queen Favner’s court.