When the horses arrived, her mother was helped onto one of them, and Everard snatched the reins of the other but refused to mount. The guard ushered them both through the gate and along the bridge, and Isabel had no choice but to cross it too. She gave her brother a reassuring smile as they passed each other. He was so angry. Maybe at her, or maybe at the situation. It did not matter. Isabel met her mother’s gaze and saw something in her eyes she had never seen before—remorse. No words of any kind were exchanged because there was nothing left to say.

Isabel was comforted by the fact that Tolly was waiting on the other side for them. He would ensure they got safely to Maddock House.

‘Shall we?’ Hodge said when she reached him, gesturing to the castle.

Isabel looked back at the others, watching Everard mount his horse before looking at Tolly. The soldier nodded once, then turned his horse away.

She felt numb from head to toe.

Only when they were gone from sight did she step past Hodge and slowly make her way towards the castle.

Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35

It took Blackmane two days to reach Llanelieu. He was stopped at a patrol point along the way, where he spent two hours answering questions about what he was doing, where he was headed, and who he knew. He did try to be patient and give them what they needed in order to feel secure enough to let him pass, but that patience wore thin after a while. Question time finished with two men at the end of two blades while Blackmane calmly explained to the third that if he intended to go on a killing spree, he would have started with them.

‘I would have shot you from that tree,’ he told them. ‘You would never have even known who killed you.’

When the three men were calm enough, Blackmane put away his weapons and politely asked if he could leave. The red-faced men let him go.

While many villages remained abandoned, occasionally he would pass through one where rebuilding was taking place. It was good to see men hammering in fence posts and ploughing fields, to see women hanging laundry, and children playing nearby.

It brought a sense of hope.

He stopped a man carrying a lamb, walking on the other side of the road, and asked for directions to Maddock House. When he arrived there, he found Ita working in the vegetable garden. She rose, dusting off her dress before coming out to meet him.

‘Welcome to Maddock House, defender,’ she said, sounding worn out.

He eyed the uneven thatching on the roof. ‘Any news?’

‘Lady Gwenore and Everard arrived here this morning.’

He searched her eyes. ‘I gather by your expression that Isabel did not return with them?’

Ita shook her head. ‘It seems a deal was struck. She agreed to stay in exchange for their release.’