‘Let go of my horse.’

He did not let go. ‘What about all the other reasons? Like to be at my side and witness first-hand how hard my family has worked to restore your homeland to something resembling civilisation.’

‘I am always at your side, and on the rare occasions I am not, you have me followed.’

Blackmane nudged his horse forwards until he was next to Tatum. ‘What the hell is going on?’

‘Hodge wants to go straight to the camp.’ Tatum talked out of the side of his mouth, voice low. ‘She thought we were going to Llanelieu.’ He gave Blackmane a warning glance. ‘And we’re going to stay out of it.’

That was easier said than done with Isabel growing more upset. Then Lord Lunatic reached for her, catching hold of her wrist. But before Blackmane even had a chance to intercept, a large golden eagle swooped down, its talons slicing Hodge’s face. A collective drawing of swords followed, drowning out the roar of pain.

‘I didn’t see that coming,’ Hadewaye said, looking thoroughly confused by the scene unfolding.

Blackmane went straight for his bow. He had it loaded and pointed at the bird a beat later.

‘Do not hurt her!’ Isabel shouted. ‘Margery, stop!’

Alveye lowered his weapon. ‘Who the hell is Margery?’

Isabel had failed to mention that her pet bird was also a lethal predator capable of killing large mammals.

Hodge reached back for his own bow, but by the time he had it loaded, the eagle was twenty feet above them. ‘What in God’s name is that thing doing here?’

Isabel’s eyes were wide with panic. ‘She must have escaped her cage. I am sorry.’ She moved her horse closer to Hodge’s. ‘You are bleeding.’

‘You let it out.’ His tone was shrill with accusation. ‘After I explicitly told you not to, that if I ever caught it outside I would—’

‘Shoot her from the sky. Yes, I know. I am sorry. I take full responsibility. Please, put the bow away.’

Hodge did no such thing. Instead, he took aim at the eagle.

‘No!’ Isabel screamed, reaching for him. But he was too far away.

Hodge released the arrow, but it never reached the bird because Blackmane’s arrow intercepted it, knocking it out of the sky. Margery disappeared into the trees.

All eyes went to the defender.

‘Shit,’ Tatum muttered.

For a moment, Hodge simply stared at Blackmane with a look of shock. That level of accuracy was probably unheard of outside of Chadora. But then the embarrassment and anger kicked in.

‘What the hell was that, defender?’ he yelled, wiping blood from his eye. ‘How dare you interfere?’

Blackmane glanced at Tatum, whose expression made it clear he had overstepped. ‘Apologies. I was aiming for the eagle and missed.’

‘You missed?’ Hodge laughed abruptly. ‘Are you trying to tell me a highly trained defender missed a bird with a seven-foot wingspan that was positioned directly overhead?’

‘To be fair, the sun’s at a bit of an awkward angle,’ Alveye said, looking up and blinking dramatically.