Miraculously, no one was injured.

Isabel ran forwards. ‘Stop. I will come with you. Just stop.’

Hodge raised a hand, pausing the onslaught that was about to unfold. He had that unhinged look in his eyes that Blackmane had come to recognise.

‘Do you know how worried I was?’ he asked Isabel. ‘I lay awake all night imagining the things that might be happening to you.’

‘I am sorry.’ Her voice was shaky. ‘I want to return to the camp with you. Please.’

Slowly, the muscles in his neck began to relax. But there was more he wanted to say on the subject. ‘And to come here and find you liaising with our enemy.’ His eyes went to Ita. ‘Did you honestly think you could simply show up after five years and be welcomed back into her life?’

Ita glared back at him, saying nothing.

Rabbit and Walnut had managed to reload their bows, but they were grossly outnumbered. Seal was no longer gasping. He was completely still.

‘Let them all go,’ Isabel said to Hodge, ‘and we will leave together, right now.’

He gave her a pitiful look. ‘You are smarter than that. You know how this ends. Now, let my men do their job.’

‘Then I refuse to return to the camp with you,’ Isabel replied, her voice raised.

The corners of his mouth lifted. ‘And where will you be going instead? To live among the trees, in the mud, with these ruffians? Will you tell your mother, or shall I?’

Isabel looked defeated. ‘Please. She is my dearest friend.’

‘She is trouble is what she is.’

Blackmane was watching the drama unfold down a fresh arrow. So were the guards. There were arrows pointing in all directions as everyone held their breath, waiting to see what Hodge would say next.

Before he had a chance, Walnut shot one of the guards through the stomach. Three arrows hit her half a second later. Rabbit released his straight into the face of one of the men. Blackmane was about to draw his sword when Tatum’s horse appeared in front of him.

‘If you cross this line, we’ll be forced to cross with you.’

He was right. Once they started, it would not end until every guard was dead. And then what? They would be forced to kill Hodge, too, breaking a direct order.

In his peripheral vision, Blackmane saw Isabel run for Ita, flinging herself at her friend and wrapping her like a human shield.

‘Cease fire!’ Hodge shouted.

Blackmane stepped around Tatum’s horse at the same time Isabel pulled an arrow from the quiver on Ita’s back. She pressed the tip of it to her neck before turning to Hodge.

‘If she dies, I die,’ she said through gritted teeth.

All the colour left Hodge’s face. ‘Put that down before you hurt yourself.’

‘Not unless you agree to let them both walk away, unharmed,’ she said, ice in her tone. ‘Promise me that, and I will come with you now. If one more arrow reaches them, I will drive this through my neck.’ She blinked back tears. ‘Do you hear me?’