Hadewaye handed her a clean bandage. ‘You’ll need to change it later. You don’t want it getting infected.’

‘Right, yes. I can do that. Can you… can you help me get him on a horse?’ She looked at her dead friends. ‘And I’d like to take the others with us too.’

Blackmane could hear Isabel’s voice in his head. ‘Are you just going to let her travel through the wastelands with an injured friend and two corpses in tow?’

He went to speak with Tatum.

The commander took one look at his face and said, ‘Ah, here we go.’

Blackmane quirked an eyebrow. ‘What does that mean?’

‘You’re about to do that thing.’

‘What thing?’

‘That thing where I’m over here making a plan, and then you show up with another one that’s in complete opposition to mine.’

Blackmane did not deny it. ‘I would like permission to remain behind and escort Ita home.’

Tatum gave Alveye an ‘I told you so’ look. ‘No. Hodge has made his wishes very clear. He wants us gone.’

Alveye cleared his throat. ‘That said, is it safe for a lady to travel through these parts with two dead companions and one barely holding on?’

Tatum crossed his arms. ‘Have you forgotten why we came here in the first place?’

Alveye and Blackmane exchanged a look.

‘Don’t do that,’ Tatum said.

‘Do what?’ Alveye asked innocently.

He pointed between the two defenders. ‘Make me out to be the bastard, unfeeling commander. Someone has to be the sensible one.’

Hadewaye, who had clearly been eavesdropping, wandered over to join the conversation. ‘Alveye and I could go ahead, update the warden and King Becket on everything that’s happened. We’ll simply tell them you had some urgent business to tend to and you’re a few days behind us.’

‘Great idea,’ Tatum said. ‘We’ll lie to the king.’

Blackmane looked over to where Rabbit was attempting to get to his feet. Ita would never be able to get him on and off his horse without help.

‘This is your fault,’ Tatum said, pulling Blackmane back into the conversation. ‘Of all the women you could have fallen for.’

‘I didn’t fall for anyone.’

Alveye laughed, then coughed to cover it up.

‘What?’ Blackmane hissed at him.

‘You fell for her immediately,’ he said, ‘the very first time you saw her standing atop that wall. You, who hates everyone in the world, were brought to your knees by a woman you didn’t even know.’