Blackmane threw the rock back at Tatum—hard—hitting him square on the forehead.

‘Fuck,’ Tatum grunted, a hand pressed to his head. ‘That really hurt.’

The snap of debris underfoot had them both reaching for their weapons.

Ita appeared and raised her hands. ‘Only me.’

She had brought the group’s leader with her as promised. The man stopped a safe distance from the defenders.

Tatum looked him up and down. ‘I suppose introductions are a bit pointless since you all use aliases.’

The man studied him a moment. ‘You can call me Thorn.’

Tatum’s eyebrows rose slightly. ‘Is there a prickly backstory to that one?’

Thorn stared, not reacting in the slightest.

‘Right, well, you can simply address me as Commander,’ Tatum said, then gestured to Blackmane. ‘And this is Cottontail.’

Blackmane shook his head.

‘Twitch here tells me you’re trustworthy,’ Thorn said.

Tatum quirked a brow. ‘Twitch?’ Then, realising that was Ita’s alias, he added, ‘Oh, Twitch. Yes, trustworthy.’

Thorn glanced at Ita, who gave him an apologetic look, then continued. ‘She tells me you weren’t as impressed with the camp as Lord Hodge was hoping for.’

‘It’s the people in shackles for me,’ Tatum said. ‘That was a bit of a turn-off.’

Thorn crossed his arms. ‘Hodge likes to be in full control.’

Tatum nodded. ‘We’re interested in your plan to manage that. I’m certain King Becket will also be interested. Maybe there’s something we can do to help.’

‘Help?’ Thorn asked. ‘You’re going to help the rebel groups you came here to stop?’

Blackmane shifted his weight. ‘We weren’t sent here to stop anyone. We came to find out what’s going on. There’s no way King Becket will support what’s happening in that camp.’

Thorn looked between them. ‘We have ways of getting people out. It’s keeping them out that’s the challenge. Where do we hide sixteen hundred people living in a constant state of fear?’

Neither defender had an answer for him.

‘Is your interest in all of this purely to gather intel for your king?’ Thorn asked.

Tatum spoke up at that. ‘Cottontail here has someone inside the camp he’s worried about.’

Thorn looked Blackmane over. ‘I thought worry was trained out of you—like every other human emotion.’

Tatum leaned in and whispered, ‘I can see where he gets his name from.’

‘He’s gotten quite attached to Lady Isabel,’ Ita explained, the beginnings of a smile on her face.

‘I’m not attached to anyone,’ the defender replied. ‘And I believe the answer here’s not to hide sixteen hundred escaped prisoners but to protect them while they live free lives out in the open.’

Thorn appeared amused by that. ‘You want me to take on England? Do you know how many men we would need for that task? They outnumber us seven to one, and we have women and children to consider.’