Tatum grew a little taller at that piece of news. ‘You’re making me commander?’

‘For the purpose of this assignment,’ the warden clarified. ‘Someone has to take the lead. You all spent time in the region at the end of your training, and you appear to work well as a team—most of the time.’ He paused. ‘I need information and Lord Hodge alive at the end of that tour. It will not look good to our English friends if he dies in your company. Understand?’

‘Yes, sir,’ the defenders replied in unison.

‘You leave at first light.’ Shapur looked between them, ensuring they understood, before turning and marching away.

The men watched him until he was well out of earshot. Then Tatum turned to face the others, looking very pleased with himself.

‘You may address me as “Commander” from now on,’ he announced.

Alveye’s eyebrows shot up. ‘With a straight face?’

Blackmane smirked at the ground.

Tatum flicked Alveye’s ear. ‘Yes, with a straight face.’

‘Not to ruin your big moment,’ Alveye said, rubbing his ear, ‘but I really thought he would have put Blackmane in charge.’

Tatum laughed once. ‘That’s not ruining my moment. That’s taking a giant shit on it.’

Hadewaye jogged up to the group, stopping next to Alveye. ‘Was that the warden?’ Then, reading everyone’s expressions, he asked, ‘What did I miss?’

‘What did I miss, Commander,’ Tatum said.

Hadewaye frowned at him. ‘What?’

‘We’re going to the wastelands, and the warden put Tatum in charge,’ Alveye explained.

Hadewaye appeared genuinely surprised. ‘Really? Not Blackmane?’

Tatum threw his hands up. ‘The absolute lack of respect from the lot of you.’

‘I’ve no interest in commanding anyone,’ Blackmane said. ‘The warden made the right choice.’

Tatum waved a finger in his direction. ‘Don’t act like you don’t care, like we barely matter to you. I know for a fact that you would take an arrow through the skull for any one of us.’

‘Don’t read too much into that,’ Blackmane replied. ‘It was beaten into us during training.’

Hadewaye tucked his hands under his arms, still looking confused. ‘Why are we going to the wastelands?’

‘To find a woman willing to sleep with Alveye,’ Tatum replied.

Alveye gave him a tired look. ‘Is that your attempt at winning my respect?’

‘Is that your attempt at winning my respect, Commander?’ Tatum corrected.

Blackmane clapped Tatum on the shoulder. ‘I need a wash. I’ll leave you to fill Hadewaye in on the details of our vague assignment and the size of the unit you’ll be leading.’

Hadewaye perked up at that. ‘How many men?’

Tatum cleared his throat. ‘It’s on the smaller side.’ He looked over at Blackmane, who was now backing away from the group. ‘Don’t forget we’re leaving at first light.’

The defender saluted him. ‘Yes, Commander.’

CHAPTER 3

Isabel woke during the night to tapping on the window shutters. Flinging back the blankets, she leapt off the bed and ran across the icy stone floor to the window, trying to stay on the balls of her feet. She peered through a crack and found Margery looking back at her.