Never in her life would she have thought she could get over that fence from that position, but pure fear was the ultimate fuel. She walked her feet up the fence, ignoring her stinging hands as splinters pierced her soft skin. She got one elbow up, then the other. Biting back a groan, she pushed herself up until her hips sat level with the top of the fence.

‘Halt!’ boomed a voice behind her.

She did not waste time looking over her shoulder to see if the person was speaking to her. Holding her breath, she swung her legs over and dropped blindly down the other side, hands clawing at the air as she tried to judge the distance to the ground. She saw it at the last moment, softening her knees just in time to prevent serious injury. She fell forwards, landing on her hands and knees, where she remained for a few moments in shock. But there was nothing quite like the shouts of angry men from the other side of the wall to get one moving again. Scrambling to her feet, she took off at a run.

The numbing fear, combined with darkness and low-lying branches intent on taking out her eyes, made for a challenging course. She knew she needed to head north until she reached the road and then follow it east. The problem was she did not know if she was headed north and did not have the luxury of time to stop and figure it out. She had to rely on the boundary fence for guidance, the very fence she needed to get away from.

Margery glided down beside her.

‘Tell me this is north,’ Isabel panted.

The eagle lifted into the air, disappearing into the trees on her left.

Isabel pulled up and turned in a circle for a few breathless moments, realising she had accidentally lost sight of the fence anyway. She decided to follow Margery.

No sooner had she begun to run again then she heard the gentle rumble of hooves.

Horses.

There were horses coming her way.

She stopped once more, trying to decide whether to run or hide. But hide where? Behind a tree? Up a tree? Could she even climb a tree? Certainly not quickly. But she also could not outrun a horse.

‘Isabel!’

Her blood turned cold as Hodge’s voice reached her. He was close—much too close.

All logic abandoned her, replaced with primal fear. She took off after the eagle, despite having lost track of her again. She simply ran.

‘Isabel!’ Hodge shouted. ‘I know you are out here!’

Was it just her imagination or was he closer than the last time he had called her name?

She slowed, struggling to hear the horses over her thudding heart.

‘My beloved.’

That was forty feet away at most.

She stilled, frozen in place, with no idea which direction the voice had travelled from.