He heard the gentle creak of a bedboard and then the soft padding of feet upon the rugs of the floor. Bane glanced up to see plump Iswain move into the room, carefully and quietly pulling shut the bedroom door behind her.

She walked over to him. 'Shall I fetch you something to eat?' she said, keeping her voice low.

Looking into her round and friendly face he met her gaze. Her dark eyes seemed sorrowful in the firelight. 'Are you all right?' he asked her.

'Aye, I am fine. I could prepare a tisane.'

'No. I need nothing.'

They sat in silence for a little while, Iswain taking up the iron poker and prodding at the burning logs.

'Talk to me,' he said softly. 'What is troubling you?'

She took a deep breath, and seemed about to speak. But then she shook her head. 'Everything is all right now. My man is asleep in his bed. There is food in the larder, and no enemies close by. Who can ask for more than that?'

'True,' he told her.

'Gryffe says that the next time a druid passes we will Walk the Tree. He says that when the summer is here he will buy me a ring, and that, one day, we might have a farm of our own. He is a good man, Gryffe.'

'I know that.'

'Do you?' she asked, her voice accusing. 'Do you really?'

'Of course. Why do you doubt me?'

'He is asleep in his bed,' she said again. 'But he might have been lying dead beside you today, and not snoring beside me. You took him to a place of death. You did not tell him what you planned. You just rode in and killed Lorca. And my man stood beside you. Did you think of him at all?'

Bane was silent for a moment. 'No,' he said. 'I did not.'

'I thought not.' She sighed. 'He was an outlaw – a nothing! You gave him back his self-respect. I love you for that, Bane. But my man is worth more than to die for your pride.'

'I told him I was going alone, Iswain, but he would not hear of it.'