‘My greater good, at least,’ Jael said with a grin. ‘And who knows, my dream may yet come true. We have seen the Hunen of Forn broken, destroyed. That is one less giant clan. But I need the Jotun.’

‘Do you think they’ll find the child?’ Ulfilas asked Jael.

‘Maybe –’ Jael shrugged – ‘if he has reached this far. He may be dead. He may be alive and still in Isiltir, hiding in some woodsman’s shed. Many would help him, out of misguided loyalty to a dead king. Or he may have escaped north into the Desolation. I do not know, but I will not rest until I see his dead body at my feet. While Haelan is out there, alive or dead, there is a challenge to me. He is a rallying point for every naysayer. He must die, and be seen to be dead by all.’

Warbands had been set to scouring Isiltir, circling ever wider after the fall of Dun Kellen. Ulfilas guessed that Jael was probably correct when he said that Haelan was already dead. Probably lying in a ditch somewhere, food for crows.

‘We’ll find him,’ Ulfilas muttered.

‘Aye, we will. Us or the Jotun. Little travels through the Desolation without their knowledge.’

I believe that. Ulfilas glanced back at the hills they were finally riding out of. At the edge of his vision, far beyond the column of Jael’s shieldmen, there was a flicker of movement, a shape outlined against the horizon for a moment. It looked like a bear.

Making sure we leave their lands.

He turned his eyes forwards. To the east the bulk of Forn Forest loomed, dark and brooding. The river was closer now, dark shapes of boats appearing upon it. To the south-east was a bridge, beyond it a hill with a timber hall at its crest, a palisaded wall circling it. Buildings sprawled down the slope, almost right to the river’s banks.

‘A desolate and dangerous place for a hold,’ Jael remarked.

‘Aye. Who would be mad enough to build here? Forn Forest to the east, the Desolation to the north.’

Dag the huntsman dropped back to join them. ‘That is Gramm’s hold. He’s been here a good long while: twenty, twenty-five years.’ Dag had a set of scars down one side of his face that stretched from skull to jaw, looking like the raking of claws. Part of one ear was missing and the hair on that side of his head only grew in patches.

‘Has he, now?’ Jael said. ‘Perhaps he needs reminding who really is king.’