‘As I said, survival is top of that list. There are over four hundred of us here now, and we’re still growing, and less than half of them are warriors. They’re families, mostly, seeking a safe haven from Evnis and his justice.’ He paused and sighed. ‘It’s not easy trying to feed this many people; do you know how many fish need to be caught every day?’ He smiled ruefully. ‘Could be worse, though. Fish is the one thing we’re not short of in these marshes, and we’ve managed to trade for grain and the like from villages beyond the marshes.’

‘That may be coming to an end soon,’ Roisin said. ‘We passed through one of those villages on the way in. They’d been slaughtered – every last man, woman and bairn. Made an example of.’

‘It was Morcant,’ Edana said.

‘That’s not the best news,’ Pendathran rumbled. ‘There’s not one of them that could give away our location, but if we can’t trade . . .’

‘And other than survival?’ Edana asked again. ‘What is your strategy against Evnis and Rhin?’

‘We take the battle to them, when we can.’ His bushy eyebrows knotted together.

He doesn’t like being questioned like this. Doubt that he’s used to it, and definitely not by the spoilt princess he still thinks Edana is.

‘I’m sure the tales of valour are too many to recount,’ Roisin said.

‘Go on,’ Edana prompted.

Pendathran picked at a nail. ‘We’ve killed a few men in Cambren’s black and gold, those who have ventured into the marshes. A few raids further afield. We’re not strong enough to take the fight to Rhin yet. And everyone here, we’ve all lost kin, loved ones . . .’

‘Dun Carreg fell over a year ago,’ Edana said.

They’re scared, Camlin realized. They’ve been beaten and bullied and just want to hide away from it all for a while. Scared of another defeat, and nowhere left to run.

‘It is the same throughout the west,’ Roisin said. ‘Domhain’s king has been slain, its warbands broken, its warriors scattered. But not all of us. Wherever we stand together, there is hope. I escorted Edana here because she told me of the warriors of Ardan. Told me they had courage and would fight.’ She looked around the room.

She makes it sound as if it was her idea, and she’s not mentioned that she considered using Edana as a bargaining piece with Rhin for her precious son. Still, if she can light a fire under their arses then I’ll not complain.

‘But this is not fighting,’ Edana said. ‘This is existing.’

Pendathran’s face coloured, dark blotches appearing on his cheeks. A silence hung in the air, charged with tension, like clouds bloated with thunder.