Halion. He had changed. Looked exhausted. Leaner, definitely, his face all sharp bones, his beard ragged, but still he had that look. Those grey eyes that could stare you down, calm, terrifyingly so, in the face of fury. That was why Evnis had determined to turn his brother against him. Together Halion and Conall were unstoppable, two parts of the same whirlwind, the calm and the fury. Separate, they were just men. Dangerous, still, but not unstoppable.

Halion and Camlin embraced, a silent camaraderie passing between them that stirred up anger in Evnis’ belly. He could not say why.

They parted, grinning like fools at one another. Words were exchanged, too low for Evnis to hear, and then Camlin was dragging Halion through the long grass, up the slope towards the tower shouting at the guards on the wall.

What are they doing? They’ll be seen.

Then the word Camlin was shouting coalesced inside Evnis’ head, finally making sense.

Vonn.

A man in a black and gold cloak was leaning over the timber wall. As Camlin and Halion climbed the hill the man on the wall vaulted over, landed agilely with knees bent.

Suddenly, like a candle lit in a dark room, Evnis knew him.

My son.

He was tall, a shock of golden blond hair on his head, a neatly trimmed beard with streaks of red amongst the gold. He ran the dozen strides between him and Halion and hugged the older warrior, grinning and laughing.

Evnis stood up from his hiding place in the grass, shook off grasping hands from Braith, cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled his son’s name.

‘VONN.’

The three men on the hill turned and looked at him, and for a frozen moment the world dimmed, seemed to form a tunnel to the exclusion of all else between Evnis and Vonn as they stared at one another. Then Braith swore and stood beside him, his bow drawn.

‘Damn you to hell,’ the huntsman spat at Evnis, then loosed. His arrow sped towards the three men, Camlin moving first, shoving the other two so that Braith’s arrow slammed thrumming into the timber wall.

A heartbeat later an arrow came back at them, Rafe dragging Evnis to the ground, the arrow hissing by frighteningly close. There was shouting from around the tower wall, figures appearing from the south. Figures with swords and spears in their hands.

Braith and Camlin were launching arrows at one another. Evnis caught fleeting glimpses of Halion and Vonn running along the wall, away.

Away. At the same time other warriors were moving closer, a dozen at least, some of them already wading into the long grass on the hill slope.

Evnis reached for Glyn’s horn that he’d tied to his belt and put it to his lips, blew hard, a long wavering blast issuing from it. Men paused all over the hill.