The captains returned to their men. Killbere rode at their head. Álvaraz’s men cosseted the King, riding as close escort. By the end of the day they would be at the coast and their duty fulfilled.

‘I am honoured to have been at your side,’ said Álvaraz.

‘And I yours,’ said Blackstone.

‘The map the old man drew for you is enough?’

‘Even a single horseman leaves signs that a blind man could find. They won’t expect anyone to be in pursuit.’

The two men clasped hands. ‘I will pray God keeps you safe so you may inflict His punishment on them and cast them into hell,’ Álvaraz said and wheeled his horse. The order to ride on was called and the column eased onto the road to Corunna.

Blackstone stared at Don Pedro as he rode past but the King sat upright, looking neither left nor right. Behind him the High Steward glanced at Blackstone and made the sign of the cross. A blessing or a curse? No one had treated his lord and master with such violence or contempt as the Englishman. Perhaps, Blackstone thought, the old patrician saw him as the devil’s disciple.

John Jacob drew his horse next to Blackstone. ‘I am your squire. I will ride with you as I always have. It is my obligation to accompany you. If I do not, then I am shamed.’

Blackstone smiled. ‘Who could ever shame a man like you, John? I owe you so much. When you got Christiana and my children to safety all those years ago, that can never be repaid.’

‘Sir Thomas, the past binds us all, but I have my duty. Shall we go?’

‘No, my friend, not today. I have a greater duty for you. My son Henry has always looked to you with deep regard and affection. You were his guardian at a time I could not be his father. You taught him how to serve as a page and the discipline that entailed. If I do not return I ask you to take up that role again. You cannot be with me today in case he needs you tomorrow.’

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

The old fisherman’s description was correct. The road became a track and then petered out. The bastard horse had pulled up short a hundred yards from the blind bend, ears forward, muscles rippling, warning of other horses nearby. Blackstone eased him forward and saw two abandoned horses grazing. Riding closer, he looked along the base of the cliffs and the area between rock and forest. Another horse stood abandoned in the treeline, with loose reins and, like the others, still saddled. A fourth nudged it for companionship. Blackstone looked at the trampled grass and saw no more tracks.