He lay, head resting on the boulder for how long he couldn’t tell, but as the sun settled close to the far horizon, he felt warmth creep into his chest and then his arms and legs. He dragged himself free of the rushing water and tested his strength. From all fours on the bank, he stood and, as he heaved Wolf Sword from de Hayle’s chest, he knew his power had returned. He kicked free the woman’s trapped body. The current dragged her away. He watched her bob and slide through the water, nudged by boulders, until she disappeared to fall to the rocks below.

He walked to the cliff edge and looked down at Velasquita’s shattered body. The dark-ruffled sea began to consume the sun’s ball of fire. A ship’s sails caught the wind and eased away from the shore.

‘Legends never die,’ he told the dead witch. ‘Not until the wine barrels run dry.’

Killbere and the men were waiting. Blackstone turned for home.

He looked heavenward.

The hawk had flown.

Author’s Notes

The War of the Breton Succession had raged for years between the French-backed claimant, Charles de Blois, and his adversary John IV de Montfort. Much of the Duchy of Brittany had been controlled by Edward III since 1342 when John de Montfort had been taken to England as an eight-year-old child as Edward’s ward. Over the years Charles de Blois had fought hard to retain control of the duchy and when he was wounded and captured in June 1347, organized opposition to the English in Brittany was led by his wife, Jeanne de Penthièvre, who struggled with few resources in order to conserve what little power she had. Edward’s main interest lay in denying the French a presence in western Brittany that could sever communications between England and Bordeaux and Gascony. Turmoil and poor governance continued for years and loyalties from regional lords changed sides during and after English success at Crécy and Poitiers. Various treaties followed and Brittany was legally a fief of the King of France, governed by Edward III in his ward’s name.

When John de Montfort came of age in June 1362 Edward relinquished the duchy to him, but in practice it remained an English protectorate. When the King gave his son, the Prince of Wales, the Duchy of Aquitaine to govern, the Prince and the young de Montfort’s close relationship and Brittany’s geographical importance to the English Crown made it seem inevitable that the duchy would be secured for England and the decades-long civil war brought to a satisfactory conclusion. When Charles de Blois raided across Brittany assisted by French captains, he successfully divided the duchy in two. The fuse was lit and de Montfort, no doubt with the King and Prince’s encouragement, turned to English routiers for help.