And the Covenanters had used me to help them do it.

I despaired. We’d fallen into their trap. Even the Templars hadn’t realized it, until the end. How could the Covenanters be so clever?

And as I sank in despair, I recalled one more thing in Ardrey’s letter. I could barely bear to remember it.

The man in black informed me, it said.

Walsingham had told me the plan to move the king wouldn’t remain a secret. Even so, there couldn’t have been that many who knew what was happening. And I’d only ever seen one man in black. One man who always wore black.

Lord Ashcombe.

The King’s Warden.

A Covenanter?

A traitor?

My mind rebelled at the thought. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.

But if he was…

Blossom’s stride changed underneath me.

The terrible thoughts in my head faded as my horse began to slow. Lost in my own mind, I hadn’t been paying attention to her.

She was tiring. Great breaths blew from her nostrils, puffing mist in the cool air. We must have covered several miles already, going hard, and she wasn’t built for this. She was a carriage horse, slow but steady, and now she was old.

Fear wrenched at my gut. Sally had said the king left an hour before Tom and I returned to Whitehall. Add another twenty or so minutes to follow the trail of the Templars’ map and find the letter in Lord Ardrey’s room… That meant they had nearly an hour-and-a-half head start. My only salvation was that the king was in a carriage, which moved slower than if everyone was on horseback. Riding Blossom, I had a slim chance to catch them. If I had to stop…

I leaned forward, a hand on her withers. “Come on, Blossom,” I said, and her ears turned back to me. “Please keep going. I need you.”

She seemed to understand. Her pace quickened, hooves thundering on the road once more. I patted her neck. “Good girl,” I said.

Then she squealed, a terrible cry of pain.

And I was flying.

CHAPTER 47

I SLAMMED INTO THE GROUND.

Pain ripped through my body as I hit the dirt. My momentum carried me forward, and what started as a skid turned into a roll. I lost my torch, the flame tumbling in my vision, until it was just a glow in the distance. Then I finally came to a stop.

I was on my back. The stars spun above me, swirling, then resetting their place and doing it all over again. My stomach twisted, but I was too dazed to heave.

What had happened?

For a second, I thought I’d broken everything. Because everything hurt. Then the pain faded, at least a little, enough that I could move. Once again, I tasted dirt, now mixed with the metallic tang of blood.

My face was wet. I brought an aching arm to my lip, and it came away warm. I was bleeding.

I turned my head, trying to get my bearings. I was lying on the road, that much I knew, but I couldn’t tell which way was forward and which was back. I tried to sit up. Dazed, I fell, to look once more at swirling stars.