Page 124 of Kingdom of Chains

He was the very thing she had to fear. Her mind was getting wild with worry now.Where are the others?

‘Now,’ he said, clapping his hands together, ‘I know someone always lights the stove for you in the evenings, so I took it upon myself to do it in their absence.’

She did not want to think about how he knew that. ‘Where is Everard? He was out front, and now I cannot find him.’

He took a few steps towards her, and she took a large step back.

He slowly raised his hands. ‘It is all right.’

She pressed a hand to her stomach. ‘Where are they?’

‘Safe.’

‘What does that mean? Safe where?’

‘With my men.’

Her breath hitched. ‘What is going on?’

He took another, much slower step towards her. ‘I needed to talk to you alone.’

‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘I do not want to talk to you. What are you doing here?’ That last question came out strangled, her expression collapsing mid-sentence.

His face filled with pity but not remorse. ‘Beloved. Must we do this again and again? You know why I am here. You know what I want. It is time for you to come home.’

She shook her head profusely this time, backing all the way up to the kitchen door. ‘No. No. Never again. I would sooner die than go anywhere with you.’

‘Now, that is hurtful.’ He walked over to the front door and pushed it closed, then locked it. ‘It is getting rather breezy now that the sun has set.’

He headed for her then, and she backed up into the kitchen until she felt the wooden bench beneath the window press into her spine.

‘You are like a frightened horse,’ Hodge mused.

She gripped the bench behind her. ‘Do not come any closer.’

Hodge drew a slow breath. ‘Must there always be a scene with you?’ He walked over to the stove and began stuffing it with sticks and small logs. Isabel watched in horror as the flames intensified.

‘Soon it will be much too hot in here,’ he said, ‘and you will exit willingly at my side instead of being dragged out of here like a dog.’

Her eyes never left the fire. ‘How did you get into Carmarthenshire?’

‘It was not easy, let me assure you. It has taken weeks of planning to breach that little border of yours, but we found a way through eventually.’ He continued to shove more wood into the fire despite it being so full that he was struggling to fit it. ‘I was fearful of what I would find upon arriving here. I was plagued byimaginings of you and Blackmane playing house together. You can imagine my relief when I found you here and him nowhere in sight.’

She swallowed, her mouth growing increasingly dry. ‘How long have you been here?’

‘In Llanelieu? Six days.’

Six days?

‘I have been observing and getting a feel of the place and your life here. It is no Hampstead Keep, but I see how much you enjoy working outside in the gardens. Though they are not as impressive as the gardens back home.’

The thought of him watching her for six days made her feel physically ill. ‘That is enough wood,’ she said when an ember fell from the stove and flitted across the floor.

He went to stamp the ember out. The problem was the wood was popping all over the place, sending more things flying than he could put out.

Sweat gathered on her brow and trickled down her back, partly due to the heat but mostly due to the fear. She needed to get out of the kitchen, out of the house.

Releasing the bench, she dashed for the door, but Hodge blocked her exit at the last second, and her body slammed into his. He reached up to steady her. ‘Where are you running off to? We leave together, remember? Calmly and willingly.’

---