Page 45 of Kingdom of Chains

The man with the scar on his face shook his head. ‘I’m not sleeping next to defenders.’

The woman on the horse next to his frowned. ‘I don’t think he meant side by side.’

‘Safety in numbers’ was Isabel’s reply.

The St Clare people looked suitably wary.

‘We’re going to need to hunt,’ Blackmane said. ‘Or go hungry.’

‘Oh, you can leave that to me,’ Isabel said, raising an arm into the air and looking around.

Blackmane blinked, confused. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Waiting for Margery. She is far more efficient at hunting than any of us.’

He looked to Ita to gauge if she was serious. ‘Theeagle’sgoing to hunt for us?’

‘Assuming she is… ah, there she is.’ Margery appeared overhead, circling a few times before coming to land on Isabel. ‘How do you feel about catching us a couple hares? Go hunt.’

As though comprehending the request, the eagle took flight.

‘Dinner is on its way, defender.’

Ita and the others were talking in a hushed voice and looking in his direction.

Hadewaye returned with their horses, handing the reins of his mare to Blackmane. ‘You sure about this?’

‘No’ was his reply. ‘Let’s go.’

The group travelled around four miles to a dense section of forest, then lit two separate campfires. Margery returned with not one but two hares, dropping the corpses at Isabel’s feet like a dog. Hadewaye and Blackmane went to skin and clean the hares while the two women got reacquainted.

‘How often have you seen Margery over the years?’ Isabel asked after the eagle had gotten her fill of attention and flown off. She sat well back from the fire with her cloak pulled tightly around her.

‘Sometimes I would go months without seeing her at all. Then she would find me, and I’d be so happy, because I knew each time she was coming from you.’ Ita took a drink from her waterskin and handed it to Isabel. ‘But then she started staying with me for longer periods, and I began to worry about you.’

‘So you tied things to her legs to see if I was still alive?’

‘Oh, I knew you were alive. I just had no idea what state you were in.’

Hadewaye took his hare over to the other group. The one they called Rabbit took it, muttering some form of thank you, and then the two groups cooked their food at their own fire.

Blackmane went to fetch his blanket, tossing it to Isabel. ‘Here. I’m cold just looking at you.’

Ita studied him. ‘How incredibly kind of you, defender. Do I get a blanket too?’

He glanced in her direction, noting her half smirk. ‘I only have one, and you’re near the fire.’

Hadewaye passed his blanket to Ita. ‘You can use mine. I’m on first watch.’

Ita looked genuinely taken aback. As the defender rose, she said, ‘I actually have one. I was just—’

‘Making trouble,’ Blackmane finished. He looked up at Hadewaye. ‘We’ll save you some food.’

‘The guards rarely move around at night,’ Ita told them.

Blackmane poked at the meat. ‘Forgive us if we don’t take our safety advice straight from the enemy.’

‘It’s difficult to comprehend why people hate defenders so much,’ Ita said to Isabel. ‘I assume they’re not all this bad?’

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