Page 57 of Kingdom of Chains

They went to join Ita and Rabbit, taking hold of the injured man and lifting him onto the horse. Then they wrapped the dead in their cloaks and tied them to the saddles of the spare horses.

‘Thank you,’ Ita said, eyeing Walnut’s filthy boots that were poking out from beneath the cloak.

‘We’re going to escort you back to your group,’ Blackmane said.

Her brow creased. ‘You don’t have to do that.’

‘It seems any friend of Lady Isabel’s is a friend of ours,’ Tatum said dryly.

Ita wiped her face, which was still wet with tears from earlier, then said to Blackmane, ‘She doesn’t stand a chance against him.’

‘I know.’

‘Never did. He set his sights on her, and there was no stopping him.’ She sniffed. ‘I’m going to get her out of there and away from him. We’re going to get all of them out. We just need some more time.’

He wondered exactly what that plan entailed.

‘We’ll deal with the dead. You worry about Rabbit,’ he said before mounting.

‘And if you’re struggling,’ Tatum said, catching Rabbit’s eye, ‘I’d prefer to know before you fall from your horse and smack your head on the ground. Understand?’

The rebel nodded.

Blackmane looked over at Alveye and Hadewaye, who were preparing to head off in the other direction. There was an exchange of nods and salutes.

‘Remember what I said,’ Tatum called to the other defenders. ‘Stay alive—so I don’t get into trouble.’

The corners of Blackmane’s mouth turned up as he nudged his horse forwards.

CHAPTER 17

Isabel was as much a prisoner in that camp as any other person locked inside it, which made sitting in a luxurious tent with a tray of hot food all the more ridiculous. It was confirmation that she was stuck between two worlds, and the two guards posted outside were proof that Hodge could feel her slipping to the other side.

‘You put me in a very difficult position earlier,’ he said when he came in to speak with her. ‘Ita’s involvement with the St Clare group not only threatens our safety but also jeopardises all we are trying to achieve here.’ He sat on the cot beside her. ‘She was never an appropriate friend for a young lady, and we are supposed to be presenting a unified front.’

Isabel could barely look at him. ‘May I ask you something?’

He moved closer to her. ‘Of course.’

She forced herself to meet his eyes. ‘Did you set fire to Maddock House?’

The pause before his response confirmed it, not that she needed confirmation. If Ita claimed he had done it, then he had done it.

‘Is that what the little witch told you?’ He rose and began to pace. ‘She disappears from your life—abandons you—then hasthe audacity to show up and attempt to destroy your happiness by poisoning your mind against me.’

Isabel blinked slowly.

‘I should have seen her execution through,’ he added.

‘She saw you. Through the keyhole.’ Her tone was laced with pain.

He turned to her, feigning offence. ‘She saw no such thing.’

‘You locked the door,’ Isabel went on as if he had not spoken. ‘I have spent years trying to figure out why that door was locked. Yet the moment Ita told me, it all made sense.’

‘You think I would lock two women in a room and set your family home on fire?’

She looked up at him. ‘Look around you. You have built a camp that is full of grief and suffering.’

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