Page 118 of Kingdom of Chains

‘You smell so bad,’ he told her.

She might have smiled had she not been so cold. The shivering had depleted her of any remaining energy.

Gwenore appeared beside them. Isabel assumed her mother would wait until she was clean before making any physical contact but was surprised by an embrace.

‘Forgive me,’ Gwenore whispered.

Isabel drew back to look at her. ‘For what?’

Her mother’s eyes shone with unshed tears. ‘For all of it.’

It was a lot in Isabel’s current state. She looked back at Blackmane, fearful that he would find the outpouring of emotion too much and ride away without so much as a goodbye.

Everard took the three horses off to the paddock.

‘Shall we boil you until you’re sanitary?’ Ita asked, watching the scene from a few feet away.

Isabel managed a smile. ‘Whatever warms me up the fastest.’

Gwenore put an arm around her daughter and guided her towards the house. ‘You really do smell bad.’

Isabel looked over her shoulder, eyes meeting Blackmane’s before she was whisked away inside.

Ita led Blackmane upstairs to a small room with nothing in it except a pail of steamy water, a towel, a small piece of soap, and a pile of clothes. ‘We’re a little light on furniture right now,’ she said, glancing around the empty room. She gestured to the clothes. ‘Compliments of Rabbit. He’s roughly the same size.’

‘Thanks.’

She met his eyes. ‘You got her out.’

‘We did.’

Ita tilted her head and smiled. ‘She’ll be fine, you know. You don’t have to worry about her. She’s tougher than she looks.’

‘I know.’

Ita left him to wash, pulling the door closed behind her.

Blackmane stripped and used the entire piece of soap to clean himself. Once dressed, he wandered over to the small window and looked out at the vibrant pink sky framing the trees. He was about to step away and go look for Isabel whenhe spotted her standing in the garden watching the same pink sky. Her hair was out and still wet. A blue cotton dress peeked out from beneath the large woollen blanket wrapping her. She looked to her left suddenly, then up at the house, eyes meeting his through the open window. It reminded him of the first time they had locked eyes at Hampstead Keep and the world had stopped. His world, at least. That was the kind of power she held over him.

She pushed hair back from her face and smiled up at him, but it faded quickly. He felt cold for the first time since leaving Hampstead Keep. Moving away from the window, he headed downstairs to speak with her.

Her eyes remained on the sky when he stepped up next to her. She drew a long breath and released it slowly. ‘What do you think of the house?’

‘It’s great.’ He looked over his shoulder. ‘Though the roof might need a second go.’

She laughed through her nose. ‘That seems to be a popular opinion around these parts. I should probably point out that it does not leak.’

‘That is impressive.’

‘The original house had a shingle roof, but those are in short supply right now, as you can probably imagine.’

He nodded. ‘It doesn’t need a shingle roof.’

‘Rabbit’s father was a carpenter, so we got lucky there.’

‘Was?’

She glanced down at the ground. ‘He died in the camp last year.’