Page 54 of Kingdom of Chains

Blackmane was watching the drama unfold down a fresh arrow. So were the guards. There were arrows pointing in all directions as everyone held their breath, waiting to see what Hodge would say next.

Before he had a chance, Walnut shot one of the guards through the stomach. Three arrows hit her half a second later. Rabbit released his straight into the face of one of the men. Blackmane was about to draw his sword when Tatum’s horse appeared in front of him.

‘If you cross this line, we’ll be forced to cross with you.’

He was right. Once they started, it would not end until every guard was dead. And then what? They would be forced to kill Hodge, too, breaking a direct order.

In his peripheral vision, Blackmane saw Isabel run for Ita, flinging herself at her friend and wrapping her like a human shield.

‘Cease fire!’ Hodge shouted.

Blackmane stepped around Tatum’s horse at the same time Isabel pulled an arrow from the quiver on Ita’s back. She pressed the tip of it to her neck before turning to Hodge.

‘If she dies, I die,’ she said through gritted teeth.

All the colour left Hodge’s face. ‘Put that down before you hurt yourself.’

‘Not unless you agree to let them both walk away, unharmed,’ she said, ice in her tone. ‘Promise me that, and I will come with you now. If one more arrow reaches them, I will drive this through my neck.’ She blinked back tears. ‘Do you hear me?’

Ita dropped to her knees beside Walnut, staring down at her dead friend.

Hodge raised his hands in a calming gesture. ‘All right.’

‘Swear it,’ Isabel demanded. Her hand was shaking now, the tip of the arrow drawing blood.

This was one of those rare moments where Blackmane felt completely helpless. He had no control over the situation, and the fact that Hodge did made it so much worse.

The earl swallowed. ‘All right. I swear it.’

Hodge rode over to Isabel, holding out his hand for the arrow.

She looked at Ita. ‘I am so sorry.’

Ita was too grief-stricken to even look up.

Slowly, Isabel removed the arrow from her neck, handing it to Hodge. The earl took it from her before gesturing to one of the guards to fetch her mare. When Isabel was safely on her horse, he looked at Tatum. ‘The tour ends here, Commander. I think you have seen all there is to see.’ His gaze slid to Blackmane. ‘It is time for you and your men to go home.’

Blackmane went to take a step towards him, but Tatum drew his sword and swung it downwards, blocking his path.

Hodge’s eyes never left Blackmane. ‘I would not loiter if I were you, defender.’ With that he turned his horse away.

Blackmane’s stomach twisted at the sight of Isabel on that horse with tears pouring down her cheeks and blood trailing down her neck. She did not so much as glance in his direction, and he was grateful for the fact. The last thing he wanted to do was add fuel to a fire he would not be there to oversee.

Hodge walked his horse over to Isabel’s, taking the reins from her and dragging them up over the mare’s neck. He wrapped them around his hand twice, clearly not taking any chances. Then, looking at Tatum, he said, ‘Safe travels, Commander.’

Every muscle in Blackmane’s body turned to stone as she was led away. The moment she was gone from sight, he turned to the closest tree and slammed his fist into it.

CHAPTER 16

Blackmane paced in front of Tatum, knuckles bleeding.

‘Just so I’m clear,’ the commander said, looking thoroughly confused. ‘The woman crying next to the corpses over there is Ita, Isabel’s friend who died in a fire five years ago—a fire Hodge started. Except she isn’t dead. She was pretending to be dead so Hodge wouldn’t find her and kill her—again. And she wants to shoot an arrow into her closest friend’s soon-to-be husband’s face.’ He paused, looking in Ita’s direction. ‘And in case that’s not weird enough, all her other friends are named after things found in nature.’

Hadewaye looked equally as confused by that point. ‘You know, I think the longer version of the story is better.’

Alveye, who had been with the reinforcements during the whole thing, appeared through the trees on foot with his horse trailing behind him. He froze when he saw Ita and Rabbit, then looked down at the corpses. ‘What did I miss?’

Tatum rubbed his forehead. ‘Quite a lot.’