Page 81 of Kingdom of Chains

Thorn lifted his eyebrows. ‘I didn’t say she would get off easy, but at least she would be alive at the end. Meanwhile, while we stand here debating this, someone else is being killed while he waits for her.’

‘He is right,’ Isabel said behind him.

Blackmane whipped his head around, not realising she had wandered over to them.

‘I need to get to the camp.’ She looked over to where Ita was still rocking her mother. ‘Right now.’

Blackmane took a step towards her, and she took a step back.

‘I am not asking your permission,’ she said. ‘The sooner I go, the fewer people will die.’

Tatum cleared his throat. ‘Not to play devil’s advocate here, but there’s a lot of sense in what she’s saying. Lord Cuckoo is prepared to burn the world down in order to get her back, and her return will soothe him in the interim.’

Blackmane stared at him like he was a traitor. ‘Or maybe he accidentally kills her—like he almost did last time.’ He looked back at Isabel. ‘Go comfort your friend. She needs you.’

Isabel searched his eyes. Then, with a defeated nod, she returned to Ita.

‘How quickly can we get those children out?’ Thorn asked.

‘We estimate two hundred children,’ Tolly said. ‘One at a time utilising a single tunnel. It’ll take all day, but more realistically, it’ll end up being as many as we can before someone notices they’re missing.’

‘That’s a lot of hours,’ Thorn replied. ‘A lot of corpses hanging from trees.’

Blackmane blinked slowly. He hated the thought as much as any of them. He simply was not prepared to sacrifice Isabel for the cause.

‘And when the children are out, the fighting begins,’ Tatum said.

Thorn crossed his arms. ‘The challenge there is getting enough people inside at one time to make a real impact.’

‘We have a little defender trick that’ll help with that,’ Tatum offered.

‘I didn’t think you wereallowedto help with anything,’ Tolly said. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be neutral?’

Tatum brushed a hand over his head. ‘I don’t see an issue with us casually mentioning the technique before departing.’

They had to leave for Chadora. They should have left two days ago. Yet the timing felt very off. Blackmane wanted to stay to ensure Isabel did not do anything reckless and his brother did not die—again.

He glanced over at Ita, who continued to calmly rock her mother. But someone was missing from the picture now.

Isabel.

He turned, searching for her.

‘What’s wrong?’ Tatum asked.

Blackmane turned in a full circle. ‘Where’s Isabel?’

They all looked around.

‘She can’t have gone far,’ Thorn said.

Blackmane had an image in his head of her being snatched up by a soldier while they stood there talking, but then he realised Ita’s horse was also missing.

He made a dash for his mare.

‘Talk to me,’ Tatum said, running after him.

Blackmane leapt onto his horse. ‘She’s gone to hand herself in.’