‘Literally giving you the shirt off my back,’ Becket replied as he tugged it over his head. ‘It’s wet, but it’s clean.’ He handed it to Eda.
She gave him an appreciative smile as she took it. ‘Kind of you.’ She removed the soiled bandages and wrapped the wound with the shirt, tying it as best she could. When she was done, something nudged her elbow. She turned to see Basil standing there. ‘Just a few more miles. Then you get to meet our goats.’
‘Why do you assume you’ll get to keep him?’ Tatum asked.
‘Where are you going to keep a donkey?’
‘Fair point.’ As Tatum was mounting, his horse collapsed beneath him. It lay panting on the ground, making no effort to get up. ‘Something I said?’
Everyone stared down at the animal.
‘Put Woottone, Blackmane, and Hadewaye on the spares,’ Roul said, taking charge. ‘The rest of us will continue on foot.’
‘Nothing wrong with my legs,’ Blackmane said, stubborn as always.
Hadewaye appeared to be getting worse by the minute and had to be tied to the saddle. He lay against the horse’s neck, eyes closed.
Eda met Roul’s eyes across the horse, and she wished with her whole heart that she had never seen that damn letter. But every time she tried to rationalise his actions, her sixteen-year-old self started to scream.
She went to remove the saddle from the horse on the ground, then took hold of the reins, pulling. The horse did not move. She bent to stroke the gelding’s face. ‘If Basil can do it, you can absolutely do it. No weight means no excuses.’
‘Eda,’ Roul said quietly. ‘We have to go.’
Eda had no choice but to leave the horse behind.
She led Hadewaye and one of the spares towards home, with Basil walking alongside her.
It was over an hour later when Chadora’s walls finally came into view, dominating the landscape in front of them. Eda felt both relief and dread. What would happen to Roul when they stepped through that gate? Would Queen Fayre protect him? Eda was not even sure if she could protect herself now that the secret was out.
‘Home sweet home,’ Becket said, his tone dry.
Apparently she was not the only one with mixed feelings.
The whinny of a distant horse made them all turn. The small hairs on the back of Eda’s neck stood up as she watched the horizon for any movement. Perhaps the horse they had left behind had a change of heart.
‘How far out do you think that was, Commander?’ Alveye asked.
Roul squinted. ‘Maybe a mile.’
Becket took a few nervous steps.
Tatum’s eyes narrowed on something in the distance. ‘Oh shit.’
Eda saw what he was referring to.Lessthan a mile out, a group of around twenty horses appeared, moving at a trot. A dog barked, making Eda flinch. Oh, how she hated to be hunted by dogs.
Roul sprang into action. ‘Dump everything that isn’t a weapon. Bags, saddles, all of it. Then get on a horse. If that horse falls down, get on another one. If that one falls, get on someone else’s.’
Everyone dashed from horse to horse, releasing girths and shoving saddles and bags to the ground, only leaving them on for Woottone and Hadewaye.
Roul hoisted the prince onto one of the mares, then went to help Blackmane. ‘We’re about two miles from the wall. Consider this our bolt to the finish line.’ He circled back to make sure Eda was on a horse, then went to Hadewaye. ‘I’m going to need you to sit up and hold on.’
Hadewaye did not respond, but when Roul sat him up, he stayed there.
‘Tatum and Alveye to the back, and bows at the ready,’ Roul said as he swung himself up onto one of the remaining horses. ‘Suttone, your job is to get Prince Becket to that gate no matter what’s happening behind you. And I swear to God, if you wait for that donkey, I’ll shoot it myself. Understand?’
Eda retrieved her bow and nodded. ‘I understand.’
The dog barked again, more urgent this time.
