Rhian called them back to calm them down. Cythraul and Dando, she noticed, remotely, a good choice. The pack in the kennels quieted down.
Benitoe reached them and she realized, it was over. It had felt like she’d keep on fighting forever. Rhys came running up, sword in hand, and George hobbled some distance behind him.
Rhys gave them a quick look. “You’re unharmed?”
They both nodded, out of breath, and he ran on toward the back gate. “Stay with them,” he called back to Benitoe.
Rhian and Brynach both bent over to catch their breath, and when she caught his eye, they grinned at each other. We did it, she thought, we’re alive.
As she straightened up, she saw Ives pounding up with Huon and Tanguy. The kennel-men carried butchering knives but Ives had picked up a cudgel from somewhere. Br
