Then he drew his sword.
It came out of the scabbard without a sound. It was a plain hunter's blade, a little longer than most.
Selina didn't lower the spear from her shoulder.
"Hi, Arthur," she said. "You look terrible."
Arthur walked out of the gateway towards her.
**********
In the yard, two thousand people stood in their rows and faced the gate. They had been told to come home. Now they were home, and nobody had told them what came next.
Alex stood among them with his hood down and his heart going like a hammer.
'She's alone. She's out there ALONE, Luna.'
'She chose to be.'
Up on the wall above the gate, the Lord's man had climbed the steps. He looked down the hill at the woman with the golden spear, and he didn't seem worried at all.
"The portcullis," he said to somebody behind him. "Drop it. Arthur can deal with his old teacher. The Lord will want to see how."
