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we? Sailing isn’t as hard as it seems, as long as there’s wind. Without the wind, there’s all the rowing, and that’s some work, I’ll tell you. Luckily, though, being an archer is ideally suited for rowing, as we tend to be strong in the arms. So I was able to compensate for Maryam . . . I mean when Maryam tired. . . .” Too late, Robard, my friend.
    “Robard,” Maryam said quietly. “I don’t think we really want to talk about this now, do we?”
    “Um. No. I guess not,” he replied sheepishly.
    “Anyhow, it worked, didn’t it? Here we are, safe in England,” Robard said.
    “Ohh,” I said. I had to lie back against the rock and close my eyes. Weakness washed over me, and I covered my face with my hands. “And the two of you have the gall to complain . . . I’m the one without plans . . . ,” I muttered. “Where in England?” I asked, sitting up again.
    “What did he say?” Robard asked.
    “Nothing,” Maryam said. “Tristan, tell me how you feel. Can you stand? Do you think you can walk, or ride if we can find horses? Robard says we really should be on the move. Sir Hugh will no doubt find our trail soon enough, if he hasn’t already.”
    “Do we know where we are?” I asked. “Which direction we need to go?”
    “West,” Maryam said.
    “North,” Robard said at the same time.
    “You have no idea where we are, do you?” I asked.
    “Yes. We most certainly do. We are in England. And for a long time we had the cliffs of Dover in view. Then, well . . . we may have drifted a bit,” he said.
    “A bit?”
    “Quite a bit, perhaps—a lot, actually. The wind really catches the sail, and if you don’t get the rudder turned correctly, you end up going . . . Never mind. We’re safely home, Tristan. In England.” Robard gave me his best smile.
    Maryam brought us back to reality. “Regardless of where we are, we need to get moving. Tristan, can you stand? Walk?” she asked. I had been sitting by the fire, my head in my hands, wondering how far we would have to travel to reach Rosslyn. I couldn’t really blame them, though. We were still alive.
    “I’m not sure. Let me try,” I said. Standing was going to be painful, but there was no way around it. Maryam was right. It was time for us to be under way.
    I put one leg under me while Robard knelt, holding my other arm. Together we stood and the pain was only slightly less than excruciating. The world spun and I feared I might pass out. “Easy,” Robard said. “Steady.”
    After a moment, the pain lessened and I could stand unaided. Taking a few tentative steps back and forth, I could manage a sort of shuffling walk. But at this rate, it would take me years to reach Scotland.
    “Careful,” Maryam said. “Getting shot by an arrow hurts .” She stared at Robard pointedly, but he refused to meet her gaze.
    “Yes, it does, I’m told. But not as much as being stabbed by a Hashshashin dagger,” Robard shot back.
    “We’re going to need horses,” I said, interrupting.
    “You know, riding a horse . . .” Maryam let the words trail off.
    “I know. It’s going to hurt even worse. But the pain will pass. We’ll never make it on foot, and I’ll only slow us up,” I said.
    Robard and Maryam nodded in agreement. I decided it was a good idea to sit back down before I passed out.
    “So how do we do that?” I asked. “Find horses.”
    Neither of them spoke, staring at the fire, thinking.
    “Do we have any idea where we are exactly? Where in England specifically?”
    Robard shook his head. “I said sailing is not as hard as it looks. Navigating is an entirely different matter. We’ll just need to find the nearest town or village to find out where we are. Then we’ll see about horses. You still have money?”
    I nodded. I also had Sir Thomas’ ring, but trading it for horses would leave a clear clue for Sir Hugh if he followed us here.
    “Good. I’m not opposed to stealing, since this is something of an emergency, but it would be