“Dear God, he’s burning us alive, just as he did Hereward.” Siward sounded savage. His mighty jerk heaved the table half an inch, and made me drop the knife. Wriggling, I managed to seize it, and begin again, determinedly.
“Why?” Lise asked, bewildered. “What is the point? So he killed Hereward. Why kill us? Because we know? We have no proof to satisfy even a biased court of law!”
Almost to myself, I said low, “He must have hated Hereward very much... I’m sorry. I risked you in my foolishness... ah!” Abruptly, the knife cut through the first rope and I could pull my wrists free. Stumbling in my haste, I hurled myself at Siward’s feet.
The hall was filling up with smoke now, billowing in from the bedchamber. The whole building was on fire, the bedchamber, all four walls, the loft and som
