Lord John frowns at the mention of kidnapping -- of sacrifice. There were quite a lot of people in the infirmaries, and those were no insignificant tents they were breaking down in Nocwich either.

"My God. How many were there taken? Does anyone know?" he asks, an edge to his voice that had not been there before. John is no stranger to casualty. He has been to war before, seen battle and bloodshed. But it does sound as though these people who were taken were innocents, caught up in whatever scheme had been at play. John is not against violence, where violence is warranted. But never against an innocent, especially at the hands of a person in power, as it sounds was the case here.