Dude stretched, arched his back, and gave a lazy shake before hopping off my lap. His tail flicked as he trotted straight toward the noise
I whispered, “Deserter!” and wrapped my arms tight around my knees and pressed my forehead against them, listening to the chaos through the trees.
How many men?I thought there had been four who captured us. Four men against Torin.
The fight was savage. The yelling rose. Horses screamed. I did not like that sound at all.
What was I going to do? How long should I wait before I ran?
He told me not to move, but… he didn’t know everything in the world.
But also, I couldn’t run. I was frozen. Fear and indecision had me stuck, trembling, spooking at movements and all alone in the dark.
Then — a final crash, a roar of effort, and something heavy hitting the ground.
And silence.
Not just quiet.Absolute silence.The kind that hums in your skull. No men. No horses. No steel. Only a bit of a breeze gently rippling the leaves above me and the wild hammering of my heart.
I lifted my head, straining to hear. Nothing. He could be dead. They could all be dead.
I couldn’t breathe.
Suddenly a crash into the woods — a horse, at least one, galloping through the brush. It was coming at me, full charge. I was in full panic, gasping for air.Was it Torin?What if it were someone else?
I scrambled to my feet behind the tree. But the horse continued crashing through the woods and galloped away, another horse following along behind it.
Then silence again.
The fighting was done.
I put my forehead on the trunk of the tree and held on so I wouldn’t crumple into a heap on the ground.
I was going to die. I had thought it, now I knew it.
There was a footstep behind me — I shrieked.
Then Torin was there. He put his arms around me, pulled me close, and hugged me to his chest. He said into my hair, “I am sorry ye were frightened.”
“I didn’t think you were coming back.”
“I try tae be a man of m’word?—”
I stepped back and shoved his chest. “Torin, you ass! You almost got yourself killed! You left me to die here! I am so mad at you!”
He tried to put his hands on my arms, but I brushed them off. “No, I am furious! Don’t touch me.”
“Aye, Princess.”
I set my jaw and raised my chin. I could make out the side of his nose and not much else. “Why do youinsiston calling me Princess?”
“Because ye are sometimes tryin’ my patience and I need tae remind m’self that ye are above me in station.”
I huffed. “Did you get your sword?”
“Aye, I got my broadsword, so I can protect ye. I got m’dirk so I can skin the beasts I will feed ye, and I got two horses. I hae also killed all the men. They winna bother ye again.”
“Oh.” I gulped. “Like ‘killed’ killed them?”
