Blake crossed her arms. ‘No it’s not. It belongs to my uncle, who’s fetching the commander as we speak. So you can hand it over to me or hand it over to him. Your choice.’
The other boy drew a knife and pointed it in their direction. ‘How about you piss off before you get hurt?’
Still want to settle this like ladies?Eda signed.
Blake sighed. ‘Not really.’
Eda charged at the armed boy, pinning him face down on the ground as she disarmed him. He spat out leaves and swore at her. Blake walked over to the other one and shoved him hard against the closest tree, her forearm pressed to his neck. She saw his hand go for a weapon and slapped it away. In the next beat, the tip of her own knife was pressed to his stomach.
‘We found it wandering the street,’ said the boy lying in the mud. He was such a scrawny thing that Blake feared Eda would accidentally snap his spine.
‘Lie to me again and I’ll cut off your finger and feed it to your friend here.’ She would do no such thing, but he did not need to know that.
‘Fine,’ the boy beneath her arm croaked. ‘Take the horse.’
Blake eased the pressure on his throat. ‘Now, what have we learned today? Do we take things that don't belong to us?’
The boy gritted his teeth and shook his head.
Grabbing him by the front of his shirt, she shoved him away. ‘Off you go, then.’ She nodded at her sister, who climbed off the other boy, pushing hair back from her face.
He snatched his weapon off the ground before jogging after his friend.
‘You all right?’ Blake asked, walking over to the horse.
Eda nodded.I should have kept his knife.
Blake smiled. ‘Let’s get this horse back to Uncle.’
When they turned onto their street, Blake saw her uncle speaking with two defenders. ‘Here we go,’ she said under her breath.
Thomas fell silent when he saw them approaching, and the defenders turned to see what he was looking at. Blake locked eyes with an exhausted Harlan. His eyes moved over her before he spoke.
‘I gather this is the horse.’
‘I told you I was going to fetch the commander,’ her uncle said, marching towards them. He tore the reins from her hands, making her wince.
For someone who claimed to be a nobleman, the man had no manners. Blake made sure her feelings did not show on her face. ‘We found the mare abandoned in the forest.’
Her uncle looked to Eda for confirmation. ‘That true?’
Eda nodded.
‘Answer,’ he growled.
‘She cannot speak, Uncle,’ Blake said. ‘You know this.’
‘Shechoosesnot to speak, and I will not have it. Kingsley might have let you all do as you please, but you answer to me now. You will do as you are told.’
Blake stepped between Thomas and Eda. ‘Grief doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t care about your demands.’
Thomas reached up and grabbed hold of her face—hard. ‘You have enabled her for too long.’
‘Lord Thomas,’ Harlan said. ‘I suggest you thank the girls for returning your horse and let them go inside.’
Something in his tone made her uncle’s hand slacken and Blake look in his direction. There was a warning in it.
‘And what of the men who stole the horse?’ Thomas asked, stepping back from Blake.
