Inhaling a deep breath, I regained my grip on my thoughts and strode toward them.
“Get your hood back up,” I barked at her. “The last thing I need is to be spotted with a fugitive.”
Raewyn jumped and turned toward me. Her frightened expression melted into something softer.
She drew her hood over her head and clutched it as she ran toward me, the long grass impeding her progress in her ankle-length skirts.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Who were those people? What did they want? Did they hurt you?”
A little off-put by the concern in her voice, I looked down and began wiping the blood from my sword on the tall grasses.
“Dryads,” I said. “Not a friendly bunch.”
When she reached me, her eyes fell to my blade. “Why is it green?”
“Dryad blood. They’re not like us.”
Her face creased in obvious horror. “And so you slaughtered them?”
It took me a stunned second to realize what was going on.
Unable to understand their language, Raewyn hadn’t been aware of the level of threat we’d faced back there—though the leader grabbing her and trying to yank her off the horse should have been a clue to their less-than-friendly intentions.
And I didn’t appreciate the judgmental tone.
“So you love being assaulted by wooden men, do you?” I said. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time. For now, we need to find a place to wait out the daylight. We can’t go back into the forest, and we can’t stay in the open like this.”
She looked around us, taking in the open fields and rolling hills, punctuated by the occasional rock formation. I hoped one of them would contain a large crevice or a cave tall enough for Dargan to enter.
Raewyn’s gaze came back to me, looking confused. “Wait out the… you can’t mean we’re going to spend all dayhidinginstead of traveling to my village?”
“That’s exactly what I mean. Traveling by night will be far safer. Come on, I’ll put you back on the horse.”
I picked her up and headed for Dargan, intending to speed our pace by lifting her over the grass that reached her ribcage. Immediately she began kicking me and bucked against my grip.
“Let me go! I canwalk.”
Having little choice, I set her down. This woman was less tame than some of the wild creatures Mareth brought into the palace.
“It wasn’t intended as an insult, Little Wyn.” I chuckled. “It’s just that you are… little. I was trying to help.”
“I don’t need your help. And I’m not little. I’ll have you know I’m the tallest woman in my village.”
A laugh escaped me. “Quite an accomplishment… in a village of tiny humans.”
She ignored me and turned her back, struggling through the grass on her own once more toward Dargan. As she stomped and awkwardly lunged forward, she yelled at me over her shoulder.
“I don’t want to wait for nightfall. I want to keep going. I need to get home.”
“Yes well, we all want things, my lady,” I said in a droll tone. “For instance, I want to keep my promise to my brother andnotbe charged with treason in the process. Keep your voice down.”
We reached Dargan, and I lifted her up then swung myself up behind her.
“And if you want tomakeit to your home,then you need to listen to me. We don’t want to be spotted. By this time, my father’s troops will be combing the lands.”
I looked around, seeing no one, but that could change at any moment. All it would take was one scout and we’d have an entire regiment bearing down on us.
“My shadows will do us no good in the daytime,” I explained. “A dark cloud trotting across a field in broad daylight isn’t exactly great camouflage. But the shadows will cloak us very well at night. We’ll travel then and at least have achanceof making it to your village.”
