“There is good in him.”
“Forgive me if I don’t agree.”
She parted her lips as if she meant to argue, then shrugged.
“How long have I been here?”
“Four days.”
Grandmother had to be losing her mind with worry. As soon as I had a moment alone, I’d send her a note.
“I would have let you sleep longer, but Grayson insisted I wake you.”
I was so tired. My body. My mind. My soul. Was it too much to ask to let an injured woman rest? “He wants something from me.”
She gave a disapproving nod. “You’re leaving for Angelfire tomorrow.”
My stomach clenched, and I almost vomited the small amount of water she’d let me swallow. They were sending me to the front—to the exact place my mother had died. “Angelfire?” My voice, still raspy from my time in the pit, broke.
“The fort has been attacked. Twice.”
My heart beat hard enough to bruise my ribs from the inside. “They’re taking me with them? What if I don’t want to go?”
Her face softened in sympathy, and she offered me the cup. “I’m sorry, pet. You don’t have a choice.”
Chapter
Seventeen
HAVEN
The horse trotted, and each clop of its hooves on the hard-packed lane sent a jolt of pain through the two remaining wounds on my back—the two poisoned lashes from Carron.
I shifted in the uncomfortable saddle.
“You’re slowing us down,” said Pierce, who rode beside me.
Apparently, my being unconscious had delayed their departure. We’d left a day late and were taking a shortcut through woods, both deep and dark, to make up time. No one was happy about it.
“You’re a terrible rider.”
Hardly surprising. I’d never been on a horse before, and as far as I could tell, riding well was a skill that took lots of practice. “This is my first time in a saddle.”
Pierce grunted. “Sink your weight into your heels and squeeze with your thighs.” He eyed me critically. “Relax.”
I tried to do what he suggested, but squeezing and relaxing seemed like opposite actions.
“Not like that,” he groused. “You look like a sack of potatoes. Sink your heels.”
I sank my heels.
“Now squeeze with your thighs.”
I did that too.
“Relax your shoulders. They’re up by your ears.”
I forced my shoulders to lower.
