“I’m telling you, I smelled something cooking,” a young male voice said. “Pheasant, I’d bet my last copper on it.”
“You ain’t got any copper to bet,” another male voice responded, this one older.
“Well, if I’m right and it’s her, it will be gold I’m wagering in games of dice,” the younger voice declared. “Gold polished to a shine by Prince James himself and offered to me with a smile for delivering Ithicana’s bitch for execution. Though in truth, I might find it hard to keep from doing the killing myself to avenge Good King Eddie.”
A third man gave a loud snort. “Right, Johnny. Sure you will. Can’t slaughter a goat but you’ll be first in line to slaughter a woman. Mark my words, you’ll take one look at the Ithicanian princess and piss your trousers.”
“Will not!”
The older men chuckled but then fell silent as they caught sight of Dippy.
“Might be that Johnny’s nose was right after all,” one of them whispered. “Weapons ready. They say she’s as dangerous as a cornered mountain cat.”
They weren’t wrong, but leaving corpses in her wake was a surefire way to put James on her trail. Even if she could hide their bodies, the trio were victims of Alexandra’s schemes, believing they were rightfully hunting the murderer of their king. Ahnna was not in the practice of slaughtering innocents to save her own skin.
They drew close enough that she could see their faces in the lantern light. A grizzled man with a thick beard and thicker-set shoulders, a man with a wild tangle of red curls, and a boy, sixteen, if that. Likely all family members.
“Good-looking horse,” the boy said, approaching Dippy while the other two examined her meager belongings, none of which would give away her identity. “Though she’s said to be riding a bay gelding with no markings, so this ain’t him.” He gestured to the star that Ahnna had colored on her horse’s forehead with chalk. “But I don’t recognize him either.”
“Still warm,” Red Curls muttered, holding his hand over the charred remains of Ahnna’s fire. “Whoever it is, they’re close.”
“Traveler, perhaps.” The grizzled man adjusted his grip on the axe he carried, his instincts correctly warning him that a threat was near. “Or another bounty hunter with the same idea as us that she’ll head to Amarid.”
Don’t look up,Ahnna silently willed him as he turned in a circle.Move along so no one gets hurt.
The boy moved closer to Dippy, stroking her horse’s neck. “You’re a beauty, boy.”
Anxiety built in Ahnna’s chest as she willed him to leave her horse alone. Not because she feared Dippy being taken, for horse theft was a hanging offense in Harendell, but because he was the one thing down there that could be tied to her.
Don’t be friendly,she silently instructed Dippy.Try to bite.
Instead, her gelding snuffled at the boy’s pockets, looking for treats. The boy smiled and rubbed Dippy’s forehead, and Ahnna’s heart sank as the chalk smeared.
No.
The boy frowned. Pulling his sleeve over his hand, he used it to rub at the white star. “Da,” he whispered. “His mark is just chalk. This horse is disguised.”
All three fell entirely still, and from her perch in the tree, Ahnna could feel their fear. Could smell it. Her soul cringed because it was lies told about her that inspired it. Lies that she, and by association all Ithicanians, were murderous monsters who hunted in the dark.
Go,she willed them, despite knowing that word of this discovery would reach James.Trust your instincts and run.
Cold wind howled through the trees, pulling at the strands of hair that had come loose from her cap, but Ahnna didn’t move. Only watched the terrified men below silently debate what they wanted todo.
“It’s her,” the grizzled one whispered. “I sense it in my bones.”
“What do we do?” the boy asked. “She could be watching us right now.”
“It’s three against one,” Red Curls growled. “And she’s only a woman. With the reward we’ll get for bringing her in, we’ll live like lords for the rest of our lives.”
Go looking for me, then,she silently instructed.Search the woods.
Because she’d only need a matter of seconds to tighten Dippy’s girth, and then she’d be off like a shot, her escape route already planned. This was far from the first time Ahnna had been hunted.
“You think Good King Eddie went down easily?” Grizzled said. “This is no ordinary woman. We take the horse so that she’s stuck on foot, and then we send word to the garrison for reinforcements. Prince James will see us rewarded well enough for the information, and we’ll be alive to spend it.”
The boy untethered Dippy. If they took him, there was no chance that she’d be able to outrun the Harendellian soldiers and their hunting dogs.
It seemed that whatever luck had taken her this far had run out.
