CHAPTER 1
Dark red stained the bandages wrapped around my leg as the thick, crimson liquid pooled on the ground beneath me. I sat, clutching my knee and panting for breath, beside the broken-down cart on the side of the lonely forest trail. Tears streaked my face as I looked up at the coach trundling up the road.
“Help!” I shouted, waving a ripped cloth to get the driver’s attention. “Please, help me!”
“Whoa!” The driver pulled on his reins to stop the horses. “What happened, lad?”
“My family was—” I let out a fresh howl of pain and increased the pressure on my leg.
“Hugh, why are we stopping?” A paunchy man stuck his head out the carriage window, then spotted me. “What’s wrong with you?”
“My family was attacked. Men in black masks…”
The man’s interest was caught. “How many men?”
“Three.” I let out a fresh groan and wiped the short strands of blonde hair off my damp forehead.
“Would you be able to recognize them or tell me which way they went?”
“Yes.” My face twisted in agony. “Please, good sir, I’ll do anything if you help me. They killed my family and left me to die.”
“Guards! Help him into the coach!”
From the back of the coach, two men hopped off and came to assist me to my feet.
I winced and bit my lip as they pulled my arms over their shoulders, limping along while trying to avoid putting any weight on my bandaged leg.
“It’s all right, son. We’ll get you some help.”
“Thank you,” I whimpered. “I don’t wanna get any blood on the seats, though. This is an awful nice carriage.”
“Don’t worry about that,” the man inside said, patting the seat across from him. “Someone as wealthy as I am can afford good cleaners. I’m afraid I’ll have to bind your hands, though. Just a precaution.”
I cringed away from the guard. “Don’t hurt me!”
He patted my thin shoulder. “I won’t, son, I won’t. This is just a precaution, that’s all. Bandits are plentiful in these woods; we can’t be too careful. I won’t tie it tightly, and once we get to our destination, we’ll make sure you’re immediately freed. I’ll be gentle and we won’t hurt you.”
“Okay,” I told him with a tiny tremor in my voice, then allowed the guards to help me onto the seat and loosely bind my hands behind my back. “I saw what they did to my family and I wouldn’t want that to happen to anyone else, especially someone as nice as you. I sure appreciate the help. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“There is, actually,” the man seated across from me said, then leaned out the window to shout at his driver to continue on. The coach jolted into action and I let out a small cry of pain. “Whatyou can help me with,” the man said, leaning forward without asking about my leg, “is helping me to find those three masked men. I’ve been looking for them.”
“Are they friends of yours?” I asked, my eyes wide.
He let out a low chuckle. “The opposite, actually. They’re criminals.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Aren’t you one as well?”
The man furrowed his brow. “What?”
I smirked. “I mean, I don’t think you’re a very clever criminal, if you’re willing to pick up a bounty hunter off the side of the road.”
Fear flickered in his eyes, but before he could draw breath to shout for his guards, I shifted my weight back onto my palms behind my back and kicked him directly to the side of the head with the boot at the end of my supposedly injured leg. He slumped, instantly unconscious.
“Never trust anyone,” I hissed into his ear. “Trust gets people killed.”
I shrugged out the knife I had up my sleeve, sliced through my bonds, then leaned out the window. “Excuse me! Sorry, but I just threw up! Can you stop for a minute?”
The driver slowed the horses down. I pulled the thick, soaked bandage from my leg, and when one of the guards came around to open the door, I hooked my elbow around his neck and shoved the wet bandages over his nose and mouth, taking care not to breathe in the odor.
