Page 75 of The Outlaw and the Heir

"Well, more's the pity for you then," she said with a chuckle. Her eyes fell to the ground, and I spied the plants, which were as torn up and downtrodden as the others. Their pieces lay scattered on the ground. In fact, a few of them looked like something of good size, say larger than a hoof, had broken the plant. "Because I am still spoiled, no matter how much I crave getting out of the house now and again."

"Now I understand why your brother wanted me to be the one to watch over you," I said, nodding to say I understood what she was trying to show me. I raised a brow, hoping she wouldelaborate further on what was going on. "He wanted to torment me by taking the little princess for a stroll through the garden."

"As if we could even have a garden here," she said with a wistful sigh and then jerked her head to her other side.

"Here," I said, leaning over to hand her the canteen of water and then look at what she'd indicated. It took me a moment to realize what the smashed thing on the ground was, squinting until I could see that it was, or at least had been, dung. But rather than the pile one would expect, it was smashed into the ground. I didn't need to get close to see there were marks in it, a raised hump in the middle while on each side of said hump was where it had smashed down.

As if stepped on by a boot.

"Will that serve, Your Highness?" I asked as she took it, and I again nodded to show that I understood. Another glance and I suspected several things at the same time. If I had the right of it, the impression on the former pile indicated that whoever had stepped in it had been walking in the direction we were currently riding toward. And despite the heat and dryness of the day, it shouldn't have left it so soft and pliable looking. Yet there wasn't a trace of dryness as far as I could see, and the only reason I probably couldn't smell it was the strong smell of the horse and my distance from it, though Elizabeth had probably smelled it.

"I had a little too much meat earlier," she said, jerking her elbow in the direction of the pile. Which if I was right, was her way of telling me what the dung might have contained. I might have questioned her ability to figure out the contents of a turd from the sight and smell, but she was the child of a rancher. Perhaps she mostly stayed in the home, but I'd heard enough about her childhood to know she had done her fair share of exploring. She would undoubtedly know what manure smelled like and what the scent of a predator's diet was.

I nodded slowly, glancing behind us and then at her. "All that salt will dry you right up. I told you you needed to be prepared for this kind of trip. Though again, maybe this is why your brother decided to send me along with you."

"Yes, yes," she said, eyes widening and nodding. "My dear, sweet, overprotective brother would justloveto hear that he was right that I needed supervision. Do you think it would make him happy?"

"I've yet to find anything outside his nieces and nephews and his dog that brings him joy." My mind quietly acknowledged that what my body could give him also fell into that category but shoved it away. I didn't need to be an animal or tracking expert to know we were not as alone as we might think. And if there were others from the ranch out here, we would have known about it before we left. Elizabeth would have made sure she wasn't spotted out here by her family's men.

That left one possibility, and Ireallydid not want to meet any stragglers from the gang Ambrose had spoken about.

"Don't be so fussy," I said with a sigh, impressed but not surprised by her ability to keep talking and pretending nothing had changed. She kept up with me verbally back and forth, and it was obvious she had her father's steely nerves. "If you collapsed while we were out here, it would be my hide. So drink your water, and let's get back before the heat overtakes us. You're not exactly dressed for this kind of weather."

"How lovely it is to have so many people worried about me as if I can't handle myself," she said, though she turned the horse. "But fine, I am a woman of my word, and I won't argue, as I promised Ambrose."

"Probably a good call on your part," I said with a chuckle. "Now let's go, and we'll probably make it back in time for lunch."

She sighed. “Perhaps I can convince Hipolita to make me something nice to take pity on me. And you can eat the slop with the rest of the men."

We moved a little faster than we did on the way in, but hopefully, it wasn't too noticeable in case someone was paying attention. I didn't know if whoever had passed through was still close, but considering what we'd found a few weeks ago and Ambrose's reaction to it, I didn't want to take any chances.

"They're supposed to be smart," Elizabeth said in a low voice that would have been lost to all but me over the sounds of the horses as their hooves clumped against the harsh earth. "They couldn't be this close."

"Yes, they could," I said with a smile and then louder said. “Do you think you could convince Hipolita to get me a stiff drink for all my hard work?"

She might know this land and its creatures better than I did, but I knew the beast known as man much better. Even the most cunning group of outlaws and bandits could make stupid or impulsive choices. If her suspicions about who could be around were true, I was hoping it was one of those two things. The alternative was that they were here for a specific reason, and that did not bode well for anyone. If they were as cunning and dangerous as Ambrose said, that kind of decision meant something significant was going to happen sooner rather than later, and the quicker we got back to report what we found, the better.

"I doubt that very much," Elizabeth began, her tone light and almost playful, but a glance told me she was tense as we made for the entrance. "But you seem to have managed to charm her, so you might just convince her. Now, how my father would take that, or Ambrose if either of them found out, is a different story entirely."

"Ah, who said they need to find out?" I wondered, stomach tightening when I heard a scuff above us. The height of the rock formation was dropping as we neared the entrance, which meant if someone was near, it would be harder for them to hide as we got closer. At the same time, it was still high enough that anyone atop the rocks would have the advantage.

"I could be convinced to keep a secret," Elizabeth said with a smile that was almost believable if I didn't know how tense the situation was. "But it would cost you."

"And here I am without all my ill-gotten gains," I snorted. "I suppose I’ll have to deal with just water for the time being."

"Poor you," she said with a wrinkle of her nose.

Another scuff above. This time, it was louder, and I knew our time was up—our attempt to get out before an ambush. I shot Elizabeth a meaningful look, hoping she knew that meant to stay calm and, if she could, trust me. I heard another scuff above but further ahead and reached into the saddlebag again, trying to see what I could find.

There was a knife in a leather sheath, only big enough to cut through some plants and cloth, not really for anything dangerous, but I slid it out of the sheath. I could feel Elizabeth's eyes on me as I grabbed a string of rawhide that was kept for emergency repairs and pulled the collar of my shirt down. Thankfully, it wasn't the first time I'd done something like this, and I managed to tie the knife to me so it was hidden on the inside, near my armpit, with the handle concealed, but if I wanted, I could grip it and yank it free.

It wasn't much, but I scrambled to grab some stones from a small ledge, shoving them into the pouch I had flung over my shoulders and pressed a handkerchief between them to minimize the noise before closing the bag tightly. I glanced over at Elizabeth, her lips thin lines, but her brow was arched in what almost felt like amusement. I didn't have time to explain thatthis wasn't my first rodeo, but I had to assume she could figure that out on her own.

"Now," a new, rough voice piped up from above us. "Much as I hate to break it to ya both, but ya ain't gonna be havin' yer’selves a nice meal or them fancy drinks."

I peered up, amused and irritated that whoever was speaking had chosen to stand where the sun blasted my eyes, making it impossible to make out who was speaking. "Well, that's a little rude, don't you think? The lady just wants the comforts of home. Who are you to deny her?"

"None of yer business," he grunted, and I saw two men step around the rocks ahead of us to block the way out of the outcropping. Okay, so there were three of them so far, and I waited until I heard panting above me and marked it as four threats. So that definitely meant we were dealing with Le Garou as Ambrose had feared. Though I doubted it was all of them, I didn't want to assume it was just the three of them and their dog, which almost struck me as odd, but?—

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