Page 54 of Deadwood
I nodded, though I wasn’t certain how he could be so sure. What if they were only hiding, waiting to strike when our guard was down?
He stood, walking in the direction of the carriage that was still smoldering. The entire cart was destroyed, burned to a crisp.
“My lady,” a voice croaked out, barely audible from somewhere behind me.
Looking over my shoulder, one of Torbernite’s guards lay trapped under the neck of a deceased horse. From what I could see, the man was bleeding from his thigh. I glanced back in the direction where Paxon had disappeared, not seeing him or Lander anywhere in sight. He had asked me not to move, but the guard wasn’t far. If I could get him unpinned, he could put pressure on his wound to stop the bleeding.
Digging my hands into the snow to brace myself, I crawled toward the guard, doing my best to avoid putting any sort of pressure on my ankle.
“Can you shove it off?” I asked after rounding the body of the horse.
He shook his head, and upon closer inspection of his wound, I could see an arrow sticking clean through his leg. “It’s too heavy, my lady. If you get help, they may be able to.”
The horse’s neck was completely draped over the bottom half of his leg, keeping it pinned in the snow.
“I don’t know how many are left,” I admitted softly, setting a hand on the horse’s jaw. The animal didn’t deserve this. None of us did.
The guard winced as he tried to move his leg, only successful in creating more pain with the arrow stuck inside him. “Prince Paxon—he might be able to. He was just with you.”
I glanced in the direction Paxon had walked off and still saw no sign of him. The snow hadn’t completely stopped falling, clouding some of the distance he’d gone, so I couldn’t tell how far he was.
“I can try,” I said, determination ringing in my tone.
“Lady Auria. With all due respect, this is a thousand-pound animal and you are injured.”
I ignored him, angling myself beside him to get the best advantage to push the horse’s head. I braced two hands between its eyes while the guard braced a hand on its neck, his other behind him in the snow to keep himself propped up. With the position he was in, he wouldn’t be able to stay upright if he wasn’t supporting himself.
I gritted my teeth against the anticipation of the pain in my ankle and pushed as hard as I could, squeezing my eyes shut. My knees dug into the snow, the muscles in my arms straining with the effort, but I put every ounce of my strength into it. I wouldn’t let another guard die. They were out here because of me, and we were most likely ambushed because of me. I wouldn’t let him die because of me, too.
I began sliding forward and opened my eyes to find the neck of the horse sliding off the guard’s leg, its head gliding into the snow at his feet.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Paxon said from a few feet away.
My gaze shot up to him now standing there with Lander by his side.
“Your fiancée is quite strong,” Paxon added.
“Auria, are you alright?” Lander asked, quickly kneeling beside me.
I sat back, careful not to use my leg much. “Just a twisted ankle. You, on the other hand, look nearly untouched.”
“Couple of them got a few good punches in, but I’m still breathing, thankfully,” Lander said.
Paxon snorted. “A miracle, honestly.”
Lander ignored him, holding out his hand. “May I?”
I nodded, and he positioned himself under my shoulder. I wrapped an arm around his torso and leaned most of my weight on him as he helped me stand.
“Can you walk?” he asked, looking down at my feet. They were buried in the snow, the bottom of my dress scrunching on the surface.
I attempted to set my foot down, adding a small bit of weight to it, and instantly regretted it. My eyes squeezed shut as I held back my wince. “Not really, no.”
Paxon moved to talk to the guard that was assisting the one I’d just freed from the horse, leaving Lander to help me on his own.
“It might be more than just a strain, then. It’s a long walk to the nearest town, and we have no carriage. I can carry you, but?—”
“I can do it.” I was weak in so many ways, but I wouldn’t let a hurt ankle slow us down.
