Page 14 of Blood and Fate

She stopped pushing her horse, allowing it to slow. She wouldn’t evade Henrik, and they wouldn’t beat the others who’d had a head start, so she decided to allow her horse a bit of relief.

“Finally surrendering, my dear?” Henrik had slowed his horse as well to walk alongside her.

Emboldened by the fact that they both sat astride moving horses and he couldn’t simply reach out and grab her, she turned to him. “Never to you.”

His only reply was a cold smile, and she was glad he couldn’t see the chill that ran over her.

She refocused her attention on the road. Before them an enclosed cart was stopped in the way, beside it two men seemed to be arguing, gesturing toward the wheel.

“What’s this?” Henrik mused, moving his horse slightly in front of hers.

She nearly laughed at his ridiculous show of chivalry, as if he were noble. As if he cared about her safety.

He held an arm out behind him in her direction. “Stay back, Satori.”

“You are not my keeper,” she snapped.

His head whipped around, and he pinned her in place with an angry look. “Stay. Back.” Before she could respond, he returned his attention to the men in the road who were now directly in front of them. “Do you need assistance, sirs?”

The men ceased their arguments, turning to face Henrik. In unison, both sets of eyes drifted behind Henrik to Satori, leering, and then back to Henrik.

“We, uh, seem to have a problem with our wagon wheel,” one of the men said. Curly orange hair covered his head, and a long scar ran across his jaw from below his ear to his chin.

Henrik lifted his chin, craning his neck to inspect the wagon wheel from his position atop his horse. “What sort of problem?”

“Well, it won’t turn, now will it?” The second man’s features were completely opposite to the first. His head was shaved completely, his nose crooked as though it had been broken and never set properly.

Henrik looked between the men and the wagon wheel before he turned again to Satori. “Stay.”

It irritated her that he felt he could command her, that he just assumed she would simply obey his whims. So when he dismounted and moved toward the men and the wagon, she took the opportunity to move her horse closer, as well. Not too close, just enough where she could see what was happening.

Henrik leaned in. “There’s a large branch jammed in the wheel.”

The men exchanged looks like Henrik was an idiot. “By Shala, we are so thankful you stopped to tell us this. We never would have known otherwise.”

Henrik shot an annoyed glance at the red-haired man who had spoken, and Satori couldn’t help smiling at the joke made at his expense. He wasn’t often teased. No one dared. She relished his annoyance.

“We know what the problem is, just can’t pull it out on our own.” The man glanced at Satori as he spoke. The look pressed on her and she wanted to go home and scrub it off her skin.

Henrik’s shoulders rose. It was a calming breath, she’d seen it before, usually when she was being obstinate in his presence. “If you grasp that end, I will endeavor to aid you.”

He bent, taking hold of one end of the limb.

“Duff.” The orange-haired man jerked his chin at the bald one, presumably ordering him to grab an end of the stick jammed into the wheel.

But instead of moving toward the stick, Duff stepped toward Pepper. Satori barely had time to register his movements when the orange-haired man pulled what looked like a club from some hidden place beneath the wagon and brought it down hard on Henrik’s back. Henrik let out a grunt as he fell forward, smacking his head off the wagon wheel. He was still awake though, and turned toward the man, a growl emanating from him. But he stood no chance as the man brought the club down again, silencing him as he fell back into the dirt, unconscious.

Satori had been so shocked by what was happening that it hadn’t registered that Duff had grabbed her horse’s reins, holding her in place. Then the orange-haired man was moving toward her, his grin causing her blood to run cold.

He reached up, grabbing her, and hauling her from the horse. She screamed and kicked, flailing her arms, but it was no use. He was bigger than she was, and she had no defense training whatsoever. She was easily overpowered. The man locked her arms behind her, and she had no hope of fighting free.

“Come on, then. Let’s go.” The orange-haired man’s breath coasted past her ear as he issued the order.

Duff released Pepper’s reins and slapped the horse hard on the flank. She let out a loud whine in protest and took off like a flash, back the way they had come. He moved to Henrik’s still form, grasping him under the arms and hauling him off the road and back into the tree line. Satori had no idea if he was dead or alive, nor did she know which she wished for him to be. Duff slapped Henrik’s horse as well, and the massive white beast followed Pepper.

The orange-haired man, who had a hold of her, pressed the side of his face into her head, turning enough to drag his tongue along her cheek. “We’re going to have a good time, Princess.”

Her blood ran cold, and she fought down the bile that rose into her throat. Princess. He knew who she was. She had no idea what he would do with her, but it would clearly not be good.

---