Hilde knew he was right. She could only monitor what was happening outside through listening intently, and she heard the clanging of metal and horse hooves, accompanied by the raised voice of the captain of Lady Ilse's guards.
Despite the situation, Hilde was jolted once again by the realization that she did not know his name—she had asked for Frieda's, why did she not ask for his and the others'? The least she owed the men was to know what to call them by. Those four soldiers might get hurt or even die because of her thoughtless decision to stop in a random village, whose residents tended to be insular and more nationalistic than townspeople.
And here she had been imagining she might finally get the chance to fight battles, and perhaps lead them, as her brother had done before her. Some
