33
Michaela awoke flat on her back in the dirt. She stared up at gray clouds. The sky was overcast. Men were shouting.
She could smell blood. She lifted her right hand and looked at her fingers. There was blood there still from healing the tall soldier’s nose. The nose she first had the satisfaction of breaking.
Telko.
Her father’s horse.
He was here.
Michaela jolted up to sitting.
Someone had carried her outside the ropes that held the horses inside. She could see Telko pressing against the barrier, his handsome black head straining over the top of it.
Rune was nearby, too, watching her, only one of his eyes visible through a parting in his overgrown mane.
Again. The sound of men shouting. Michaela could feel the smoke clearing from her mind. She blinked and looked around her.
S
