TEN
For the first time in her life, Ursula drowsed among her people, in a cave far more comfortable than the one in which she'd spent her morning. Though she was a woman grown, they'd placed her with the children, at the very back of the cave. It was fitting, for she felt about as helpless as the toddler lying in the straw beside her, sucking on his chubby fist.
"It's gone. He took it all. Our winter stores...everything."
Silence greeted this dire pronouncement, broken by a tentative, "What of the castle? They must have something!"
"I checked the kitchen, the larder, the store rooms, even the wine cellar. They're all empty. We saw them take cask after cask out of the castle, until there was nothing left to take. It matters not whether we sleep here or return to our houses – we will st
