Chapter 4
Giles’s war mare was fleet, but the road filled with ruts, and Gemma clutched him around the waist as they rode north. They lost the Bandit King’s trail at the edge of a deep wood, the mare halting so suddenly that Gemma nearly slid from her perch.
“She doesn’t like the forest,” Giles said once the dust had settled.
Gemma nodded her agreement. She didn’t like it either. The air had a thick, sour taste to it. She thought of her mother, so many years ago, wandering in as one woman and emerging as another.
Her heart thumped hard in her chest.
“Come on, girl.” Giles nudged the mare ever so slightly with his thighs. “Let’s go.”
The horse refused to budge.
“Do you think—?” he began.
Before he could finish, a chorus rose up, croaking and chirping a racket to fill the air.
“My L
