“It’s okay.” I told the boy. Noting the clear remorse on his face. “Go home.”
I worried far less about him going home now that I knew he was a monster that could fend for himself. And I theorized that if he’d been sent to market alone, it was because he resided close enough that his parents had believed he’d make it safely.
I put him at nearly ten, old enough to evade threats as he made it home. And if his parents had sent him alone to market, they didn’t reside far away.
I hoped.
I heeled the horse, which was already tugging at the rein in objection to my guidance. I could feel the hair sticking up along its back and side, grating against my legs.
It didn’t like me riding it. But thankfully, it was particularly gentle, or it wouldn’t have let me get this far on its back.
Not w
