injured!”
Eretia frowned, but rushed with Yrene to
meet the townsfolk bearing an already-
bloodied stretcher and the near-dead ruk rider
atop it.
The horse beneath Chaol shifted but stayed
firm where they stood along the lower
battlements of the keep walls. Not as fine a
horse as Farasha, but solid enough. A
bravehearted beast who had taken well to his
brace-equipped saddle, which was all he’d
asked for.
Walking, Chaol knew, would not be an
option when he dismounted. The strain in his
spine told him enough about how hard Yrene
was already working, the sun barely risen. But
he could fight just as well from horseback—
could lead these soldiers all the same.
Ahead, stretching too far for him to count,