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I blew out an exasperated breath. This was what came of thinking about that night, about our bedding, and why I had become so careful to avoid thinking about it. It was too confusing, too... stimulating. I would think about it later and attempt to sift through my feelings then. There were more important matters at hand.

“Ah.” The leader chuckled and looked to his cohorts. “I didn’t have that sense. Wouldn’t have guessed that at all. Did any of you?”

My face burned now for different reasons. Of course he did not have that sense. Fell wasn’t even riding close to me. He hardly appeared to be a husband enamored of his wife.

There were chuckles and murmurs of agreement among the bandits.

“Well, she is mine,” Fell affirmed in a hard voice. “And I will keep her.” The last bit rang with a challenge, which was only emphasized as he lifted his sword and pointed it directly at the brigand. Fell stared down the length of the blade and gave a slight squint, as though bringing the man into better focus. “Now. Let us pass.”

All levity vanished from the leader’s face. He wasn’t going tomove. He wasn’t going to relent, I realized, and gulped. And neither was Fell.

The coppery taste in my mouth intensified. It was dreadful. I’d only tasted it once before. I was barely five years old then. I’d knocked out one of my front teeth prematurely. I’d been running, and I tripped on a toy and landed face-first on a wooden block in the nursery. Blood, hot and thick, had filled my mouth. I remembered that I bled forever, and it had tasted like copper coins.

Nurse had exclaimed over the blood spurting from my mouth and declared that my adult tooth would likely never grow in. A real shame, she’d insisted.You’re already frightfully unattractive with that unfortunate hair, and now you will be gap-toothed.No surprise I remembered that insult so keenly. She had been wrong, though. My adult tooth eventually made an appearance, breaking through the gums like the arrival of a long-anticipated guest.

This was like that. Copper coins in my mouth again. Except I wasn’t bleeding.

That was when I knew. Somehow.

Blood would soon soak the ground. I smelled it like impending rain.

“Or,” Fell said in the hushed pause.

“Or?”

“I have another proposition that won’t result in anyone getting hurt. Well, anyone other than you.”

The man snorted. “Cocky bastard, aren’t you?”

“I’ll fight you. Just us. You and me. If I win, we continue on our way unmolested.Withmy wife.”

The leader laughed lightly, and I braced myself for his rejection of the proposal. Why would he accept such terms? He and his band outnumbered us. He needn’t risk injury to himself to get his way.To get me.

“You and I can settle this,” Fell said, baiting him. “Come. Show us your prowess. You can tell everyone you beat the Beast of the Borderlands.” From the gleam in Fell’s eyes, it was clear he did not think he could be defeated.

The leader’s eyes widened as he looked him over. “Is that right? You’re the Beast?”

“That’s right,” Fell agreed with a slight incline of his head. “Even if I win... it will make a damn fine story for you. Admit it.”

The leader almost looked tempted to smile at Fell’s cajoling. Then he gave a single shake of his head and replied soberly, “I’m not in this for stories. I have people to feed.”

Fell nodded at me. “And how will she feed your people?”

At that, the leader’s smile returned. “There is more than one appetite to be fed.”

I sucked in a breath.

Fell’s frosty eyes iced over. His hand tightened on the grip of his sword, knuckles clenching white.

The taste in my mouth became unbearable, telling me everything I needed to know.No.I could not let this play out. Lives would be lost. I might survive only to become a captive of these brigands. If Fell was too stubborn to see that, so be it.Iwas not, though. I was not, and I would not let that happen. I had to stop these idiots before they killed each other.

Enough was enough.

Seized with purpose, I squeezed my travel-sore thighs and nudged my mount forward with my heels. My mare reacted to my prodding quicker than I’d expected, lurching forward with a jangle of the bridle.

Mari noticed my movement and grabbed for my reins, but she was too late. She made a muffled sound as I passed Fell and the rest of his warriors. They seemed frozen, darting puzzled looks at me. Clearly no one had expected me to do anything. They’d expected me to sit in silence like a great lump, letting life happen to me without a whimper.

Perhaps I surprised even myself. I was accustomed to taking abuse. Never resisting. Never fighting back.