She swiped at empty air. Once. Twice. Heard a boot crunching gravel. A black shape shifting, then nothing, only light, and a sharp rap to the side of her head. Then another to the small of her back, making Anji stand straight up as though she’d sat on hot coals.

“You’re embarrassing yourself, girl, just—”

Anji screamed and threw her full weight at the Hawk, or at least the spot the Hawk had just been. She sailed through the air and gasped as she collided with the earth and inhaled a nose full of dirt. Coughing and sputtering, she tensed for the blow, the blinding strike to her head, or maybe she’d be flipped over and stabbed right through the heart.

Just end it, she thought. Make it stop.

But the final strike never came. Anji lay there, chest heaving, spitting rocks and slivers of grass from her teeth, blood coursing from her pulsing nose. She blinked tears away, trying and failing to hide a whimper as the Hawk squatted down in front of her.

Anji spotted it too late, the glint of her coin in the tufted grass. She swiped for it but the Hawk plucked it from the ground. She held it to the light, one eye closed.

“Fair bit of maxia in this,” the Hawk said, voice even.

“Give it back.”

The Hawk pocketed the coin. “A little more insurance, then.”

“Fuck your insurance,” Anji said, lip quivering. Fresh tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes and she bit her tongue, shutting them away. “You’ve already got my knife, isn’t that enough?”

“It’s a nice knife.”

Anji jerked her head, snarling. “It’ll be in your heart before long!”

The Hawk rose from her squat. “I know you’re a bit dim,” she said, “so I’ll make myself clear. You’re my prisoner. Worldly possessions are no longer yours to claim. What was yours once is now in a satchel only I can open. You must accept this if we’re to continue.”

Anji bit back a retort, a swirling mix of loss and defeat settling in her stomach. She spat a glob of blood into the grass, grateful she didn’t see any teeth.

“If you’re finished trying to kill me,” said the Hawk, pointing at the mare, “I’d suggest you fetch that blanket and get some sleep. I’ll wake you before midday. Steel yourself for a hard road. We’re likely to meet more unfriendly faces before we arrive at the coast.”

“You’re an unfriendly face,” Anji said, sitting up in the dirt, holding her nose shut.

The Hawk cleared her throat.

“Sleep,” was all she said. Then she disappeared back into her tent.

Chapter 4

4

“Why don’t you just kill me?”