The next morning proved to be sunny, despite the previous night's storm. Natalia made her way down the street, the weather clear, but the ground still wet. Pausing at an apple cart, she picked one out, passing a coin to the vendor, then turned, ready to resume her stroll. As she bit into the succulent fruit, she spotted a man across the street, standing in a doorway, looking off in a different direction, but he had a familiar face, and she was certain she had seen him before.

Stanislav had once told her that mage hunters often employ bounty hunters, men who typically looked for escaped criminals, but who would, for the right reward, search for virtually anyone. He had found it expedient to hire them on occasion, and the family had a network of them spread throughout the continent.

Natalia tried to place the man's face, and then it sank in, he had been at the fruit stand she had visited the day before. Now convinced that she was being tailed, she resumed her walk, intent on not revealing her newfound knowledge.

What was she to do, she wondered? She was alone in a foreign city, hunted by the family, and now it appeared that their long reach extended even to here. Her flight from the Volstrum had been swift and unexpected and yet somehow they had found her. No matter where she went, she realized, they would be hunting her. She must remain on the move, perhaps for the rest of her life. This insight hit her hard, and she paused in her stroll, suddenly overcome with emotion. Was she destined to spend the remainder of her life running, always in fear of capture?

Natalia hardened her heart, the family must not be allowed to control her life this way! The magic in her was strong, this much she knew, and she swore to fight back. If bounty hunters were seeking her, then she would allow them to find her, and they would pay the price for their folly. If the family wanted her, they would have to come in force!

A sense of calmness came to her at that moment, a knowledge that she had the advantage on her pursuers. They could do nothing in the open, not with all these witnesses, for Natalia had committed no crime here in Draybourne. No, these men would try to take her when she was least expecting it. They would look for an opportunity to strike when she appeared most vulnerable, and she realized that if she provided them with that opportunity, they would make their move.