The Daughters of the Steppes were nomads, moving their many tribes around the steppes and, when necessary, raiding Northland and Outerplains towns in search of boys to use for husbands. A term that Annwyl said should be changed to “slaves.”

Although the leader of the Daughters of the Steppes, the one they called the Anne Atli, had an alliance with Annwyl, her involvement in the war—and thereby the involvement of her people—had been limited to providing food, water, and horses when necessary. Otherwise, the Daughters of the Steppes had not raised a sword against any of the Zealots as long as they stayed away from their territories.

So, in the end, less of an alliance and more of a truce. The Riders didn’t strike the Zealots but they also didn’t strike Annwyl’s troops.

So why were these Daughters of the Steppes fighting for Annwyl in a small squad referred to as “The Scourge of gods”? Because these were the Riders no longer wanted by the tribes for varying reasons. Kachka and Elina had lost their positions because of their mother, a price Elina wore on her face every day with an eye socket that no longer held an eye. Kachka had defended Elina and that had put her outside the tribes as well. Now, both women had found dragons to keep them company. Brannie’s brother Celyn had fallen in love with Elina, and Kachka had managed to snag the very handsome Rebel King of the Quintilian Provinces, Gaius Lucius Domitus.

Even Brannie thought that was a coup. Gaius was an exceptionally gorgeous Iron dragon and, coincidentally, also missing an eye.

But even more impressive to Brannie was that Kachka hadn’t suddenly given up her life as a warrior once she’d made a king her mate. She hadn’t taken her place on a Quintilian throne to give orders behind the safety of a legion of guards. She had left that to Gaius’s twin sister, Agrippina, and continued to do what she’d done before. She took her orders from Annwyl or, if necessary, Dagmar. And she still took her squad of Rider Rejects—Gwenvael’s nickname for them—around the country, attacking Zealots where and when she could under the cover of darkness, leaving nothing but blood, death, and Zealot remains behind.

But there should be at least seven of the Rider Rejects, including a male, and she’d never thought that Riders would allow themselves to be taken alive.

“What are we doing here?” Kachka repeated, her elbow resting against the steel bars. She looked over her shoulder. “Yes, Zoya Kolesova, tell Celyn’s big-shouldered sister how we got here.”

“Still?” the giant Zoya Kolesova asked from the corner of the cage. “Still you blame me for this?”