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Chapters (76)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART I
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. PART II
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. PART III
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. INTERLUDE
  35. PART IV
  36. TWENTY-SEVEN
  37. TWENTY-EIGHT
  38. TWENTY-NINE
  39. THIRTY
  40. THIRTY-ONE
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. INTERLUDE
  45. PART V
  46. THIRTY-FIVE
  47. THIRTY-SIX
  48. THIRTY-SEVEN
  49. THIRTY-EIGHT
  50. PART VI
  51. THIRTY-NINE
  52. FORTY
  53. FORTY-ONE
  54. FORTY-TWO
  55. FORTY-THREE
  56. FORTY-FOUR
  57. FORTY-FIVE
  58. INTERLUDE
  59. PART VII
  60. FORTY-SIX
  61. FORTY-SEVEN
  62. FORTY-EIGHT
  63. FORTY-NINE
  64. FIFTY
  65. FIFTY-ONE
  66. FIFTY-TWO
  67. PART VIII
  68. FIFTY-THREE
  69. FIFTY-FOUR
  70. FIFTY-FIVE
  71. FIFTY-SIX
  72. EPILOGUE
  73. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  74. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  75. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  76. Newsletter Sign-up

“Eat,” Guy demanded. “You’re no use to him if you don’t take care of yourself. We have a few hours’ ride ahead of us. A few minutes won’t make the difference.”

Eric humphed, but didn’t eat any more. It was possible he wasn’t able to, given the state of his mouth. “If they’re there,” he said darkly, “the girl’s mine.”

“If they’re there,” Guy matched his intensity, “we take them in.”

“Captain—”

“That’s not who we are. If you want to play by their rules, if you want to take whatever you want just because you want it, then go join them. We’re better than that. Justice, not vengeance. You’d all do well to keep that in mind.” Guy received a nod from each, excepting the young Ferrers, who didn’t seem to think it applied to him. “You heard Wendenal. The Sheriff didn’t want those outlaws harmed.”

“That was before they captured Jon,” Eric growled.

“Eric.” Guy said it carefully, refusing to raise the man’s temper. “Why are you here?”

The two locked eyes, and Eric’s anger subsided. There was a reason Eric wasn’t a crown ranger anymore, and it wasn’t a pretty story. He had chosen once to make justice personal, and it nearly cost him everything. Left alone, the man was still at the mercy of his own demons. But Guy had given him a second chance rather than a gaol cell, and he’d earned it every day since.

In some ways, Guy realized, that made Eric the first gerold. He’d never thought of it like that before.

FitzOdo reared his massive head and stood. “Let’s at it then, and hope they’re still there.”

THEY WERE.

FitzOdo had called it a cave, but that was an exaggeration. One tussocky hill rolled over another, and left a barren overhang that provided only a meager bit of shelter from the elements. Guy lay on his belly in the heather with the others, having crawled to the top of a neighboring hill to spy down on the camp. It sat in a wide bowl of a muddy hollow, but the night’s rain clouds had rolled along and left them a clear view even from a distance. Regardless, Guy could not make out any details. A slender white ribbon of smoke floated up and out of the blackened overhang, evidence of a campfire, but Guy struggled to identify any of the shapes around it.

“There’s movement,” Eric mumbled. “Can’t tell how many, though. No sign of the horses, or the carriage.”

“You’re certain that’s them?” Reginold asked, squinting his eyes in rapid succession to prove how little it was helping.

“Could be a different pack of thieves with a different Guardsman as a prisoner.” FitzOdo rolled his head obviously, as if daring them to question his story. Bolt choked a little, his version of a laugh.