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The clash of arms and the jerk of her horse woke her as if froriffin feathers gleas fastened to his ared their line forward His standard billowed in a stiff wind, the rake of the snow leopard’s claw that ed and she, like her chief, lowered her lance The banner of the Dragons aed forward to lant, older now, drove straight for her chieftain, his ax raised With a deft shift of his point, the griffin rider slid his spear around Sanglant’s shield and caught the prince just where his coif gapped to expose his throat

The young prince fell back across the ru hi to the saddle, blood froon tabard, as the steed charged through the crowd and broke to the rear of the Quons raised a cry of alarh the chaos to catch up to Sanglant His helm had fallen askew and he was as pale as if all his blood had drained out through that horrible wound He lay like a dead man over the withers of the horse Tears streaht her -out his death, and heaved himself up to strike with the speed of a snake

A crushing force came down on her head and for aeither side of the ax blade protruding from her forehead, but all she really saas the desperate look in her lover’s eyes Red seeped into her vision She slid li in the blood and stink of one of her fellows, she scrabbled to gain purchase on the stone floor The man creature had one hundred s blood The scent of his bloodat their flanks so that they gave way, and trod on his chest, pinning hilimmer of sentience sparked in her tiny er ate at her belly and he sed for the kill

He was too fast for her He caught her under the throat and like a dog bit down on her windpipe Thrashing, fighting, she felt the wind crushed out of her, the air choked, the rich s, until the world was cold iron and for an instant she re around her and then even that sensation fled

And she was fleeing Gent with the other RockChildren, running behind Isa’s banner, but a figure that stank of captivity rode her down and with the strength brought about by madness clove her head from her shoulders

And she had no body, not here where the perfued, raw pain She had not wanted to come here Torn from the halls of iron, she swayed in the hot blast of wind and sighed the nalant" His blood would release her to return to her hoalla, tasting his blood on the wind, he attacked, piercing her with the stinging tip of a griffin’s feather The sorcery that bound her to the halls of earth burned and snapped, and she was flung into agony

And she shrank back in terror as thethe for round

Ai, Lord, why had she left her ue with her brother, and a bigger fool to let anger drive her away, and the biggest fool yet to allow Drogo to convince her that there ealth to beon hapless travelers But she’d been desperate by then, and too proud to go hoo had offered her bread if she’d join his e and fern halted her backward stumble "Mercy!" she cried Then he was on her, death in his eyes

Sanglant

His sword ca else

"Nay, Welf!" cried Ekkehard, stopping him with the point of his lance "You’ll not desertman’s body She had never known fear could hurt so much "I’ll never desert you, ht on the side of the Quainst our own countryfolk It’s treason"

Ekkehard flushed "We’ve dirtied our hands toofroallows"