Chapter Nine
Hazel had truly lost her temper only once in her life. She’d been occasionally annoyed, cross, piqued, peeved, and irritated, but true rage had only occurred once, when she’d found some village boys idly shying stones at a brood of day-old ducklings. The rage had been instant, and utterly consuming—and the boys had taken one look at her face and fled.
When she came out of the trees and saw Tam facing a hulking man wielding a cudgel, it wasn’t anger that overcame her, but fear. Hazel froze, half behind a tree, her throat choking tight. And then Tam turned, and she realized there were three men, not one, and they were all attacking him at once. Caution and self-preservation fled. In their place was an overwhelming and uncontrollable rage.
She saw Tam stumble, saw the stave fa
