“Barta!” Adara said. “Let’s wait in that field, off of the road.”
“Yes, my lady,” the Sarmatian answered, uneasy with having all of them separated.
The four of them cantered after Lucius and Dagon until they were beneath a single oak tree in the middle of the field before the hillfort.
“She’s so scared…” Calliope muttered, her eyes unwilling to be torn from the mound.
Lucius and Dagon could hear the screams clearly now, even above the galloping of their horses’ hooves on the packed dirt track that led steeply up. Then they grew frantic and terrified.
It was definitely a girl.
Lucius led the way up the shrinking tunnel of trees, both he and Dagon ducking upon their horses’ backs as they charged, leaping over fallen trunks and around rocks. It was near suicide to ride so quickly, but C
