Chapter 110

My feet hit the snowy valley floor, and I slammed to a stop so hard, my knees gave out. I went down face-first into the biting snow. My back teeth crashed together with my tongue caught between, and blood trickled down my throat and made my doubts taste twice as raw.

What if this had been a mistake?

Across the valley floor, the sound of thundering hooves stopped.

"What did you do?"

Lager. He sounded crazed, his words slurred, either from the numbing temperature or a dose of unpoisoned moonshine. My bet was on the temperature.

He couldn't see me alive. No one could. And yet I had no idea if I was hidden well enough or not.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?"

I shrugged off my bow and ran my fingers down the length of it to check for cracks or a broken string. All good. Same with my arrows protected in the leather quiver. I drew an arrow and nocked it then stumbled to my knees, shallowing my breaths to listen.