The four hunters froze, clearly surprised that their prey had offered herself up so easily.
The leader scoffed, lowering his spear slightly.
"Well, look at that. A little lost fawn. Where are your parents, girl?"
"Banished," I managed, the word tasting like ash in my mouth.
The hunters exchanged glances. Banished meant abandoned, unclaimed, and therefore valuable.
"Right then," the leader said, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
"Fetch her, boys. Looks like we found something better than deer tonight."
The lean hunter, the one named Feyn, waded in. With surprising gentleness, he lifted me out of the water.
The immediate, terrifying instinct to wrap my hand around his neck and drain the life from him surged within me, but I fought it down.
I was injured, weak, and alone. I needed to survive this moment, even if it meant suppressing my own defense mechanism.
They tended to me back at their makeshift camp, hidden a short distance into the woods.
