Their horses were growing weary by the time a small, stone house came into view. Leyla didn't like the idea of stopping. They had lost sight of their pursuers a long while back, but she knew they wouldn't be safe until they reached a Warrior outpost. The moan from the man slung across her lap had her hesitating. He had been slipping in and out of consciousness for the past hour. "Tell my mother not to cry," he kept saying. "I wanted to make her proud." Leyla tried to harden her heart, but she knew that he couldn't handle being carted around like this for much longer. He was going to die, right here on this horse, if she did not stop.

Whistling low, she got Michael's attention and pointed at the hut. They rode swiftly and it wasn't long before Leyla stopped her horse and jumped to the ground.

"Make sure he doesn't fall off," she told Michael as she handed him the reins and drew her sword from the saddle. Delphine's already pale face turned ashen the minute she set eyes on Leyla's bloody dress. "It's his."

She knew she was being curt. She knew the Lady had probably never witnessed a battle, much less seen anyone die before, but they had no time for gentleness. Michael, for all he had experienced in Asch, was no Warrior either. If she gave either of them space to let fear and anguish set it, they could lose control.

"Keep the horses quiet and wait for me." There would be time to deal with their feelings later. Right now they had to survive. Pointing her sword backwards, Leyla strode to the hut and knocked on the door.

It opened a moment later to reveal a very tall blonde man. His blue eyes narrowed at the sight of her.

"Get lost!" He began to close the door, but Leyla put her foot forward and pushed into the house, her sword at his throat.

"I don't want to hurt you, but there is a boy out there who needs seen to or he will die."

The man blinked surprisingly fearless eyes, then Leyla heard the distinct pulling of a bow string behind her.

"You are Warriors." She said in Warrior tongue, even before she looked over her shoulder to see the tall blonde woman pointing an arrow at her back. "So you can tell I am making no empty threat. I will kill your husband before you can shoot that arrow."

"Who are you?" The woman said behind her.

Leyla pressed her sword into the man's neck, drawing a thin line of blood. "Weapon on the floor. Now."

After two breaths, the woman followed her instructions and the man relaxed beneath her loosened blade. "Our pursuers are an hour behind us. The faster we patch up the wounded boy, the faster we will leave and the less trouble we will cause you." she said, watching their eyes.

The couple looked at each other, then nodded their understanding; it was in their interest for the unwanted visitors to leave, not die.

"Let's bring him in," the man said.

Leyla pointed the sword down and picked up the bow and arrow. "Do you have medicine in the house?" She asked looking around. There was a small bed in the corner, two chairs beside a roaring fire and a dining table lined with two short benches.

"No. But we have some spirits and cloth to use for bandaging." The man said.

"That will have to do." Leyla opened the door and called for Michael to bring the horses closer. She gave the bow and arrow to Delphine. "Stay by the door and shout if you see someone approaching," she told the girl before helping Michael and the Warrior bring the wounded boy into the house.

The older woman's expression went form cautious to worried. "He's so young!" She shoved a wooden bowl aside, clearing the dining table for the patient. He didn't look a day older than fourteen as he lay there covered in blood. Leyla noticed the gold of his belt for the first time; a young royal! Was he an officer in training?

Suddenly, he groaned and his eyes fluttered open.

"What's your name, boy?" The Warrior woman asked gently, removing his coat.

"Finn," the boy replied, coughing with the effort it took to speak. "Where is - where is Lady Alessa?"

A Warrior through and through, he was asking about his charge even as he lay at deaths door. Leyla stepped into his line of vision, schooling her expression to show no emotion. "Stop talking now, Finn. You're wasting your strength."

"I wanted to say thank y- " A look of pain crossed his features, then his eyes rolled back. He had lost consciousness again. Leyla ripped his shirt down the middle to see the damage. Blood seeped from a deep gash just under his ribs. It did not look good.

"We need to cauterise it."

"I've cauterised a wound before," the Warrior woman said, then touched Leyla's left arm, "You should see to this."

Leyla looked down, surprised to find a bloodied tear on her dress from a shallow cut just under her left shoulder.

"Peter, get me the boiling water from over the fire and some clean bed sheets from the chest."

Peter? Leyla looked at the couple again. Peter...and Anna? Tia's parents were called Peter and Anna, and their ages looked about right...

"Sit here," Michael pulled at her elbow, leading Leyla to a chair. "I'll find something to bandage that with."

Her thoughts reeling, Leyla reached down and ripped a strip off the bottom of her dress, and handed it to him. Peter came with a bottle of spirits. "Just douse it and tie the material tight."

Michael nodded curtly, taking the bottle from the Warrior. She flexed her muscles at the burn in her arm, then watched as Peter took the bottle to the table.

"How far is the nearest outpost?" Leyla asked, turning her mind off to all feelings as Finn screamed in pain. Having disinfected the boy's wound, the woman pushed the bottle back at her husband and moved to the fireplace.

"Four hours ride North-East," Peter replied, now tearing a bed sheet into long pieces.

Four hours...Leyla bit her lip, trying to think of what to do. Ten Lightlanders and a Warrior had died protecting them today, she couldn't let Finn die too.

"The wound will re-open if you move him too quickly," Anna said as she brought a Warrior sword out from beneath the bed and moved to her husband's side.

"If he stays, you will be targeted by our pursuers." Leyla said, looking at the couple.

Peter turned to his wife, "It is up to you, Anna."

Peter and Anna! They were Tia's parents!

"He is just a boy," Anna said, almost to herself. Then she looked at Leyla, "We will fight if we must."

Three Warriors against two dozen No-Landers, maybe more. Their chance of getting out of this alive wasn't awful, but she wouldn't risk Michael and Delphine's lives. Finn's moans stopped suddenly; he was unconscious again.

"Heat it," Anna gave Peter the sword.

Leyla turned to Michael. "You have to ride to the outpost."

His blue eyes were steady on hers, as if he had expected her to say as much. "No."

"Think of Delphine. She can't fight, Michael. You have to take her away from here and I will find you after Finn can be moved."

"I'm not leaving!" Delphine spoke for the first time from her position at the door. Her chin trembled, likely with fear or shock, but her eyes were determined. "I will not abandon you, Consort!"

"Delphine!" Leyla frowned in frustration, but the girl just set her jaw.

"Please don't waste your breath, Consort and just tell us what we should do to help."

Michael smiled, though it did not reach his eyes: "Lady Delphine has taken the words right out of my mouth."

Leyla wanted to throw something at him. For such a smart guy, how could he be so stupid? And Delphine...the girl was right about one thing, arguing was a waste of time. They were going to leave for somewhere safe. Leyla would make sure of it.

She turned without another word and went to stand beside Peter. He was holding the sword in the hottest part of the fire with steady hands.

"How many weapons do you have?"

"Three swords, one bow and two dozen arrows." Peter answered, his shrewd eyes taking in the steely gleam in her green eyes.

Leyla spoke low, recounting the attack: "There were at least twenty of them left, maybe more. No archers, so I can hold them off with the bow for a while, but there aren't enough arrows to fell them all."

Peter nodded.

Leyla leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Once this procedure is done, I will need you and Anna to take my people to the outpost."

His eyes shot to her face, "You will fight them alone?"

Leyla glanced in Finn's direction. "There is a chance I can defeat them. If I do, the boy has a shot at living."

Peter turned the sword this way and that, heat rolling off the metal in waves. "You are the dark haired Warrior, aren't you? I caught glimpses of you once or twice when we were still..." His words trailed off, but Leyla knew what he meant. He would not admit that he once lived in the Warrior Kingdom, and she would not admit to being the girl he once saw.

"I am not who you think I am. And you are not Tia's father."

Shock, pain and desperation rushed across his face, but the Warrior held it in, staring hard at the burning sword.

"She has been taken in by Lady Isabelle of the House of Steel," she told him as they both watched the sword turn red. "She is treated well, wears nice clothes and laughs a lot."

A single tear escaped the hardened man, then he nodded. "We will take your friends to the outpost and protect them with our lives."

It was a fair exchange. A parents peace of mind for protection of her people.

"Anna," Peter called out, signalling the sword was ready.

"Everyone, hold him down." Anna called to Michael and Delphine and instructed them on how to help.

Michael put his weight over the boy's knees. Anna put a piece of leather between his teeth and held his head fast while Leyla and Delphine held down one arm each. Feeling the sudden pressure, Finn's eyes shot open in panic. In the next moment, Peter rushed over with the burning sword and pushed the flat blade against his wound. Finn screamed behind the leather, his body jerking under their hands as the scent of frying flesh filled the air.

Gratefully he passed out from the pain. They repeated the process once more. This time, Delphine began to cry and Michael squeezed his eyes shut. Leyla swallowed the bile that rose up her throat, and held on to Finn's flailing arms.

"It's done," Anna's voice was cold. Later, much later, she would think about what she had done; that was the Warrior way.

"Please bandage him as well as you can," Leyla said glancing out the only window in the house. The sky had already turned a dusty orange; it would be dark soon. If luck was with her, the Bone Eaters wouldn't find the house for another half hour. "Mikhail take the horses to the back of the house. Peter, I need all your arrows, now."

"Okay!" They both moved, Michael leaving the hut while Peter stopped beside his wife to whisper in her ear.

Leyla turned to Delphine. "When you wake up, tell Michael I will try to follow as soon as I can."

"When I wake up?" Delphine looked apprehensive. "Consort, what do you mean..."

"Delphine," Leyla put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I will trust you to make sure Michael does not wallow in guilt if things do not go as planned."

"No! Please, Consort-"

Leyla gave three quick jabs to the girls upper chest and caught her falling body.

"Peter, I need you to press Michael's pressure points. You know the technique?" The older Warrior laid down the arrows he had retrieved from a chest and nodded. "Good. Whistle when you are ready."

Peter left through the back door. A few moments later, they heard him whistle.

Anna stared at Leyla for a long hard moment, then she came over and slung Delphine's weight over her back. "We will take your friends safely to the outpost, but we can not get too close," she said.

Leyla understood. As defectors, they could not be seen by the Warriors at the outpost or they would be taken prisoner.

"Thank you." The words were hardly enough payment for the risk she was asking them to take, but the woman smiled.

"The worry over our daughter's fate has felt like a thousand deaths. Thank you, Warrior. And good luck." Then she carried Delphine out of the hut.

Alone with an unconscious Finn, Leyla listened to the galloping of the horses. Only when they were too far away to be heard, did she feel at ease.

Michael and Delphine would be safe.