Gil was quiet, but she felt his muscles tense and knew he was fully awake despite his posture.

"Aye." Gil whispered. "I make out three...can you wake Rin without causing him to stir?"

"No need." Rin whispered. "I heard her wake you."

Resisting the urge to turn, she hid both her surprise at the soft voice so near her ear and the smile that followed. Instead, she kept her eyes ahead on the road and tried very hard not to tense her shoulders or stiffen visibly. She did not want to alert the watchers that her men were now awake and knew of the potential threat.

"And what do you make of our...company?" Gil whispered barely moving his lips.

"I think it might be trouble." Rin mumbled.

"Sofi," Gwyn said in a low urgent voice as she cast a glance at the lumpy blanket directly behind the seat, "Sofi are you sleeping?"

"Yes." She grumbled.

Gwyn smothered another smile. Sofi did not like her sleep interrupted any more than Gwyn did.

"Listen to me carefully, sweeting. There are bad men that might come and try to stop us. You must snuggle your back up against the seat. You must be very quiet and do not come out from under the cover or say anything at all, no matter what you hear."

"I will, Mama...but Shelba is scared."

"I can understand, sweeting. Tell Shelba that it is okay to be scared. You can be brave and still be scared inside. Courage is really just being brave when you are really scared inside. You hold Shelba tight and make sure she stays brave and quiet and still."

"I will, Mama."

"Sofi." Gil whispered. "I will keep you safe. If those men try to stop us or try to hurt us, Rin and I might have to fight. It will be loud and sound awful. You must obey your mother. I do not wish them to know you are hiding there."

"I know that you will keep me safe, Papa. I know that you and Rin were knights once, so I shall pretend that the bad men are dragons. I shall be the brave princesses. I shall be so quiet and still that the dragons shall never even know that I am near."

"What a good girl you are." Rin whispered. "I hope that if I ever have a little girl of my own, that she is as courageous as you are, Princess Sofi."

"Get ready." Gwyn said as the shadow she had been watching in her peripheral shifted. She felt Rin and Gil tense though they moved not a whisker.

"Oy!" One of the men shouted as three riders emerged from the shadows and charged toward them.

"Shall I stop?" Gwyn whispered.

"Nay, unless they..."

Before Gil finished, the three riders rode onto the road and blocked the way, one to each side and one directly in front. Gwyn was forced to stop else risk harm to the mule.

Rin and Gil feigned waking.

"What is it?" Rin mumbled rubbing a hand over his face as he looked at Gwyn and pretended not to notice the men.

"Why have we stopped?" Gil asked at the same time as he yawned and gave a mighty stretch. He pretended to be startled by the presence of the men and reached for his crutch.

"Be still." One of the men warned. He was stout and strong and stank. He also had a scar from below his eye across his cheek and down to his neck. He pulled a sword and pointed it toward them. "We want your coin."

"And wine." A second filthy man who was only half dressed save for a strip of fir draped across from hip to shoulder and pinned with a rather grungy looking pin with missing jewels.

"And food." The third man was portly, but Gwyn had no doubts he knew well how to handle the sword he wielded so expertly.

She felt the weight of the dagger she wore at her hip. Thankfully, it was currently concealed in the folds of her skirts. Drew and Thomas taught her how to fight with it should she ever need to defend herself, although they had hoped they would always be there to protect her. But she was not so foolish to believe, so she took the lessons and gratefully bore every bruise she earned.

"I can get you food and wine." Gwyn said meekly, "But I have no more coin. We had only what we took with us to market."

"Nay. That one," he pointed his blade to Rin, "took a cart full of goods to market and sold them for a good price. He has coin."

Gwyn gasped. This was no simple robbery. She was not sure what upset her more. The fact that these men were watching them for days or the fact that they went unobserved until a few moments ago.

"I do, but it is buried in back with the supplies I purchased." Rin jabbed a thumb toward the back.

"Get down. Real slow like."

In a heartbeat, Gil launched himself from the seat and flew at the stout man who was nearest him, the one who asked for food. They both tumbled from the horse and rolled around as they struggled for control of the blade.

As if by prior planning and some secret cue, at that same instant, Rin launched himself at the man nearest him, the one who wanted the wine and they too tumbled from the horse to continue their struggles upon the ground.

The man still upon his horse blocking the road, the one with the scar who demanded coin and was obviously the leader, grinned malevolently and slowly stepped his horse closer. One step, then another, chuckling low as he did so. Gwyn wondered that he did not charge or join one of the others to overtake Rin or Gil. But she would not overlook the windfall.

Slowly she moved toward the side of the cart so she might leap down. If she could pull him from his horse, she could use her knife. She watched that man watch her as she moved to the side. Just as she stood to jump down, she was lifted from the seat by another man, one that came unobserved from behind.

His large hairy arms clamped around her like the blacksmith's vice, pinning her arms to her sides. Futilely she wiggled to free herself, earning laughter from her captor. The scarred man dismounted and stepped forward as her captor dragged her back away from the cart.

Gwyn tried to dig in her heels, but the man holding her was strong and lifted her so that her heels no longer touched ground.

Growing desperate she began flailing her legs and felt satisfaction as her heel connected soundly with one of her captor's legs. He grunted and she ignored the smarting in her heel as she tried to divide her attention between her captor and the scarred man as he moved between her and the cart. He reached for his belt. Gwyn thrashed violently in renewed effort to free her arms.

With nimble fingers, the scarred man swiftly worked the buckle and tossed his sword to the ground. Gwyn's eyes rounded in surprise.

"Oh ho." He growled, waggling his eyebrows at her. "Were you hoping I would jab you with my sword?" He chuckled as he stepped closer while working the belt that held his stockings up. "I will that, lass, only it will be me other sword that I will stick deep in..."

Finally, he was close enough and before he finished his horrid little speech, she lifted her feet together, planted them firmly on his chest, and pushed as hard as she could.

Caught completely unawares, the scarred man went stumbling back. As he fell, the back of his head struck the edge of the cart with a sickening crack. He fell and did not move. Gwyn might have wondered that she had killed him, but her captor also stumbled back.

Taking advantage, of his distraction, Gwyn bent her head so her chin pressed against her own chest. With a deep breath, Gwyn slammed her head back as hard as she could. Pain burst through her head.

Her eyes slammed tightly closed of their own accord, as if shutting out the light would also shut out the pain. Instead, she saw little white flashes. Shaking her head was a mistake as everything suddenly became blurred, the way it looked at dusk as the dust fused with the fading light of day.

There was no time to be disappointed that her captor still held tight because she was busy fighting the dizziness that followed. It seemed an eternity, but in reality, it was only a heartbeat or two before her captor regained his balance and slid one arm to her neck in a choking hold. His other arm slid lower, over her stomach as he squeezed her tightly against him.

The second her arms were free, she reached up and began pulling on his arm. Gwyn gagged, still fighting the dizziness, she now also fought to breathe.

Still unable to touch ground, she had no leverage to lift to her toes to get another breath of precious air. She could only pull on that huge arm at her throat, which seemed to grow larger and stronger with each second that passed. She clamped her hands as tightly as she could and pulled but he only laughed.

Growing weak and desperate to breathe, she curled her fingers and raked her fingers down as hard as she could.

"You shall pay for that you little bitch!" he growled as his grip lessened and he readjusted his arm for a better grip.

In that instant, she twisted her head and bit down as hard as she could, ignoring the gritty taste of dirt sweat and blood.

With a yelp of pain, he let go of her neck. Twisting out of his grasp, she took two steps before she realized he was not chasing. A glance over her shoulder confirmed he was unmoved, holding his injured arm to his chest as he inspected the cut. Her knife belt was torn loose and lay on the ground near his feet.

Ignoring the pain in her head, and the urge to close her eyes and succumb to the darkness that clouded the edges of her vision, she took a deep breath and urged her legs not to give out just yet. Taking advantage of his distraction, she rushed forward, using her momentum to increase the power of the kick she delivered to the same shin she kicked before.

She hissed through her teeth as pain shot through her foot, and dodged the swing of his arm. With a growl, he held his bloodied arm and hopped for a heartbeat, favoring the injured leg. It was only a heartbeat, but it was all she needed. Diving for her knife she heard him growl as his foot clamped down on the belt.

"Not so fast you little bitch. You broke me nose, you she-devil and you shall pay for what you did to me arm."

She rolled as she hit the ground and tried to roll away, but his foot pinned her skirt with a laugh.

"Yer not going anywhere until I get me revenge."

Gwyn cast a frantic look about and found nothing near to defend herself with save a short stout bit of branch barely longer than her arm. It was old and dry and probably was a lost bit of someone's firewood supply. But at least it bore the remains of branches broken from it like little spikes near one end.

Grabbing it up, she held it with both hands like a club. He laughed and as he shifted his weight to step forward and grab her, she rolled away, tearing her skirt as she tugged it free of his hold. Scrambling to her feet, the dizziness came again and she stumbled forward toward the cart. The scarred man still lay where he fell, but her captor was advancing now.

Her vision blurred again and she shook her head, ignoring the pain and the dizziness to keep her focus on the man advancing slowly upon her. He was tall and lithe but his arms and shoulders were thickly muscled...and she well knew the strength that lie therein. If he managed to land a single blow...

Her legs began to wobble and she worried they might give out on her. Stumbling back another step, her back slammed into the side of the cart. She ignored the scarred man that stared up at her through lifeless eyes and used the cart for support as she held her little club before her.

"That wee branch will break away in my hand. You backed yourself into a corner, bitch." He said with a chuckle. "Yer mine now." He growled as he balled his fist and drew his arm back as he took the final steps toward her.

"Here Mama." Sofi whispered.

Startled, Gwyn turned and nearly slammed her nose into the cast iron skillet that appeared over the edge of the cart.

"It is heavy, Mama. Take it! Before I drop it."

Gwyn threw her branch aside and grasped the skillet with both hands as she turned, swinging with all of her might and meeting the man's fist with a crunch of breaking bones.

Howling, the man cradled his bloodied, broken hand against him. Then with a mighty roar his face gnarled up in hatred as he lunged at her. Before Gwyn could raise the skillet again, a blur of brown went hurtling through the air and landed on the lithe man, knocking him to the ground.

Gwyn sighed and sagged against the cart as she watched Rin fighting with the lithe man. Glancing over, she saw the prone form of a man who would never again enjoy the taste of his beloved wine.

As she turned back to Rin, she saw him wrestle a dagger from the lithe man's grip, but as he did so, it sliced neatly through the lithe man's collar and across his neck. Gwyn knew she should look away. She wanted to look away, but her eyes remained fixed as blood sprayed and the man grabbed at his throat.

Rin stepped back, panting as he looked around to see how Gil fared.

Gwyn watched the lithe man, still unable to look away. After making a few gurgling noises, the lithe man went still and a moment later he was dead, a growing pool of blood coloring the ground around his head.

"EW!" Sofi exclaimed.

Gwyn paled and tipped her head to look up at Sofi. The child's fingers were curled on the edge of the cart as she peeked over the carnage. Gwyn had little doubt that the child saw Rin make the killing blow.

How much more villainy had the child witnessed this day?