The man she had kneed climbed to his feet in front of them, his face dark with anger. He backhanded her across the cheek, and her head snapped to the side. As pain shot through her face, her vision blurred. Her ears rang as if someone had hit a bell.

When he raised his hand again, she cried, “No!

“Dont do it, one of the other men said. “If you leave marks on her skin, it will lower her price.

Allegra was having trouble breathing. Details jumped out at her in jagged bursts. Her assailants had dark hair and eyes like almost everyone in the settled lands; they wore unfamiliar black clothes with red or green streaks; they had the rangy builds of the nomads in the country of Jazid, which bordered Aronsdale in the southeast. A chill went through her as she looked into their hard faces.

Someone behind Allegra shoved down on her shoulders, and she dropped to her knees. He bound her ankles together, and as pain shot through her legs, her stunned mind finally lurched into action.

Allegra inhaled and shouted, “Someone! Help! Any

Her yell cut off as one of the men shoved a cloth into her mouth. When he tied a strip of suede around her head to hold it in, a sense of panic swelled within her.

One of the men walked over to her mare and took the reins. Then he picked up Allegras pack. He was taller than the others, with black stubble on his chin. Stubble, she named him. As he brought the horse to them, he peered inside her pack.

The man who had hit herFist, she thoughtconsidered her horse. “We can get a good price for the mare.

Her protest came out as a muffled grunt. They couldnt steal her horse! She had ridden Alto for years, since she was nine.