"Let me talk to her!" the woman shouted then kicked the man's shin.

"She has a right!" someone else called out.

"Let her through!" This shout was accompanied with a thrown clod of half-frozen horse manure, which hit the guard in the face. More pelted Mar-ishka. Her horse shied sideways, pushing the line of guards against the crowd. The woman fell out of the guard's grip and screamed.

"Cease this madness!" Baron Peto cried from the tavern door. "Hasn't there been enough blood spilled in this land? Are you all so hungry for more?"

"I've lost a son!" the woman retorted.

"And I a father," Marishka blurted. She looked astonished at her boldness and painfully self-conscious of the attention her words received. Nonetheless, she went on, "But I am glad the fighting is ended. I've sworn allegiance to Baron Peto, and I will honor that oath."

Dismounting, she went to where the woman knelt on the ground and offered her hand. "If you still wish to speak to me, I will listen, though I know nothing that can help you," she said.

The woman let Marishka help her to her feet, then spit in her face. "If you know nothing, you're of no use to me, Obour," she said, then pushed her way through the crowd.

Peto regretfully watched the woman go. He had hoped that Marishka's words, spoken so obviously from her heart, would have alleviated some of the tension in this town. He'd been far too optimistic when he'd asked her to ride. Yet he was glad he had, for he'd seen some spark of assertiveness in the girl, and the attraction that had been solely for her beauty had grown suddenly deeper.

Here was a woman he could love, and from the way she looked at him when she spoke her brave words, someone who could in time come to love him.

Their ride back to Nimbus Castle had none of the casual, almost frivolous, air of their trip out. Every time Peto looked at Marishka, he noticed the dirty smudges on her wool cape. At least he knew the truth now. He could not leave Kislova soon, but he felt far less regret at being away from the people of Sundell than he'd expected. Marishka would be near.