The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

spread down to my toes. His eyes turned reluctantly back to the trail ahead, his guard back up. We weren’t there yet. He continued to talk as he watched our path. “First thing I’m going to do is take a hot bath—then burn these filthy barbarian clothes.”
    I heard Kaden pull in a seething breath.
    Behind us there was banter on the amenities of the outpost. “First thing I’m going to do is break into Colonel Bodeen’s red-eye,” Sven said cheerfully, as if he was tasting the burning brew in his throat already.
    â€œAnd I’ll lift a few with you,” Griz added.
    â€œBodeen keeps a fetching pantry too,” Orrin added admiringly.
    â€œ Barbarian or not, the clothes served you well enough,” Kaden shot at Rafe. “You were lucky to have them.”
    Rafe leveled a cool stare over his shoulder at Kaden. “So I was,” he answered. “Just as you were lucky that I didn’t part your head from your neck when we parried in Sanctum Hall.”
    Only stewing silence was returned by Kaden.
    But then I noticed there was a strange brooding silence everywhere. My fingertips tingled. A sudden pall had fallen, as if someone had boxed my ears. Blood rushed to my temples. I turned my head, listening. And then, from somewhere faraway, the satisfied purr of an animal. You are ours. I looked at Rafe. Movement around me was drawn and slow, and the small hairs on my neck lifted.
    â€œStop,” I said softly.
    Rafe pulled his horse to a halt, his eyes already sharp and alert. “Hold back,” he said to the others.
    Our group of eight clung together uncertainly, a tight knot in the silence. Eight pairs of eyes searched the nearby ruins and the narrow spaces between. Nothing stirred.
    I shook my head, thinking I had alerted everyone needlessly. We were all on edge—and tired.
    And then a shrill howl split the air.
    We spun to look behind us, our horses jostling and prancing for position in our constricted circle. At the end of the long road we had just come down, four horsemen sat poised, all equally spaced as if ready for a parade—or an advancement.
    â€œRahtan,” Kaden said. “They’re here.”
    They were too far away to identify, but they clearly wanted us to see them.
    â€œOnly four?” Rafe asked.
    â€œThere’s more. Somewhere.”
    Orrin and Jeb unhooked their bows from their packs. Rafe and Sven slowly drew their swords.
    I swept aside my cloak and pulled both my knife and sword free. “Why are they just sitting there?”
    Another piercing cry rang out, bouncing off ruins and raising gooseflesh on my arms. We turned the other direction to find what was almost a mirror image of what lay behind us. Six horsemen, but these were much closer. They sat like evenly spaced statues, cold and planted as if nothing could get past them.
    â€œBloody hell,” Sven said under his breath.
    â€œUntie me,” Kaden whispered. “Now.”
    â€œWhat are they waiting for?” Rafe asked.
    â€œHer,” Griz answered.
    â€œThey’d rather take her alive than drag her back dead,” Kaden explained. “They’re giving you a chance to give her up before they kill us.”
    Orrin grunted. “They’re assuming we’ll be the ones who are killed.”
    It was a reasonable assumption. I recognized two of them by their long white hair. Trahern and Iver, the vilest Rahtan. We were outnumbered, their ten healthy well-armed men against our eight, three of whom were injured, including myself.
    Rafe glanced to either side, looking at the crumbled ruins, but it was apparent that none offered quick defensible positions.
    â€œIf you make the slightest move, they’ll charge,” Kaden warned.
    â€œAnything else we should know?” Rafe asked.
    â€œYou don’t have much time. They know we’re talking.”
    â€œKeystone formation,” Rafe ordered, keeping his voice low and calm.