Most of the crowd dispersed after the commotion with the knights ended, but several villagers followed Brenn and the emissary, David among them. They were as angry as he was, which gave him cover enough. Unfortunately, none were brave to approach close enough to hear what the two men said.

  Brenn disappeared into his house, came out with Sir Viel and after a short, heated conversation with the emissary, the commander returned inside. The emissary waited without dismounting and Brenn took out a horse from the stable next door.

  Viel came outside and packed the horse with his belongings. Calland and a few other knights approached their commander and exchanged a few words. Despite Calland’s calm fa?ade, David was sure the young knight was overjoyed that his commander seemed to be leaving.

  Viel glanced at the villagers, frowned, mounted the horse, and he and the emissary trotted toward the gates. The knights watched them leave, laughing among themselves.

  Brenn stared after the horses, muttered something, then approached the villagers. “Disperse. If there's any trouble, find me or Darryl. Do not confront the knights, no matter what they do,” he said, with the same kind of tone he used when giving orders to the guards just before a battle.

  Prem, the man whose breath was beaten out of him by the lady knight stepped forward. “If Viel is leaving, who is in charge of the knights?”

  Brenn shook his head and spat. “Calland Kira.” Then he turned away and left, ignoring the villagers’ outburst of questions and outrage.

  Before David even realized what he was doing, he’d jogged halfway home. His head was spinning and thick beads of sweat rolled down his face. The man behind all the trouble was now holding the reins of the entire knight force. If Calland wanted to bully them, who could stop him? Brenn and Darryl were powerful in their own right, but they couldn't fight more than two dozen knights. Hell, if every person in the village banded against the knights, they couldn't fight them. Not to mention they were all probably nobles, so fighting them could bring even more trouble.

  Worst of all, if Calland approached David’s mom again, what could David do about it? He briefly imagined pelting Calland with rocks or jars of healing ointment, but he couldn't even bring himself to chuckle about it.

  The clanging metal from his father’s smithy brought him back to the present. He had to warn his father. Maybe he could do something. He ran into the smithy.

  “Sir Viel just left the village! Calland is in command,” he shouted.

  Dad dropped his tongs and the red-hot iron they were holding on the ground. “Come, David, you must tell us everything.” He left the tongs on the ground and headed for the shed. David followed.

  “Aura!” Dad called out as he entered. “Take what you need from here and go back to the house.”

  Mom startled and fumbled the string on her herb packet. “What? Why? What happened?”

  “Viel left the village—the knights are off their leashes. You should stay in the house until he comes back.”

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  “Do we know if he’s coming back?”

  Dad looked at David, and David shook his head.

  Mom put down her bundle. “Maybe we should just pack and leave, then. I'm no bird to live in a cage.”

  “And go where!?” Dad said. “You keep forgetting that this village saved us.”

  “I remember, but I just don't know.” She reached out and brushed David’s cheek. “I won't risk David's life here.”

  “And what about everyone else?”

  Judging by how tense the fingers on his head became, Mom was as scared of being stuck in the house as she was of the knights. “Just because they let us stay, I am supposed to deal with all this? Risk our child? Then why did I leave my family in the first place!?”

  “That’s how people survive! How can you be so sheltered?”

  David stepped between them. “Stop arguing! Calland already harassed Mom. He’ll do it again, now that there’s no one to stop him. We either fight or run, but we need to choose!”

  “How did I get an idiot for a son!?” Dad squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. “Fight back? That's how villages get burned.”

  “Bert, that's unnecessary,” Mom started, but David ran past Dad and out the door.

  They didn’t need him anyway. Calland was sure to do something and if it took a tragedy to get through Dad's thick skull, so be it. Better it found David than Mom.

  He jogged across the village. It didn't take him long to find Calland and Elvara. They were standing around the young knight who’d brought Viel down on their drunken feast. The young knight’s back was pressed against the wooden wall of a house near the gate. David ducked behind some crates.

  “You misunderstand, Gero,” Calland said, smirking and wrapping his arm against the other man's shoulder. “You and I, we got off on the wrong foot, but I’ve always admired your skill. It would best be put to use.”

  “I-I just think we should wait,” Gero stammered, his voice barely above a whisper. “The unique monster—”

  Elvara cackled. “Oh, please. Viel’s cautiousness has rubbed off on you, hasn’t it? We have a new commander now. No more waiting around like cowards.”

  “The three of us should be able to draw it out, and be plenty do deal with it.” Calland clapped Gero on the chest, making him flinch. “And besides, you wouldn’t disobey your commander, would you?”

  Gero hesitated, looking everywhere except at Calland. “N-no, of course not.”

  “Good,” Elvara said. She clapped her hands. “Then let’s get moving.”

  David followed them toward the west gate. Was Calland that stupid? Was his sheer audacity about to solve all of David's problems? They suspiciously insisted Gero go along and David couldn’t understand why. The timid knight definitely didn't strike him as a powerful fighter.

  As they walked toward the gate, Gero tried to weasel his way out of the arrangement a few times, but to no avail. Calland spun honeyed words around him, and Elvara called him a coward. When they passed the palisade, David stopped and huddled behind the gate. They would see him if he followed them onto the field. If they went into the forest, he could cross the field.

  But was there any point following them farther? He was no battlefield tactician, but the three knights seemed to be walking to their deaths. He pitied Gero, but the village would be better off if the monster killed them, or even if they killed the monster.

  He was about to turn away, but saw Sophie leave the forest. She was returning from a gathering trip, a net full of herbs swinging from her hip and a smile plastered across her face. She stopped when she saw the knights approaching, then turned to avoid them, but it was too late. Calland waved and called out to her, though David couldn’t hear exactly what he said. Something small glimmered in Elvara's hand. A dagger.

  Sophie glanced at the palisade, then let the knights approach her. There was no one to stop the knights, or even to witness. No one except David… and he was powerless. His hands began to tremble and his forehead started to sweat. His first instinct was to run, to find Brenn or someone who could intervene, but he would never make it back soon enough.

  Calland grabbed Sophie by the arm. She tried to twist away but couldn’t.

  “Let go of me!” she screamed.

  Elvara laughed.

  They pulled Sophie to the edge of the forest, just beyond the tree line.

  David had to do something, anything. He took a deep breath, then stepped out from behind the gate and jogged across the field toward the knights and Sophie.