Duty: a novel of Rhynan by Rachel Rossano

“Traveler riding fast.”
    Irvaine dropped my hands and reached for his sword.
The three men arrayed themselves, weapons drawn, between us and the
road.
    “Stay behind me.” Irvaine maneuvered his mount
between me and the approaching rider. “If this goes poorly, ride
for the rest of the company.”
    My knife was strapped to my thigh. Despite the
temptation to reach for it, I didn’t. My hands wouldn’t be able to
grip it effectively. Instead, I wound the reins around my hands and
watched the road.
    The pounding of hooves on frozen ground filled the
unnatural silence. Fear thundered in my ears as each breath came
fast and shallow.
    “He wears our colors.”
    “It is Kuylan.”
    The horse came to a clumsy halt several feet beyond
our gathering. The soldier listed dangerously in his saddle as he
turned to greet us. Face white, he pressed his free hand to his
side as though he had a cramp.
    “We have been betrayed, my lord.” He coughed, wincing
in pain with each spasm. “Three hundred soldiers arrived at
dawn.”
    “Wisenvale?” Irvaine asked.
    Kuylan swallowed with great care. Sweat beaded on his
brow. Crimson oozed between his fingers.
    I laid a hand on Irvaine’s arm. “He is bleeding, my
lord.”
    “Fetch Muirayven,” Irvaine ordered. The blond man set
off at a gallop. “Let us get him down.”
    Irvaine and the dark-haired soldier lifted the
messenger from his horse while the third man held his horse. I
managed to dismount, despite my aching thighs. I pulled a clean
tunic from my saddlebag. They eased Kuylan to the grass beside the
path. I pushed past Irvaine’s shoulder as he backed away. My cold,
clumsy fingers managed to unbuckle Kuylan’s pierced leather
breastplate on the first try. But they fumbled over the lacings of
his padded jerkin.
    “Here, let me.” Irvaine pushed my hands aside so he
could cut the lacings.
    I peeled back the stiff, quilted cloth to reveal the
wound. After wrapping my clean tunic around my right hand, I pulled
the skin together with my left before applying pressure. His blood
soaked the cloth with alarming swiftness.
    “What did this?” I asked.
    “Arrow, my lady.”
    “Come, Kuy, surely you were not the only man they
could send.” Irvaine knelt at my side, offering a small measure of
shelter from the biting wind.
    “Nay, my lord, I volunteered and rode off before they
knew. There were many worse than I. Someone needed to catch you
before you reached the gates of Kyrenton.”
    “Why?” My mouth spoke before I thought.
    “When the invaders discovered you were not among our
number, Lord Wisten hinted someone in Kyrenton would deal with you.
He named no names and perhaps spoke more than he should have. The
foreign baron seemed ill pleased with his loose tongue.”
    “Is that what you meant when you said we had been
betrayed?”
    “Nay. Brevand betrayed us. While we faced the main
company in the fields before the village, he led the others into
the village and gathered our women.”
    “Loren.” My breath caught in my chest. Anger rose
despite my inability to breathe.
    Kuylan grunted. “Aye, Quaren’s wife as well as the
rest. They threatened action against them should we not withdraw.”
He coughed. “Not so hard, my lady.”
    I eased the pressure slightly. He laid his head back
and closed his eyes. The pallor of his face worried me.
    Nudging Irvaine’s shoulder with mine to catch his
attention, I nodded toward Kuylan. “Keep him talking.”
    He nodded. “Did we outnumber them?”
    “Barely. We maintained the upper hand until Brevand
marched out of the village. He held Quaren’s wife before him with a
knife against her throat and ordered we retreat.” He coughed again.
“My lady, not so hard.” He lifted his hand to move mine away.
    Irvaine intercepted the movement. “She is preventing
you from bleeding out. Focus on your tale. I need to know every
detail. How did Quaren take the threat to his wife?”
    “Poorly, sir. We retreated though he gave no