"Kestria—"
"Inside. Don't come out."
She moves between me and the path. Small knife against five armed men on horses.
No. No, she's going to—
I should—
I step toward the cottage, stop at the doorway and turn back.
This is my home. My cottage, my garden, my chickens.
The riders pull up, horses snorting and stamping. The man in front—lean, weathered, graying hair tied back with leather cord—swings down from his saddle. He looks tired. They all look tired, actually. Long ride. Dust on their clothes, horses' flanks heaving.
He looks at me, eyes narrowing.
"You're the girl who left Blomstradal."
Blomstradal. I haven't thought about that place in years. Haven't wanted to.
"I'm the woman who lives here. What do you want?"
"Theron." Kestria's voice is hard. Actually hard, not the easy sarcasm I'm used to. "Leave her alone."
He glances at her, then back to me. "I'm the Forest Warden. I keep the borders safe. And you've been making my job harder for ten years."
Forest Warden. Fantastic. A title. He's not just some random angry man with a horse—he actually thinks he has authority here. That's almost worse.
"I haven't been making anyone's job anything. I live here. I mind my own business."
"You feed them. You heal them." His jaw tightens. "You take animals that should be dying and make them stronger."
"I heal injured wolves. They show up hurt, I fix them. How is that—"
"Those aren't wolves."
I stare at him. Not wolves. What does that even mean? They have four legs and tails and—
"Those aren't wolves." Every word separate. Patronizing. The tone adults use on children who can't count.
"They're..." I shake my head. The deer is sitting on my table in the sun.
Going to spoil. Flies already—
"I've been treating wolves for years. Regular wolves. They come in, I patch them up, they leave. That's it."
"There's nothing regular about them."
"They have four legs and fur and they don't talk. That's pretty regular for wolves."
He's not amused. "She's either lying or she's a fool."
"I'm standing right here."
"You're coming with us." He gestures to his men, sharp and precise. "This ends now."
"I'm not going anywhere."
