Page 40 of The Piper's Pursuit

The guards pulled roughly on her arms and did the same with Steffan. And though he wasn’t as thick or as wide as the guards, he was just as tall, maybe a bit taller.

But she’d lost her knife in the fight, and she suspected Steffan had no weapon either.

They marched on, heading into the dark forest and up the slanting hill toward the place where they’d found the entrance to the mine. Would they kill them in the mine and hide their bodies there?

Poor Mother. She’d be trapped for the rest of her life in that oppressive, nightmarish marriage to Hennek, the illustrious “Benevolent Bürgermeister” of Hamlin.

But if she and Steffan died, perhaps the Duke of Hagenheim would come to seek out answers to what happened to his son and would find the children and free them. Was that God’s plan?

Kat began to pray,God, forgive my sins and bring my soul to heaven. And Steffan’s as well.Poor Steffan. He didn’t believe he was a good person. Did he know Jesus’s death on the cross had absolved him from sin?

It was quite dark as they made their way up the hill, so dark she couldn’t see her feet, and she found herself stumbling more than once. Finally they came out into a small clearing where the moon was visible overhead. They were almost to the entrance of the mine.

The guards slowed to a halt. They pushed Kat and Steffan in front of them, holding them by their arms. One of the guards went forward and disappeared around the side of the rock outcropping. She heard a sound as if he were moving tree branches—perhaps uncovering something?—then the sound of metal scraping metal. The same sound she’d heard before. Growling and snarling followed. Kat strained her eyes to see but couldn’t make out anything in the dark.

The guards continued to push her and Steffan forward as the snarling grew louder.

She saw bright yellow eyes reflecting the pale moonlight. They were coming closer, one step at a time, until the large, thin body of a wolf came into view.

Twelve

Steffan kept his eyes on the wolf, which was stalking closer, ever so slowly. The guards were no longer holding tightly to his arms. They probably wanted them to run so that the beast would chase them and maul them.

God, help me save Katerina.

“Don’t run,” he whispered to Katerina without turning his head. “It will chase you.”

And she could never outrun a wolf, especially one that looked as hungry as this one.

This was the end. He would die. Katerina would die. And no one would know about the children. No one would save them. The pain inside his chest washed through his whole body. Now he could never atone for all the bad things he had done.

God. Help us.

An image of the guard from Katerina’s room flashed through his mind. He had a sword strapped across his back.

Steffan spun around, breaking free of both of the guards, and grabbed the sword handle. With one swift motion, he unsheathed the sword and slashed at the guard.

The guard managed to jump back out of the way. He turned to take a swipe at Katerina’s guards, but they were already backing away, leaving Katerina and Steffan between them and the wolf.

“Steffan.” Katerina’s voice was urgent.

The wolf was much closer now. Its fur shone in the pale moonlight, its eyes bright. The beast snarled again, baring its white teeth.

Holding the sword out in front of him, Steffan moved closer to Katerina. “Get behind me.”

Katerina took a step back. The wolf crouched, getting ready to spring at them. Instead of waiting for it, Steffan charged forward with a loud cry. The wolf sprang. Steffan slashed its throat while it was still in the air. The wolf fell on the ground at his feet and didn’t move.

He spun to his rear, sword at the ready for the guards, who suddenly swarmed them. One grabbed Katerina, and the other three attacked with their swords. Two of them slammed their blades into his, then someone grabbed his arms from behind and yanked down. The next moment, a sword blade sliced through Steffan’s shirt, the point raking down his chest.

But instead of stabbing him through the heart, the men tackled him to the ground and forced his sword from his hand. One sat on top of him, while the other two held his wrists.

Katerina appeared to be throwing all of her weight forward in an attempt to break free from her captor. “You’ll rot in hell for helping Hennek.”

She struggled some more, then went still. The guard was sneering over her shoulder.

“Let us go free and we will leave this place,” she said. “You can tell Hennek we died and you buried us.”

Steffan added, “Yes, we’ll run away and you’ll never hear from us again.”