Page 82 of Lady Knight and the Thief

She could leave him to the forest and beasts.

Cypress could wake Oswald up andthenkill him. Or, wake Oswald up, make sure heknewshe has taken mercy on him, and leave him where he lies.

Cyprus sighed and crossed her arms.

“What are you doing, Lass?” Torren asked. A line of horses now trailed him with their reins tied to the length of rope.

Cypress snorted. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Torren cracked a wry grin in her direction. “They’re good horses. I’m not going toleavethese pampered things to the Wylds. I’m not cruel.”

Cypress raised her palms in supplication.

“I’m just debating what to do with him,” she said and nudged the still unconscious Oswald with the toe of her boot.

“Well, that depends on what type of message you want to send,” Torren said while he sheathed his sword in the scabbard on his mount’s saddle. Then he tied the length of rope connected to all the new horses off on the pommel.

“And what are my options formessages?” Cypress asked.

It took a moment for Torren to respond while he wandered through the battle scene. He bent to collect his bow and any arrows that were still intact before he answered.

“Well. Killing everyone could be perceived as a fluke. Maybe they were killed by something in the Wylds, you never know,” Torren said, his voice a mockery of the inflection of the snobbish noble families.

Cypress huffed a laugh, but agreed. “Okay, so what type of message says ‘don’t come after meorthe Wylds?’”

Torren stopped in his tracks and stared directly into Cypress’s eyes. “Is that the message you want to send?”

“Say it was. What would you do?”

“Leave him alive. The forest will do the rest,” Torren said, his mouth curved into a wicked grin.

Cypress licked her lips and asked, “Really?”

Torren nodded.

Cypress spun on her heel and resumed her pacing for a moment while she considered her options.

It took only a moment for her decision to be made. But first, she had to make sure the message was clear, that no one could interpret the meaning in any other way.

Cypress drew her dagger and stalked back toward Oswald. Once there, she bent and carved a few words into the chest plate of his armor.

She needed one more thing, though. “What was my mother’s name?”

“Aithlin Ilirona.”

Cypress smiled as she signed the scrawled message using the tip of her dagger.

Stay out of the Wylds

-Captain Cypress Ilirona

Cypress wanted no part in the kingdom, a world where people were hunted just for being different. She had been blind for too long.

If the Fair Folk thought she belonged here in the Wylds, then she’d make it her home, inheritance or no. These people deserved better than being hunted for sport.

Cypress would make sure the Wylds were safe… well, as safe as an ever-shifting, ever-changing place full of wild magic and even wilder creatures could be.

She would help Torren get the Scepter, but it would be much harder now that she no longer had the influence as Captain Cy.