Nalin didn’t deny it. “You have a name settlers respect,” she said. “They will listen to you longer than they listen to us.”
Reed’s mouth tightened. Respect is a currency men hoard, and he hated how easily it could be used against the powerless.
He stared at the ledger until his eyes burned. “If I take it,” he said, “they won’t just come for you. They’ll come for me.”
Nalin nodded once. “Yes,” she said. “That is why we asked for one night first.”
Reed laughed without humor. “One night,” he repeated, as if nights were ever that simple.
Outside, the sky turned a dull gray. Dawn was coming, slow and relentless, and Reed could feel the world waking up like a predator.
He moved to the window and looked out. Snow drifted across the yard in thin sheets. Fence posts stood like ribs in the white.
At first, he saw nothing. Then the hound at his feet growled, low and steady, the sound of a dog that had finally decided to be afraid.
Reed narrowed his eyes and saw movement near the far rise—dark shapes against pale snow, spaced too evenly to be deer.
Horses.
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