Lair of the Lion

in their terror. That peculiar, coughlike grunt would sound to their left, then a few minutes later to their right, then behind and ahead of them. Her escort was unnaturally quiet, eyes straining through the snow to catch glimpses of the elusive hunters.
    Isabella was just starting to breathe again when she felt the disturbance in the air. She looked up at the sky, expecting to see something predatory overhead, but only the white flakes floated down. All the same, she and the men were not alone. Something other than a pride of lions had followed them from the palazzo, and it was angry that they had turned back, heading away from the pass. She could feel intense hatred and rage directed at her, a black wall of evil bent on her destruction. Isabella couldn't identify what it was, but she felt it all the way to her bones.
    She began to shake, her body reacting to the intensity of that animosity. It was personal
    —she felt it. And something terrible was going to happen. She was helpless to prevent it, but she knew it was coming.
    Almost at once the lions began to roar again. The beasts were very close, and the sound was deafening. The horses panicked, bucking and plunging, rearing and spinning, and chaos reigned. The slope was icy, and the animals slid and crashed into one another, trumpeting in fear. Men fell into the snow and covered their heads to protect themselves from the slashing hooves. Isabella's mount whirled around and slipped on the steep grade, sliding dangerously and ultimately toppling over. She tried to kick herself free, but it was impossible with the folds of her skirts, and she hit the ground hard, the thrashing, fallen horse pinning her leg beneath it.
    The pain in her back was excruciating, driving the breath from her body and overriding any harm that may have been done to her leg. For a moment she couldn't think or breathe—
    she could only lie helplessly while her horse thrashed desperately, trying to regain its footing.
    The captain leapt from the back of his plunging mount and caught Isabella's horse's reins, yanking the animal up. The horse stood trembling, head down. The captain jerked Isabella up out of the snow, ignoring her inadvertent cry of pain, shoving her behind him, his sword drawn out of his scabbard. Pandemonium surrounded them, but the captain issued orders, and his men caught the horses that had not run free into the storm, and they stood, shoulder to shoulder, a solid wall of protection around Isabella.
    "What is it, Rolando?" Sergio asked, his eyes straining to see through the blinding snow.
    "Why are they attacking us? I don't understand. Why would he send her away, his only chance at salvation? If she wasn't the one, they never would have allowed her alive through the pass."
    "I don't know, Sergio," the captain said. "They allowed her through, then prevented her from leaving. We are doing as they wish, taking her back to the castello, yet they are hunting us."

    Isabella shook her head. They are not hunting you. It is hunting me, and it is using the animals to do its bidding. Just as it had directed the falcon to target Sarina. Isabella knew she was right. Something wanted her out of the valley. Whether it was the don or something else, the hatred was directed at her.
    The captain swung his head around to stare at her, his features very still, his eyes alive with curiosity. He was silent for so long, Isabella was afraid he thought her crazy. She pressed a hand to her rolling stomach but stepped to his side, her chin high.
    "What are you talking about?" he demanded, a man in command, a man determined to do his duty and needing all information available to him. "What is hunting you? I don't understand."
    She had no way of explaining what it was, because she didn't know. She only knew that it was real and malignant. "I felt it earlier when the don's falcon attacked Sarina. Something is driving these attacks. That's why I asked about the death that night. I thought it was possible that something similar had happened."
    "I know of no such thing," the captain denied, but he was looking around him warily. His fingers abruptly bit into Isabella's arm, thrusting her farther away from him, her only warning. He stepped squarely in front of her so she was forced to peek around his solid bulk. Her breath left her lungs in one continuous rush.
    She saw the huge lion through the snow. All stealth and power, head lowered, shoulder blades protruding, its blazing eyes focused directly on her.