Once she'd retrieved Riven from his stall and tipped the stable boy, Victoria steered him down the south road out of town. The sun was already beginning to dip below the horizon. It wouldn't be very long at all now before her prey would be on the move. The sooner she got to this supposed carriage attack, the better. 

Barely a few miles down the road, Riven came to a halt, ears up and alert. Victoria patted his flank and nudged him forward, eying the shadowed forest on either side of them. In t...