Elias grips the cart’s sideboards while the wheel settles into place, the rut now behind it. The peddler stands under the trees, watching the road with a tight, uneasy stillness. Frieda is already a few paces ahead on the narrow track, and beyond the bend the way to Waldenhof opens like a threat.
Elias
There. It holds now. Thank you, Frieda.
The Peddler
Six riders, you said? If they mean harm, they will reach the village before dusk.
Frieda
The road to Waldenhof lies straight ahead, and the armed men are on it too.
From the woods comes a distant clatter of hooves, faint but clear. Elias turns his head toward it, and the peddler draws their cloak closer. The cart sits ready behind Frieda, but the warning now has a direction.
Elias
Go. If you mean to reach the village first, you must leave at once.
Frieda sets out down the road toward Waldenhof, with the sound of the riders somewhere ahead in the trees. The priest’s death is no longer a distant mystery, but something waiting at the village before the men arrive.
“Whether these men mean her well or not, she makes her way to the village.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled -2)