Regina held her sister in her arms. Nina was only eighteen and now she’d never see nineteen. Her eyes stared blankly at the grey sky. The other girls had huddled around them, forming a shield of sorts.

“I warned her. I told her to step away from the horse. She didn’t listen.” The voice was self-assured. Regina could hear the justification in his voice. “The little wench got what she deserved.”

“Oi, that was her father’s horse,” retorted one of the other women.

“I don’t bloody care if it was his horse and he was king. No lass will be riding a horse from my stable. Her father would understand that. Especially if he was a king.” The man snorted and spit on the ground.

Regina laid her sister down neatly in front of her and gently closed her pale blue eyes. She stood and walked over to the man.

“What? Don’t make me cut down another one of you lot today, girl.”

Regina looked at the man. Studied him. His dark hair was matted. His clothes were simple and dirty. He wasn’t a peasant but he was no wealthy stable man either.

“My sister was just a girl. A stubborn, hardheaded child. And you killed her for touching her own father’s horse. He’s sick. He needed us to pick up his horse to ferry him to the city for care.”

“Like I said, I don’t bloody give a...” The man’s words were cut off with a gargle. He didn’t have a second to react. He stared wide-eyed at the blonde hair woman in front of him. A dagger blossomed from his throat. He appeared to try to reach the sword at his belt for a moment before his eyes rolled back in his head. Then, he collapsed, falling away from the dagger that took his life.

“Rosalind, take the horse and my sister back to my father’s house.” A young, red haired girl nodded. “Everyone else, take anything of value from the stables and a horse. We will meet at Robin’s in Everfall forest. There we make our stand. There we change history.”