The Kobold woman, Moya, came in, nodded in greeting, and drew the leather from the chest. She motioned for Rotaida to stand and held pieces against her body.

“A skirt! Non!” she protested. “Not girl clothes!”

Moya threaded a three-cornered metal needle, put a leather guard on her thumb, and began to stitch. With each stitch she pushed the needle through the leather with her protected thumb.

Trigg brought in a wooden bucket of water. “You are now Freya’s daughter, Rainer, and—”

“They’ll give us grain aplenty when we take you to their Wise Woman at Skrymere. Our people will eat well next winter.”

Rotaida felt her skin go pale. Riding the red elk and finding the furry giant had driven the Kobolds’ intention to sell her to the Saxon witch out of her mind.

He chuckled. “By the time she finds out you’re not a girl, we will be far away.”

“You want me to pretend I’m a girl?” Rotaida said. “Teach me to walk and talk like a girl.”

The idea of a girl pretending to be a boy pretending to be a girl almost made her smile. She forced the corners of her mouth down so she wouldn’t, and beetled her brows into a frown.

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