A man's thin hand clamped over her mouth. Katherine tried to scream and started to struggle, but he urged her to silence with a finger to his lips.When she nodded her understanding, the thin man released his hold.
"What is it you want?" she asked in their language, recognizing the man as a peasant. He stood a good foot taller than she, spare to the point of gaunt, his face a study in angles and planes.
"We have come to get you and return you to your father. It was learned in the village that the gypsy prince is holding you prisoner. We have come to see you safe."
Another man stepped from the trees, this one thick-chested with beefy thighs and hands. He wore a leather vest over a homespun shirt, dark brown breeches, and a soft brown slouch hat pulled low across a wide forehead.
