Behind her, the woods had caught on fire. The guards at the castle gates saw and sent the signal. Men rushed to put out the fire, and so, the Hunter's Gate was quite deserted when she reached it. Two men stood before it. On the grass around them were cards. They must have been in the middle of a game when the fire signal went up.
"Who?" one of them said as they saw her approach. He carried lakfire in one hand and bluntly waved it before her face as she neared. "Oi, it's Lady Mirande's maid," he said when she was closer to them.
"Peretti's bride, ain't she?" the other said and spat to the side. His teeth were black with betel juice. "Running away, are you?" he said, looking her up and down.
"Just lemme go," Vita said, much too tired to plead.
"Sure thing. Soon as you lemme check you."
"Oi, she's Lady Mirande's handmaid, we can't touch her," the first one said to him in a low voice.
"I'm not trying to touch the bitch. Do you think she's running away without fucking money?" his other spat.
A beast howled.
"What the fuck?"
"Did Darsi die or something?"
"Should we raise the signal? Fuck, I'll raise a signal."
"What signal are you talking about? Is there a motherfucking signal for dogs set loose?"
"Ayo, they're close, holy stars."
"Draw your fucking sword, you bastard, what the fuck are you doing?"
"I'm not gonna stab the mutts, but you're fucking free to do whatcha want—"
"You're a bitch, you— mother— angels be fucked, how are there so many?"
It appeared that all hunting dogs had been set loose from the kennels and, after the fire went up in the woods where the wedding was being held, they had come here, the entire pack of them. Presently they barked at the two guards. Lady Mirande's maid had disappeared.
Seeing that the dogs weren't cowed by lakfire and kept creeping closer, the men drew their swords and infused it with enough magic to make it burn and blaze. They were soldiers of the lowest order and their magic was weak so the flames were only warm enough to cast a dull orange glow. They didn't dare do more for fear that their swords would come to harm.
To their surprise, the beasts did not back down even when they sliced the distance between them with the swords and the air heated up with sparks. They only crept closer, unafraid; there was an unnervingly human look to their eyes.
That is not how dogs look.
The pack launched.