She feels the heat of his rage before she sees him, a tangible wave of fury bearing down on her. Minette shakes, taking one step backwards before terror freezes her body. The intensity of the white stallion's snarl makes her heart sink. She had thought she had known dread. Gryffen is teaching her differently. She fears she will fall, that she will finally be broken.
She will not apologize, she tells herself. She will not beg.
But she does not know if she is lying.
The first blow startles more than it stings. His hooves find her shoulder with a dull thud. She makes no sound as she slips to the ground, her dark eyes wide.
Minette struggles to her feet, certain she is only to be knocked down again, but unwilling to meet her fate while sprawled at his hooves. He waits for her to stand, a mockery of courtesy. White hot hatred beats through her veins. It nearly matches his fury for intensity.
Her breath leaves her in a harsh cough, sharp tendrils spiking out from her stomach, where he strikes next. His words are a meaningless blur, and she struggles to understand in the haze of pain. He is relentless, his teeth tearing at her skin. She dimly hears a low keening sound. Eventually she realizes that the noise is coming from her.
A sharp agony tears through her mane as he wrestles her to the ground. Minette kicks feebly, but Gryffen is stronger. The struggle is brief. Her legs slip from beneath her. She lands with a solid thump, bruises forming upon bruises, blood trickling to wet the ground where she falls.
For a moment she thinks he is through with her, but the final kick connects with her ear and neck with a blaze of indescribable agony. Blood streams from her right ear, down her neck, and she screams. Her hearing on that side is lost, flooded out by blood.
His voice comes very faintly to her, a hiss and a growl on the wind. Only then does she begin to sob, her voice cracked as she listens to his pronouncement. The thought of bearing another of his children, the thought of Sette's future being torn asunder… these torment her.
She hopes he has damaged her beyond repair, that another child is impossible. She hopes she won't live to see the day that her daughter returns. She hopes that Liz and Lagertha and the sisters can protect her child.
"No." she whispers faintly. "Please… Gryffen…"
Exhausted and beaten, Minette collapses into the ground, weeping. And still, the ravens watch.