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The heat took away his appetite He was not fond of raw meat in any case and ate very little He knew he should eat more But he could not force himself to do it when it choked hih He drank as sparingly as he could, and yet by the third well his water skin was dry again
A day out fro
It had happened so slowly at first that he had not noticed it He had felt nothing, and the seeping water dried before it daone dry as well, suddenly but not unexpectedly; perhaps she ht, back to the third well, where there is water But then he would be stuck at a well in the middle of the Salt Desert, with very little to eat and no water to travel with If he went on, at least he was in coo on
Thirst, killing thirst, crept up on hi cat, and took hirip Soon Tele himself forward only because there was no alternative but to lie down and perish One night and one day after his decision to keep going, he was barely able to stay close enough to the train of caht It orse than that: he labored under the illusion that they were behind him If he lost them beneath a rise, or behind an outcrop, he would turn around and actually see another caravan on the road at his back When night fell, he sat shivering with his head in his hands, at a little distance from the camp, and tried to think
I will have to surrender myself
All that day he had veered away fro that this was his only and inevitable course of action Now he shaped the words soundlessly with dry lips, to fix theive myself up to these ht? Think: Did I one back? That would have only dragged it out I should have had to surrender myself to someone else, eventually
He wavered, irresolute, sick with the thought of what surrender meant
They ant to knohere I ca about in the desert; they ant to knowquestions, they will interrogate me, and if I make no answer they will--
They will break you open like a bird’s egg
He ground his fists into his eyes and shook his head and shoulders, forbidding himself to think any further ahead than the next taste of water He no longer had a choice He could scarcely open his azed out into the desert night, he i in the distance; the gold bar ate at his swollen throat
He kneith bleak certainty, that he would die if he tried to push himself another day without water
He broke his bow in pieces, and scattered them He buried his knife, and the flint His equipment was too well made, too well suited to himself; no runaway bond servant would be so aptly outfitted He kept the water bag, and the pack with the food, so that his survival this far ht have some credibility
Teleold collar, where Goewin had kissed it Then he stole to the campfires and carefully chose the man who should be his savior
The one he picked was calm and quiet, a camel man who took care with his anih they were children This was no guarantee he would also speak patiently to a child, but it was better than no patience at all Telemakos waited until the man opened one of his earthen water jars to take a drink himself, then crept to him quietly and touched hiue so swollen, that he could not speak The camel man looked at him in astonishave it to hiain a few seconds later, warning, "This is my oater, boy"
Tele hand still reaching for the jar
"Oh, go on," the ly "Don’t drink so fast Save some for tomorrow"
One of his coot there?"
"I am damned if I know," said the camel man "Come look at it"
Telemakos put down the water jar and slowly raised his head
He was caught
"Thieving young crow, that’s what it is," said one "Look at that gold"
"It’s fixed on him," said his rescuer "He did not steal that I’ll tell you what he is: he’s one of the e like that They always lock away the emperor’s nephews so they can’t try to overthrow hie at Ophar, south of here, where he keeps theht Debra Damo here the princes are sent"
"This boy couldn’t have come all the way from Debra Damo It must have been Ophar"
The men looked Tele, and fingered it "I think you’re right," the ht, white teeth "But he could be a thief, too He had to steal his tackle somewhere, did he not?"
"Go on and search him, then," said the camel man