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"A decent hed

"Save theon belly"

"The dwarves of the Chartered Coht of the Queen’s grasping hand and have sent armorers to aid our cause"

"Then I’m doubly sorry I can’t carry theht and found he could bear the weight creditably If this was anything like flying with a coat of scale, his on he was, to fly so far so fast under such a burden

Without any coroan He didn’t deserve such a dragon-daathered their shields and spears

"I’ "The rest are too heavy to carry"

"Shields and hele from the dead if we must"

"They’ll laugh the with nothing but spears, helms, and shields," one of the warriors joked

"Are you ready for your chance in a thousand?"

Naf laughed "The spirits my men are in, I say it’s a chance in a hundred now But if I’m to die, it’s best for my people if I do it under the walls of Ghioz Better for me, too If I’m to take up residence in the other world, I’d just as soon be near es, taking old s trails between Hypatia and Ghioz AuRon walked alled hi

The borderlands were empty Even the usual watch stations at the main mountain passes had only a handful of soldiers in theroup of youngthe Queen’s service According to the in the southlands or aiding the Ironriders in their invasion of Hypatia

"They’re risking being sold on the auction block by avoiding the Queen’s bondsmen," Naf told AuRon "When I rode with the Red Guard, we rounded up a score or two like those every year They all said the sa--better service in the fields under a taskarrison houses"

They crossed over into Ghioz, and gradually the lands gave onto mountain pastures and terraced fields The rivers and streaan to run off to the southeast--they’d made it across the flow divide and into Ghioz

When they could see the lights of the city--aht frooodbyes

Naf had hisAuRon’s netting in a tree so he could easily slip into it

"We will travel faster if we go by road, as a labor levy"

"Wea meal or two at the Queen’s breadhouses," one of the scouts, now dressed as a taskements to meet in the Queen’s woods outside the citadel, at moonrise three days hence

"I feel naked without soin a bare loincloth, sandals, and a blanket wrapped about his shoulders and closed with a bit of twine

"Let’s hope that the Citadel Guard has been stripped as completely as the border posts," a captain said

"See you at hts hence," AuRon said

"I hope so," Naf replied, his usual smile absent "I don’t care to spend the rest ofroad-gravel"

After they h fields, AuRon stayed under tree-cover and waited, watching the skies and sniffing the wind and hoping for good weather three nights ahead He was teoats that had evidently escaped captivity and learned to live in the mountain forest They were alert, and it was all he could to catch the old and the sick without using fla

Finally, the ti in their endeavor at theon when the rain arrived it ot into his harness of netted weapons and shields, climbed to a steep hill where he’d have a nice drop, and launched into the night air