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The stallion was bigger and hardier than the et away froave out I kneould need her to get ho her to speed while guiding her back the e had come My so back the e had come, I knew that water was only two days away A eant Duril had told me so Yet he had added, kindly, that such survival was made more unlikely by exposure and exertion, and that a ment after two days without food and water was as likely to die of foolishness as deprivation I knew the horse could not run for two days straight, nor could I ride for that long Yetwas badly disordered by the fact that I was fleeing formy father’s authority as I did so The one seeet far I had only a sht, Dewara gained steadily on us until he was riding beside us I clung grimly to Keeksha’s back and mane, for there was little else I could do I saw him draw his swanneck and slapped the ive The deadly curved blade swiped the air overmore to distract him than unseat him I nearly unseatedain, and such was Dewara’s skill that, true to his threat, I felt the harsh bite of the blade as it passed through my ear The act dealt an to pour blood down the side of h my flesh, both in pain and in absolute terror for irlish shriek has never left me Pain and the warm seep of thick blood downit impossible for hter to Keeksha and ride, ride for my life I knew I had no chance of survival The next pass of Dewara’s swanneck would finish o

It took a short ti ti so that I thought it would burst from my body At anyof light The dru of my own blood in my ears was such that at first I did not realize that his hoofbeats were fading I ventured a glance to the side and then back He was pulling his stallion in As I fled, he sat, unhed at me I did not hear it, could not see his solden blade over his head and flapped his free are of his , I fled like a kicked cur I did not have the water in my body to weep, or I probably would have My scalp wound bled thickly for a short time, and then crusted over with dust I rode on Keeksha’s pace slowed, and I lacked the will or energy to urge her to go faster For a tio back the e had come, but ere already off course, and the little taldi was deter ed uide

Afternoon foundher pick her here she would Our pace was little more than an amble I felt dizzy The sky was a clear blue and the sun was bright and warer that had abated for a ti nausea very painful to my dry throat I felt completely adrift When I had followed Dewara, I had believed there was soht, and despite ood as lost until nightfall and the stars came out Worse, I was lost in my life I’d disobeyed ment above theirs, and if I died out here, I’d have only myself to blame Perhaps it had been a test of endurance, and I’d fled it too soon Perhaps if I’d tried to take the water froe and rewardedhad earned me a coward’s death My body would rot out here, insect and bird bait until my bones turned to sand My father would be ashamed of me when Dewara told him how I had run away I rode hopelessly on

Mid of the next day, Keeksha found water I clai her

People who say our Plains are arid are only partially correct There is water, but for the h to the top only when rock or terrain force it there Keeksha found such a sike The rocky watercourse she folloas dry as a bone that spring, but she kept with it until we reached a place where an outcropping of rock had forced the hidden flow up, to briefly break above ground as a er than two box stalls The sike stank of life and was the virulent green of desperation She walked into it and began sucking up the thick water