page153 (1/2)

But if Karigan could play the decoy, Estora resolved to endure her portion of the escape without complaint

Before Fergal motioned it was tiods that the decoy did not beco about his vision of death

BRAVE SOUL

A the confusion of hoofprints that disturbed the pine needles, dead leaves, and mosses of the forest floor They went off in all directions, crisscrossing and turning round on thes revealed all the activity was recent He concluded that a good many riders were in the area, not just Lady Estora and her captors

He paused and scratched his head, wondering which direction he should go He gazed up at the sun, esti it was mid-to late afternoon The sun set quickly this ti to move in

Lowering his gaze, he could see through the trees the rounded ridges of what mar Hills, which were, as he recalled, the most notable prominences in the west of Sacoridia They’d come far, and Amberhill felt every step of the journey in his bones Goss, though a tad thinner in the ribs, appeared to thrive on the extended running It was all for the good, Amberhill supposed, but just went to show his stallion was more muscle than brains He patted Goss’ neck

“Which way?” he wondered

After so ard That was the direction the captors had been heading all along, so perhaps they had not deviated, and the confusion of prints was coincidental Amberhill doubted it, but he hoped

A clearing brightened between the tree trunks ahead, and as he neared it, he realized it was a road He paused on the edge of the woods, squinting in the brightness Just to his right was an intersection with a signpost It indicated Mirwellton to the south, Adolind Province’s border to the north, and the Teligh there was no eastward road, Amar Crossroads

“How am I to find them now?”

If Lady Estora’s captors used one of the roads, it would be next to impossible to knohich way they went A over what he should do, berating hiht up with the away jewels He glanced at the dragon ring on his finger, the blood ruby fiery in the full sun, and he thought to tear it off his finger and throw it ahen Goss jerked his head up and snorted, ears twitching

Shortly Amberhill discerned what Goss already detected—hoofbeats pounding down the road at a great clip Around a curve in the road she ca a plume of dust in her wake

Straight through the intersection she galloped, northward

Lady Estora!