D & D - Red Sands by Paul B. Thompson, Tonya R. Carter Page A

his patience. This was good, as his bride-to-be was equally well known for her fiery temper. The girl Jadira rode like one of the Demon King's own. She talked back to her elders and let her headdress slide down in disarray; her mother despaired of ever marrying her to anyone suitable. But after the steady Ramil dined twice in the tent of Ifrim, Jadira's father, the match was made.
    A1 Mirah. The couple clad in white, their heads uncovered, walked down into the sacred spring of Ishat. They annointed each other's head with cool water, said their vows, and they were married.
    Ramil was a skillful herdsman. His goats waxed fatter than anyone's, and he tended them with devotion and care. Jadira fended less well. She chafed at the chores of domestic life. She wanted the freedom of her youth back. Soon her rides alone across the Red Sands were the scandal of the tribes. Neither Ifrim nor Ramil could convince Jadira she was behaving most immodestly.
    Have babies, old Ifrim urged. They will slow her down. Ramil considered. And considered. And then—
    In a pass through the lower Shammat Mountains, the red-cloaked Invincibles swept down on the Sudiin. The nomad men were slain where they stood. Women were herded into weeping knots, to be picked up by foot soldiers following the cavalry. Sudiin children saw their entire world trampled under the black hooves of the sultan's imperial horsemen.
    Jadira fought. With tent poles and goat-goads, she fended off the laughing Invincibles until she was completely surrounded. The ring of lances closed on her. An officer with a golden lion on his helmet commanded her to cease her resistance.
    "When goats ride horses and men give cheese!" she shouted, and flung the iron-tipped goad at the officer. It pricked his horse, and the beast immediately hurled the officer to the ground.
    The Faziris stopped laughing. One dismounted and rolled his commander over. Dead. His neck was broken.
    It would have been simpler had they slain her on the spot, but that they could not do. Captive women were by Faziri law the property of the sultan. The Faziris tied Jadira to a post. A dozen Sudiin men were dragged before her and, one by one, beheaded. Among them was Ramil, son of Rustaf. He said nothing before the sword blade fell. . . .
    "Jadira? Are you well?" said Marix. She opened her eyes. The horse was plodding on, its hooves sinking in the soft sand.
    "What—what is it?"
    "Forgive me," he said, his face flushing. "You were sobbing. I thought—?" He finished the sentence with a
    shrug.
    Jadira sat up and wiped her cheeks. "It is nothing. Whose turn is it to ride?"
    "Couldn't we rest a while?" said Nabul. "My feet bleed!"
    "Liar. You have better sandals than anyone else," Uramettu said. Nabul glared.
    Tamakh drew himself up and exhaled loudly. "I would like to pause for a time, too. We have walked since sunset, and it is now near midnight. I think we have a sufficient lead over any pursuit."
    Jadira put a leg over and slid off the horse. "One notch for rest. That's all we can spare," she said. Marix agreed and soon was stretched out on the sand, snoring.
    Nabul lay down and turned his keffiya around to cover his face. The hood billowed and puffed like a frog's throat each time he let out a snore. Uramettu dropped on her belly. She scooped warm sand onto her back and legs, wiggling deeper and deeper until only her head showed.
    Jadira unhooked the waterskin from the saddle. It was half-full, all the water they had left. She held the bag under the horse's nose. As a nomad (and a black-band Sudiin at that) she knew the horse was the key to their reaching Julli alive. Men will tolerate a certain lack of water, knowing some awaits them ahead. Horses will not. When thirsty enough, a horse will lie down and not get up. If that happened, they were doomed.
    Tamakh moved away from the others, fluffed out his toga, and sat cross-legged on the sand. He was troubled. Though pleased at their successful escape from Omera-bad, he was