agony for awhile.
When we stopped at midday, I was too miserable to eat the bit of dried meat Anazian threw at me. I stayed curled up and pretended to be asleep, though I was sure he knew I was shamming. While he was off meditating, I really did fall asleep, where I dreamed of wild thunder and shouting voices.
I was jerked to wakefulness when the wagon began to move, to find that the thunder, at least, was real. Except that it wasn’t thunder; it was horses’ hooves. All around me. Many horses, not just Anazian’s two.
I opened an eye and saw the reddish-brown flank of a large bay. Confused, I lifted my head and looked all around. I was surrounded by men on horseback, ten at least.
Their clothes were stained and patched, their boots scuffed and old. Each of them wore several weapons, while their heads were covered with masks and hoods. Perhaps a few were even women.
The nearest one noticed that I’d stirred. He reined his horse closer and said in a hiss, “One sound of warning, little girl, and you’ll be dead before your next breath.”
This is war. And I’m glad. Whoever has taken my parents and my sister will pay dearly, if I have anything to say and do about it.
I’m getting tired of waiting, though. Yallick counsels patience, but it’s not his parents and sister who’ve been kidnapped. Doing nothing is driving me out of my head. I want to send the dragons into the sky and mount an assault—but on whom? The mage is right, that we must not be hasty, but I’m not made like that. I want action, and I want it now.
But look what happened to Grey. Whoever we’re up against is vicious, and I suppose Yallick is right to be cautious. So we must plot and plan and keep watch so as not to miss the opportunity when it comes. But I hope it comes soon ... the sooner, the better.
Before long, we turned from the main road onto a much smaller path, rougher than any we’d yet traversed. I rattled in my cage.
After about an hour, quiet conversations began to spring up between the men. They must feel there was little danger that they’d be caught now, and I had to agree with that sentiment. What I didn’t want to speculate about was whether I was worse off or not. No matter what, if I could get these people to take the collar off, I could find a bird to get a message to Xyla, Yallick, and the others.
It was full dark before we pulled into a settlement and finally stopped. By then, my very thoughts seemed to have been jarred out of me, along with my teeth and bones.
People of all ages gathered around the wagon. Children began to climb on it while two men loosened the ropes. When the children saw me, they squawked excitedly, taunting and laughing at me.
Wearing a dress that had once been fine but now was tattered and faded, a buxom woman looked on with a shrewd expression on her face before chasing the children away. “And what exactly are you intending to do with the girl, Gradden?” she asked.
The man who’d spoken to me put a hand on the cage. “I suspect it’s poor takings today, Kayva,” he said, “but it’s better than nothing. We’ve had plenty of that lately, if you hadn’t noticed. Besides, we can sell the girl for a slave, and that’ll be good for some gold.”
“You best be right,” Kayva said, though her voice sounded doubtful. “But good seldom comes of trafficking humans.”
“What are you talking about, woman? Can’t you see that someone is already trafficking her? Better we get the gold than him. Hey! You there! Be careful with that. We don’t know what this take is. Let’s not be breaking things that might be fragile.”
Kayva shook her head. “At least get the girl out of there and let’s get her tied up and gagged proper.”
Even these words didn’t stir in me the reaction they should have. My entire body and mind were numb. They could kill me, for all I cared, and that would even bring a certain satisfaction that Anazian’s plan would be thwarted.
But getting me out of
When we stopped at midday, I was too miserable to eat the bit of dried meat Anazian threw at me. I stayed curled up and pretended to be asleep, though I was sure he knew I was shamming. While he was off meditating, I really did fall asleep, where I dreamed of wild thunder and shouting voices.
I was jerked to wakefulness when the wagon began to move, to find that the thunder, at least, was real. Except that it wasn’t thunder; it was horses’ hooves. All around me. Many horses, not just Anazian’s two.
I opened an eye and saw the reddish-brown flank of a large bay. Confused, I lifted my head and looked all around. I was surrounded by men on horseback, ten at least.
Their clothes were stained and patched, their boots scuffed and old. Each of them wore several weapons, while their heads were covered with masks and hoods. Perhaps a few were even women.
The nearest one noticed that I’d stirred. He reined his horse closer and said in a hiss, “One sound of warning, little girl, and you’ll be dead before your next breath.”
This is war. And I’m glad. Whoever has taken my parents and my sister will pay dearly, if I have anything to say and do about it.
I’m getting tired of waiting, though. Yallick counsels patience, but it’s not his parents and sister who’ve been kidnapped. Doing nothing is driving me out of my head. I want to send the dragons into the sky and mount an assault—but on whom? The mage is right, that we must not be hasty, but I’m not made like that. I want action, and I want it now.
But look what happened to Grey. Whoever we’re up against is vicious, and I suppose Yallick is right to be cautious. So we must plot and plan and keep watch so as not to miss the opportunity when it comes. But I hope it comes soon ... the sooner, the better.
Before long, we turned from the main road onto a much smaller path, rougher than any we’d yet traversed. I rattled in my cage.
After about an hour, quiet conversations began to spring up between the men. They must feel there was little danger that they’d be caught now, and I had to agree with that sentiment. What I didn’t want to speculate about was whether I was worse off or not. No matter what, if I could get these people to take the collar off, I could find a bird to get a message to Xyla, Yallick, and the others.
It was full dark before we pulled into a settlement and finally stopped. By then, my very thoughts seemed to have been jarred out of me, along with my teeth and bones.
People of all ages gathered around the wagon. Children began to climb on it while two men loosened the ropes. When the children saw me, they squawked excitedly, taunting and laughing at me.
Wearing a dress that had once been fine but now was tattered and faded, a buxom woman looked on with a shrewd expression on her face before chasing the children away. “And what exactly are you intending to do with the girl, Gradden?” she asked.
The man who’d spoken to me put a hand on the cage. “I suspect it’s poor takings today, Kayva,” he said, “but it’s better than nothing. We’ve had plenty of that lately, if you hadn’t noticed. Besides, we can sell the girl for a slave, and that’ll be good for some gold.”
“You best be right,” Kayva said, though her voice sounded doubtful. “But good seldom comes of trafficking humans.”
“What are you talking about, woman? Can’t you see that someone is already trafficking her? Better we get the gold than him. Hey! You there! Be careful with that. We don’t know what this take is. Let’s not be breaking things that might be fragile.”
Kayva shook her head. “At least get the girl out of there and let’s get her tied up and gagged proper.”
Even these words didn’t stir in me the reaction they should have. My entire body and mind were numb. They could kill me, for all I cared, and that would even bring a certain satisfaction that Anazian’s plan would be thwarted.
But getting me out of
Similar Books
