she said. “We’ll think about that for a while. Right now that protection isn’t critical. We’re safe enough here. Nobody’s going to go searching through a wagonload of cases of candles unless we give them a reason to. So for now we keep still, keep quiet, and we’re all right unless the situation changes.”
“Yes,” Atheris whispered after a moment’s thought.
“This caravan’s big and illegal,” Peri said, thinking out loud. “That means it’s also expensive. Merchants minimize expenses. They’ll operate out of the closest good-sized city to their trade point. That means that’s the city we’re headed for.” She turned back to Atheris. “What city and how far?”
“I believe the closest city on this road is Darnalek,” Atheris said hesitantly. “But as to distance, I cannot say. Unfortunately I am unfamiliar with this area.”
Peri stifled an impatient sigh, trying to remember the quantities of food she’d seen in the supply wagon. It had seemed like a lot. No. Wait a minute. There’s no grazing or clean water out here. A lot of that had to be water and feed for the horses. They can’t have planned for a very long trip, then. Not with only the one supply wagon. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, a city’s a whole new set of problems. As far as I know, we don’t have any money at all, but that doesn’t matter, because one look at my skin and features, not to mention my clothes, would mark me as a Bregond, and I’m sure my Sarkondish is as accented as Atheris’s Bregondish. Well, if I get killed in the first Sarkondish city we come to, at least I won’t have to worry about those Bone Hunters.
She closed her eyes, clenching her teeth.
I’ve been away one whole night now. Uncle Terralt will have all the guards searching for me—the guards at the garrison, too. And most of those guards are Bregondish, they’ll be starting to wonder... Grimly Peri forced that thought away.
Right now her most pressing problem was Atheris’s wounds, but there was nothing she could do about them with the wagon jolting so. Fortunately Sarkondish merchants liked their comfort as much as did their Bregondish and Agrondish counterparts, and the caravan stopped at noon for a hot dinner, and Peri took advantage of the daylight and stationary surface. By the time she’d picked splinters and fibers out of the wound in Atheris’s side, cleaned it thoroughly with the brandy, and made a dressing with the herbs and bandages she’d stolen, she had gained a growing, if grudging, respect for the Sarkond. Although Peri knew she had to have caused him severe pain, he had held quite still and remained absolutely silent throughout her treatment, although he’d gone almost white and he’d clenched his hands so hard that he’d set the cut on his hand bleeding again. Peri cleaned the cut, decided it did not require stitching, and applied a clean dressing, then tended the cut on her own arm; then there was nothing to do but rest, eat and drink their stolen supplies, and wait.
They waited. Dinner ended and the jolting journey began again. Atheris drowsed, tired by sustaining his spell and by the pain he’d endured, but Peri fidgeted restlessly in her cramped position and thought thoughts that darkened her mood more than the hard floorboards of the wagon, the splintery sides of the box against which she leaned, the lingering ache of her bruised ribs, or the uncomfortable fullness of her bladder.
Mahdha grant that Tajin got past the Bone Hunters and that someone finds him quickly. Oh, Bright Ones, very, very quickly...
Uncle Terralt would have had guards out searching for Peri since soon after sunset the night before. They’d have ridden on to the garrison. Not all the guards were Bregonds, so perhaps the search would have been called off until morning; it was hard enough to locate someone on Bregond’s plains, nearly impossible at night, and an unskilled searcher, or one who just didn’t know the land, could
“Yes,” Atheris whispered after a moment’s thought.
“This caravan’s big and illegal,” Peri said, thinking out loud. “That means it’s also expensive. Merchants minimize expenses. They’ll operate out of the closest good-sized city to their trade point. That means that’s the city we’re headed for.” She turned back to Atheris. “What city and how far?”
“I believe the closest city on this road is Darnalek,” Atheris said hesitantly. “But as to distance, I cannot say. Unfortunately I am unfamiliar with this area.”
Peri stifled an impatient sigh, trying to remember the quantities of food she’d seen in the supply wagon. It had seemed like a lot. No. Wait a minute. There’s no grazing or clean water out here. A lot of that had to be water and feed for the horses. They can’t have planned for a very long trip, then. Not with only the one supply wagon. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, a city’s a whole new set of problems. As far as I know, we don’t have any money at all, but that doesn’t matter, because one look at my skin and features, not to mention my clothes, would mark me as a Bregond, and I’m sure my Sarkondish is as accented as Atheris’s Bregondish. Well, if I get killed in the first Sarkondish city we come to, at least I won’t have to worry about those Bone Hunters.
She closed her eyes, clenching her teeth.
I’ve been away one whole night now. Uncle Terralt will have all the guards searching for me—the guards at the garrison, too. And most of those guards are Bregondish, they’ll be starting to wonder... Grimly Peri forced that thought away.
Right now her most pressing problem was Atheris’s wounds, but there was nothing she could do about them with the wagon jolting so. Fortunately Sarkondish merchants liked their comfort as much as did their Bregondish and Agrondish counterparts, and the caravan stopped at noon for a hot dinner, and Peri took advantage of the daylight and stationary surface. By the time she’d picked splinters and fibers out of the wound in Atheris’s side, cleaned it thoroughly with the brandy, and made a dressing with the herbs and bandages she’d stolen, she had gained a growing, if grudging, respect for the Sarkond. Although Peri knew she had to have caused him severe pain, he had held quite still and remained absolutely silent throughout her treatment, although he’d gone almost white and he’d clenched his hands so hard that he’d set the cut on his hand bleeding again. Peri cleaned the cut, decided it did not require stitching, and applied a clean dressing, then tended the cut on her own arm; then there was nothing to do but rest, eat and drink their stolen supplies, and wait.
They waited. Dinner ended and the jolting journey began again. Atheris drowsed, tired by sustaining his spell and by the pain he’d endured, but Peri fidgeted restlessly in her cramped position and thought thoughts that darkened her mood more than the hard floorboards of the wagon, the splintery sides of the box against which she leaned, the lingering ache of her bruised ribs, or the uncomfortable fullness of her bladder.
Mahdha grant that Tajin got past the Bone Hunters and that someone finds him quickly. Oh, Bright Ones, very, very quickly...
Uncle Terralt would have had guards out searching for Peri since soon after sunset the night before. They’d have ridden on to the garrison. Not all the guards were Bregonds, so perhaps the search would have been called off until morning; it was hard enough to locate someone on Bregond’s plains, nearly impossible at night, and an unskilled searcher, or one who just didn’t know the land, could
Similar Books
