Warlord (13 page)

I nodded, and tried to mount with some grace. Iften frowned at me from the ground, took my satchel, and secured it to my saddlebags. He walked around Greatheart, checking the various straps that made up the tack. When he was satisfied, he mounted as well.

The camp was abuzz around us, as the last tents were taken down and packed. I looked around to find Keekai not far, mounting her own horse.

"Xyian."

I turned, and lifted an eyebrow at Iften in surprise.

"If we are attacked by archers, do this." He lay down the length of his horse, his body pressed tight along the horse's spine, his face almost buried in the horse's mane.

I tried it, laying down on Greatheart's back, trying to mimic his actions. Greatheart stirred beneath me, turning his head to look at what I was doing.

Iften rose in his saddle and reached over to press at the base of my spine. "Lower still."

I grunted, trying to press myself further down.

"You must be low, less of a target." Iften removed his hand. "The horse is trained to run, if we are attacked and you lay flat like this. Do not try to guide the horse. He is smarter than you are. Your job is to stay on." He sniffed. "If you can."

I sat back up, adjusting my armor, and gave him a withering look. He ignored me.

"Your Guardian is right." Keekai moved her horse close on my other side. "It is a good move for you."

"One thing more." Iften dismounted, and called out to one of the younger warrior-priests. "Dark Clouds, do you still have that spare shield?" Iften turned back to me. "Off."

I got off my horse, but I was in no mood to deal with his rudeness. "The shield is too heavy for me. I just end up dropping it."

The warrior-priest approached, as Iften dug in his saddlebags, and waited to hand the shield to Iften. The tattooed man waited patiently until Iften was ready for the item.

"My thanks," Iften said. "Do you require—"

"No. As I said last night, it is an extra. You are welcome to it, warrior."

Iften gave him a nod, and turned to me. "Turn around."

"Why?"

He gave me an impatient look. "I will strap this to your back. The weight will not be a problem, and it will provide more protection."

"Oh." I turned and stood as Iften arranged the straps. I stood in silence as he worked, tugging at my armor. If he was going to act decently, so could I. "You get along well with the warrior-priests, better than anyone else."

"Why not, since I was almost one of them." Iften spoke absently as he tightened the strap.

"You were?" I turned, surprised at that bit of information.

Iften frowned at me, not pleased at his little disclosure. "Does it fit? Can you move?" I rolled my shoulders and moved my arms in a circle. "Fine," he said. "Mount."

Apparently Iften the Boar had a limit of polite conversation, and it had been reached. I turned and got back on my horse without saying another word.

We rode hard, Keekai setting a swift pace. She was no longer dawdling on an ordinary trip, now she was in deadly earnest. Everyone was on alert. The tension was enough to make my heart race and my stomach knot. I scanned the horizon like everyone else, looking for any sign of a threat.

Nevertheless, the horses still took priority. We stopped to water them, posting guards all around us. Each horse was quickly checked for problems as it drank. Everyone switched mounts at that point, quickly changing saddle and tack. I didn't want to leave Greatheart, but I knew he needed a rest from bearing my weight. Still, I was afraid that I would lose him, since they didn't string the horses together.

I need not have worried. Whether it was training or herd instincts, the riderless horses stayed with us. Keekai pressed us on, unwilling to stop even for a nooning. Everyone dug into saddlebags and pulled out food that was shared. Cold kavage, gurt, and some type of dried meat. It was very tough and hard to chew, but it took the edge off my hunger.

The warriors remained on alert, but after a while, when nothing happened, I fell into a kind of numbness, watching the never-ending grasslands pass with nothing to mark the land. Other than the streams and ponds that came out of nowhere, it was unending rolling red and yellow grasses.

Finally, as the sun neared the horizon, we stopped at a small pond, watering the horses yet again. Greatheart trotted up to me, snuffling my hair, and butting my chest. Keekai walked over and smiled at his actions. "I'll have him saddled for you."

I puffed out a breath. "We're not stopping?"

"Another hour or two, and we will stop for the night." She looked me over carefully. "Can you do that?"

I was tired, but I wasn't going to admit to it, especially surrounded by warrior-priests and Iften. "I'm good for a few more hours. But don't expect much from me in the way of talk tonight."

"Aye to that," she agreed wryly.

Our attackers rose out of the grass like specters and swooped around us, screaming and yelling. Startled out of a daze, I twisted in the saddle, confused and uncertain.

But not Iften. He was beside me, glaring. "Ride! Ride!"

Greatheart needed no further urging. He leapt forward at a gallop, hooves tearing at the sod. The warrior-priests surged around me, drawing in close to protect us. Keekai appeared next to me, her horse easily keeping pace with us.

I caught a glimpse of the enemy as one galloped past, aiming a bow in our direction. It was a warrior of the Plains, and I had a moment to wonder that it wasn't a warrior-priest when Iften hissed, "Down."

I almost fell forward, crushing my breasts down under the armor. My hands tangled with the reins and the coarse hair of Greatheart's mane. His muscles bunched and moved beneath me. The thud of his hooves vibrated the length of my body. Gasping, I took deep breaths, trying to pull air into my body and quell my terror.

I was grateful for Greatheart's long legs and strength that pushed us forward at such speed. But I knew my poor horse was tired after a day's travel, as were the others.

We plunged on, surrounded on all sides. Greatheart's hooves beat out a rhythm as fast as the beating of my heart. I pressed myself low to his back, my face pressed into his mane. Iften's voice rang in my ears. '...
if we are attacked, you lay flat. Do not try to guide the horse. Your job is to stay on.'

I was trying desperately to do just that. I wanted to look, but fear clawed at my throat and kept my eyes jammed shut. I could hear the sounds of horses, arrows, and war cries all around me.

Greatheart ran on.

I darted a look to the side, to see Keekai next to me. She appeared almost serene as she rode, as if she was a gentle lady out for a ride on a pleasant day. That image shattered when she nocked an arrow and drew, aiming at the enemy. Controlling her horse with her knees, concentrating on her target, she was a perfect portrait of a warrior.

She calmly released her arrow, only to draw another one. I couldn't see if she'd hit, but she'd a slight satisfied look on her face as she aimed at another.

Could Iften use a bow?

I tightened my grip as Greatheart ran, and lifted my head just enough so that I could look at him.

Iften was there, riding hard beside me, his attention on the foe around us. He didn't have a bow, but I could see a lance in his good hand.

His gaze flicked over me, and he frowned before he looked away. I got the message and focused on staying on Greatheart.

And still we ran.

Movement caught my eye and I saw Iften throw his lance and strike a warrior in the side. The warrior fell, and Iften pulled another lance. So sharp, so deadly. I remembered the damage they did when Keir was attacking Water's Fall and shuddered at the memory of sharp stone shards in deep wounds.

A cry, then a clash of steel. But we never stopped, even as the swords clashed. Our attackers' horses were fresher. I could feel a difference in Greatheart. His breathing was labored, and there was a tremble in his muscles that hadn't been there before. He was tiring. So were the others.

But something changed. Iften moved up and turned Greatheart, forcing him to change direction. Keekai wasn't alongside anymore, and I realized that the others in our party had somehow managed to drive the attackers away from me.

Greatheart slowed, and I looked back to see that the attackers were now only four, and surrounded. Even as I looked, two dropped from their saddles. Still Waters took another, and the last, realizing his plight, charged and broke through, intent on escaping.

With a cry, Iften launched his horse forward, chasing the lone warrior. I thought he'd try to capture him, but at the last minute, Iften rose in the saddle, and with his good arm, his off-arm, he threw his lance.

It took the warrior full in the back, and with a cry, the man tumbled out of the saddle, pierced through the chest, dead.

"Why did you do that?" Keekai was furious. We were all walking our horses, cooling them before bedding them for the night, watching as the warrior-priests saw to the dead. There were guards all around us, but the grasslands appeared to be empty of any threat.

"We could have learned his truths and discovered who was behind this attack!" Keekai snapped. "Dead, he is only silent."

Iften smiled, a sickly false smile. "The heat of my fury was so great, that any would dare to attack the Warprize."

"Don't mock me, warrior," Keekai spat, her face contorted in anger. She took a step toward Iften. For a moment, I thought he would offer a challenge, but he stepped back, and inclined his head in submission.

Keekai huffed, apparently satisfied.

Still Waters came up to us. "The dead are gathered, and stripped. We have their gear and horses. None recognize their faces or the fletchings on the lances."

"They wanted her alive," Iften stated flatly.

Keekai nodded in agreement.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"The way they attacked," Keekai answered. "We will camp, and rest the horses. But before first light we will be up and on our way."

Still Waters and Iften nodded their consent, and moved off to give the orders.

My body felt like my soul had been sucked out, I was so tired. I leaned against Greatheart's shoulder and looked at Keekai.

She shook her head. "There is no help for it, Lara. I will send a message back for Keir, but we must ride hard and fast to the Heart of the Plains. Your safe arrival in the Heart is all that matters now."

We rode then, from daybreak to sunset. I lost track of the days in the endless land. All I knew was the unending hours in the saddle, or asleep, with barely time to eat between.

So it took me a long moment when we topped yet another gentle rise, to understand what was spread out before me. It was sunset, and I'd thought we'd be making yet another short camp, until Keekai turned to me and pointed. "Behold, the Heart of the Plains."

The sun was fiery red in the distance, starting to slip from the sky. There was just enough daylight to see the Heart, and I had to smile at myself. I'd expected a city, with some sort of structures.

But the Heart of the Plains was a city of tents.

It was huge, to rival Water's Fall. But instead of marble or stone, there were tents of all shapes and sizes and colors. As the dusk rushed over us, lights began to appear, both inside and outside the tents, making everything glow.

Beyond the tents, I could see an enormous tent, far larger than any that I'd seen before. And beyond that, there was a shimmer, and I realized that it was water, a lake bigger than I'd ever seen.

I stared in amazement. Was there anything small on the Plains?

Before I could take it all in, Keekai was leading the way down off the ridge, and within moments we were within the city. The horses were exhausted, but they trotted with a lighter step, probably aware that their journey was over. We stayed together, and from all over, people turned to look and point at us. It was dizzying, the sights, the smells of cooking, the endless colors and noise. It was so very strange, and yet not that different from the sounds of the market back in Water's Fall.

Exhausted, I clung to Greatheart, and tried to absorb it all. It seemed to take forever to pass through it all, but we finally came to a stop before the enormous tent that I'd seen in the distance. It was really more like a huge covered pavilion.