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She was right, thought Ramil, they couldn't leave the big man behind--he'd be identified by the
guards and punished. That meant they would need at least two horses.
"Come, let's go," whispered Ramil. "Someone may have heard us."
The three fugitives ran down the corridor, through the silent temple and out into the courtyard.
Gordoc held Tashi's hand, helping her up the stairs and then carrying her over the snowy ground
so that her bare feet would not suffer. Ramil led them to the stables by a back way he had
scouted through the servants' quarters, picking up his bundles from their hiding place as he did
so.
"Right," he said in a low voice, pulling them into the
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shadows by the stable doors. "This is where it gets difficult." He peeked out.
Two guards stood on duty. They looked fed up but very sober, having had to miss the feast to do
this task. "We've got to get past them."
"Difficult?" said Gordoc. "I think not."
Before Ramil could stop him, the big man had broken cover, making straight for the guards. They
pointed their spears towards him.
"Midwinter cheer, my braves!" he bellowed, holding out his arms.
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"Midwinter cheer," they replied uncertainly, glancing at each other.
"Bad luck to be on duty tonight," Gordoc called, sweeping them up in a brotherly embrace, an arm slung around each man's shoulders.
"Someone has to do it," said one, lowering his spear.
"Aye, we drew the short straw," added the other.
"That you did."
So swiftly that Ramil missed it, Gordoc clashed the two men's heads together. They ricocheted
to the ground, out cold.
"Where do you want them, Prince?" Gordoc asked.
Ramil ran forward and pushed open the stable door. "In there," he said, pointing to an empty stall.
Gordoc picked up the two men and placed them carefully on the straw. He grinned at Ramil.
"See, not so difficult."
Tashi crept into the stable and took Gordoc's hand again, seeming to find comfort in the giant's
strength. Ramil quickly ran his eye over the horses on offer.
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"Well, I suppose we might as well go for the best." Stepping up to Fergox's blue roan, he held out a hand and caressed the horse's nose. "Will you carry two, my friend?"
The stallion snorted, liking the sound and smell of this human. Ramil quickly opened the loose-
box door and placed Fergox's best saddle on him. It was no time to worry about deepening their
offense by stealing a horse and tack.
"And now for you, big man," Ramil said. "I think there's only one mount here that will carry you."
He saddled the Inkar's grey warhorse, trained to carry a warrior in armor. "I hope you can ride."
Gordoc nodded. "I rode as a lad--until I got too big."
"That will have to do. We'll lead the horses out by the postern gate. It's the least heavily
guarded. Follow me." He beckoned to the other two.
They paused at the corner of the stable block before coming into view of the gate.
"How are we going to get past these guards?" Tashi asked, shivering in the cold. "More
Midwinter cheer?"
Ramil shook his head. "There are always at least six on the gate--two for the portcullis, two
inside, and two outside. I'm afraid that trick won't work again.
We need to get them together so no one has a chance to raise the alarm."
"How are we going to do that, Prince?" Gordoc asked in his not so very quiet whisper.
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"I'm still thinking about it. To be honest, I'm surprised we've got this far."
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Tashi smiled to herself. That was more like the Ramil she knew: slapdash, rushing in unprepared.
The efficiency of his rescue had been impressive, but out of character.
"I think I can flush them out of their hiding places," Tashi said softly, remembering the scared looks she had always attracted as "the Blue Crescent witch."
Ramil chewed his lower lip, calculating how many he and Gordoc could take out between them.
He had a sword borrowed from the practice courts. The giant needed no weapons but his hands.
They had to fight six men while protecting the Princess and two horses-- it was going to be
tough. But he couldn't let her take the risk, even if she could do as she said. "No, it's too
dangerous. Stay here," he ordered.
"Not as dangerous as being caught," she whispered.
Tashi slipped from Gordoc's side and stepped out into the open before Ramil could catch her.
Raising her arms in front, she began running through the ritual of the fingerbowl in her own
language. She kept her eyes fixed on the soldiers as she flicked imaginary water at them.
The men leapt to attention when they saw the black-robed figure drifting towards them.
"The witch!" one gasped. "How did she get out?"
Tashi moved on to the forty strokes of the silver brush, waving her hands from her hair and out
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to the soldiers.
A guard lowered his pike, jerking it in her direction as if she was a wild animal that he was trying
to drive
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off. He was shaking in his boots. "She's spelling us! Get back, witch!" His companion panicked and thumped on the gate, summoning reinforcements.
The two guards from the portcullis rushed through the postern, weapons levelled at the pale girl
who was now twisting and turning in the steps known as the Dance of the Dragonfly, a favorite
game of children in the islands.
"Dragonfly, dragonfly, dance over the pool. Dragonfly, dragonfly, catch me a fool!" she chanted, making the trapping motion that children used to pick the next "dragonfly" in the game. The
men flinched back as if feeling a blow.
Two more guards arrived from outside. One had an arrow already in his bow.
He aimed at her, the point quivering in his terror. They didn't notice the giant creeping in the
shadows behind them.
"Stop her!" the guard squeaked, but no one dared touch her. The archer lost his nerve and
loosed his bowstring, the arrow embedding in her thigh. Tashi sank to the ground, clutching her
leg. Before the soldiers could move to recapture her, there came a grunt of fury from the
gateway and two guards fell to Gordoc's fists. Ramil attacked from the flank, running one man
through and slicing the throat of the archer. Gordoc threw a fifth man against the wall, then
punched the other one in the face before he could mount a defense.
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Ramil felt like vomiting as he saw the blood he had spilt splattered on the snow. He had never
killed a man before, but he knew there was no time for squeamishness. He ran to quiet the
horses as Gordoc picked up the
Princess.
"We must ride quickly and see to her wound once
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we are clear of the castle," Ramil said hoarsely. There was no point trying to hide the bodies:
they would lose too much time and the bloodstained ground told its own story. He swung up
into the saddle and took Tashi from Gordoc, settling her in front of him. Gordoc pushed open the
gates and stood back to allow Ramil to gallop through first. He then mounted the Inkar's grey
warhorse and spurred it on, looking like a grown man on a child's pony.
Together they clattered down the cobbled road to the main gate.
"Make way!" Ramil shouted as guards stepped out into the road.