desert's edge.
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Tashi slumped over his neck, letting him take her where he wanted.
The miles passed by but Tashi did not notice. She only woke up when she hit the ground. In her
exhaustion, she had fallen asleep and rolled off Thunder's back. He nuzzled her in puzzlement,
wondering what his rider was doing on the road. Groaning, she stood up, her whole body
shaking.
"I've got to sleep," she explained. "This will do as well as anywhere else."
She led him off the side of the track, down a dry ditch and behind a tumbled wall. It was shelter
of a sort, and she could go no further. Thunder stood guard while the pale human slept, her
sleep broken with bad dreams. He heard his master's name on her lips and knew she was
missing him too. He scared off the wild dog that came sniffing around and stamped on a snake
that slithered out of the wall when the sun hit the stones. Still the human foal slept.
The sun was high in the sky when Tashi opened her eyes, though it had turned into a cloudy day
and a damp warm rain was falling. If anything she felt worse now that the numbness had worn
off. Her body was battered and bruised, her spirit too. Only determination kept her moving.
Swathing herself in Ramil's spare cloak, she returned to the road and doggedly set off once
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more.
Over the next couple of days she saw few people, and those she did see galloped past. Tashi did
not want to risk speaking to anyone. The landscape was
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changing. The meadows and fields were giving way to treeless plains. The only things that
flourished here were tough grasses and low scrubby bushes spiked with thorns. Even the road
seemed to peter out, becoming little more than a hint of a track through the waving grass.
Thunder raised his head and let out a whinny of joy: this was his land, the home of the horse. He
darted forward, lengthening his stride, feeling the little human tighten her grip with her knees.
His dark mane rippled behind him, as did hers, streaming gold.
They abandoned themselves to the pleasure of the race, with no idea but to run until their
breath failed them. Tashi had tears on her cheeks as she remembered Ramil shouting to her on
the first ride "Don't you love the speed!" Now she knew what he meant.
This was how the Horse Followers first saw Princess Taoshira racing across their pastures. The
leader of the scouting party called a halt on the ridge and watched silently as the girl and the
blue roan streaked across the grass.
Finally, the horse slowed, tiring after its long canter. The leader signalled his men to move out
and they galloped down the hill to meet the strangers.
Tashi heard the thunder of their hooves before she saw them. She sat up straight in the saddle,
too weary to be afraid. The horsemen made a fearsome spectacle: their dark purple robes
flowing, their swords out.
Well, if they cut me down, at least it will be a swift end, she thought with resignation.
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The leader, a wiry black-skinned man with a gold ring in his earlobe, galloped his men around
her, then drew to a halt, a line of fighters barring her way forward. He pointed his sword at her
throat.
"What does a pale girl do riding on a horse fit for a prince?" he asked in Common.
He had not been fooled by her lack of skill, Tashi thought sadly.
"The horse does belong to a prince, but we have lost him," she replied, trying to hide her
trembling hands under the long cuffs of Ramil's shirt.
"Thunder lets me travel with him for a while."
The man examined the girl closely: she was injured and weak. It would be the work of a moment
to take the mount from her. The horse, as if sensing his thoughts, reared up, almost unseating
Tashi, flailing his hooves in the direction of the leader. It appeared the horse would not be so
easily parted from its rider; this called for a change of tactic.
"Who are you and where are you going?" the man asked imperiously.
"I'm Taoshira, the Fourth Crown Princess, also known as the Blue Crescent Witch, and I'm going
home," she said, beyond caring what they thought of that.
What they thought was that she was joking. Laughter rippled through the line of riders.
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"I like your imagination, girl," the leader said. "Come, you ride with us while I decide what to do with you."
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"That is not your decision, sir. My fate lies in the hands of the Goddess."
He gave her a crooked smile. "Then maybe I'm her instrument." He reached down and took the
picket rope still tied to the bridle. "Follow me."
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Chapter 16
As they rode, Tashi tried to stay awake this time. Falling from the saddle in front of these men
did not seem a good idea: they'd probably just leave her on the ground, taking Thunder with
them.
"What is your name, sir?" she asked the leader.
"Zeliph of the Horse Followers."
"And am I your captive, Zeliph of the Horse Followers?"
"I have not decided. We return to my tent. There you will tell me your true name and your story.
Then I will decide."
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Tashi accepted that there was nothing more she could do. The scouting party travelled over the
featureless steppe with an unerring sense of direction. Once they gave a shout in unison,
greeting a herd of horses galloping free the other way, but they did not stop. By late afternoon,
they approached a collection of white tents pitched by a pool. Beyond lay the first dunes of the
true desert, golden in the setting sun. As Tashi watched, the light changed and they flushed
blood red.
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Zeliph reined in the horses outside the largest tent. Tashi slid stiffly from the saddle and almost
continued going to the ground but caught herself on the stirrup. Zeliph whistled and a young boy
bobbed out of the tent and took the horses.
"He'll be well looked after," Zeliph assured her, seeing Tashi's worried frown.
Tashi hadn't doubted that, but she was thinking if she would ever see Thunder again.
Not bothering to welcome her to his tent, Zeliph took the saddle bags inside and upended them
on the rug. He picked through the shirts as if looking for some clue to his guest's identity.
"Men's clothes, not yours," he said, stating the obvious.
Tashi nodded.
"Did you steal the horse?" he asked bluntly.
"No."
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"But he doesn't belong to you?"
"No." It was clear Thunder was the only thing this man was interested in.
"Then who does he belong to?"
"That's a difficult question." Tashi was feeling lightheaded and very tired.
"May I sit?"
He gave a curt nod.
"I suppose he belongs to Fergox Spearthrower, but Ramil liberated him when we escaped from
Felixholt."
She wondered faintly when was the last time she'd eaten properly. She'd survived on a canteen
of water and scanty rations since her plunge in the river.
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The man was oblivious to his guest's distress.
"Ramil? Ramil ac Burinholt? Zarai's son?"
Tashi nodded. "I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to ... " She didn't complete her sentence, as the 290