"Ha!" snorted the sentry. "Up to your Terran tricks, eh?" Reaching down, he hauled out a naked woman, clutching a bundle of clothing—a Terran woman whose blond hair shone even in that crepuscular light.
The woman fought gamely, but the sentry had a firm grip on her arms. Coming up behind the Krishnan on the run, Reith raised the crossbow-pistol within centimeters of the sentry's neck.
The bolt delivered its kiss with a smacking sound as it bored into the base of the soldier's skull. The sentry collapsed silently save for the muffled thud of his fall.
"Alicia?" whispered Reith.
"Who is it?" came the reply.
"It's Fergus."
"Sorry; seeing you all black ..."
"Pick up your clothes and come."
Reith pulled Alicia across the open space into the sheltering circle of smaller tents. Here he stopped, whispering: "Better put some clothes on."
On hands and knees they crept towards the edge of the campsite and lay still, scarcely breathing, until both sentries were headed away from them. Then they rose and fled into the woods.
"Ye fetched her!" cried Timásh. "I knew ye—"
"Hush up, idiot, and hurry!" snapped Reith. "Well each lead one aya to the border."
They set out afoot, feeling their way among the indiscernible trees. They were nearing the gap in the fence across their path to safety when, muffled by distance and foliage, a rising clamor wafted from Vizman's camp. Reith halted to listen. "What's going on, Lish? Have they just found the dead sentry?"
"It's more than that." Leaning closer, she whispered. "I killed Vizman."
"Oh-oh! We'd better mount. Hand up!"
She put her foot into Reith's clasped hands and mounted. They went at a fast walk, with their heads bowed against their ayas' necks. Branches still savagely scraped their feces, and thorns impeded their progress. At last they were through the fence and into Mikardando territory.
A half hour later, they pulled into the inn yard at Qantesr. Muffled in Reith's black cloak over her hiked-up dress, Alicia asked: "Are we stopping here, Fergus?"
"No; too close to the border. The Qiribuma will probably be running in circles; but it's barely possible they might try a quick raid to recapture you. Are you sure Vizman s dead?"
"I'm sure." She cast a glance at Timásh. "I'll tell you about it later. Ton employé comprend l'anglais."
"I get it. We'll go on to Ghushang, as soon as I pay up and get our stuff."
Soon Reith emerged with the taverner's pot boy, each carrying a small duffel bag. When Reith and Timásh had strapped their bags behind their saddles, they remounted and jogged off into the night.
A Krishnan hour later, they reached Ghushang. Reith stopped at the first house identified as an inn by the conventional animal's cranium mounted above the entrance. The door was locked. Reith knocked until at last a spy hole opened and a pair of Krishnan eyes, obliquely illuminated by a candle or lamp, looked out. Reith began: "We are travelers—"
The Krishnan shrieked: "Aroint ye, fiends from Hishkak! Begone! In the name of Bákh and Varzai and Qondyor and Hoi and all the good gods and goddesses, get ye hence! We are folk of unsullied virtue—"
"I'm sure you are," interrupted Reith, "but we are not demons; merely two Terrans and a human being benighted on the road—"
"Sneck up, ye black devils! Vanish! If ye be mortal, we'll soon see if your sooty hides can stop a crossbow bolt! Kavir, fetch my arbalest, byant-hao!"
Reith hastily turned away, grumbling: "I'd forgotten we still have our war paint on. There's a public aya trough in the main square, where we can wash. Come on!"
They found the square dark and silent save for a pair of fading crimson fires in cressets affixed to walls. As they wearily dismounted, the exhausted Reith almost fell from his mount. He fumbled in his bag until he brought out his one clean undershirt. Dipping it into the watering trough, he and Timásh scrubbed from their hands and faces most of the deceiving soot.
Two patrolmen of the night watch appeared in a side street, tramping along with halberds over their shoulders. With arms at port, they hurried across the square as Reith and Timásh were finishing their cleanup.
"Who be ye?" demanded the taller of the two. "What business have ye abroad at this hour?"
"Belated travelers," said Reith, "and lost upon the road. I am Fergus Reith, the Terran tour guide."
"Foor-giss Reet," said the shorter watchman. "That sounds like unto the Ertsu who made a stir, years agone, by escaping the clutch of the late High Priestess in Jeshang. Be ye that yare alien runagate?"
"I am he," said Reith, smiling, "with a visitor from my native world. My people and I need shelter before we fall asleep upon your cobblestones. We should be most grateful if you found us clean quarters and assured the taverner that we are harmless folk."
"An honor to serve you, Sir Foorgiss! Follow me!"
When at last they found an inn with a wiling innkeeper and two vacant bedrooms, Reith said to Alicia, "There's one single and one double. What's your preference?"
"I'll take the single. And oh, how I'd love some clean clothes! This dress is ruined."
"I can spare you my undershorts. Tomorrow we'll hunt up a proper riding outfit for you."
Reith followed Alicia into the smaller room and slumped on the edge of the bed. When she saw his haggard face in the lamplight, she exclaimed: "Fergus! I've never seen you look so exhausted!"
"Well, I haven't had much time for sleep lately. I've been on the go almost round the clock. But I'll sleep better if you tell me what happened."
"We don't want to start that now! Go to bed, for heaven's sake!"
"No, Lish. A little while ago I was so done in I almost fell asleep in the saddle. Now I'm so tired I'm wide awake."
"But you ought to—"
"Lish, if you won't tell me what happened, I'll lie awake all night imagining things. So you'd better talk."
"Are you sure you want to hear it? It's not a pretty story."
"I'm not looking for entertainment; but I want to know."
"Very well." She sat down beside him but remained silent until Reith pulled out the letter signed with her name, saying:
"By the way, did you write this?"
Alicia scanned it. "No! I never wrote anything remotely like—I hope you don't think I'd ever—ever—"
"It had a fishy smell, but I couldn't be absolutely sure. I think it's a forgery by Minyev." After another silence, he asked: "How did they get you away from Baghál's night club?"
"One of the Krishnans told me there had been an attempted murder; and the victim, a Terran, might die. But nobody could understand his speech, so they couldn't even find out who he was. They begged me to come along and interpret, assuring me they'd bring me back to Baghál's in a few minutes.
"I should of course have cleared it with you, or at least told Cyril and Gashigi where I was going; but they seemed so excited that I rushed out with them. That's what happens when you're caught by surprise."
"I know," murmured Reith; "even to smart people."
"Out in the street, they hustled me into a carriage. No sooner was I seated when one Krishnan grabbed me; another whipped a length of cloth around my face and twisted my arms to snap on some sort of handcuffs.
"When the carriage reached open country, they took off my gag but refused to answer questions. In the light of morning, I recognized the little fellow in the magenta beard on my left as Minyev. He wouldn't talk, either.
"There's not much to tell about the trip, except that I never did get used to rest stops with a couple of Krishnans standing by to make sure I didn't bolt.
"Around midday today—I guess it's yesterday by now—we crossed the border into Qirib, and I was hustled into Vizman's tent There they took off my bonds, let me wash up, and served me a meal. How did you ever catch up with us? As they say, a stern chase is a long chase."