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"Just that you're invading the realm of the Elflord of Xayber."
"We're going north, staying close to the western edge of the forest and the isthmus."
"Then you must be after sea-silver. There's no other reason for such a journey." She sounded very sure of that, but she sounded very sure of everything she said.
"Do you come into Fairy often?" I asked.
"Only once before. When I was fifteen, I came looking for the beast who raped my mother. I didn't find him, but I slit the throats of three of the elflord's soldiers." She talked of killing with a cool passion, the way I might have described a hot date in college. It was chilling.
Our horses needed no urging to pick up the pace. If we had asked them for a hard gallop, they would have willingly pounded away until they dropped. As it was, we had to check them more often than urge them on, varying the gait to what I hoped was an efficient combination. Our breaks were few and short that first day, taken when we spotted a place where we would be concealed from anyone passing along the road-not that it was much of a road inside Fairy. We had crossed the main coastal route almost as soon as we entered Battle Forest and went on to this track that was obviously little used.
I looked at A
On the map, the Isthmus of Xayber looked like a tornado, a long, narrow fu
Except for infrequent snatches of conversation, we rode in silence. Lesh rode point. A
"Off the road," I hissed while I looked southeast. "Dismount. Hold the horses still."
Nobody questioned my orders. Perhaps even A
"A dragon," I whispered. I couldn't see the creature, but its shadow was clear. We held our breath while the shadow passed and went on north. I only caught the briefest glance of the flying reptile, a hint of the body eclipsing the sky. When it was gone, I waited for the feeling of danger to fade and disappear.
"Okay, he's gone." I took a deep breath and looked around at my companions. Lesh and A
We mounted and rode on.
"For being between two warring armies, this forest seems awfully damn deserted," I commented, wondering mainly what A
"The armies are there," she said. "The Elflord of Xayber doesn't need a wall of warriors along his frontier. My uncle's troops never cross it."
"We're riding an established trail. That should be guarded."
"Perhaps the elflord wants intruders to get far enough to let him play with them," A
"How can you live with such hate?" Harkane asked from behind us. I was surprised to hear him say anything like that.
A
"Then you're the loser, no matter what happens," Harkane said.
"Enough!" I said before A
We left the road a few minutes later, picking our way through the trees to the right, deeper into the forest. When I could no longer make out the line of the road, we dismounted.
"At least nobody will stumble over us by accident here," I said. That was the only good thing about the site. There was no water and scant grazing for our horses. We got the animals unsaddled, tethered to a picket line, and tended. They couldn't wander far.
Supper was salt beef and bread with a few radishes and onions. I made a mental note to stock up on junk food the next time I got to Louisville. A Milky Way would have tasted great right then. We didn't even have coffee to ease the meal, not that I would have dared a fire.
"We'll take turns standing watch," I said at dusk. "I'll start and wake A
We made up our bedding. Harkane set his closer to mine than I liked, but I didn't say anything. Lesh set up by a tree a few yards away. A
Darkness came quickly. There was no trace of a moon that should have been past the first quarter, and no stars were visible. Stars shone on the seven kingdoms, even if the constellations weren't always the ones I knew from Earth. With the dark came new sounds in the forest. I recognized the call of an owl, but none of the other sounds. None of the noises were particularly close, and nothing stirred my danger sense. That was idling. I felt danger, but nothing imminent. It was just a constant background, something to remind me that everything about the isthmus, about Fairy, was dangerous.
I sat with my back against a tree trunk, facing the road, and checked my pistol to make sure there was a round in the chamber. That was just something to do with my hands. I didn't really expect the gun to work in Fairy. The actions reminded me to ask Harkane what had happened to my father's guns.