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to safety." He scattered the straw over her like a blessing.
The night seemed endless to Tashi. Lying on the wooden floor, pricked and near suffocated by
straw, she tried to come to terms with what she was experiencing. None of her training had
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prepared her for this. No one here saw any of the things in her that her own
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people believed; she was not respected, listened to, or loved. So what did that make her? A
demon, according to Orboyd. But she knew she was loved by the Mother; she couldn't be evil,
even if other people fixed such labels to her. A pretty pet to the big man who had sensed her
fear? But Tashi, raised in a land of matriarchs, revolted at the idea.
I suppose I'm left with me, whoever that is these days, she thought bleakly.
Ramil could hear the Princess breathing next to him but was tortured by the fact that he could
not speak to her, not even to ask if she was unharmed. He owed it to her at least to think of
some way of escaping. They were still in Gerfal, heading down to the mountains that formed the
border with Brigard.
The alarm must have been raised by now and his people would be combing the land for them. It
was inconceivable that a caravan such as this would be missed before it reached the border.
At dawn he heard the sound he had been expecting all night: the approach of horsemen.
"Ho there, travellers!" called a Gerfalian soldier. "We have orders from the King to search all vehicles on the roads this day."
"But of course," said Orboyd at his most generous. "We are a peaceful group with nothing to hide. Conduct your search and welcome."
Ramil writhed in his bonds but he was so tightly bound and gagged he could do nothing to alert
them to
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his presence. He heard the tramp of feet and good natured banter as the soldiers passed the
time with the circus people.
"Found anything?" asked Orboyd casually from outside the wagon.
"No," replied the soldier. "What's in there?" He thumped the side of the wagon.
"Our tiger, Kosind. You're welcome to go in." Orboyd lifted the canvas on the front of the wagon, letting in the daylight. The tiger rose on its haunches, stretched and yawned.
The soldier peered into the cage. "It stinks in there!"
"That's wild animals for you. Shall I fetch the key?"
The soldier shook his head. "No, that wil do."
Orboyd dropped the canvas back down.
Ramil cursed the soldier. Sweat was ru
chance!
Then he heard a thud. Tied less tightly, the girl beside him had enough freedom of movement to
hit her head and heels on the floor in a regular beat-- Thud-thud-thud! Thud-thud-thud!
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"What's that?" asked the soldier suspiciously.
"Tiger's tail thumping. Means he's hungry," replied Orboyd coolly.
The girl changed the rhythm-- Thud-thud! Thud-thud!
"I think perhaps we had better take another look at that hungry cat of yours."
The soldier took a firm grip on the canvas.
"That is a shame." There was a hiss of breath and the
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sound of a body falling to the ground. "I do so hate shedding blood this early in the day," said Orboyd.
Further away, another man shouted but his scream broke off abruptly.
A short while later, the door to the wagon flew open. Ramil's bindings were yanked free and he
was dragged, still half-covered in straw, down the steps and out into the clearing. Tashi was
dumped beside him. In front of them lay the bodies of a Gerfalian forest warden and a Crescent
sailor.
"Look what you made us do!" raged Orboyd, his hands still red with the warden's blood. "We were trying to do this the kind way--no one getting hurt, just a quick dash for the border and
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goodbye. We are peaceful people and you made us kill these men!"
Ramil now noticed that the dwarf, Tighe, was wiping a bloodied knife on a rag. It seemed that he
had been responsible for despatching the sailor.
"I ca
you'll force me to kill again and I don't like it!" He ripped the gag off Tashi, then Ramil. "I hope, Your Highness, it was the witch. I don't want to lay a finger on you if I can help it."
"It was me!" Ramil said quickly.
"He lies. It was me," Tashi said, appealing with a look to Gordoc.
The big man strode forward. "You're not harming
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the girl!" He snatched the whip from Orboyd's hand and threw it back to Pashvin.
"You forget yourself, Gordoc. I say who gets punished and who doesn't!"
thundered Orboyd, going eye to eye with the giant.
The old woman strode over, still wearing Tashi's boots, and spat at the ground in front of her.
"You're wasting time, Orboyd. Now you've killed these men, others will be after us. We've got to
get to the border by nightfall.
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There's time enough for punishment when we get to Brigard."
Orboyd broke away from Gordoc. "All right, Minka, all right, we'll settle this later. Hide the
bodies. Set the horses loose. Gordoc, put our guests back in the cage and tie them up properly
this time."
The bodies of the warden and the sailor were not found until the evening.
Ramil's and Tashi's riderless horses were discovered not long after, trotting back towards the
castle. King Lagan heard the news with dismay. It seemed clear that Ramil and the young
Princess were victims of some terrible crime.
He regretted now that he had doubted his son even for a moment. Were their bodies waiting to
be found too? Fearing the worst, he ordered the search to be intensified. Every wagon was
unpacked, every traveller questioned; all that is except for the cage belonging to one very
hungry-looking tiger. The border guard had peered inside and decided that no one could be in
there and live. Besides, the circus people were friendly folk, free with their food 78
and wine, in no rush to pass over the border to Brigard. They did not act like fugitives with
something to hide.
Once in Brigard, the neighboring country recently conquered by Fergox Spearthrower, Ramil and
Tashi were untied and taken out of the cage. The mood of the circus people lightened now that
the immediate danger of discovery had passed. They were travelling through spectacular
mountain scenery: soaring peaks, snow-covered slopes, and thick forests of pine trees. They had
to climb high to cross the range. The air was icy but the weather fine. Gordoc insisted that Tashi
ride beside him for protection, snugly wrapped up in his fur rug. Ramil could see her now in the
wagon ahead of him, her long fair hair streaming down her back in a ripple of gold.
He'd had no opportunity to talk to her--not that they had anything to say to each other--for he
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was now the travelling companion of Orboyd. The circus leader had taken the precaution of
chaining his guest to the wagon, but then proceeded to treat him like a favored friend, chatting
about Brigard, the fluctuating fortunes of his little band, his plans for the future. He regarded
Gerfalians as natural friends to the Brigardians, lamented the political circumstances that
temporarily put them at odds, looked forward to the day when those differences would be