Dragonfly

coming in pained gasps as she pressed her hand to her wound to staunch the bleeding. He

spotted a wooden barn situated quite far from a farmhouse. There were no lights--it seemed as

if the

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inhabitants were asleep. It would have to do. Signalling to Gordoc, he directed his horse to slow

to a walk.

"Can you hold yourself in the saddle, Tashi?" he whispered.

She nodded.

Throwing the reins to Gordoc, he slid off the horse and crept to the side of the barn. It was not

unknown for farm workers to sleep in such buildings. He had to hope this farmer was kinder to

his men in winter. He unbarred the door and peered inside. The smell of cows hit him: a whole

herd was sheltering on the ground floor. Climbing up into the hayloft he paused, waiting for his

eyes to adjust to the poor light. It was empty of inhabitants, apart from a cool-eyed owl up in the

rafters. He returned quickly to his companions.

"All clear. We have about an hour or two, I guess, until the farmer stirs--

longer maybe if they were celebrating Midwinter tonight. Let's see to the Princess and the

horses."

The cows made no fuss as Ramil led the horses to their trough for a well-earned drink and a

share of the fodder. Gordoc carried Tashi up to the hayloft and laid her on a pile of straw. Ramil

joined him. They both looked down at Tashi who had her eyes closed, fighting the pain.

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"And what was all that about, Your Highness?" Ramil muttered angrily as he assessed the

wound. The arrow had passed through her robe and into the fleshy part of her leg. From the

limited amount of blood, he guessed it had missed the major artery but it had done enough

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damage. He ripped the cloth away from the shaft. "I told you it was too dangerous but you had

to dance around like that and scare us all!"

"You should've listened to him, my pretty," Gordoc said sorrowfully. He put the leather strap of his belt between her teeth for her to bite down. Ramil knew he was going to make the wound

worse drawing out the arrowhead, but they could not leave it there to fester. Better to be quick.

Tashi cried out as he tugged the barbed points free; it hurt even more than when the arrow had

first entered. Her leg began to bleed again. Ramil ripped up the black robe to put pressure on

the wound, then bandaged it tightly. The sharp pain receded, leaving a dul insistent ache.

"Sloppy shot," Ramil remarked, able to smile now that the worst was over.

"Hit nothing vital. And now I've ruined your robes, you'd better put these on."

He pulled some warmer clothes out of his bundle: shirt, leggings, thick jacket and scarf. "Sorry I couldn't find any shoes your size, but there are some woollen socks that'll do while we ride."

Gordoc helped Tashi lift herself up so she could slip the leggings on under her robe, then the two

men turned their backs as she changed into the shirt and jacket. The effort almost made her

swoon as every movement

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reawakened the pain in her leg, but she knew it was worth it once she began to feel warmth.

She lay back on the straw gratefully, covering herself with the remnants of the penitent's robe.

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Ramil knelt beside her and brushed her hair off her forehead gently. His heart twisted with

concern: she looked so pale and fragile. "Rest now, Your Highness. We've got to be gone before

the sun's up."

Tashi nodded and fell immediately into a deep sleep, feeling safe for the first time in weeks.

Moving before dawn, the three travellers spent the rest of that day riding through the barren

countryside of Brigard, steering due south. Ramil and Gordoc spoke only briefly, the attention of

both devoted to putting as much distance between them and Felixholt as they could. Tashi said

nothing at all, sunk far into herself, allowing the others to make decisions for her.

Fortunately for Ramil, Gordoc knew the land around these parts well, having travelled them

many times in the past with Orboyd's circus.

"We should make for the Fens," he advised. "It's a wild place. Fergox's rule is felt only weakly there. We'll be able to hide until she is fit to ride further."

They reached the outlying regions of the Fens by evening, entering a strange empty landscape

with stands of tall bulrushes and networks of ditches, slow going for the horses. The wind cut

through their clothes with a biting edge.

"We can't spend the night outside," Ramil told Gordoc. "Do you know somewhere we can stay?"

The big man wiped a droplet from his nose with his sleeve. "Aye. There's a windmill not far from

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here. The keeper used to let the circus stop in his yard.

He may let us stay if we pay him well."

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Ramil shook his head. "I've no money, and I doubt the priests left Tashi with any gold."

Gordoc chuckled and patted his pockets. "But I, young Prince, have my wi

on me. You can thank the weak-armed soldiers of the Spearthrower for that."

The windmill sat at the head of a drainage ditch, a dark cross against the night sky, its purpose to

pump the water from the low-lying fields reclaimed from the fens. The keeper was a surly man

with a hunched back, shrivelled up like a blighted leaf. He greeted Gordoc but spared not a word

for Ramil or Tashi, sensing they meant trouble.

"I don't want to know," he said, biting the coin. "You can stable your horses here tonight, eat and sleep under my roof, but you're to be gone by sun up.

No names, no faces. If you're caught, you were never here."

After seeing to their horses, Ramil joined Tashi by the fire in the little room allocated to them.

Gordoc was supping with the miller, feet up on the table.

Ramil admired the strong man's ability to seize his chance to relax when it was offered. As for

himself, he was still jumpy, expecting their pursuers to be knocking down the door at any

moment.

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"How's the leg?" he asked Tashi, passing her a bowl of bean soup and a hunk of bread.

"Fine," she said quietly.

"You've just had an arrow pulled out of your thigh and you say it's fine!"

Ramil marvelled. Blue Crescent people were so understated, it beggared belief.

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"All right, it hurts." Tashi put the soup aside untouched.

"You have to eat." Ramil took a spoonful of his own meal, his empty stomach growling.

"I'm not hungry."

"I don't care if you're hungry or not; you have to eat or you'll slow us down."

Tashi closed her eyes, refusing to listen to him. His restless energy and positive attitude dropped

like a stone into her well of despair, causing a ripple before vanishing.

Ramil tapped her arm, a

Highness. I may have got you out of the castle, but we're still in the middle of Fergox's empire,

hunted by all his troops by now."

"I told you to leave me behind."

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"And I told you that I was going to rescue you." He now knew how the Inkar had felt; he wanted to shake Tashi himself. "Listen to me: you've been through a terrible ordeal. Fergox has meddled

with your head, told you stuff that's not true, confused you. Are you going to believe what he

said, or what you've spent your whole life trusting?"

Tashi shivered. "I can't explain it, Ram. I think I've lost my beliefs completely.