'...if we are attacked, you lay flat. Do not try to guide the horse. Your job is to stay on.'
I was trying desperately to do just that. I wanted to look, but fear clawed at my throat and kept my eyes jammed shut. I could hear the sounds of horses, arrows, and war cries all around me. Greatheart ran on.
I darted a look to the side, to see Keekai next to me. She appeared almost serene as she rode, as if she was a gentle lady out for a ride on a pleasant day. That image shattered when she nocked an arrow and drew, aiming at the enemy. Controlling her horse with her knees, concentrating on her target, she was a perfect portrait of a warrior.
She calmly released her arrow, only to draw another one. I couldn't see if she'd hit, but she'd a slight satis fied look on her face as she aimed at another.
Could Iften use a bow?
I tightened my grip as Greatheart ran, and lifted my head just enough so that I could look at him. Iften was there, riding hard beside me, his attention on the foe around us. He didn't have a bow, but I could see a lance in his good hand.
His gaze flicked over me, and he frowned before he looked away. I got the message and focused on staying on Greatheart.
And still we ran.
Movement caught my eye and I saw Iften throw his lance and strike a warrior in the side. The warrior fell, and Iften pulled another lance. So sharp, so deadly. I remembered the damage they did when Keir was attacking Water's Fall and shuddered at the memory of sharp stone shards in deep wounds. A cry, then a clash of steel. But we never stopped, even as the swords clashed. Our attackers' horses were fresher. I could feel a difference in Greatheart. His breathing was labored, and there was a tremble in his muscles that hadn't been there before. He was tiring. So were the others. But something changed. Iften moved up and turned Greatheart, forcing him to change direction. Keekai wasn't alongside anymore, and I realized that the others in our party had somehow managed to drive the attackers away from me.
Greatheart slowed, and I looked back to see that the attackers were now only four, and surrounded. Even as I looked, two dropped from their saddles. Still Waters took another, and the last, realizing his plight, charged and broke through, intent on escaping.
With a cry, Iften launched his horse forward, chasing the lone warrior. I thought he'd try to capture him, but at the last minute, Iften rose in the saddle, and with his good arm, his off-arm, he threw his lance. It took the warrior full in the back, and with a cry, the man tumbled out of the saddle, pierced through the chest, dead.
"Why did you do that?" Keekai was furious. We were all walking our horses, cooling them before bedding them for the night, watching as the warrior-priests saw to the dead. There were guards all around us, but the grasslands appeared to be empty of any threat.
"We could have learned his truths and discovered who was behind this attack!" Keekai snapped. "Dead, he is only silent."
Iften smiled, a sickly false smile. "The heat of my fury was so great, that any would dare to attack the Warprize."
"Don't mock me, warrior," Keekai spat, her face contorted in anger. She took a step toward Iften. For a moment, I thought he would offer a challenge, but he stepped back, and inclined his head in submission. Keekai huffed, apparently satisfied.
Still Waters came up to us. "The dead are gathered, and stripped. We have their gear and horses. None recognize their faces or the fletchings on the lances."
"They wanted her alive," Iften stated flatly.
Keekai nodded in agreement.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"The way they attacked," Keekai answered. "We will camp, and rest the horses. But before first light we will be up and on our way."
Still Waters and Iften nodded their consent, and moved off to give the orders. My body felt like my soul had been sucked out, I was so tired. I leaned against Greatheart's shoulder and looked at Keekai.
She shook her head. "There is no help for it, Lara. I will send a message back for Keir, but we must ride hard and fast to the Heart of the Plains. Your safe arrival in the Heart is all that matters now." We rode then, from daybreak to sunset. I lost track of the days in the endless land. All I knew was the unending hours in the saddle, or asleep, with barely time to eat between. So it took me a long moment when we topped yet another gentle rise, to understand what was spread out before me. It was sunset, and I'd thought we'd be making yet another short camp, until Keekai turned to me and pointed. "Behold, the Heart of the Plains."
The sun was fiery red in the distance, starting to slip from the sky. There was just enough daylight to see the Heart, and I had to smile at myself. I'd expected a city, with some sort of structures. But the Heart of the Plains was a city of tents.
It was huge, to rival Water's Fall. But instead of marble or stone, there were tents of all shapes and sizes and colors. As the dusk rushed over us, lights began to appear, both inside and outside the tents, making everything glow.
Beyond the tents, I could see an enormous tent, far larger than any that I'd seen before. And beyond that, there was a shimmer, and I realized that it was water, a lake bigger than I'd ever seen. I stared in amazement. Was there anything small on the Plains?
Before I could take it all in, Keekai was leading the way down off the ridge, and within moments we were within the city. The horses were exhausted, but they trotted with a lighter step, probably aware that their journey was over. We stayed together, and from all over, people turned to look and point at us. It was dizzying, the sights, the smells of cooking, the endless colors and noise. It was so very strange, and yet not that different from the sounds of the market back in Water's Fall. Exhausted, I clung to Greatheart, and tried to absorb it all. It seemed to take forever to pass through it all, but we finally came to a stop before the enormous tent that I'd seen in the distance. It was really more like a huge covered pavilion.
Keekai was at my knee, urging me to dismount. "Come, Lara." She took my elbow, and I tried not to lean on her as I staggered forward, legs not used to walking after so many days in the saddle. We walked together into the huge tent and I stumbled a bit over some steps. The floor of this area was solid stone.
The pavilion was lit brightly with braziers. I blinked at the sight of men and women seated on stools on a three-tiered platform, widest at the top, and narrowing toward the bottom. Three figures were seated at the base, and the one in the middle rose as we approached. He was an older man, dressed in robes of bright red over leather armor, with a multi-colored sash at his waist that held a sword and two daggers. His face was brown as a nut, and deeply wrinkled. There was no welcome there, no smile at all. We stopped, and the man gestured Keekai away from me. I thought for a moment that she would protest, but instead she inclined her head, and went to an empty stool on the second tier, off to the side. I swayed slightly as she moved away, feeling naked and alone.
Iften appeared next to me. Even he showed signs of exhaustion, but he stood tall and proud. "I was chosen as Guardian by Xylara, Daughter of Xy. I have brought her here, safe and sound, to stand before the Council of Elders at the Heart of the Plains."
The man nodded his head, and spoke. "You have served well, Iften of the Boar, and the Daughter of Xy is now under our protection. You are released from your duties, with our thanks." Iften spun on his heel, and glared at me with eyes filled with hate. He paused as he stepped past me.
