"My prize! I captured her!"
"Warprize?" the boy asked, his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"I saw her, in the Heart," Gilla answered, moving toward me. "Our tents were near hers." She looked up at me, frowning with concern. "Warprize, I am Gilla of the Snake. Please let me offer you the courtesy of our camp."
Pive stamped her foot in frustration. "No, no. She can't be the Warprize. She's not stinky, she doesn't have sores like a city-dweller. And she doesn't breathe fire!"
"PIVE!" Gilla scolded. "Be silent!"
"Pive, come with me." The boy extended his hand. "We need to cry the others in for the night." Pive's face lit up. "El, you'll let me warble?"
"I will." El smiled. "Bring your mount so we can get him a drink." Pive took up the reins, and the gurtle stood. "Want to hear how I captured her?" Pive asked. El gave us an amused look over his shoulder before turning to listen to Pive as they walked off. Gilla gave me a wry smile. "I am sorry, Warprize. Pive meant no offense."
"I took none." I slid down from Greatheart's back.
Gilla gestured to the fire. "Please come and sit. Have you eaten?" Greatheart ambled down to the edge of the pond for a drink. I kept an eye on him, not wanting to lose my mount. Gilla poured kavage, and offered me a mug.
"No, thank you, Gilla." I walked to the edge of her fire. A childish voice rose in a long warbling cry behind us.
"They call the other children in, for the evening meal," Gilla explained. "You are more than welcome to spend the night." She looked in the direction that I'd come from. "Do you travel alone?" I had to admire her subtlety. "Yes."
She gave me an intent look. "Something has happened, hasn't it. In the Heart? We've had no news." I nodded. "Can you tell me how to get back there?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Warprize, I'd offer to guide you myself, but I cannot leave. I have duties—"
"The children and the herds."
"Just so." Gilla may have been all of twelve or thirteen, but she acted like a woman my age. "I could guide you in the morning."
I shook my head. "No. I can't wait. And it might be dangerous to be seen with me." She sighed. "Very well. You'll need to make good time, to get to the Heart before dark." Greatheart walked back to my side, and stood next to me. I checked the wrappings on my hands and then mounted. She eyed me closely as I settled onto his back. "At least let me give you gloves, Warprize, to protect your hands."
I shook my head. "No. I take nothing except from my Warlord's hands. Just tell me how to get there."
"Follow that ridge, until it meets with a river." She pointed off to the left. "Then just follow the river downstream. You will mount a rise and see the Heart laid out before you, Warprize." She looked up into my eyes. "May the skies favor you."
"And you as well. Thank you for your courtesy, Gilla of the Snake." She inclined her head, and I urged Greatheart into a trot. I'd demands to make, and a Warlord to claim. The Heart looked different somehow.
Greatheart and I paused at the top of the rise, to get our bearings. And to give me a chance to work up my courage. It looked different, and this time, it wasn't the size, or the shifting of the tents. There, beyond the herds, it looked like the place was buzzing with activity. People moving everywhere. There were pyres burning by the lake shore.
My heart started to race within my chest. I tucked my satchel up close to my body. Nervously, I checked the bandages that I'd wrapped around my hands. Then I took a deep breath and wrapped Greatheart's coarse hair between my fingers.
Greatheart was prancing slightly, my nervousness affecting him. I leaned in close, and whispered in his ear, "Easy, boy. Nothing is going to come between me and my Warlord." Greatheart snorted, then shook his head as if in agreement, pawing at the ground. I sat back up, and took a quick look behind me. The dead had not appeared since I'd left the children, but the way my skin crawled, I felt their eyes on me.
I turned back, taking a last long look at the tent city below me. It teemed with activity, warriors everywhere, tents being taken down. Best to do this before we were seen and stopped. Or killed.
I took a deep breath, crouched down and then cried out, digging my feet into Greatheart's ribs. "Heyla!" I urged Greatheart on with my legs. "Run, Greatheart! Run!"
Greatheart leaped forward, down the rise. The grass flew under us, and within a few breaths we were down into the herds that were between us and the Heart.
Horses parted to let us through, some even running briefly alongside. Greatheart galloped, his hooves tearing at the ground, running full out. I leaned forward, staying low, trying to be less of a target. "Heyla!
Go! Go!" I urged.
The horses's muscles bunched and flowed under me as he ran. I tried to remember to breathe, and tightened my grip on his mane.
That quickly, we were through the herd and in the tents, still running hard. I saw brief glimpses of gaping faces, astonishment frozen there for the instant before we passed. No brandished weapons. Yet.
No matter. I wasn't stopping for anything or anyone.
