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Kah knew that I’d never ridden a horse, but I had to get to the Market of End tonight,and it was a solid day’s walk on foot.
I approached a dark brown horse and peered into its stall. “It doesn’t have a saddle on,” I said, realizing that I hadn’t factored in the time or expertise needed tosaddlea horse. The horse shook its head, its thick lips flapping in a silent chuckle that said,This idiot.
“Great, now what?” said Kah.
I wished I could speak to the horses like I did to Kah. That would make this a lot easier.
“You’re sure you don’t want to go on foot?”
“There’s no time,” I said, striding over to the wall of gear. I came to Malengard to find the stone and I wasn’t leaving without it, even if I had to ride an uncivilized beast. I had two days before the spell faded. I just had to hope the girl wasn’t dead before then.
Without warning, the stable doors creaked on their hinges, and a Rathalan dismounted from a sleek, black horse. He squinted at me in the dim light.
Momentarily forgetting I was in disguise, my muscles tensed, ready to fight.
“Boy!” he commanded. “Get over here and take my horse. Hurry up!”
Ha!He thought I was the stable boy. Playing along, I hurried over to take the reins from him.
“Have her ready for me again by mid-morning. Understand?”
I nodded.
When the stable door slammed closed behind him, I let loose a wide grin. He’d just handed me a horse that was fully bridled, saddled, and looked ready for a midnight ride to the Market of End, if you asked me.
“That solves that problem,” I said smugly, grabbing one of the cloaks hanging on the wall and putting it on. I’d never get inside the marketplace if I didn’t conceal my Rathalan uniform. That, and it was freezing outside tonight.
“Still doesn’t mean you can ride it,” Kah said in his husky voice, making it clear he didn’t like the idea of any animal being ridden. Kovaks saw animals as companions, not transportation. Even when we were kids, Kah would never let me ride him.
Taking that as a challenge, I put one foot in the stirrup and hoisted my weight onto the beast. The horse, probably sensing I was a novice, shook its flank and strode a few paces backward, and I toppled over its side and fell with a thud onto the straw below.
“Don’t say a word,” I threatened Kah when I heard him chuckle.
I got up and brushed the dirt off my cloak. Not wanting another lecture from Kah about how Kovaks don’t ride animals, I grabbed the horse’s reins, put my foot back in the stirrup, and this time, mounted the horse.
After a few shaky laps around the stable, I got a sense of how to use the reins. Not ready to practice dismounting yet, I kicked open the stable door and rode to the gates.
When the hundredthtree branch smacked me in the face, it took every ounce of determination I had not to ditch the horse and continue on foot to the Market of End. Instead, I uttered a chorus of curses under my breath and held tight to the reins. Either horse-riding was merely a hazardous way of travel, or this particular beast took great pleasure in finding rough trees to sidle up against and low branches to trot underneath.
This is why Kovaks don’t ride horses.
The silver light of the full moon lit our way in the dark landscape, and the clomping of the horse’s hooves counted down the hours to our destination. The Market of End was located directly north of Malengard, so there wasn’t much navigation required, except struggling to keep the horse on the road every time it saw a large tree to run me against.
Finally, when I was exhausted, bleary-eyed, and my rear was painfully numb, the forest thinned out at the top of the hill, and I could see the lights of the marketplace in the distance. I muttered a silent prayer of thanks.
The horse and I seemed equally pleased when I finally dismounted and led it by the reins to the entrance. I wrapped my cloak around me to conceal my Rathalan attire, ignoring how my hands felt like hard blocks of ice.
The circular stone wall surrounding the marketplace grew taller as I approached. The scent of burning wood and roasting meat wafted over the walls. Skies, it felt good to be out of Malengard.
A pair of torches burned brightly on either side of the massive oak gates, casting shadows on the two Annundu Wolves in full armor standing guard. They were part of the only nonhuman tribe in Eastlandra, each Wolf almost as big as Kah.
“Halt!” one of the Wolves said, baring his sharp teeth. “Only tribespeople may enter the Market of End.”
“Then let me enter,” I said coolly.
The black Wolf stepped toward me, lifting his large head level with mine. He sniffed my clothes. “You reek of Malengard. Go back to where you came from, spy!”
“I’m not a spy.” This definitely wasn’t the same welcome I’d had from these guys last time I was here, when they’d let me and Kah stroll right in.
