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"Ask me when we're done."
Stitching seemed to take forever. But eventually Nayyib warned us to be ready.
"Del, loosen the rope just a little. When Tiger gets off his head, give the
stud as much slack as you can. He'll come up hard and fast, but clumsy." He
paused. "Tiger?"
"I'm ready."
"Del?"
"It's loose."
"All right, Tiger."
I let go of twitch and bridle and pushed up and away with planted legs,
propelling myself forward. I rolled, crouched, stood, hopped briefly as my
left leg complained. Saw Del feeding more rope, then jumping back. Nayyib was
near the stud's head, freeing the twist of rope around his bottom lip. And
indeed the stud came up hard and fast, lunging frenziedly. The padded rope
slid from his neck and chest, pooled on the ground around his right leg. He
wobbled a little, discovering his rear legs were still hobbled, then found his
balance. He stuck his big head high in the air, eyeing me, then released a
pent-up snort of severe annoyance that sprayed slime in all directions.
I wiped muck from my chest. "Thank you,"
Nayyib held his bridle again, soothing him. Quietly he told me, "You can take
those hobbles now."
Ah, and let me get my head kicked off. Smart kid. Smiling crookedly, I limped
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toward the stud's rear quarters, sliding my left hand over his spine and rump
so he'd know I was there. I
carefully avoided the wound, marked by a curving row of neat silk-thread
stitches, then bent and quickly untied the padded hobbles and tail thong. And
skipped back out of the way with alacrity as the stud took to slashing his
tail in indignation.
"There now," Nayyib crooned, and led him forward. "See? Not so bad. An affront
to your dignity, I do know, all this abuse, but you will survive it. You are
the best of all horses, a stallion among stallions even if you are a
jug-headed ugly son of a goat."
"Hey," I protested.
"Not so bad, not so bad," Nayyib continued, leading the stud in a wide circle.
"You'll have a fierce scar, you will, much like your rider. But you are much
more handsome."
Del wandered over to my side. "He's like a horse-speaker."
I remembered the fair-haired kid we'd met years before at the kymri, a
gathering of peoples in the North. "I don't think Nayyib can read their
minds."
"He doesn't have to. He knows what they need. See? The stud's calming."
She was smiling. I watched her watching Nayyib.
Horses weren't the only thing the kid could handle.
Nayyib brought the stud up to me. "I would recommend we go on," he said. "The
cut hasn't
interfered with his muscles, so he can be ridden. But if we stay the night
here, or even if we go back to the oasis, which isn't that far, he'll stiffen.
Best to keep him moving."
Del glanced at me warily. "To Julah?"
I shrugged, taking the stud's reins. "Let's see what happens when I'm in the
saddle again."
As Nayyib packed away his supplies again, I set about readying the stud. He
was unusually subdued, as if he'd spent all of his temper and strength. Once
he was saddled and loaded, I
filled a canvas bucket with water from a bota and let him drink. He sucked it
up greedily, lifted his dripping muzzle out of the bucket, then shoved it
against my chest as if asking me to commiserate.
I smiled, scratching his jaw. "I'm sorry, old son. You didn't deserve that.
It's me they want to kill, not you."
I packed away the bucket, turned to mount him, and discovered how much a
half-crushed leg doesn't like being asked to bear all my weight. Swearing, I
managed to make it up into the saddle, left knee throbbing. So much for the
healing I'd encountered at Meteiera. I'd been told any new injuries would be
mine to keep; seems like I was repeating old habits.
I turned the stud. "This way. To Julah, right?"
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In concert, Del and Nayyib shook their heads.
"East?" I asked reluctantly.
"East," Del confirmed.
"What's east?" asked Nayyib.
I ran a hand over my face, trying to rein in anger and frustration. "Who in
hoolies knows?
Something that seems to think I need to be there." A dead woman who spoke to
me in dreams.
"Look, it doesn't feel far, whatever it is. If you two want to go on to Julah,
go ahead. Maybe I'm supposed to do this alone anyway.
Del shook her head. "If you go east, I go east."
I looked at Nayyib.
He hitched one shoulder in a dismissive half-shrug. "You said I could ride
with you to
Julah. We're not there yet."
I sighed deeply. "Fine. Let's go east, shall we?"
East. Toward the sunrise and whatever else might be lurking out there.
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