The salt stung Riley’s eyes. The wind never stopped. The sun could not be escaped, she rode with eyes closed. She tasted blood on her cracked lips. The cloth around her face kept sticking to it.
Lissie was smart to wrap our faces.
“You’re a good girl, Sugarsnap. I wish I could do something for you.” Riley stroked Sugarsnap’s mane, it was crusted with salt. They were all crusted with salt.
Camping on the flat was unlike anything Riley had ever imagined. The posts they drove into the ground to tie down the tents would not anchor against the sand. They ended up wrapped in the canvas, feeling the wind the whole night.
The smell was rancid. It was the smell of ancient death. There was a chemical tinge to it, and an old, old musk. Worse than any of that, the water was running low. The sun and the wind pulled it straight off of them, their tears swept into the dust.
“When we die here, at least Lady Maribelle will have a good tale for the Ellium.” Alexander’s voice was a dry rasp. Ruskin sat in his lap in the saddle. He was wrapped paw to nose in Alexander’s cloak.
“We are not going to die here!” Riley snapped, “Tax collectors come here, for the king.”
Cora said, “Tax collectors don’t come here anymore. They gave up. The trip wasn’t worth the taxes.”
Lissie sounded calm. “My people will see us. You can see everything here.”
Riley lifted her head and looked at the distant horizon. It shimmered and wavered, the blue of the sky mixing with the white salt. The wind gusted and she closed her eyes again. The back of her eyelids burned bright pink. The horses trudged forward. Step by step.
When the sun was full overhead, Alexander suggested lunch, but no one wanted to stop. He chewed on a sausage and gave bits of it to Ruskin under the cloak as he rode. Riley couldn’t imagine eating even more salt. She tasted the grit against her teeth.
An hour. Two. The sun seemed like it would never set. She felt the waterskins tied to the saddle. They were so light. Starting to blow in the wind. “I’ll let you drink first, Sugar, you’re doing all the work.”