<- Chapter 40 Chapter 42 -> Gavin stood at the podium.  Replacing the plumes with black had taken longer than he had expected.  The banners were easy, but black feathers were hard to come by.  Ormand had supported the search for vultures. No one will miss vultures. Gavin looked at the notes and straightened them. …

<- Chapter 39 Chapter 41 -> That’s not a bull, Riley thought. It was bigger, and covered in fur, like a sheepdog.  Riley stared.  She looked down at the spear in her hand, and then back at the creature.  The horns were nearly as long as the spear.  Lissie looked so fragile standing next to…

<- Chapter 38 Chapter 40 -> Riley searched the crowd for a moment, Lissie’s face was ashen.  Cora had turned around completely, but Alexander was smiling.  He broke the deafening silence, “What a way to break in Ruskin’s Blade!” Riley bowed low.  When she stood, she took a duelist’s stance, and started to half-sword, both…

<- Chapter 37 Chapter 39 -> Riley had trouble sleeping the rest of the day.  She tossed and turned on the cot. Lissie in a duel.  Sweet Lissie.  Beautiful, calm, compassionate, patient Lissie.  Her thoughts were racing. She got up from the cot, and went to find her best friend.  She offered to show her…

<- Chapter 36 Chapter 38 -> A soft puff of breath blew Riley’s hair against her face.  She snorted the salt out of her nose, and felt Sugarsnap’s curious lips against her hair.  Riley opened her eyes and saw a white sheet above her, supported by white poles.  Sugarsnap had poked her head underneath, and…

<- Chapter 35 Chapter 37 -> In the darkness, Riley wrapped the canvas around herself.  Sugarsnap laid down and Riley would have cried for the sight of it.  There was no moisture left in her body to spare.  She gave the mare the last of her water, and cuddled next to her in the abyss.…

<- Chapter 34 Chapter 36 -> Gavin tried to look down into the oubliette, but his eyes couldn’t get past the unevenness of the bars.  There were twelve vertical and eleven horizontal bars from his vantage, and it was impossible to ignore the crude masonry.   Perhaps it is deliberate, to denigrate and shame the…

<- Chapter 33 Chapter 35 -> 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…

<- Chapter 32 Chapter 34 -> The bridge was glorious, but to Riley, it just looked fragile.  When they reached the other side, she knew they were in Kisten.  They travelled with the company of soldiers and logisticians bearing medical supplies.  The road forked ahead.  The company turned south, and Riley watched them go.  She…

<- Chapter 31 Chapter 33 -> Riley glared at the colorful ribbons braided through Sugarsnap’s mane and tail.  The stable was perfumed, and it made her head hurt.  She lifted a hoof, it had been filed and polished.  Riley snorted, remembering what life was like for them on the road.  Sugarsnap snorted back.   Lissie asked,…