The Border by A H Lee

Author:A H Lee
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Pavonine Books
Published: 2020-03-23T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17. The Ridge Road

Roland woke in the dewy, pre-dawn darkness to the crunch of a stick. A large stick. A heavy crunch.

He lay still, instantly alert, trying to remember why his sword wasn’t to hand. Who’s on watch? Have they been killed? Am I being stalked? Is it inside the walls?

No, that wasn’t right. He was outdoors, not in a fort. Was he on patrol?

There was a warm weight against his body, other limbs tangled with his own. Roland’s head cleared a little. Sairis. The prickle of his short beard against Roland’s bare chest and the trusting, sleepy weight of him would have made this a perfect waking, if...

If that crunch hadn’t been real. Did I dream it? He’d been prone to nightmares over the last year. I probably woke myself up. It probably wasn’t real. Roland lifted his face towards the dark meadow, barely illuminated by the first soft glow of dawn. He froze. Two points of reflected light glinted amid the deep, shadowy grass. They were blurred by Marsden’s barrier—greenish, indistinct. Roland blinked hard and the lights vanished.

He lay there, heart thumping, staring into the darkness. He listened for footfalls or breathing or snapping twigs. He listened for cries from the horses. But the night remained quiet until the first morning birds began to sing, at which point Roland decided it was time to be on their way.

* * * *

Sairis woke with difficulty from a pleasant dream into a cold, damp morning, barely light enough to see. He was still sluggish from healing, but managed to dress himself in a groggy daze. He drank a canteen of water, ate the dried fruit and sharp cheese that were offered, and did not come fully to life until he was nose to nose with a horse. Sairis jerked back, nearly stepping on Roland.

“Did you hear what I said?” asked Roland patiently.

“Wha—?”

“I need you to ride behind me. The weight will be easier on Cato, but we still need to get you your own horse at the first opportunity.”

“That’ll be interesting,” said Sairis faintly. The horse’s eyes looked very bright, its nose very soft. Contrary to Sairis’s first impression, the animal was not entirely white, but had a black spot across part of his face and mane.

Roland peered at Sairis in amazement. “You’ve never ridden a horse before?”

“Not a live one.”

Roland passed a hand over his face.

“It’s much the same as a dead one,” said Marsden behind him.

“How would you know?” asked Sairis.

Roland sounded offended, “Cato is not in any way comparable to a dead horse!”

The animal snorted, showering Sairis with a fine mist. “He’s certainly wetter,” said Sairis with a grimace.

“He is an excellent animal who has seen me through difficult times,” said Roland. “However, he is a warhorse, so he is trained to bite and kick. He doesn’t usually do it unless commanded, but I wouldn’t stick my hand in his mouth if I were you.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” said Sairis.

Mounting a live horse turned out to be a bit trickier than mounting a dead one, since a live horse tended to dance around a lot more.

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