“I told ye she likes playin’!” Belanna said as her giant black horse charged up the hill on the other side, shaking water off his legs.
Sacrifice kept her head down, blowing bubbles as she plowed through the river. And it wasn’t until we reached the other side that I realized Cheriour was no longer beside me.
He stood at the bank, trying to coax his horse to step into the river. But the animal had planted his feet, refusing to budge. Cheriour, to his credit, didn’t seem flustered or angry. He dismounted and stroked the horse’s neck, his mouth moving endlessly as he spoke into his mount’s ear.
Figured. Getting Cheriour to talk to me was like pulling teeth, but he had no problem blathering to a freaking animal.
Cheriour turned his horse around and sent him butt-first into the water. It worked. But as soon as the horse’s feet hit the stream, he lost his shit.
“Back. You’re alright,” Cheriour repeated in his monotone voice while the horse did a series of stiff-legged pogo hops that sent plumes of water into the air. By the time they finished crossing, Cheriour wasdrenched.
I laughed. “Sorry.” I clapped a hand over my mouth when he angled his head toward me. “I’m not laughing at you…no, actually, I kinda am. But I’m more laughing athim.I’ve never seen a horse do that before!”
Cheriour’s boots made asquish-squishsound when he walked. “He’s still green,” he murmured, stroking the horse’s neck.
“Green?” I asked.
Cheriour shoved his sopping ponytail over his shoulder and flicked the reins over the horse’s head. The horse stood with his legs braced, eyes wide, as big drops of water fell from his chestnut fur.
“I dunno what you’re looking at,” I pressed, “but he’s notgreen. He’s more like an auburn.”
“Green,” Cheriour said, not even reacting to my sarcastic quip, “means young. Inexperienced.” He gave the horse an affectionate bop on the nose and moved toward his saddle.
Hisemptysaddle.
No more Liam.
And, y’know, maybe I was a softie, but a pang shot through my chest when Cheriour’s shoulders slumped.
“You might wanna dry your pants,” I said.
“What?”
“Your pants,” I repeated. “They’re soaked. They’re not gonna dry right in the saddle. You’ll end up with a wicked rash down where the sun don’t shine. And no one’s gonna help smear ointment on your ass.”
That got a reaction! Cheriour’s shoulders jerked as he pinched the bridge of his nose. From this angle, it almost looked like he was praying:Lord, give me strength to deal with this cuckoo-crazy bitch.
But he wasn’t staring at his saddle anymore. So…mission accomplished. Kind of?
Liam had passed away that morning. And I knew my bad jokes couldn’t heal the pain of losing such a young kid. I just wanted to lessen the ache. At least for a little while.
The problem?
Liam wasn’t the only one to die.
Within four hours of leaving the river, three more people perished. The total body count for the entire road trip was now over a dozen.
The soldiers were dropping like flies.
* * *
I leanedagainst the rough bark of a tree, watching as Cheriour and Belanna dug a shallow grave. I hadn’t meant to watch this. But I’d wandered a little too far trying to find a quiet spot to go number two.
Look, I wasn’tashamedof the natural bodily function, but I still liked to do it in peace. Y’know?
And now that I was here…
Well, it felt morbid as frick to watch the burial, but it also felt wrong to leave.
