Tano (Tuyo Book 6) by Rachel Neumeier

Author:Rachel Neumeier [Neumeier, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

Four hands of time later, as an early dusk came to the overcast sky and the earth beneath, I saddled the cream-colored gelding and rode through the narrow, twisting gap, through the larger meadow, between the ridges where the roots of the mountains humped up the land, and out into the high steppe.

11 –

I rode through the overcast night, through the dark, alone.

The light of the Moon came through the clouds, soft and diffuse, not enough to see more than a very small distance, not enough to see anything or anyone more than a spearthrow distant. That meant no one farther from me than that would be able to see me either. But it also meant I could not ride fast. After so long pent in the secret lea, my gelding was willing to run, but no pony is so unwise as to gallop when he cannot see, and a pony’s vision on a cloudless night is only a little better than a man’s. He thought a fast trot was bold enough in this darkness, and I thought it best to let him make that decision. Even a trot would take us a long way before dawn came.

I had turned the gelding almost due south, following my sense of how the land lay. I would ride south and southeast all night, then turn due east at dawn. I would not be able to ride out from under the shadows of the mountains, not in one night, but I should be able to get out away from the roots of the mountains into the steppe, descending far enough that the earth would run out almost level in every direction. Then I would be able to see other riders when they were still a long way away, so far that I could easily ride away from them. This gelding was a good animal, fast, not weary. I was not as heavy as an older man. I should be able to keep away from other riders as long as I paid attention and did not permit myself to be taken unaware.

The wind came from the mountains, cold, but not bitterly cold, holding the memory of the starlit lands. I was glad for the wind because it covered the sound of my pony’s hooves. Anyone who knew how to listen below the wind might hear us, but not from any distance. I tried to listen that way myself. Ryo had taught me to do it. He could do it all the time without paying very much attention. If anything made a sound in the dark, he would hear that sound. I was not Ryo. I had to concentrate and not allow myself to become distracted by all my thoughts.

I had no need to think about anything. Everything was very simple now. Until I came to the inGara camp, everything would remain simple.

Even after I came there, everything would be simple. I had no need to think of many complicated lies. I told myself that, as I had told myself that over and over during the past day and night.

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