She woke in the gray light of predawn, and everyone else was stirring as well. Hastily eating a light breakfast of whatever remained from the previous evening, the group quickly packed the few things they had carried and prepared for the march.

Fia hurried out to find Ilido, and she knew he would be wherever the horses were. Emerging from the caves, the terrain broke away below her towards the corresponding valley, with deep black patches and streaks of trees here and there. Her ears told her more than her eyes at this level of light, and she could hear the soft snappings of twigs and scuffing of leaves as many hooves moved through one of the groves in her direction. In a moment the darker shadows in the shapes of blurry horses showed within the trees, and she went out to meet them.

Several of the young men had kept a rotating night guard on the herd of horses in a grassy, tree-rimmed swale nearby, where the animals could graze overnight. Riders skirted the herd, and she paused to one side to let them pass. She hoped she was on the side that Ilido was on because she didn’t want to have to call out, but neither did she want to be passed completely by if the horses separated them. She stood beside a tree and strained her eyes through the dim shadows of faint morning.

“Ilido?” she hissed softly, peering at the shadowy figure coming out from behind a tree. “Ilido?”

The rider pulled to a stop beside her. “Fia? What are you doing out?”

Relieved to be correct, she stepped forward. “I’m no help there, so I thought I’d get sorted out before everyone else started needing to be mounted. Can you tell me which one I should ride?”

He swung down off the stocky cob he was on. “Here,” he said, handing her the reins. “Ride this one. He’s a wise old fellow, and has been over these trails more times than I have. He’ll know where to go without being told.”

She took the reins and he knelt for her to use his knee as a stepstool. She possibly could have gotten on the small horse without his aid, but it certainly made the process faster and smoother.

“Thank you,” she said as she settled in on top of the furry back.

He rose and put a hand on the horse’s neck as they walked out from under the trees. “I think it’ll be best if you two go ahead most of the time; any large group like this needs a point man to help keep everybody focused on the direction and moving well.”

“But…!” Fia began, nerves creeping out already. “What if I miss a turn…? We can’t afford to get lost!”

“You won’t; not on this horse. And I’ll come up and talk you through the next major points… But really, Fia, the Olayin cobs know their way home as good as any hound dog, and you can rest assured that they’ll be heading straight to their barn. The lowland horses we picked up might give us a bit of trouble, but I’m hoping not. They should just travel along with the rest of the herd. It’ll be fine.”

She breathed deep.

“If you say so,” she conceded.

The rest of the party was soon mounted as well, and they headed out in a long line towards the peaks.

With the whole group now mounted and riding, they had a good start and made distance easily. The day passed and the air chilled as they climbed higher, and every heart pressed into their pace with an unspoken urgency.

Fia looked to the sky and was glad that things had conspired so that they were following Gilahdro’s advice. He was right, there was sure to be a storm.

She sniffed. You could smell it in the air.

The taller peaks spread themselves larger and larger across the eastern horizon as the fleeing group hurried onward, and the trail became more taxing. The burst of energy and determination waned within a few days, and the horses and people flagged under the toil and unwelcoming conditions. The nights were routinely cold now and very uncomfortable. And there was little to eat, and that not at all pleasant.

Movements became slower and slower, and Fia felt the drag on her own limbs as keenly as any. But whenever she felt drowsy, she tried to use the shocking sight of the burning town to goad herself back into a better pace. She was grateful for the earlier progress; at least that much of the journey was behind them. But she knew that the hardest was yet to come, and the pressure at the back of her mind grew in uneasiness.

Her eyes drifted up towards the sky a hundred times a day, at the slow but purposeful gathering of angry clouds. How long would they hold off from dropping the storm they so mutteringly promised?

She could only hope it’d be long enough.

But no matter how Ilido commanded or coaxed, or how Fia threatened them with all the horrible tales she could remember hearing about mountain weather, there was a limit to the pace that the throng could maintain. So at last she and Ilido had to settle for letting them do their best and praying for the storm to delay.

Fia took the lead most of the time, for although she had no real knowledge of the trail, she rode one of the most experienced cobs, who knew all about this routine. So all she had to do was reinforce his decisions. At times he would head into a fork of the trail, then pause and twitch his ears, as if making sure she wasn’t wanting to head somewhere else. She would hastily tell him to keep going and he would switch his tail in satisfaction and continue towards home.

Indeed all the cobs knew the way quite well and the supplement horses were happy to follow their lead, so her job was not too hard. Ilido was mainly in the rearguard continually organizing the stragglers and exhorting them to better efforts.

When there was nothing more that could be done at the moment, he would ride up from time to time to brief her on the general directions the trail would take for the next few ridges.

“…It’ll be pretty steep along there,” he finished one time.

Her scarf-wrapped head nodded.

There was silence in the chill air for a moment as their horses crunched along the path.

“You never mentioned you were a prince,” she said with an attempt at being offhand.

He looked at her sharply.

“Elarno,” she said, and smiled.

“I wasn’t supposed to mention it,” he replied. “Nobody’s supposed to know.”

She held up her hand. “It’s safe with me.”

He lifted an eyebrow in acknowledgement. “I think it would be with most people, but Father said we didn’t want to take chances.”

“Well, I can very much understand his position.” She nodded. “I wouldn’t want anybody taking chances with my life, or that of my family’s either.” She smiled, then shrugged. “I just wonder what it’s like… being a prince.”

“It’s like nothing.” He lifted a shoulder. “I wasn’t a prince until just recently. We simply lived on an estate, like lots of people everywhere. And then suddenly we found out that Father was the next in line for the crown. I haven’t even been a prince for a whole year yet.” He paused. Then he added, “I think.” And he started to mutter and count on his fingers.

“So, you’re worried you’ll have to be the king, since your brother fell…” She let the sentence trail. “I’m sorry about what I said that day.”

“It’s all right.” Ilido nodded and then sighed. “It was just… he was so completely perfect to be a ruler. He would have made the best king there ever could be. And I…” He shook his head. “I’m simply… not.”

Fia rubbed her horse’s neck. “Well, you did pretty good with the Arnithera situation.” She smiled encouragingly at her friend. “Maybe you should give yourself a little more time. I think you could turn out to be a really good king.”

He laughed a little in scoffing, but smiled back.

“Thanks anyway, Fia. And maybe you’re right.” He closed his eyes, as if shutting something out. Then he spoke softly. “I’m just scared I won’t get any time.”

She bit her lip and breathed out unhappily. It was true. His father was badly wounded.

Her heart skipped a beat. The king might even possibly be dead by now… it had been quite a few days since they’d had any trustworthy news. Gilahdro had said he was mending at that moment, but wounds were a tricky business and could take a turn for the worse.

She breathed deep, reached out and patted his shoulder.

“Maybe you will,” she said. “And anyway, maybe you don’t really even need so much of time after all. I’m certain there’s more to you than you realize.”

Then to save him the pressure to reply she picked up her horse’s pace and trotted ahead a little ways. Slowing again, she twisted on his back and looked to where Ilido sat on his horse. A thoughtful look was in his eyes, but there was a brave set to his shoulders. Whatever came, Fia felt sure he would handle it well.

He smiled at her, then turned his horse and rode back down the trail to the rearguard again to encourage the people along.

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