Chapter 17
Larn led them along the ridgeline, where the bandit tracks overlooked the traders’ trails in the valleys below. They only spoke to discuss immediate, practical needs. Forlan said nothing at all for days on end, but Thorat didn’t notice his silence at first. They usually made camp in the late afternoons, sending Ferrent and Vigda out to forage for roots while Thorat and Larn hunted. Forlan set up the camp and started the cooking fire while Sunna lay down and gazed into nothingness, exhausted.
“Now I know how the ambassadress feels,” she remarked one night. They were sitting around the campfire, scraping the last drops of a rough meal from their makeshift trenchers and resting their feet on the warm stones around the fire.
“It’s only losing a baby,” Vigda said. “Lots of women d
