CHAPTER 41
Penrys watched Najud survey his little troop of impromptu warriors at the top of the gap. She closed her eyes to rest them—the day was sunny, and the snow blinding.
The trail broken by the horses when the survivors were discovered was still quite clear and eased the work of the animals, but from there to the gap itself was another three miles, and the residual track through the snow left by the escapees hadn’t been as wide.
She reached out into the valley and felt herd animals, and a clear group of people about three miles away, with a faint whisper of more further out. The first of many, I hope.
They’d brought every horse they had, tied in long strings behind the ridden ones. The camp was empty, every kazr erected, including all four of the big shelters—their fires damped—a
