Flight to the Ratterlin or A Cat and His Boy
West of Belisaere and south of Sindle in a clump of trees, Sameth sprawled on the forest floor, all but dead to the world through blood loss. His horse, Sprout grazed beside him as the morning turned to afternoon and then to early evening when a piece of grass tickled his nose and he sneezed awake. He felt dazed and tried to remember, he must have had too much to drink, the last time he had a hangover this bad was in Milliways with that pirate.
So he sat up and opened his mouth to call for help when it all came back, his plan to help Nicholas, the disguise and everything going wrong. Two men, two of his father's men were dead because of him. Slowly he sat up, trying to brush the leaves off himself as he thought about their wives now widows.
The pain in his leg reminded him that he was alive, but his leg needed a proper caring for and that meant standing up and then getting Sprout. He just had to keep moving, because if the local constables caught up with him than everyone would know the true failure he was. So it was best to just keep going, disappear with a new face and find Nick near Edge.
Standing and getting to Sprout took longer than he expected but he did it and got deeper into the forest as it began to rain, which might kill him just as easily as anything else. His cloak was in his pack and he reached for it but touched the cold of The Book of the Dead, it had followed him like the bells. He would never be free of his duty that he could never live up to.
So he sat up and opened his mouth to call for help when it all came back, his plan to help Nicholas, the disguise and everything going wrong. Two men, two of his father's men were dead because of him. Slowly he sat up, trying to brush the leaves off himself as he thought about their wives now widows.
The pain in his leg reminded him that he was alive, but his leg needed a proper caring for and that meant standing up and then getting Sprout. He just had to keep moving, because if the local constables caught up with him than everyone would know the true failure he was. So it was best to just keep going, disappear with a new face and find Nick near Edge.
Standing and getting to Sprout took longer than he expected but he did it and got deeper into the forest as it began to rain, which might kill him just as easily as anything else. His cloak was in his pack and he reached for it but touched the cold of The Book of the Dead, it had followed him like the bells. He would never be free of his duty that he could never live up to.