Butterflies of Blood

Chapter 3

Shahromyes woke when the sun rose, he looked around blearily, the horses were saddled and ready to go. He caught sight of Aias doing his hand tree thing, Lupine standing at his feet. Shahromyes thought back to their conversation last night about the horses and wondered even more about her.

"We've got to move," Aias said sharply and walked briskly back to camp.

He began erasing traces of their stay, turning over the fire pit and brushing away foot prints.

Shahromyes tugged at his long hair, it was nearly down to his waist and wildly tangled. As he tried to stand he felt his joints protesting and every muscle in his body screamed. Kaecilia rose and seemed to feel even worse. A bruise had spread out under the bandage on her shoulder.

"Come on, come on," Aias urged.

Then, as neither of them seemed capable of moving themselves, he lifted first Kaecilia and seated her in the saddle with a grunt.

"Let me down!" She exclaimed.

"No time, Princess."

Then he heaved Shahromyes onto Oberon and folded the blankets. Finally everything was neatly packed away and Aias mounted Jokarmun.

"Sorry boy," he said gently. "Should have let you rest longer."

Shahromyes was always noting everything Aias said and that sparked an interest.

"Where's Lupine?" Kaecilia asked.

Aias tugged on the reins and nudged Jokarmun into a trot and then patted the saddle bag, indicating Lupine's location. He urged them into a canter, the trees were wide so they rode fast although Shahromyes and Kaecilia almost wished they would slow down.

"How close are they?" Kaecilia asked.

"Five or six hours away," Aias told them.

"What? Then why the rush?" She asked, irritated.

"That's not far and we need time and distance on our side."