Daughter of Wolves

Chapter 4

We followed the road for the rest of the morning, but stopped at midday to water the horses and have a bite to eat. Of course Kiarash gobbled down more than his share of the flatbread that I had bought at the caravanserai. I wondered how long the food would last, for I had not counted on feeding another mouth. Well, I could always live off the land, and he would just have to learn to do the same. After a brief rest, we continued.

The road was little travelled. All we encountered were a few solitary farmers that eyed us suspiciously. The Zhubin Pass had a bad reputation, both for sudden changes in the weather and bandits, so many merchants chose the more accessible but slower route to the south. However, time was not on my side. Many times I cast a look back over my shoulder. Nothing. The road stretched dusty and empty as far as I could see.

Late in the afternoon Kiarash stopped where a faint trail lead off from the main road, no different from dozens of deer tracks we had seen before. "This is where we leave the main road," he announced.

I hesitated. Was it wise to trust him? Yet throughout the day, the feeling of being followed, like a storm coming up behind, had grown on me. We were in a small valley, the beginning of the hills proper, and the terrain was broken, with stunted trees that promised cover. I would be glad to get out of the open. And I had very little to lose...

"Lead the way," I said.

Kiarash had been observing me closely, but said nothing, not even when I dismounted to erase the imprints of the horses' hooves in the dust with an old jute bag. Yet when a little later Delyth deposited a steaming heap of manure on the trail, he stopped and with a sigh collected it in some leaves and dropped it down a crevice in the rocks.

We continued while dusk fell, Kiarash following a path that was hardly discernible, until we reached a sheltered dell high above the valley floor. A small stream nearby had formed a natural basin before flowing, gurgling and chuckling, down the hillside. There was plenty of dry wood lying round and even a hollow sheltered by boulders that made a perfect fireplace.

"We'll have to keep the fire low," Kiarash cautioned. I nodded. The gathering darkness would hide any smoke, and as long as we didn't light a great burning blaze, nobody would know of our presence.

After unsaddling and rubbing down the horses, we turned them loose on the short turf of the dell. Shar would not go far, and the mare would stay near him. I went to fill my water skins, while Kiarash disappeared amongst some boulders, to relieve himself I presumed. But when he returned, he carried a long bundle wrapped in cloth and had a pair of saddlebags slung over his shoulder.

"Where did you get those?" I asked, surprised.

He dumped his things on the ground and began to sort through them. "I came this way from Sikhand and hid my stuff in case I needed it while on the run."

"Oh." The bundle of cloth contained sharp iron, I could tell that much just from where I sat.

He followed my gaze. "Don't you dare touch it. That's my second best pair of swords, I might need them."

I shrugged. "Metal doesn't worry me."

He nodded an acknowledgement and got out some clothes from his bags. "Now, lady, if you have delicate sensibilities, I suggest you turn your back."

Really, what did he take me for, a Sikhandi gentlewoman? I'd seen plenty of naked men when swimming in the lakes and rivers that bordered our summer grazing grounds. "Did you hide any food?" I called after him as he strolled down to the stream.

"Some. Just help yourself," he said.

I had every intention of doing so. First I busied myself looking through the bags to see what supplies we had, then tended the fire, while doing my best to ignore the snorting and splashing behind me.